Pellets to Avoid

[Turbo-Quad]

Well I had 7 bags of OHP's left over from last year (the first year I got the burner) and I stacked this seasons Somersets on top of them. I have just got to the bottom of one column of somersets and reached the OHP's. I burned a bag yeasterday and I now have to put it on this list. I didn't know any better last year because I had not burned a good pellet. The OHP's are horrible compared to the Somersets. Orange flame, dusty, long pellets some over 2", little heat, very dirty pot after one bag and ash everywhere. No wonder I was cleaning my stove twice a day last year. I wouldn't use these unless it was the only thing left on the shelf in Mid January. I'll blend the remaing 6 bags off in the hopper with the Somersets.

 

[Lineman30]

Well I had 7 bags of OHP's left over from last year (the first year I got the burner) and I stacked this seasons Somersets on top of them. I have just got to the bottom of one column of somersets and reached the OHP's. I burned a bag yeasterday and I now have to put it on this list. I didn't know any better last year because I had not burned a good pellet. The OHP's are horrible compared to the Somersets. Orange flame, dusty, long pellets some over 2", little heat, very dirty pot after one bag and ash everywhere. No wonder I was cleaning my stove twice a day last year. I wouldn't use these unless it was the only thing left on the shelf in Mid January. I'll blend the remaing 6 bags off in the hopper with the Somersets.

Well, my OHP's are just like how you describe orange flame and heat is average and pretty much a ashy pellet. But that's all I've burned for 3 seasons so I really don't know any different. I really wish I had more choices like the rest of the country. 100 bags to go and I'm on the search for something different.

 

[Turbo-Quad]

If you bought your OHP's at Menards like I did, they are now carrying Somersets. Not sure if they do that nationwide but Somersets are out of Kentucky I believe. Green Way is another one I have tried recently and it seems to be comparable to Somersets. I got those from Rural King if you have one of those nearby it might be worth looking into. I think I would burn corn before I would buy OHP's again.

 

[daydreamer]

Our local Menards at first only had OHP but now they have both Somerset and OHP. I would put OHP at the bottom of my list of pellets to burn (too much ash).
Have you noticed a lot of fines in the Greenways you bought? I got a couple of tons of the Greenways and they seem to have a lot of fines. They burn good with only a little ash though.

 

[peacockrocks]

avoid pellets stored outside.

Eric

why should you avoid pellets stored outside? having my first pellet stove installed tomorrow and we purchased a ton yesterday that were stored outside, on a pallet, with a heavy plastic tarp covering them. i noticed when loading that they have pinholes in all the bags (which made me think that the pellets need to 'breath' or something). we promptly brought all the bags into the house for storage. should i be concerned? the brand is curran, if it matters.

 

[PelletFiend]

Bayou, Inferno, Appling County, Tree Cycle, American Energex, Michigan's, Corinths

I thought Treecycle was better now. Am I missing something?

According to my dealer, TreeCycle re-assessed their raw materials and re-launched this season with a better product. I bought a couple of tons and then are OK, not awesome.

If there were 3 categories: "Great", "Just OK" and like this topic "Pellets to Avoid", I would put them in the middle. They burn fairly well, a clinker every 3 bags or so and a fair amount of ash; they were $40 less per ton than Lignetics. Lignestics on the other hand are cleaner and burn hotter and I can't recall a time I had a clinker with Lignetics.

My 2cents on pellets to Avoid:
Appling Country - agree - I got 2 free bags with a large order as a thank you and they sucked - dirty as can be
Pennington - From Lowes last year; dirty and not very hot at all. Woke me up to really low quality pellets out there.

On the edge - Stove Chow - last year they were ashy and stunk.

-Scott

 

[PelletFiend]

avoid pellets stored outside.

Eric

why should you avoid pellets stored outside? having my first pellet stove installed tomorrow and we purchased a ton yesterday that were stored outside, on a pallet, with a heavy plastic tarp covering them. i noticed when loading that they have pinholes in all the bags (which made me think that the pellets need to 'breath' or something). we promptly brought all the bags into the house for storage. should i be concerned? the brand is curran, if it matters.

So the worry here is that they get wet - which then puffs up the pellet like animal bedding, rendering it useless. If the heavy sleeve is over the pellets, not ripped and they still have a shrink wrap you should be good from outright leaks and ruined pellets.

I think bringing them into a warm house or even a dry basement will eventually dry them out to a low moisture level. If they absorbed a bit of moisture in the wild when shrink wrapped and sleeved, then they should equilibrate back to your household moisture level in due time.

 

[Excell]

test post

 

[Emta17]

Tree Cycle SUCKS..Here is why

I have burnt 38 bags of TC pellets. They have formed alot of clinkers in my Breckwell P23 freestanding stove. I have never had a problem with any other pellet. The issues I am having with these pellets are the following;
- Glass soots up extremely quickly
- Odd odor when burnt
- Clinkers galore
- Pellets will not burn completely
- Very High ash content
- lazy flame
Prior to the heating season I cleaned the entrie interior combution chamber. Since I started burning these pellets I have had to re clean everything as well as checke the air intake hose, adjusted the low feed rate setting (currently set on the lowest setting), added air flow, took away air flow and nothing has worked. The pellets are still burning dirty and messy. When I say messy that within 10 minutes the glass soots up and within an hour the entrie glass is black.

I have contacted Mike Zanetti at [email protected] and they seemed committed to helping me at first. Mike has mentioned that I may have gotten a “bad batchâ€. After trying to contact him numerous times he has yet to re-contact me. Obviously, they are not standing behind their product!

So I had cleaned the stove again prior to a baby sitter coming over last night (12/4/10) so that my wife and I could go out. We left at 8:30 pm and were back by 11:30. They stove had shut off due to clinker overload and the pellets “fusing togetherâ€. I cleaned out the clinkers, turned the stove on and went back to bed. The stove again was shut down by morning. I again cleaned the clinkers, and the combution chambers. I noticed that two of the chambers were full of ash (the ones on the side of the stove). I mean they were completely clogged . I re-cleaned them and restarted the stove. The stove shut down and the number 2 light flashed. Looking up the online manual for Breckwell I saw that the #2 light indicated an air flow problem. I took apart the venting (less than 3 months after cleaning the vent pipe) and there was a considerable amount of ash build up. The ashes were large (not fine) and the arrester screen was almost completely blocked.

Next, I had a friend drop off two bags of Energex pellets on 12/5/10. I re-started the stove and the flame is crisp, the glass is not sooting up and everything appears “normal†with the stoves operation. The stove has been burning the Energex pellets for 5 hours and it is great. I am going to shut down the stove, re-clean the glass and try the TC pellets one last time!

NOW, on december 17th I have still had numerous problems with the Tree Cycle LLC pellets. I again had to clean the vent pipe (twice within 12 days!) in which I measured 8 ounces of ash to come out of it. The pipe is maximum 9 feet in length with a 2 foot horizontal run. I attempted to contact Mike Zanetti again and he has not called be back nor has he emailed me. The tree cycle pellets are junk and a waste of time. I brought the remaining 62 bags that I owned back to the distributor and got other pellets that are burning fine. So it is obsiously not the stove or any of its components! Shame on tree cycle for not standing behind their product.


If anyone wants I can post pictures of all the issues I have mentined in this posting. Let me know..

 

[rehabbingisgreen]

Well I had 7 bags of OHP's left over from last year (the first year I got the burner) and I stacked this seasons Somersets on top of them. I have just got to the bottom of one column of somersets and reached the OHP's. I burned a bag yeasterday and I now have to put it on this list. I didn't know any better last year because I had not burned a good pellet. The OHP's are horrible compared to the Somersets. Orange flame, dusty, long pellets some over 2", little heat, very dirty pot after one bag and ash everywhere. No wonder I was cleaning my stove twice a day last year. I wouldn't use these unless it was the only thing left on the shelf in Mid January. I'll blend the remaing 6 bags off in the hopper with the Somersets.

Well, my OHP's are just like how you describe orange flame and heat is average and pretty much a ashy pellet. But that's all I've burned for 3 seasons so I really don't know any different. I really wish I had more choices like the rest of the country. 100 bags to go and I'm on the search for something different.

I started on OHP's because that is the only pellet I could find locally. I had no idea the difference another brand would make!

 

[slls]

Tree Cycle SUCKS..Here is why

I have burnt 38 bags of TC pellets. They have formed alot of clinkers in my Breckwell P23 freestanding stove. I have never had a problem with any other pellet. The issues I am having with these pellets are the following;
- Glass soots up extremely quickly
- Odd odor when burnt
- Clinkers galore
- Pellets will not burn completely
- Very High ash content
- lazy flame
Prior to the heating season I cleaned the entrie interior combution chamber. Since I started burning these pellets I have had to re clean everything as well as checke the air intake hose, adjusted the low feed rate setting (currently set on the lowest setting), added air flow, took away air flow and nothing has worked. The pellets are still burning dirty and messy. When I say messy that within 10 minutes the glass soots up and within an hour the entrie glass is black.

I have contacted Mike Zanetti at [email protected] and they seemed committed to helping me at first. Mike has mentioned that I may have gotten a “bad batchâ€. After trying to contact him numerous times he has yet to re-contact me. Obviously, they are not standing behind their product!

So I had cleaned the stove again prior to a baby sitter coming over last night (12/4/10) so that my wife and I could go out. We left at 8:30 pm and were back by 11:30. They stove had shut off due to clinker overload and the pellets “fusing togetherâ€. I cleaned out the clinkers, turned the stove on and went back to bed. The stove again was shut down by morning. I again cleaned the clinkers, and the combution chambers. I noticed that two of the chambers were full of ash (the ones on the side of the stove). I mean they were completely clogged . I re-cleaned them and restarted the stove. The stove shut down and the number 2 light flashed. Looking up the online manual for Breckwell I saw that the #2 light indicated an air flow problem. I took apart the venting (less than 3 months after cleaning the vent pipe) and there was a considerable amount of ash build up. The ashes were large (not fine) and the arrester screen was almost completely blocked.

Next, I had a friend drop off two bags of Energex pellets on 12/5/10. I re-started the stove and the flame is crisp, the glass is not sooting up and everything appears “normal†with the stoves operation. The stove has been burning the Energex pellets for 5 hours and it is great. I am going to shut down the stove, re-clean the glass and try the TC pellets one last time!

NOW, on december 17th I have still had numerous problems with the Tree Cycle LLC pellets. I again had to clean the vent pipe (twice within 12 days!) in which I measured 8 ounces of ash to come out of it. The pipe is maximum 9 feet in length with a 2 foot horizontal run. I attempted to contact Mike Zanetti again and he has not called be back nor has he emailed me. The tree cycle pellets are junk and a waste of time. I brought the remaining 62 bags that I owned back to the distributor and got other pellets that are burning fine. So it is obsiously not the stove or any of its components! Shame on tree cycle for not standing behind their product.


If anyone wants I can post pictures of all the issues I have mentined in this posting. Let me know..

Can't go wrong with Energex.

 

[ADVA]

Tree Cycle SUCKS..Here is why

I have burnt 38 bags of TC pellets. They have formed alot of clinkers in my Breckwell P23 freestanding stove. I have never had a problem with any other pellet. The issues I am having with these pellets are the following;
- Glass soots up extremely quickly
- Odd odor when burnt
- Clinkers galore
- Pellets will not burn completely
- Very High ash content
- lazy flame
Prior to the heating season I cleaned the entrie interior combution chamber. Since I started burning these pellets I have had to re clean everything as well as checke the air intake hose, adjusted the low feed rate setting (currently set on the lowest setting), added air flow, took away air flow and nothing has worked. The pellets are still burning dirty and messy. When I say messy that within 10 minutes the glass soots up and within an hour the entrie glass is black.

I have contacted Mike Zanetti at [email protected] and they seemed committed to helping me at first. Mike has mentioned that I may have gotten a “bad batchâ€. After trying to contact him numerous times he has yet to re-contact me. Obviously, they are not standing behind their product!

So I had cleaned the stove again prior to a baby sitter coming over last night (12/4/10) so that my wife and I could go out. We left at 8:30 pm and were back by 11:30. They stove had shut off due to clinker overload and the pellets “fusing togetherâ€. I cleaned out the clinkers, turned the stove on and went back to bed. The stove again was shut down by morning. I again cleaned the clinkers, and the combution chambers. I noticed that two of the chambers were full of ash (the ones on the side of the stove). I mean they were completely clogged . I re-cleaned them and restarted the stove. The stove shut down and the number 2 light flashed. Looking up the online manual for Breckwell I saw that the #2 light indicated an air flow problem. I took apart the venting (less than 3 months after cleaning the vent pipe) and there was a considerable amount of ash build up. The ashes were large (not fine) and the arrester screen was almost completely blocked.

Next, I had a friend drop off two bags of Energex pellets on 12/5/10. I re-started the stove and the flame is crisp, the glass is not sooting up and everything appears “normal†with the stoves operation. The stove has been burning the Energex pellets for 5 hours and it is great. I am going to shut down the stove, re-clean the glass and try the TC pellets one last time!

NOW, on december 17th I have still had numerous problems with the Tree Cycle LLC pellets. I again had to clean the vent pipe (twice within 12 days!) in which I measured 8 ounces of ash to come out of it. The pipe is maximum 9 feet in length with a 2 foot horizontal run. I attempted to contact Mike Zanetti again and he has not called be back nor has he emailed me. The tree cycle pellets are junk and a waste of time. I brought the remaining 62 bags that I owned back to the distributor and got other pellets that are burning fine. So it is obsiously not the stove or any of its components! Shame on tree cycle for not standing behind their product.


If anyone wants I can post pictures of all the issues I have mentined in this posting. Let me know..

Can't go wrong with Energex.

TC is a much larger company now & Mike is not the only one calling the shots.
So if someone made a bad decision it’s coming back to them.

However I have found if pellets get moisture logged from improper storage.
Kind-of does the same thing.

I bought 22 tons & even sell them now.
The ones I have the ash is like baby powder.
Not even rough to the touch.

Your issue is worse than anyone had when TC had their growing pains
starting their new mill up.

Something is afoot.
I know Mike & am sure he will be looking into it.
I will call him this week about it.

 

[Alternative Guy]

TC is a much larger company now & Mike is not the only one calling the shots.
So if someone made a bad decision it’s coming back to them.

However I have found if pellets get moisture logged from improper storage.
Kind-of does the same thing.

I bought 22 tons & even sell them now.
The ones I have the ash is like baby powder.
Not even rough to the touch.

Your issue is worse than anyone had when TC had their growing pains
starting their new mill up.

Something is afoot.
I know Mike & am sure he will be looking into it.
I will call him this week about it.

Treecycle is a little smaller now. Mr. T was fired as manager, according to sources in the company. He remains an investor. This thread is about pellet performance, and I respect that. However, I would agree with comments elsewhere regarding the daily operation of this plant. This company is struggling with several issues in addition to pellet uniformity, including coming into compliance with DEP emissions standards and the local sound level ordinance. There is a cease and desist order under appeal regarding noise and vibration, in addition to the proper storage of raw materials. Time will tell if they can get their house in order.

 

[Bigjim1983]

Tree Cycle SUCKS..Here is why

I have burnt 38 bags of TC pellets. They have formed alot of clinkers in my Breckwell P23 freestanding stove. I have never had a problem with any other pellet. The issues I am having with these pellets are the following;
- Glass soots up extremely quickly
- Odd odor when burnt
- Clinkers galore
- Pellets will not burn completely
- Very High ash content
- lazy flame
Prior to the heating season I cleaned the entrie interior combution chamber. Since I started burning these pellets I have had to re clean everything as well as checke the air intake hose, adjusted the low feed rate setting (currently set on the lowest setting), added air flow, took away air flow and nothing has worked. The pellets are still burning dirty and messy. When I say messy that within 10 minutes the glass soots up and within an hour the entrie glass is black.

I have contacted Mike Zanetti at [email protected] and they seemed committed to helping me at first. Mike has mentioned that I may have gotten a “bad batchâ€. After trying to contact him numerous times he has yet to re-contact me. Obviously, they are not standing behind their product!

So I had cleaned the stove again prior to a baby sitter coming over last night (12/4/10) so that my wife and I could go out. We left at 8:30 pm and were back by 11:30. They stove had shut off due to clinker overload and the pellets “fusing togetherâ€. I cleaned out the clinkers, turned the stove on and went back to bed. The stove again was shut down by morning. I again cleaned the clinkers, and the combution chambers. I noticed that two of the chambers were full of ash (the ones on the side of the stove). I mean they were completely clogged . I re-cleaned them and restarted the stove. The stove shut down and the number 2 light flashed. Looking up the online manual for Breckwell I saw that the #2 light indicated an air flow problem. I took apart the venting (less than 3 months after cleaning the vent pipe) and there was a considerable amount of ash build up. The ashes were large (not fine) and the arrester screen was almost completely blocked.

Next, I had a friend drop off two bags of Energex pellets on 12/5/10. I re-started the stove and the flame is crisp, the glass is not sooting up and everything appears “normal†with the stoves operation. The stove has been burning the Energex pellets for 5 hours and it is great. I am going to shut down the stove, re-clean the glass and try the TC pellets one last time!

NOW, on december 17th I have still had numerous problems with the Tree Cycle LLC pellets. I again had to clean the vent pipe (twice within 12 days!) in which I measured 8 ounces of ash to come out of it. The pipe is maximum 9 feet in length with a 2 foot horizontal run. I attempted to contact Mike Zanetti again and he has not called be back nor has he emailed me. The tree cycle pellets are junk and a waste of time. I brought the remaining 62 bags that I owned back to the distributor and got other pellets that are burning fine. So it is obsiously not the stove or any of its components! Shame on tree cycle for not standing behind their product.


If anyone wants I can post pictures of all the issues I have mentined in this posting. Let me know..

I have had the same results this year. I started the season with my remaining bags of Hamer's, and they burned great. These TC pellets are just awful. My ash pan fills up twice a week, and I have to perform a full cleaning once every two weeks, or I will get poor heat. I have learned my lesson with these pellets, and will never buy three tons without trying a few bags first.

 

[Regor]

Well I had 7 bags of OHP's left over from last year (the first year I got the burner) and I stacked this seasons Somersets on top of them. I have just got to the bottom of one column of somersets and reached the OHP's. I burned a bag yeasterday and I now have to put it on this list. I didn't know any better last year because I had not burned a good pellet. The OHP's are horrible compared to the Somersets. Orange flame, dusty, long pellets some over 2", little heat, very dirty pot after one bag and ash everywhere. No wonder I was cleaning my stove twice a day last year. I wouldn't use these unless it was the only thing left on the shelf in Mid January. I'll blend the remaing 6 bags off in the hopper with the Somersets.

Well, my OHP's are just like how you describe orange flame and heat is average and pretty much a ashy pellet. But that's all I've burned for 3 seasons so I really don't know any different. I really wish I had more choices like the rest of the country. 100 bags to go and I'm on the search for something different.

I started on OHP's because that is the only pellet I could find locally. I had no idea the difference another brand would make!

Ditto on the OHP's.

Not sure what part of Missouri you're in, rehabbingisgreen, but Rocky Mountains are pretty easy to find in my neck of the woods - between KC and Springfield. They seem to be the best pellet of the brands I have tried. They do cost a bit more than the OHP's, but are far superior IMO. Last week Rocky Mountains were selling for 194.00 per ton and OHP's were at 170.00.

 

[Countryboymo]

I am in w central also and the rockys burned the cleanest so far. I am running pro pellets with 2400lbs left but get quite a bit of ash compared to rockys. I also just learned Tractor Supply is carrying somersets now for under 4 bucks a bag. I will be picking up 4-5 bags and trying them out in the next week or so. From my research the somersets will be the best pellet available in w central mo that I can get a hold of.

 

[sparkydog00]

Worst pellet award goes to Maine Woods....
This was last years crop...
As stated...these pellets work best when used for traction on icy walkways...

 

[jtakeman]

This season its Okies(Okanagan), Hamers, Barefoots, Somersets, Spruce Pointes and Cubex. All reporting to be high in ash and clinkers gallore'! I might have even missed a brand or 2?

There is a bright side
If anyone has these and doesn't want them. SmokeyTheBear and I will gladly take them off your hands. A slight disposal fee may be charged? Depending on situation this could be waved.

Oops almost forgot Hardwood Heat and Agways brand. (scratching head!) I know I missed one somewhere!

 

[chris288]

I've burned fireside, energex, stove chow, warm front, instant heat, freedom fuel, dry creek, and probably a few more brands over the past 14 seasons. As we speak I have ~ 20 bags of warm front, ~ 20 bags of instant heat, 2 tons of Freedom Fuel and 1 ton of stove chow, all burn without issue. When I had my top load whitfield the pellet brands that had long pellets burned best, like warm front, instant heat and dry creek, short pellets like the energex gave off good heat but burned up quick and fell through the grate. With our new bottom feed Harman XXV i prefer the short pellets as the longer ones tend the get caught and " SNAP " in the auger. Each pellet has their pros and cons, depending on the stove your feeding them through. To me it all comes down to price, 189.00 a ton for stove chow from HD beat out 289.00 a ton for dry creek every time. A few BTU's less or a little more ash I could care less.

 

[nhdblfan]

Maine's Choice !


almost done the last of the crap I bought last year (stored inside and they sucked last year too !)

Never give them one penny again!