Michigan Wood Fuel OK this year?

[jjk454ss]

MWF claims they had an issue last year that they have resolved this year. Has anyone tested them yet this year? I want them to be good because of the price and availability, but don't want issues. They are made locally so everywhere I go this is what they sell, almost exclusively. And for $200/ton the price is right.

 

[Dpopps]

you won't see me trying them again to find out.

 

[Peterfield]

Grab a couple of bags and try them. Only way to know how they'll behave in your stove.

 

[jjk454ss]

I'm never good at that, I did try 2 bags and they seemed fine. But I did that last year and I started having problems after 40 bags.

I'm leaning towards skipping them this year, I have a ton of Magic Spark from last year, I'm thinking of picking up a ton of Pro Pellets and at 1.49 using more propane this year.

 

[Dpopps]

I'm never good at that, I did try 2 bags and they seemed fine. But I did that last year and I started having problems after 40 bags.

I'm leaning towards skipping them this year, I have a ton of Magic Spark from last year, I'm thinking of picking up a ton of Pro Pellets and at 1.49 using more propane this year.

Are those your only options? Pro pellets are the same as magic spark.

 

[jjk454ss]

Are those your only options? Pro pellets are the same as magic spark.

I'm sure I can get others. I like the Magic Spark, they were good last year. But I haven't really compared a lot of different brands.

 

[jjk454ss]

Decided I'd do some testing



9 brands, prices from $199.99/ton to $259.99/ton.

 

[Dpopps]

Good selection. Where did you find the greenways?

 

[jjk454ss]

The Greenways are from Meijer, I bought 3 ton of them 2 years ago and they we're great. They only had maybe 15-20 bags and nobody at the store could tell me if they had more or if they were cheaper by the ton. If I want more I'll have to go back during the day so I can check outside or talk to someone who knows.

 

[Dpopps]

I also like the greenways, but have not seen them this year. Not sure what meijer you got them at, but if they got a truck load in I would make the drive.

I have tried a few of the brands you got, some I have never seen.

 

[jjk454ss]

This was in Holland. I'll try check in the next day or so and let you know. If I remember correctly 2 years ago when I got them they had received 3 or 4 ton and that was it. When they were gone they were gone. Not sure if every Meijer gets the same amount and brand maybe?

 

[Dpopps]

The meijer by me all got crap pellets this year and most got a whole 22 pallet truck load. I even called around to other towns, same nasty pellets. I would drive for some greenways.

 

[jjk454ss]

Holland had 79 bags, which I purchased. No other stores close by had any decent quantity. For $4.79/bag not a bad price. Discovers cashback using Apple Pay however, that's makes it a great deal.

 

[Dpopps]

Any word if more are coming in? You could have used mperks and got another 15% off.

 

[jjk454ss]

Any word if more are coming in? You could have used mperks and got another 15% off.

They said there were none on order. How would I get 15% off with MPerks? Is there a special offer or coupon?

 

[Dpopps]

They will run coupons for 10 and 15% off pretty often this time of year. Or if you have a mcard they send you coupons all the time.

 

[jjk454ss]

Maybe I'll keep my eyes open for one and try to price match. I normally see the $20 off $100 type offers, but those have to be a single item. Thanks for the heads up on the offer though, I'll certainly try to pm if they offer one soon.

 

[tstelma]

MWF claims they had an issue last year that they have resolved this year. Has anyone tested them yet this year? I want them to be good because of the price and availability, but don't want issues. They are made locally so everywhere I go this is what they sell, almost exclusively. And for $200/ton the price is right.

I'm trying them out (picked up 5 bags at Lowes last week around GR) but haven't had much luck with them. Don't seem to burn very hot. This is my 1st year with a pellet stove though so I have no frame of reference. What was the problem with them last year?

 

[Jonkman]

I'm not sure what was wrong with them last year, but I bought two bags from Lowes just to try...I've never burned them before. I'll let you know how it goes...

 

[jjk454ss]

They didn't seem like it at first, but after enough bags they really got the stove dirty. Same cleaning schedule with other bags was ok, with these after enough bags the stove would just keep shutting down on its own. Like you mentioned, they didn't seem to burn very hot either.

 

[Jonkman]

They didn't seem like it at first, but after enough bags they really got the stove dirty. Same cleaning schedule with other bags was ok, with these after enough bags the stove would just keep shutting down on its own. Like you mentioned, they didn't seem to burn very hot either.

I only got two bags, so we'll see how hot they burn and how much ash I guess. I did by two bags of Somersets, two bags of Pro Pellets and two bags of Kirtslands and Stove Chow, that's about all I can find around West Michigan...I do have a few tons of Isabella Pellets to burn this winter, they seem kind of ashy (and very very dusty in the bag), but I don't have anything to compare it to yet...just was able to get a good price on the isabella last spring.

 

[Jonkman]

Yikes. Just burned my two bags and holy mackerel are they bad. I had ash mounding up around the burn pot, and I wasn't even done with the second bag yet. At minimum, twice the ash of anything I've tried, and for some reason a white powder over everything inside the stove, and it didn't come off easily as well. The powder was different than anything I've encountered before. Will never burn these again. Also, not very hot to boot and tons of fines in each bag. They smelled like plywood too (glue).

 

[onthecove]

Hello! Longtime lurker but I finally registered as I had to post on this thread! I've been using New England fine up until yesterday, when I grabbed 4 bags of Michigan Woods at Home Depot for about 5.00 per bag. Because it was cheap, and because it said premium. Black soot straight away, and it smelled horrible. Really bad. I keep the stove clean, i've never seen ash and soot like that from a new bag before. I shut down the stove, scrubbed / vacuumed everything down, and remove 20 lbs from my hopper. Fired up again with New England, and have no problems at all. I returned the three other bags to HD and got a refund, no questions asked. Perhaps I got a bad batch, but that's my experience with it. Won't buy again, obviously.
ps. many thanks to all the stove people on here who've helped me troubleshoot my way through three newbie seasons of a pellet stove. I survived last winter because of you guys

 

[Jonkman]

Hello! Longtime lurker but I finally registered as I had to post on this thread! I've been using New England fine up until yesterday, when I grabbed 4 bags of Michigan Woods at Home Depot for about 5.00 per bag. Because it was cheap, and because it said premium. Black soot straight away, and it smelled horrible. Really bad. I keep the stove clean, i've never seen ash and soot like that from a new bag before. I shut down the stove, scrubbed / vacuumed everything down, and remove 20 lbs from my hopper. Fired up again with New England, and have no problems at all. I returned the three other bags to HD and got a refund, no questions asked. Perhaps I got a bad batch, but that's my experience with it. Won't buy again, obviously.
ps. many thanks to all the stove people on here who've helped me troubleshoot my way through three newbie seasons of a pellet stove. I survived last winter because of you guys

Seems to be pretty consistent that they aren't good pellets. I had pretty much the same experience, but I did burn both my bags...

 

[Peterfield]

"Premium" on the bag means nothing today, almost all have that label.