# Amish Gravity Feed Pellet Stove? Buyer Beware



## Lake Girl (Nov 7, 2014)

Don't know what to think of this guy - but I'm thinking snake oil.
Never heard of the stove manufacturers he mentions and can't find them on line.  Some names are close but...
Saw this on e-bay for $2750 which got me curious:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/AMISH-GRAVIT...LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51c56b7a07&_uhb=1
No name of manufacturer & not tested apparently.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BAY-WINDOW-...PELLET-STOVE-Multi-fuel-Capable-/350571358890
Manufacturer: American Pellet Recycle Industries, Ltd. (seems to be associated with Vancouver BC testing at Warnock-Hersey)

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Forced-Air-I...828?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27efbe2e2c
*THE FORCED-AIR DUCTOR MODEL II (TWO)
MULTI-FUEL FURNACE, either STAND-ALONE or DUCT CONNECT
CORN & WOOD PELLET MULTIFUEL FURNACE (STOVE)
MODEL II has 105 BTU/HR will heat up to 4,000 SQ FT*

From his ad for this stove; s*ome of his comments make this guy potentially very dangerous*
*LONG PIPE RUNS:* It does not matter how far you run your Flue Exhaust Pipe as you can always use 4 inch Stainless Steel FLEX pipe to run any distance and if your need a flue exhaust booster fan (probably not), then you can install one. 
The 4" Flue Exhaust Pipe is Type L double-wall with the inside wall made out of stainless steel.

Also in his ad:
It was Safety Tested by Warnock Hersey and Listed to CAN/CSA B366.1-M91, ULC-C 391-99. Manufacturer: American Heating Systems 
Domain name just registered: http://www.americanheatingsystems.com/defaultsite

This seller uses cornstovesiowa and http://www.richarddodgeproductions.com/servlet/the-349/Wood-Pellet-Stove/Detail as he's also a concert promoter


----------



## tjnamtiw (Nov 7, 2014)

Be careful.  Be VERY careful!  That second ebay offering with the Bay Window was impossible for me to even read!  Everyone uses the Amish as a gimmick to sell stuff.  Truth be know, they burn coal!  They SURE don't use those Amish ELECTRIC heaters that surface every fall on the info-mercials.  My guess these are coming straight from China and imported by some 'There's a sucker born every minute' shyster.


----------



## pell it (Nov 7, 2014)

http://breckwell.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=874

looks like this one.


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 7, 2014)

I know, Amish stay away from modern technologies like electricity, telephone service, etc.   It wasn't so much the Amish reference as the gravity feed that made me look...  Started reading his ads and clearly he is not a pellet or multi-fuel user.  Scary that he could con someone and they will end up with a stove that voids their insurance and is a fire waiting to happen (L vent - really)

I figured that most of them are knock-offs but I went through and tried to find the stated manufacturer just for the heck of it.


----------



## OhioBurner© (Nov 8, 2014)

pell it said:


> http://breckwell.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=874
> 
> looks like this one.



Interesting. Must be a typo in the specs it says up to 35 lb hopper yet right above it in description says 80 lb hopper. 
6" flue collar, again interesting.

I wonder how long it can burn before manually cranking the handle or however you load it. If I had a location without power a nice ol' radiant wood stove seems to already fit the bill.


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 8, 2014)

Looked at the ad again - Manufacturer: Amish Made America.  Can't find them...

Don't back away slowly ... RUN


----------



## bags (Nov 8, 2014)

In my searching for stoves I saw many questionable adds on Ebay. Wouldn't buy one from there to begin with but that's just me.

I have seen another one I am questioning that is supposedly made in China and marketed as an HP22 some Hongsheng something or other. I have seen it in several places advertised at $1,199.00 and free shipping. Google HP22 Hongsheng and look at those sketchy sites.

It is all over Craigslist as a US "ComfortBilt HP22" coming out of some place in North Carolina. At first they were from Germany. Really?

Supposedly "Bronxboy" bought one here. I PM'ed him asking about it and after the initial "it's awesome" schpeel....... No response. Sent several more PM's asking how it was and for some pics.............No response after several more PM's Dude disappeared. He was the guy in NYC that started a thread about wanting a pellet stove. Sid he was 66 and drove a Prius and on his eulogy wanted some crap about being "green." He had the 1,100 SQ FT Row House with a yard and garage to store pellets in. OK, so you have a garage and a yard. BS!

I think this is also on Amazon. Just not sure about the whole deal................. Very questionable. There is some guy Glenn at SMG Hearth? that answers a mobile phone number and has had some bs answers like "Using this stove you will only burn $2 to $3 per day in pellets." I asked, are they in stock? "I have some coming in two days" or "they are stuck on a container ship in Virginia Beach and customs has them held up."

Yea, OK! I call BULLCHIT! It smells a little weird to me. See what you pellet vets think about this one.


----------



## sandpipe (Nov 8, 2014)

But wouldn't a reliable electric free pellet stove be a wonderful thing? It can't be as unattainable as cold fusion or perpetual motion, can it?

I always imagine the motors being powered by electricity generated by the stoves heat. Ten years from now maybe we will all be using such an invention!


----------



## titanracer (Nov 8, 2014)

I wouldn't say RUN away fast, just not enough info on what they are producing. I live damn near to Lancaster county in PA., this is 99.9% Amish county. They produce everything there self & sell, that's there money income, just like you go to work. What I am saying, they produce good quality made items and they are stepping into this kind of stuff, because demand is high, make money. The quality in there wood working, is second to none, they don't make junk like you get from Walmart, it is 1st grade quality. Metal working items, welding and bending to produce something, there quality is 2nd to none. They all ready make wood stoves, there not really a complex item to make or produce. Now they are maybe getting into pellets stoves, which is not a bad thing because demand is high for these items and they do, do, a excellent job on the quality of everything they make. Not cutting these folks up in anyway, they a hard working people, but that's there income, living money. Heck, they still drive horse & buggy's, they still go to 1 room school houses, not in public schools. This doesn't make them bad people or produce bad items that you have to run, you just don't hear of what they can produce because they don't spend lots of money to advertise. Advertising is a expensive thing to do, they do very little of that to save money, but normally what they produce, is normally better than anything you find in a big businesses. I would LOVE to try a Amish made stove. They make a good looking wood stove. they put lots of quality & detail into everything they do. Everything new that comes out, there are bugs you have to work out, but learning and getting those bugs worked out of your product, makes high quality items, and that is something they will do over time as more of these items sell. Next they will get into wood pellets to, if not already doing it. They will have bugs to work out, but over time, those items will be 2nd to none then what you buy at big businesses.


----------



## OhioBurner© (Nov 8, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> Looked at the ad again - Manufacturer: Amish Made America.  Can't find them...
> 
> Don't back away slowly ... RUN



Did you see the post by 'pell it'? Its pretty obvious its a Breckwell stove. They even used the exact same image files off Breckwell's website.


----------



## Jason845845 (Nov 8, 2014)

bags said:


> In my searching for stoves I saw many questionable adds on Ebay. Wouldn't buy one from there to begin with but that's just me.
> 
> I have seen another one I am questioning that is supposedly made in China and marketed as an HP22 some Hongsheng something or other. I have seen it in several places advertised at $1,199.00 and free shipping. Google HP22 Hongsheng and look at those sketchy sites.
> 
> ...



It isn't the "vets" that we need to be concerned about...it's the "noobs" thay are going to get taken for a ride!


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 8, 2014)

Not knocking the Amish or their work quality - I have seen beautiful items from quilts to wood furniture.  I have also seen some of the wood cookstoves and yes quality too.  But this particular item may/may not be Amish made ... especially when you start looking at some of the other units he sells.

What drew me to the ad was the gravity feed ... As I'm sitting here, I ponder what could be done with a spring mechanism similar to a pendulum clock.  Could potentially meter out pellets but what distortions to the feed would occur with heat ... 

I think chickenman out of Australia is working with Ningbo Hongsheng Fireplace Co for his stoves...  I'm thinking many of the US manufacturers of stoves are sourcing castings out of Asia (maybe the whole stove...)


----------



## OhioBurner© (Nov 8, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> But this particular item may/may not be Amish made ...


Absolutely not Amish made. Unless, perhaps, there are one or two Amish assembling a couple of the trim pieces or perhaps the pallet it ships on and they can then call it Amish made.


----------



## mustangwagz (Nov 8, 2014)

the local amish here are making and selling pellets. i havent gotten any yet but ive seen the pallets of them. they're in an clear plastic bag, no label or nuttin. i though it was rabbit food but then i thought..hmm...4 tons of rabbit food...thats a hell of alot of bunnies...then it hit me and i asked. haha. then i walked into the saw shop and seen one running. the guy had it rigged up on a battery and converter alogn with a solar charger. interesting eh!? lol


----------



## Bioburner (Nov 8, 2014)

Gravity feed, isn't that what gets pellets into the auger from the hopper?


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 8, 2014)

Bioburner said:


> Gravity feed, isn't that what gets pellets into the auger from the hopper?



But how do you get the auger to turn without power?  Hand crank but then your babysitting ...



mustangwagz said:


> the local amish here are making and selling pellets.  then i walked into the saw shop and seen one running. the guy had it rigged up on a battery and converter alogn with a solar charger. interesting eh!? lol



What kind of pressure are they using to get them through the die?  If they aren't using high enough pressure, you have bedding pellets for those bunnies, horses


----------



## RMongeau (Nov 8, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> But how do you get the auger to turn without power?  Hand crank but then your babysitting ...
> 
> 
> 
> What kind of pressure are they using to get them through the die?  If they aren't using high enough pressure, you have bedding pellets for those bunnies, horses




Can't be any worse than these pellets.....only 3.38% ash
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Cheap-wood-pellet-fuel-for-sale_60034509933.html?s=p


----------



## Bioburner (Nov 8, 2014)

Our local Amish are willing to use gas and diesel engines and power various shop tools and air tools.


----------



## mustangwagz (Nov 8, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> What kind of pressure are they using to get them through the die?  If they aren't using high enough pressure, you have bedding pellets for those bunnies, horses


 


Bioburner said:


> Our local Amish are willing to use gas and diesel engines and power various shop tools and air tools.


Just like this person said, theyve apparently got the mills to make them now. Diesel power plants to run their sawmills and such id imagine they just hook up another belt and run the other equipment they need. ours are menanites? just cant have rubber tires on stuff and some other odd rules. i never researched the amish details to know the difference. all i know is they do good work and sell good stuff cheap. hence why i buy saw stuff from them. haha. hell get any type of 20" chain for my saw for 11 bucks. a 12 pack of files for 4 bucks. and they dont buy junk stuff either. i picked up a whole pile of felling wedges last year as gifts for friends, even for women! lol (work nicely for door stops and nice to have in your car incase someone locks their keys inside..grab your wedge and jam it between door and roof..haha)


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 8, 2014)

Apparently Amish are an off-shoot of the Mennonite religious groups...  Amish being more reluctant to adopt modern technologies.  Share beliefs of non-resistance, adult baptism, and in some cases plain clothing.  Some Mennonite groups are more inclined to have electricity, telephones, computers, and drive plain/dark vehicles.  My kids had a teacher who was Mennonite ... kinda funny in that his children were home-schooled until high school.  The groups in PA might be closer lifestyle-wise than the local Mennonites.

Back to the pellets ... try some out and let us know how they work for you.  With all the milling and wood-working, logical use of left-overs.


----------



## mustangwagz (Nov 8, 2014)

i do intend on getting a few bags to try. like a moron i didnt get a price on tons tho. i have a one track mind sometimes. i get distracted when im near powertools and other fun stuff. lol i appologize to everyone.. my bad. i will report back on prices tho.


----------



## tjnamtiw (Nov 8, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> But how do you get the auger to turn without power?  Hand crank but then your babysitting ...
> 
> 
> 
> What kind of pressure are they using to get them through the die?  If they aren't using high enough pressure, you have bedding pellets for those bunnies, horses


No, it says you pull a handle and it drops 10 # of pellets at ONE TIME! And it says you can pull the handle two or three times to drop up to 30# so it burns over nite. It sounds like they are using the pellets as a form of regular wood.  It's almost like hand feeding a coal fire.  There's nothing like that being offered by any other manufacturer that I know of.


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 9, 2014)

In tracking down info on another pellet (Dejno's, WI), I came across a dealer's facebook page that mentioned these as being Amish made:
http://www.grenheat.com/home.php  Compressed hardwood bricks.



tjnamtiw said:


> No, it says you pull a handle and it drops 10 # of pellets at ONE TIME! And it says you can pull the handle two or three times to drop up to 30# so it burns over nite. It sounds like they are using the pellets as a form of regular wood.  It's almost like hand feeding a coal fire.  There's nothing like that being offered by any other manufacturer that I know of.



I caught that - my response was in relation to Bioburner's comment on the hopper being gravity feed.  My question would be why not just use a regular wood stove?  And the compressed bricks if you don't want to deal with firewood?

Nothing like it offered by another manufacturer - good thing or bad?


----------



## OhioBurner© (Nov 9, 2014)

Well around here the compressed bricks are more expensive per pound than pellets. But at least with a woodstove you'd have the flexibility of either bricks or cordwood. I have no idea why an amish would prefer pellets. The few Amish I've been in here use coal. I know some that make pellets too, but they do that for profit not to use themselves.


----------



## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> But how do you get the auger to turn without power?  Hand crank but then your babysitting ...
> 
> 
> .... snip





You let gravity do the job.  Just like the WiseWay and many coal stoves, no auger so no need for electricity or a motor.  Lots of parts made all over the place in almost every stove.


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 9, 2014)

How do you control rate of feed?


----------



## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> How do you control rate of feed?




Gravity and the fire's burn rate.

Those stoves don't work like the beasts we have.  They are really sensitive to the draft setting.  If you open the draft up and forget you did it the unit will overheat and trouble can ensue.

They work just like a wood stove only that as the pile burns down more fuel drops onto the pile.


----------



## Lake Girl (Nov 9, 2014)

Thanks Smokey - was having a hard time visualizing how that functions.  Went to the Wiseway site and they mentioned a barometric damper to slow down a hot burn... should be standard for the installation I would think.


----------



## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2014)

I have more than a passing memory of banking and recharging a coal eater, in this case the fuel pile is piled high at the back of the firebox sloping down to the grates and as the fire burns up the coal and the front of the pile turns to ash it fall through the grates and allows the coal to catch and drop down to the grate from the pile.  That keeps the fire going overnight and provides an easy means to recharge the heater in  the morning.  You have to allow time to do the banking and setting all of the draft controls before retiring or leaving.

We burned coal for a number of years, years ago.  I reconditioned an old solid fuel gravity hot air furnace.  No problems heating the place with that beast.


----------



## Zebby (Nov 10, 2014)

Short time lurker, first time poster. 

_[QUOTE_]http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Forced-Air-I...828?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27efbe2e2c
*THE FORCED-AIR DUCTOR MODEL II (TWO)
MULTI-FUEL FURNACE, either STAND-ALONE or DUCT CONNECT
CORN & WOOD PELLET MULTIFUEL FURNACE (STOVE)
MODEL II has 105 BTU/HR will heat up to 4,000 SQ FT*_[/QUOTE]_

They even used MS Paint to remove Breckwell's name from the door on this one.....but they left the Breckwell flame logo.
But why? They are a Breckwell dealer.

I'm tempted to ask the seller a question. Maybe two.


----------



## Zebby (Nov 10, 2014)

I'm a noobie almost done installing a Breckwell SP22 PB Maverick w/pedestal base as my starter pellet stove in a new add-on room in the house.
He's selling the SP22 as the "Little Buddy" pellet stove with the Breckwell name removed from the control panel, but left on the pedestal in another picture. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LITTLE-BUDDY-WOOD-PELLET-STOVE-LOW-COST-EASY-to-OPERATE-/350279152890

Little Buddy sounds alot more user-friendly than Maverick.


----------



## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 10, 2014)

Zebby said:


> I'm a noobie almost done installing a Breckwell SP22 PB Maverick w/pedestal base as my starter pellet stove in a new add-on room in the house.
> He's selling the SP22 as the "Little Buddy" pellet stove with the Breckwell name removed from the control panel, but left on the pedestal in another picture.
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/LITTLE-BUDDY-WOOD-PELLET-STOVE-LOW-COST-EASY-to-OPERATE-/350279152890
> ...




A lot of pellet stoves are re-branded generic units imported from wherever.


----------

