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Newberg Oregon here.

25 miles south of Portland

Lifer from the NW
 
I'm in the eastern side of WA Tri-Cities. I use Burnmaster Pellets $190 a ton. Quite of bit of ash though. It's all I can afford though. bjr23
 
Roadstar said:
Emilio said:
Who here in the forum lives in the Great Northwest?..check in, if you live in the Western Washington area, so I know who I can share any info (pellet prices..etc) with..

Puyallup, Washington checking in. I burn nothing but Bear Mountain. No I do not like the price bit I do not like Clean Burn and Blazers aren't hot enough. I don't like Clean Burn mainly because they are not normal/standard size.

Try a few bags of the Pacific Pellets. I'm finding they are on par with Bear Mtn and quite a bit cheaper at McLendons. They are cut almost as short as Bear Mtn so you should like them. I heard that this year CleanBurn is cutting their pellets a little shorter. I can't verify because my stash is from last year.
 
flynfrfun said:
Try a few bags of the Pacific Pellets. I'm finding they are on par with Bear Mtn and quite a bit cheaper at McLendons. They are cut almost as short as Bear Mtn so you should like them. I heard that this year CleanBurn is cutting their pellets a little shorter. I can't verify because my stash is from last year.

Clean Burn are also a fatter pellet than normal, at least they were the last time I used them. That shouldn’t be a problem though if they have shortened the length. I just might pick up a few bags and test them out. Four Bear Mountain Pellets laid side by side would equal an inch. Thanks for the input.
 
Clean Burn by the bag is 4.18 at ProBuild in Graham. About the same at Brookdale Lumber in Parkland. By the ton I have been buying them at Arrow lumber in Orting for 199.99 a ton.
 
flynfrfun said:
McLendon's just delivered this years supply of Pacific Pellets for me. 2 tons @ $211/ton.

Here are my favorites with most heat output on top:

-Bear Mtn 250F
-Pacific Pellet 240F
-North Idaho Energy 220F
-Cleanburn (Don't have exact data, but do remember then being slightly hotter than Blazers)
-Blazers 215F

Now in order of value (price vs heat output vs cleanliness) IMHO:

Pacific Pellet @$211/ton
Cleanburn @$200/ton
Blazers @$200/ton
North Idaho Energy @ $260/ton
Bear Mtn @$298/ton

As nice as the Bear Mtn burn, they just are not worth $100 more than the others. All these pellets leave a relatively low amount of ash compared to what some of the guys back East seem to report.
I am curious how you measure the heat output. I would like to try this myself.
 
I use my wife's meat thermometer. It's the type with a remote probe. I mount it to the stove so that the probe is centered inside one of the heat exchange tubes. The probe itself can't touch any metal for accurate air temp readings. Here are some pics...
 

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I live in Vancouver Washington across the river from Portland. Bear mountain is the best pellet out there. Northern Idaho Energy is a second choice. Anyone used the new pellets out of Redmond Oregon yet?
 
Eatonpcat said:
j-takeman said:
flynfrfun said:
McLendon's just delivered this years supply of Pacific Pellets for me. 2 tons @ $211/ton.

Here are my favorites with most heat output on top:

-Bear Mtn 250F
-Pacific Pellet 240F
-North Idaho Energy 220F
-Cleanburn (Don't have exact data, but do remember then being slightly hotter than Blazers)
-Blazers 215F

Now in order of value (price vs heat output vs cleanliness) IMHO:

Pacific Pellet @$211/ton
Cleanburn @$200/ton
Blazers @$200/ton
North Idaho Energy @ $260/ton
Bear Mtn @$298/ton

As nice as the Bear Mtn burn, they just are not worth $100 more than the others. All these pellets leave a relatively low amount of ash compared to what some of the guys back East seem to report.

Hey quit that! Your making me drool! ;-)

Got to go get another keyboard, again.

You tellin' fibs...I thought you used Dragon voice software!!! :-/

Only at work. Home I hunt and peck!
 
magentaman said:
I don't know about the mill in Redmond. But I was less than impressed with the stuff I got as samples from the mill in Prineville.

They offered me a couple of bags to burn, but I didn't feel like hauling them out of the Oregon State Fair. Have to hunt some up.
 
IronFire said:
I live in Vancouver Washington across the river from Portland. Bear mountain is the best pellet out there. Northern Idaho Energy is a second choice. Anyone used the new pellets out of Redmond Oregon yet?

Not sure if it's the mill you are talking about, but Pacific Pellets are made in Redmond. I'm burning them right now and I'm finding they are on par with Bear Mtn. Very much like them. Look at my other post for the heat ouput.
 
The ones from Prineville are made by Natures Pellets. Bags say Natures Fuel.

natures-fuel-logo.png


I have burned Bear Mountain in the past. Great pellet. I don't think they are any better then what I burn from my local mill. I save about $50.00 a ton going with Clean Burns.
 
Fall City here.

I tried the $164.00 a ton(Eagle Valley) pellets from Sultan as well. Those were the ashiest and most dirty pellets I have ever tried. Never again. I do not exxagerate when I say these pellets probably produced at least 2 quarts of ash per bag.

Blazers seemed to provide the best value. A few bags I bought this year were actually cleaner than last years. I would have had a couple tons sitting here except HD stuck me with a pallet that had gotten wet. I noticed the Redmond HD no longer has Blazers, they have some weird brand from Montanna.

I tried North Idaho and wasn't all that impressed. They seemed to be on par with the Prest-o-logs brand I picked up from Lowes after getting jacked by Home Depot. :)

They are at least twice as ashy as the Blazers I had been burning and much more expensive.

I have never tried cleanburn as HD has always priced them out but may this year. My in laws painted the sky with Atlas but I guess they went out of business.


At any rate, what I do know is that having grown up here in Western Wa, and after my burning experience, I definitely prefer a Douglas Fir pellet as the stench of both the pellet and the smoke and even the appearance of the flame are all familiar and pleasant to me.
 
I would agree about the North Idaho Energy pellets. They are a nice looking pellet (like Bear Mtn) with a reddish tint. But, I was surprised at their relatively low heat ouput. They were about the same as Blazers, but they go for anywhere from $260 to $300/ton. No way I'd be buying them for that price. They had almost zero fines though, but all the others I have tried only have a tablespoon or 2 of fines anyways.

By far, the best value for the dollar is Pacific Pellet. Similarly priced to Blazers and Cleanburn but a lot hotter.
 
flynfrfun said:
I would agree about the North Idaho Energy pellets. They are a nice looking pellet (like Bear Mtn) with a reddish tint. But, I was surprised at their relatively low heat ouput. They were about the same as Blazers, but they go for anywhere from $260 to $300/ton. No way I'd be buying them for that price. They had almost zero fines though, but all the others I have tried only have a tablespoon or 2 of fines anyways.

By far, the best value for the dollar is Pacific Pellet. Similarly priced to Blazers and Cleanburn but a lot hotter.

Where do you find the Pacific Pellets. I would like to pick up a few bags to try out.
 
I got mine at McLendon's in Sumner.
 
I talked to Mark in lumber and he gave them to me at their sale price of $211/ton if I bought 2 tons. They had just raised their price when I decided to get them last week. Try a few bags to see what you think. For similar heat output and cleanliness, they are still $50 cheaper than Bear Mtns. But, if you get them on sale, they are hard to beat.
 
I'm a wood guy, currently, and enjoying our nice stage 2 burn ban. Grew up in Silverdale and now live in Bonney Lake. I work a stone's throw from McLendons in Sumner and daily drive my diesel pickup to work. Don't pay 85$ delivery for one or two tons, I can easily have a ton forked into the bed.
 
flynfrfun said:
12/13/11: Edited to adjust Pacific Pellet's heat output.

McLendon's just delivered this years supply of Pacific Pellets for me. 2 tons @ $211/ton.

Here are my favorites with most heat output on top:

-Bear Mtn 250F
-Pacific Pellet 250F
-North Idaho Energy 220F
-Cleanburn (Don't have exact data, but do remember then being slightly hotter than Blazers)
-Blazers 215F

Now in order of value (price vs heat output vs cleanliness) IMHO:

Pacific Pellet @$211/ton
Cleanburn @$200/ton
Blazers @$200/ton
North Idaho Energy @ $260/ton
Bear Mtn @$298/ton

As nice as the Bear Mtn burn, they just are not worth $100 more than the others. All these pellets leave a relatively low amount of ash compared to what some of the guys back East seem to report.

Interesting post flyn. Probably not big news to some on this forum. I am a rep for a company that makes pellet stoves. When we go to the lab for stove testing, the only pellet we will use is Bear Mountain. Heat output is not the only thing we are looking for. Ash content and emissions are a big part of it too. I met the guys from Pacific pellet at the Oregon state fair. They offered me a few bags to try. I declined then but next time I am through Redmond I will stop at the mill. Had a dealer tell me that they were increasing their prices.
 
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