Hamers , high fines !?!?

[somdpellethead]

Bought a ton of Hamers in December and kinda saved em for the cold snaps like we've been going through. They sure burn hot! ... But I've noticed a lot more fines/ sawdust than I've seen in even " subpar " brands. Put them in a large mesh bag and shook em out and consistently get 3-4 cups of fines per bag . Is this the norm?? Anyone else seeing this??

 

[MtDew]

I am burning nothing but Hamer's this year. I have very minimal fines in the bags. Are yours the Premium or the Ultra Premium Hamer's?

 

[somdpellethead]

I am burning nothing but Hamer's this year. I have very minimal fines in the bags. Are yours the Premium or the Ultra Premium Hamer's?

They say ultra premium . For sure put out a lot of heat but the small pellet size likely contributes to that . Try sifting them off and see what u get .Maybe I should just dump and burn but I worry about auger jams.

 

[MtDew]

Well I have been burning them exclusively this season. My Harman P43 has a Fines catch compartment and does a good job at catching the fines from the hopper. I have burned just under 1.5 ton this year and have only had to clean out the fines compartment once this year. I don't know the exact amount but if I had fines like you are experiencing I would have to clean it out after every bag.
Maybe your bags had some excessive handling sometime in the past. Did you purchase by the ton or buy by the bag? If you bought by the ton, how were they stored and stacked? I was shocked the other year when I stopped by a local Tractor Supply and saw they had Pellet pallets stacked 3 high in there warehouse. I would question the bottom pallet in that situation.

 

[somdpellethead]

Well I have been burning them exclusively this season. My Harman P43 has a Fines catch compartment and does a good job at catching the fines from the hopper. I have burned just under 1.5 ton this year and have only had to clean out the fines compartment once this year. I don't know the exact amount but if I had fines like you are experiencing I would have to clean it out after every bag.
Maybe your bags had some excessive handling sometime in the past. Did you purchase by the ton or buy by the bag? If you bought by the ton, how were they stored and stacked? I was shocked the other year when I stopped by a local Tractor Supply and saw they had Pellet pallets stacked 3 high in there warehouse. I would question the bottom pallet in that situation.

I bought a ton wrapped on the pallet an they had just come in and being offloaded. Maybe just a fluke.

 

[KurtGriffith]

We started off with Hamer Hot Ones and they've had a fair but not rediculous amount of fines, seems to vary per bag, but we've been pouring out most of the bags and sifting the last bit for fines.

On the flip side they DO definitely burn hotter, and produce less ash than others we've tried. We got two tons in October, and from time to time have tried 5 bag trials with Presto-Logs and American Hearth (green bag from Tractor supply) and they both were more ashy and less hot than the Hamers. Our local Ace can't keep them in stock! People like 'em!

Hey, is there anything interesting or useful you can do WITH the fines?

 

[somdpellethead]

We started off with Hamer Hot Ones and they've had a fair but not rediculous amount of fines, seems to vary per bag, but we've been pouring out most of the bags and sifting the last bit for fines.

On the flip side they DO definitely burn hotter, and produce less ash than others we've tried. We got two tons in October, and from time to time have tried 5 bag trials with Presto-Logs and American Hearth (green bag from Tractor supply) and they both were more ashy and less hot than the Hamers. Our local Ace can't keep them in stock! People like 'em!

Hey, is there anything interesting or useful you can do WITH the fines?

Yeah generally I do like them and your right they sell out FAST!! As far as the fines I made some nice fire starters with em . I may have seen the idea on Hearth .com. I melted old crappy candles and made a sawdust / wax slurry and filled old toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls. We do a lot of trailer camping and their awesome for gettin a campfire going. Some of the "GLAMP"grounds don't have much kindling available. These burn a good while we've even filled soap cartons etc. best use I've found for fines yet!

 

[KurtGriffith]

Clever! Thank you!

We do a fair amount of camping, and getting a fire going more swiftly will be good braggin' rights with our campmates.

 

[somdpellethead]

Yeah Buddy! Like I said almost positive I saw the idea on these forums so Ill take no credit . They do burn pretty good tho I think essentially that's all a grocery store fire log is. Other uses I've seen we're to soak up oil spills and for traction on snow and ice, haven't tried those yet.....

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Definitely more fines than in years past, but still a better pellet than most. Burn hot, exceptionally low ash. Just mucho $$$ near us.

 

[bogieb]

Yeah generally I do like them and your right they sell out FAST!! As far as the fines I made some nice fire starters with em . I may have seen the idea on Hearth .com. I melted old crappy candles and made a sawdust / wax slurry and filled old toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls. We do a lot of trailer camping and their awesome for gettin a campfire going. Some of the "GLAMP"grounds don't have much kindling available. These burn a good while we've even filled soap cartons etc. best use I've found for fines yet!

That is clever, will have to remember this

 

[rexrules]

Got two tons of Hamers this year. Not many fines in either ton, but there is a huge difference in pellet size, one is mostly tiny pellets while the other is mostly medium sized. Both burn hot with not too much ash.

 

[ctjames]

3-4 cups of fines per bag . Is this the norm?? Anyone else seeing this??

That sounds incredibly high. I used 3 tons of UP Hamers this year and had very few fines--some bags zero, some 1/8 cup maybe more. Very happy with them!