Armstrong Pellets?

[chris2006]

Hi Everyone, Newbie hear, checked out the site about a week ago, now I have a couple of questions from the "veteran" pellet burners. My local dealer (Central ME) has a brand called Armstrong pellets, who he says come from western Canada. He said they are a premium softwood. I have been buring for just over a year and have an old Austroflamm stove with a VERY little burn pot. I have always used the Home Depot brand and it seems like I am constantly cleaning the darn thing. Has anyone heard of this brand and are they any good? They are selling for 269/ton, which is about 30 bucks less than home deptot!

Second question: I have been looking at upgrading my stove to a harman p38. Has anyone had any experiences with the P38, and what info can you share. The stove does not have auto-ignite, just like mine, but it does offer a huge ash pan, thermostat capabilities and is in my price range (about 1700 bucks). Any feedback would be great!!

 

[begreen]

Try 3 bags. You should have a feeling for their quality by then.

Harman P38 is a good stove. Aslo look at the Quadrafire, maybe the SantaFe.

 

[HarryBack]

price seems a bit high for the P38, but in your area, that might be the going rate. The p38 can be hooked up to a thermostat, but you should know that when the temp falls and the thermostat calls for heat, the stove immediately goes into turbo mode....thats a BIG fire, then, when the thermostat is satisfied, it goes back to the dial setting.
Ive seen Armstrong, but know noone who has burned it....the Western Canadian softwoods seem ok to me tho....burning Quality right now myself.

 

[timjk69]

I've burned the Armstrong in the past. They were the least expensive. They produced alot of lght fluffy ash that pushed out of the burnpot easily. I've also burned the Eureka brand from Home Depot. These produced big hard clinkers that my Harman Advance didn't like too well. My favorite brand is Atlas produced here in eastern WA.

Harman Advance

 

[jimkelt]

Has anyone had issues with, or comments on, the packaging of Armstrong pellets. Wet bags, or wet clumps in pellet bags?

 

[razor]

I am almost done buring a ton of these. I dont think they were wrapped very well on the pallet, i found about 10 or so bags that had wet pellets. Some of these bags were 75 % usable. If i was to get another load i would offload the pallet to my truck (rather than have them load with forklift ). some bags seem to burn better than others, but i will agree about the fluffy ash
this is my first winter with a pellet stove so I have not used many brands, but i also would buy these again.

 

[PaulyV]

I have used cubex in the past. Its a hardwood pellet/ oak/ birch/cherry. The ony ones I used for 3 years....after a batch of Home Cheapo pellets of course......Now I'm back to good old wood...

 

[pelletburner]

Hello all, I live in Armstrong BC about 10 seconds from the Armstrong Pellet Plant. This has been my 1st year burning pellets and we of course used Armstrong Pellets. Here it is $150 Canadian for 1ton of premium fir pellets. I find they vary(sometimes a clinker) most of the time good though. Never had wet pellets, I assume thats due to being so close to the factory and no shipping involved. I am just trying Pinnacle now and the only thing so far is the pellets are smaller and seem to burn quicker. Anyone out there use Pinnacle??

 

[mgambuzza]

Second question: I have been looking at upgrading my stove to a harman p38. Has anyone had any experiences with the P38, and what info can you share. The stove does not have auto-ignite, just like mine, but it does offer a huge ash pan, thermostat capabilities and is in my price range (about 1700 bucks). Any feedback would be great!!

The price for the P38 is also what they quoted me here in Syracuse, NY. I know its Harman quality, but still, for an intro line stove.....