Maine Woods Pellets Good Service

[wak1954]

Maine Woods Pellets in Athens, Maine seemed to be going through some growing pains earlier in the season, that they now are doing their best to correct. I had some bad experiences with their pellets jamming in the top auger of my stove. That was very frustrating, and time consuming. I spoke with David Carr at the mill and we exchanged a few bags to see if there was an improvement. At that point in time there was no improvement and he agreed to make it right by me. They are nice people to deal with and true to their word. They had made a number of improvements to their pellet making process and are working towards producing a superior product. I will give them another try next year to see if everything has been resolved.
I wish to thank David and the other people at "Athens" for helping me through my pellet issues with them.

 

[mjbrown]

being a new company, the team at Athens is going to have a learning curve...look at the Corinth mill when they first got going. i burnt 2 ton that were not the greatest,but at the time, they were the only ones available and cold weather was soon to be here.i have just picked up another 2 ton, and yes they are lighter in color, and seem to burn better.give them a chance...if they want to become competitive in the pellet world then they have no place to go but up.personally, i dont think linkletters is in the habit of spending the money they have on this mill, just to see it go belly up.

mike

 

[lessoil]

If they can improve the quality before next Winter, I will definitely get another 4 tons from them.
I want to support a local company.
We are able to burn the higher ash pellets. (Stove needs more TLC though)
We have burned just over a ton (61 bags) since mid-October and have been very toasty!!
Can you post David's contact info or PM them to me??
I would be interested in trying the newer pellets.
Thanks!

 

[j00fek]

rofl, call the # on the bag

 

[Setterpete]

I've been trading in bags of Athens pellets that I purchased in August for newly produced bags for the past month and a half. I noticed a good difference about a month ago and even better difference last week. I have it on good authority that Athens has worked out their problems and are actually spraying the pellets as they are produced, with steam. The steam gives the pellets better integrity and a nice shine. I noticed a huge difference in the lesser amount of "fines" and the length of the pellets are slightly longer. I've burned six or eight bags and love them. I, like many on these boards, told myself I'd never buy Athens pellets again because of their quality. After using the latest version from them I don't have any reason to buy anything else. Dysart's had 70 tons on Monday and said they were going to build inventory to around 200 tons. My guess is that the price per ton will drop by February. The drop in oil cost has to have an affect.



Harman XXV
I've burned less than 10 gallons of oil so far....

 

[novah]

being a new company, the team at Athens is going to have a learning curve...look at the Corinth mill when they first got going. i burnt 2 ton that were not the greatest,but at the time, they were the only ones available and cold weather was soon to be here.i have just picked up another 2 ton, and yes they are lighter in color, and seem to burn better.give them a chance...if they want to become competitive in the pellet world then they have no place to go but up.personally, i dont think linkletters is in the habit of spending the money they have on this mill, just to see it go belly up.

mike

Mike - I see that you have a PelPro Cheap Charlie heater. I have the same stove. Are the Athens clogging the auger in that stove? I have posted several pictures of the way the original and the new improved Athens pellets clog my auger with fines and crumbles and I can't get them to work. What is your experience? Dave

 

[mjbrown]

dave,

sorry, i retired that stove within months of buying it... this stove has issues .

i was feeding that thing 3 bags of top dollar pellts every day and the furnace was still coming on. i tried many times to get help with it , and the wife and kid were still complaing of being cold. the guys on here tried as best they could to help me with it but to no avail.

i went to the dealer where the stove was originally bought( i bought it from a co-worker) and the guy said it was the pellets and tried to tell me his energex pellets were the best on the market. at the time i was buying cubex from a harman dealer. then he said it was the nature of the beast and i would have to live with it.

i went home and found the owners manual, and called tech support in canada. i spent approx 20-30 minutes with the tech man, told him what was going on and right away he said the upper AND lower thermal discs were bad , and probly were from the factory.

i told him that i bought this stove used and it was beyond warrenty but he sent me to a store local to me who had parts on hand. i bought the parts and installed them. i was getting better heat but this thing still went thru 3 bags of pellets a day.

finally, the harman dealer that i was buying from held me back and took me to the warehouse out back...i felt like i was back in my youth when the ol'man would take us to the wood shed.the dealer said he was waiting for me to come for another load of pellets and wanted to show me something.we went to the back corner, and he picked up a tarp and showed me the P38 i now own.

this stove was used and had only burned 1 ton of pellets b4 it was traded up for a bigger stove, and he felt bad b'cuz i got a lemon on the first try, and wanted me to take this home and try it out. at the time i could not afford it but he said not to worry, he financed it himself. i took the stove home that day and instantly fell in love.charlie is now in the shed wrapped in plastic and maybe some day someone will need a stove like that for a small camp, or i may need a blower.

my P38 went out twice with the athens pellets, but i have had no serious jams. i am not ready to close the book on athens.i just bought another 2 ton of the improved formula pellets and they seem to burn better. the ash content is still there but getting better heat imo.they are a new company, and need a chance to perfect the product. as well, i just got layed off from my job for possibly the remainder of the winter, so i have to go with the affordability of the athens pellets compared to cubex.

love the cubex but cant afford them at this time.also, not putting down the cheap charlie/pelpro...i like the looks of the stove and the fact that it has a 120 pound hopper. i just got a bad one and couldnt afford to feed it and get nothing in return.now i am getting to put the kid in the shed with the stove...i keep feeding that and getting nothing in return...j/k...lol

mike

 

[scott_cuddy]

I love this thread. I have Athens pellet now and the heat is good, ash content seems high. I will definitely buy more. The notion of buying my heat from a neighbor is very attractive to me, so long as the product is good... or improving. From what I've seen on hearth.com, Athens is walking the walk. Next year, I hope to have all of my pellets from Maine mills. Has anyone seen Ashland pellets this year?

 

[sparkydog00]

I love this thread. I have Athens pellet now and the heat is good, ash content seems high. I will definitely buy more. The notion of buying my heat from a neighbor is very attractive to me, so long as the product is good... or improving. From what I've seen on hearth.com, Athens is walking the walk. Next year, I hope to have all of my pellets from Maine mills. Has anyone seen Ashland pellets this year?

Nobody would complain if the Athens mill was selling their pellets in standard grade and standard grade prices. But they are not...they are hoodwinking the public by selling these as premium pellets at premium prices.

 

[mjbrown]

ok, NOW everyone knows that Maine woods pellets(athens) 1st series were not good pellets. i burned 2 ton of them and yes, there was alot of ash, yes people have had problems with them, and yes they are labeled as "Premium",when in fact they were not.

it took alot of work and complaining, but Athens finally took responsibility, are taking back the old ones and offering the series 2 pellets.i bought another 2 ton and these seem to be better. they are lighter in color and there seems to be more heat from them.

athens has reworked their mix and added some kind of steam system. over all, i have had no serious problems burning either series 1 or series two pellets in my harman P38. yes i get alot of ash, but now the pellets slide down in the hopper better.i just have to sweep the ash out of the burn pot every couple of hrs...no big deal. nothing is work free. these things are not showtimes...you dont set it and forget it.

that said, i will be glad when something else fails or goes wrong so some people will have something else to pick at. athens and corinth pellets are NEW companies and are experiancing(sp) some major growing pains.hmmmm, dont we all? did we all know what to do when we started burning pellets? did we all know how to work a marriage when we first entered into it? did we all know how to raise a child when the first one came along? we all have growing pains in day to day life, and these two companies are no exception. give them a break guys, they are trying to remidy(sp) their problems.

sorry if i offended anyone, also, let us not forget, most of us here in maine were scrambling to find pellets when there were none to be found...when athens started selling and we could get them at the mill, or dysarts and they were cheaper than the rest, we jumped on it and thought "boy, did i get a hell of a deal!"

if you can afford to pay the big bucks for the top of the line pellets then go for it! myself, i just got layed off from my job for probly the rest of the winter and i have to buy what i can afford and hope its enough to get thru the rest of the winter.

mike

 

[pellet0708]

Yes, I agree this topic has been adequately addressed. I would like to comment on one of your points however. Every stove model is different. To clean the burn pot on mine I have to shut the stove down completely which takes 1/2 hr. Tried once to open the big bay door while it was running and hot ash fell off the door onto the carpeting not to mention the ones flying out of the bun pot and the smoke. So I can't be sweeping the pot out every couple hours.

I am more interested in information on the new pellets which is why I continue to ask questions and read threads on this topic. I would like to buy more Athens next year but need to know they are indeed improved. My issue was not so much the ash, though it was terrible, but the heat output. I need to know that is improved or is cost prohibitive to burn these. AS someone stated earlier the flame is lazy yellow on any damper setting where as with other pellets you can get a nice blow torch light colored flame.

 

[mjbrown]

Yes, I agree this topic has been adequately addressed. I would like to comment on one of your points however. Every stove model is different. To clean the burn pot on mine I have to shut the stove down completely which takes 1/2 hr. Tried once to open the big bay door while it was running and hot ash fell off the door onto the carpeting not to mention the ones flying out of the bun pot and the smoke. So I can't be sweeping the pot out every couple hours.

I am more interested in information on the new pellets which is why I continue to ask questions and read threads on this topic. I would like to buy more Athens next year but need to know they are indeed improved. My issue was not so much the ash, though it was terrible, but the heat output. I need to know that is improved or is cost prohibitive to burn these. AS someone stated earlier the flame is lazy yellow on any damper setting where as with other pellets you can get a nice blow torch light colored flame.

the series 2 pellets do seem to be trowing off a better heat,at least in my harman P38.sorry for the comment about sweeping the burnpot...i didnt take into consideration that some cant just open the door and do that.the new pellets seem to be much better than the first, they are much lighter in coler. i looked at some of the first series at my neighbors last nite and compaired to what i have noe and quite a differance. i will continue to burn these obviously as i just bought 2 more ton...i will keep everyone informed as to how the pellets are doing.

if i ticked some people off, i am sorry. one can only take so much of seeing the same people groan over and over and say the same words post after post, and end with " i will never burn these pellets again" and then come back next post and rehash the same crap.you didnt like them, you stopped burning them, and you voiced your opinion...enough said , now let it rest.

 

[slls]

More ash means something didn't burn to give out more BTU's. I always thought there was a connection with high ash and low heat.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

More ash means something didn't burn to give out more BTU's. I always thought there was a connection with high ash and low heat.

It depends upon what you are burning.

1 lb of coal will create more ash than 1 lb of standard grade wood pellets.

Now if you stick strictly to one fuel and the same moisture levels you will likely find that more ash equals less heat.

Heat output depends upon a lot of factors.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

seems to me that this is a situation kinda similar to the pennington one we dealt with last season and into this one. pennington in my opinion stepped up and worked with the public due to seeing threads in here and elsewhere, and i think they were quite effective in dealing with what could have been a "pr" nightmare in addition to learning things which im sure has improved their product. Mike you seem to have a good relation with the rep at the athens mill, maybe suggest that it might be a good thing for them to take a peek at the goings on in here concerning their product. those companies who have done so have been able to learn of issues , and by learning so were able to effectively deal with issues in a proactive way. also by participating are more accessable to their customers which is always a good thing for a product. pennington is better perceived since participating and goodness know you folks have really been positive towards my product line compared to how we were looked at prior to my joining (i still owe you guys a big one for that)

to any manufacturer who may have thoughts of entering this forum and participating i encourage it as strongly as i can, the positive perception of membership in this site is amazing. and the sheer learning from "John Q. Homeowner" in his experiences with your product is invaluable. ive said before and will again , ive learned far more than ive "taught" here.

 

[mjbrown]

thanx mike,
i am going to take a ride over this week and see if i can have a tour of the plant to see how the process is done and see if i can get some inside info as to what they are doing and are planning to do in the future.who knows ....at the moment i am on unemployment til possibly march, maybe they will take me on and give me more pellets at cost...either way, i will be absolutely sure to keep everyone informed as to how things are going for this company.they have my support and seeing as how i am 11 miles from the mill, my business as well.

mike

 

[compressedwoodsupplier]

Nicely said Mike
As a dealer for Maine Woods Pellet Co. I have been in constant contact with the mill and have seen the difference in the pellets. They have made big changes and are always trying to improve as they go. If anyone is having a hard time with your pellets from them i encourage you to call your dealer you bought them from and try to get it worked out.