Hammer 'Cold' ones

[chrisasst]

Ok, all the hype about Hammer Hot ones, my lowes had some bought some, Why am I not impressed?
My EF2 usually burns anything and puts out good heat. The hammers I am burning seems very dirty and putting out mediocre heat. AWF's and timber heats seem to put out more heat. Very confused.

 

[greg48154]

I had the same problem with somersets. Returned 85 bags today. Went back to pro pellets.

 

[The Grintch]

Try Turman, I really like them

 

[chrisasst]

Try Turman, I really like them

I am sure I will never find trumans around me. Really surprised to see the Hammers..

 

[gfreek]

Try Turman, I really like them

I bought 15 bags of Turmans and not impressed. Bags full of fines, pellets some as long as 2 1/2 ".. Very little ash after burning though.. Try a few bags before committing to a ton

 

[rexrules]

When I was picking up a couple tons of barefoots this morning I was talking to the shop about Lowes getting Hamers and they were told by Hamer that they weren't the same pellet, higher moisture and ash content.

Part of their deal to sell Hamers was that they were to be sold only through stove shops. I don't see any reason for them to lie to me since I don't buy Hamers, only barefoot. I'm not saying Hamer didn't give them wrong information though.

 

[slvrblkk]

I can tell you the Hamer's I got from Lowe's were definitely not a high/higher ash content. They did, however, seem to not burn as hot as the ones I had on hand that I bought from a stove shop (Cozy Barn) last year. They did burn very well though.

The Clean Energy brand that Lowe's was selling earlier in the season were also produced by Hamer. I sent their sales team an email and they said they were indeed the same production as the "Hot Ones" but based on my test/review, they had a higher ash content but that could just be batch variance.

 

[Jason Knapp]

Definitely strange. The Hamers have been brutally hot for me. I burn Barefoots normally, and they have been good. But the Hamers??? Really hot and really clean. Maybe it's a batch difference?

 

[slvrblkk]

I'm not saying they didn't burn hot, they seemed to just be not as "blazing" as last year's....if that makes any sense..lol Very clean though!

 

[Madcodger]

I wonder if they allow more bark and lower quality wood into certain lots, intended for certain locations. I've been very happy with the Hamer's I obtained from my dealer, and they are the hottest pellet I've burned this season. I have, however, noticed that they seem to produce more ash than I noticed four years ago, and the pellet length is sometimes approaching two inches at times. Unfortunate.

 

[becasunshine]

We burned Hamers successfully and happily for years before we got a low quality batch as well: so full of fines that we had to strain them before we could burn them, and even then they were so ashy that they would clog up the burn pot, and sooner rather than later, the stove itself. I had to pull the combustion motor and clean out the exhaust pathway several times to get us through that batch of Hamers. It was a known problem; the stove shop replaced all of those bags of Hamers with Turmans free of charge for us. We offered to bring the Hamers back to them but the stove shop didn't want those bags back. So, we strained them and burned them carefully, with a LOT of stove cleaning. We burned them during the fall shoulder season so I didn't notice that they burned any less hot than better grade Hamers. And it was a lot of work to burn them. My husband made a strainer from a Rubbermaid bin and wire mesh- he cut the bottom out of the bin and replaced it with the wire mesh, stapled in place. He poured pellets into the bin, a little bit at a time, and shook them clean by hand, a little bit at a time. I would burn Hamers again- the good bags of pellets were GREAT. I probably would not buy them by the ton again unless I had an established understanding with the seller that if we got a bad batch, we could return them or get credit for them if they burned dirty.

 

[chrisasst]

These pellets are small.

 

[The Radiator]

This season's batch of Hamers is burning great in my stove. I actually had to lower the settings compared to the Vermonts I was burning previously. I like the shorter pellets. They pack nicely in a FPI.

 

[smg64ct]

I have had no problems with them, burn nice and hot & clean.

 

[JoeS]

Not real happy with the Hamers this year either. Have started to burn on high elevation (thanks to someone here for mentioning that they were doing this while burning Hamers as well) in order to keep the burn pot fairly clean and that seems to be working. The ash content is pretty high and I need to do a complete cleanout (remove baffle plate and leaf blower trick) every half ton or the stove plugs up. Have not seen how far I can go between major cleanings since I switched over to high elevation setting.

 

[Tonyray]

I'm not saying they didn't burn hot, they seemed to just be not as "blazing" as last year's....if that makes any sense..lol Very clean though!

down here in the Levittown/Bristol area...
Energex premiums[ 259.00] and HD Stove Chows, 229.00 [ very hot but a bit ashy] are all I can get in this area for now...
dealer could get Turmans an Hamers but the delivery charge he sez is too much for him..

 

[mik_kane]

I read this from a review about Hamer's, maybe the problem is from one plant. Check your bags and let us know

"There are two different plants that make Hamers- Elkins and Mt. Hope. The Elkins pellets burn much better than the Mt Hope ones in my stove. They produced about 1/4 the clinkers for me. They are a lighter in color as well. It is almost like the Elkins and Mt. Hope pellets are two different brands, It will typically say on the bag where they are produced."

(broken link removed to http://www.woodpelletreview.org/2008/12/hamers-hot-ones.html)

 

[SwineFlue]

I read this from a review about Hamer's, maybe the problem is from one plant. Check your bags and let us know

"There are two different plants that make Hamers- Elkins and Mt. Hope. The Elkins pellets burn much better than the Mt Hope ones in my stove. They produced about 1/4 the clinkers for me. They are a lighter in color as well. It is almost like the Elkins and Mt. Hope pellets are two different brands, It will typically say on the bag where they are produced."

(broken link removed to http://www.woodpelletreview.org/2008/12/hamers-hot-ones.html)

The Mt Hope plant has been closed for a couple of years:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/posts/1294105/

 

[slvrblkk]

down here in the Levittown/Bristol area...
Energex premiums[ 259.00] and HD Stove Chows, 229.00 [ very hot but a bit ashy] are all I can get in this area for now...
dealer could get Turmans an Hamers but the delivery charge he sez is too much for him..

HD in Bethlehem and Allentown are charging $219 for a ton...Chow's aren't too bad.....they were a great pellet a season or so ago.....

Turman ($240 a ton) are my favorite pellet with Somerset's a close second...I always have them on hand for the bitter cold snaps....

 

[RKBAGUY]

I also found HHO's at my local Lowes and like them more than the StoveChow. I was able to turn my Integra down a little bit, and there seems to be a lighter ash from them. My plan is to lay in a ton to take me through the rest of the season.

 

[mik_kane]

I have burned 4 bags of Hamer's and they were hot enough for me. The Hamer's had a LOT less ash than the Barefoots, that I have been burning.

 

[Tonyray]

I have burned 4 bags of Hamer's and they were hot enough for me. The Hamer's had a LOT less ash than the Barefoots, that I have been burning.

Do you burn thru Hamers and Turman pellets faster than other pellets?

 

[jimfrompa]

Ok, all the hype about Hammer Hot ones, my lowes had some bought some, Why am I not impressed?
My EF2 usually burns anything and puts out good heat. The hammers I am burning seems very dirty and putting out mediocre heat. AWF's and timber heats seem to put out more heat. Very confused.

I'm confused too after reading all of the posts in this thread. I am about half way through my first ton of Hamers and I am absolutely favorably impressed with them. I can't believe how little ash I get compared to Power Pellets, Stove Chow, Cheat River. The heat output is great and the fines are below other brands that I've tried. I'm beginning to think, after reading the other posts, that no matter which brand, there can be some variance in quality, probably based on the type and quality of wood they use for any specific batch. Also, I have two bags of Clean Energy I bought from Lowes and they look exactly alike, but the Hamers definitely produce much less ash.

 

[mik_kane]

Do you burn thru Hamers and Turman pellets faster than other pellets?

Not burning Turman's burning Barefoots and Hamer's, but the answer is nothing that I see.

 

[MtDew]

In case anyone is interested: The Lowes in Montgomeryville, PA will be receiving a full truck load of Hamer's on 1/31/14. They are currently out of stock but the store manager I spoke with said the next delivery was definitely Hamer's and on the 31st.