My Oakie Black hills thread

[oldmountvernon]

Hi guys got me a few bags of Black hills to see for myself . So figured i would start a thread to keep track. Just did a cleaning Since a blizzard is forecasted for tomorrow. Maybe a disadvantage to them, but we shall see.
The clear bags in this industry might be a bad idea. By looking at the bag you would think they are loaded with fines. But while dumping into the hopper i would say the fines arent bad at all.
Actually at the bottom of the bag when emptying there was no fines at all.
Usually i have a good handful in the hopper at the top of the pellet mound after emptying a bag.
Vermonts are still the the least amount of fines i have used .

Opening the bag,Bag is strong, smell is fine, pellets are all decent sized for the most part.
No bits and chunks that i seen, guess they got that straightened out.

So lets see what they got for heat

Will get some pics up soon Have been busy getting ready for this Blizzard they are forecasting

The place didnt have Oakies so on the way home i stopped at a Country store that sells them for the local distributor to grab a bag to try
7 bucks ouch

 

[oldmountvernon]

First impression Smokin HOT !
I read someone posted they didnt get heat out of these. Something is wrong with that sir, these things are HOT

Considering the size of Somersets i was on the more in the pot theory But the black hills arent in par with the size of Somersets they are a larger pellet but still smokin

 

[jtakeman]

OMV getting ready for the blizzard!

 

[oldmountvernon]

Hey thats not me ! he has 1 chin! :D

 

[jtakeman]

Hey thats not me ! he has 1 chin! :D

Lazy, I stole smokes pic of a dude slurpin a brew. Your lips wouldn't be closed and you'd be takin a real gulp!

I can't pick on the chin thing, I got a second one growing too!

 

[P38X2]

Having no knowledge of the product, cuz I live in Squat 4 pellet choices alley, are the Black Hills Oakie blends?

 

[jtakeman]

Black hills are an Okie product. They have a mill in SD making Ponderosa pine pellets and bulk shipping them to Upton Plant for bagging.

I burned some before they started bagging them. Mr Warm wanted to know what I though. Yes, Like OMV says they are hot! Should be hotter now as they raised the density up since I tried them.

I might get some to sample along with some DF pellets they are going to start bagging this spring. Prolly won't get them until March. OMV has better connections than I do!

 

[P38X2]

Thanks, JT. So basically OBH are a US product?... and 99% of the regular Oakies we see around here are from BC and also re-bagged in Upton, correct?

SD is awfully close to MT where Eurekas are made and I assume are of similar quality Looks like I'll be adding another pellet to the list of products for my local Agway guy to search for come refill time. (That's where I got the Orfords)

Thanks for the quickie review, OMV. Keep us posted on the ash factor.

 

[jtakeman]

Thanks, JT. So basically OBH are a US product?... and 99% of the regular Oakies we see around here are from BC and also re-bagged in Upton, correct?

Yep, South Dakota mill. Okies are still a BC softwood from the Okanagan valley.

SD is awfully close to MT where Eurekas are made and I assume are of similar quality Looks like I'll be adding another pellet to the list of products for my local Agway guy to search for come refill time. (That's where I got the Orfords)

I'm not sure the Eurekas have any Pondarosa pine in them. Maybe? The BH are well worth a try. Orfords have me all excited too! So do the La Crete's.

 

[oldmountvernon]

I will collect the ash in the box. it will probably be a 2 bag ash because i will run out overnight with 1 as i started earlier today

Opened the hopper, they smell wonderful

 

[jtakeman]

I will collect the ash in the box. it will probably be a 2 bag ash because i will run out overnight with 1 as i started earlier today

Opened the hopper, they smell wonderful

Not sure we really wanna see your ash, Might be scary! jk!

I'm impressed, Might have us a new tester!

Did you get any Okies to try?

 

[oldmountvernon]

Not sure we really wanna see your ash, Might be scary! jk!

I'm impressed, Might have us a new tester!

Did you get any Okies to try?

The place didnt have Oakies so on the way home i stopped at a Country store that sells them for the local distributor to grab a bag to try
7 bucks ouch

ill throw that bag in after the 4 black hills

 

[jtakeman]

The place didnt have Oakies so on the way home i stopped at a Country store that sells them for the local distributor to grab a bag to try
7 bucks ouch

ill throw that bag in after the 4 black hills

Cool, I would like to hear what you find.

What setting you running the Mt V at? Try to keep em similar between the BH and Okies if you can.

 

[Enviro Mini Owner]

Hi guys got me a few bags of Black hills to see for myself . So figured i would start a thread to keep track. Just did a cleaning Since a blizzard is forecasted for tomorrow. Maybe a disadvantage to them, but we shall see.
The clear bags in this industry might be a bad idea. By looking at the bag you would think they are loaded with fines. But while dumping into the hopper i would say the fines arent bad at all.
Actually at the bottom of the bag when emptying there was no fines at all.
Usually i have a good handful in the hopper at the top of the pellet mound after emptying a bag.
Vermonts are still the the least amount of fines i have used .

Opening the bag,Bag is strong, smell is fine, pellets are all decent sized for the most part.
No bits and chunks that i seen, guess they got that straightened out.

So lets see what they got for heat

Will get some pics up soon Have been busy getting ready for this Blizzard they are forecasting

The place didnt have Oakies so on the way home i stopped at a Country store that sells them for the local distributor to grab a bag to try
7 bucks ouch

I bought a ton of Black Hills and I am into about the 12th bag. They are hot and remain hot at lower heat settings. The uncleaned ash pan is less than half-full, but I do find myself every two or three days cleaning out the burn pot from a build up of an ash cake, which is not as dense as most others. Some dirt on the window after running the stove at level 2, otherwise crystal clean. I also like the Somersets for a hard wood, especially at the price but certainly dirtier. The American Wood Fibre Ultra, also a soft wood, are cleaner than the Black Hills but not as hot. These are definitely keeping the house warm at level 3.

 

[oldmountvernon]

I made a mistake when turning on the stove set it to manual omg it got hot quick so i went to check why it was so hot in here and found out why. so its on auto now

 

[Enviro Mini Owner]

I do think the fines are considerable if I am right you are seeing fines when you see the sparkles show around the flames.

 

[P38X2]

Wish I could give you a more scientific review on Orford soft. I don't think a Harman is the best stove to determine heat output. I know using MWP, the flames are MUCH higher on max. The Orfords burn with a much more intense but shorter flame. I've been hoarding em and trying to burn up my MWPs first. Only used about 8 bags so far and only 3 in succession with a partially filled ash pan. Judging from the burnpot beard buildup, they have about 1/3 the ash as MWP. Its been a looooong time since the Eurekas but I think they had significantly less ash....but, again, that was 9 years ago.

 

[P38X2]

Not sure we really wanna see your ash, Might be scary! jk!

I'm impressed, Might have us a new tester!

Did you get any Okies to try?

Do I heat a sigh of relief? Lol. Tread carefully if you respond to that one, OMV. JT may be trying to pass the torch

 

[oldmountvernon]

Do I heat a sigh of relief? Lol. Tread carefully if you respond to that one, OMV. JT may be trying to pass the torch

no way Jay will always be top dog in my book. i want no part of testing but the over and over about these pellets had me curious. Wont be very technical but it will be my opinion

 

[MacP]

no way Jay will always be top dog in my book. i want no part of testing but the over and over about these pellets had me curious. Wont be very technical but it will be my opinion

Looking forward to hearing your opinion on this... I was thinking of trying a few bags.

 

[P38X2]

no way Jay will always be top dog in my book. i want no part of testing but the over and over about these pellets had me curious. Wont be very technical but it will be my opinion

No doubt he's top dog there and we've all seen that mega post of his test results. Both extreme dedication and sickness there He invested LOTS of time, obviously. If I had a non-ESP stove and his pellet resources, I'd be down with doing a few tests.

 

[jtakeman]

Wish I could give you a more scientific review on Orford soft. I don't think a Harman is the best stove to determine heat output. I know using MWP, the flames are MUCH higher on max. The Orfords burn with a much more intense but shorter flame. I've been hoarding em and trying to burn up my MWPs first. Only used about 8 bags so far and only 3 in succession with a partially filled ash pan. Judging from the burnpot beard buildup, they have about 1/3 the ash as MWP. Its been a looooong time since the Eurekas but I think they had significantly less ash....but, again, that was 9 years ago.

Eureka's were my first softwood(IIRC) then the blazers from HD. Heartlands and a Bear Mountain brand that Agway shipped in during a pellet shortage. All were dandy in my little quad. Then came the NEWP Green Supreme's which has been one of the best softies I have burned. BAck then softies were scarce. Now we have soo many good brands. Most are price these days. Back then no one wanted softies, It was an inside secret until the word got out that softies in pellet stoves are fine. But even today, I still hear the hardwoods peeps saying softies are bad like the wood burners.. Heard one at TSC when they had the NorthEast pellets. I almost told the chap but figured that would be one less person I had to wrestle softies away from!

Do I heat a sigh of relief? Lol. Tread carefully if you respond to that one, OMV. JT may be trying to pass the torch

Whether OMV likes it or not. He's got the torch now. Good having others in the mix, I can't always get the interesting brands. The more we get, The more we can compare these. Door is always open for others to come help/try there hand at it. Careful though, You might get hooked. Just ask Ihatepropane!

No doubt he's top dog there and we've all seen that mega post of his test results. Both extreme dedication and sickness there He invested LOTS of time, obviously. If I had a non-ESP stove and his pellet resources, I'd be down with doing a few tests.

Its all sickness. An its catchy too! Even if all you do is pass on your opinion, Its all good and still counts. We all are the best at judging the goods that are available in our area's. If 90% of the burners say brand x is crap. I wouldn't bet against it. Same goes if brand y has 90% saying its awesome. You can bet they just are all that.

My stuff is just me and my little examples. Were better off with a whole group passing stuff around. We are all impotent at policing them, Better than any lab IMHO! I'm just one small part of the whole picture we take on whats out there! Carry on!

 

[Mr. Spock]

My stuff is just me and my little examples. Were better off with a whole group passing stuff around. We are all impotent at policing them, Better than any lab IMHO! I'm just one small part of the whole picture we take on whats out there! Carry on!

I was thinking of testing and was thinking about automated data acquisition. Found a few potential models that have several inputs and measurement devices (thermocouples, humidity, voltage...etc.) and can dump the data right into excel real time. What I have come across so far is pricey but I do love my toys.

 

[jtakeman]

I was thinking of testing and was thinking about automated data acquisition. Found a few potential models that have several inputs and measurement devices (thermocouples, humidity, voltage...etc.) and can dump the data right into excel real time. What I have come across so far is pricey but I do love my toys.

Links? I too have looking into more technical things like data loggers. But the wife has other idea's on how I can spend some of the extra cash we have. I really wanted a multi-channel that would measure both convection and exhaust heat, Along with outside temp and humidity. They come with software that plots them on a graph that I could post. This would also help in the OAK war we see so commonly here. If I run it for 4 hours with oak hooked up and then another 4 with it removed we could see if the exhaust-convection temps changed drastically. Thats a whole other thread-Someday-maybe someday I just might!

 

[oldmountvernon]

Just a quick post, got up late and things to do. They did well overnight stove kept up Everyone knows i can lose it by morning, wasnt single digits out but high 20's
Pellet consumption used less then somersets for sure my brain is still fuzzy this morning lol but ill guess 3/4 bag