Any experience with Appling County Hardwood Pellets

[dotles51]

We are new to the Wood Pellet Stove and were wondering if anyone has any
experience with the hardwood pelelts above.


We have purchased a 1 ton sack of Appling County Hardwood Pellets from (broken link removed)
Agway 105 Depot Street, Pine Bush, NY 12566. Our dealer is telling us they are European Pellets
and will harm the auger in the stove. They are larger than normal pellets and are supposed to contain too much
sawdust. We are seeing a lot of flash when we burn these pellets, much more so than the Pennington Pellets we
purchased elsewhere.


Can anyone advise if they are aware of any issues with this product.
This is what is posted on the site by the way regarding the pellet and this is the
manufacturers webiste address (broken link removed)


Test Data on the pellets is as follows

Moisture = 5-7%
Ash Content = 0.80%
Sulphur = 0.02%
BTU's / lb = 8500


Thanks



Hotdot51

 

[imacman]

HotDot,

Hello neighbor!

From what I can see on the website, those pellets are NOT "European" as your dealer said. They are made in the southern US (Georgia), and from what I saw of the specs, as long as they are listed as "premium", you should have no problem using them.

What I WOULD have a problem with is a dealer telling me things that aren't true ("Our dealer is telling us they are European Pellets and will harm the auger in the stove")....was he selling another brand that he wanted you to buy? (more expensive?). And as for the size, as long as they are 1/4" diameter and not longer than about 1 1/2 ", they are fine to use.

Oh, and BTW, ALL pellets are made from sawdust.

The only thing I didn't understand from your post was the term "flash" ...."We are seeing a lot of flash when we burn these pellets, much more so than the Pennington Pellets we purchased elsewhere."

In a nutshell, I would say that if the pellets burn hot, don't create a lot of ash, and feed OK without jamming the stove, I think you're good to go.

Oh, and I sent you a PM......I have a question.

MacMan

 

[dotles51]

HIi Macman Thanks for the reply. The issue with the sawdust is that we received a bulk sack with about
30% of the sack containing loose dust and sawdust, besides the pellets. So when we load the stove with
buckets of pellets, we are getting a 4th of July type sparkle when the stove is burning and a large amount of
ash. THis is what the dealer is telling us is not good to burn in the stove. Will take out bushings in Auger.

We purchased these pellets from Agway in Pine Bush and it has been nothing except a runaround since we
placed our order in July. We compare these pellets to other pellets we purchased and these do not
have the same qaulity.


Do you know of anyone else in the area who has used this Pellet Dealer. We will not use again, but
have identified several new dealers in the area who have quality Pellets.

Thanks again,


Hotdot51

 

[imacman]

No, I can't say that I know anyone that has bought pellets from them. I'm suprised that there is that much fines in the mix, but anything is possible. If you could, PM me the names of the pellet dealers you found....I might be able to steer you clear if I've heard anything bad about them.

Since you have the pellets, you might consider building one of the "pellet cleaners" that some of us have made using PVC pipe from HD or Lowes....costs about $20-25 to build, and just need a shop vac to run. It does a nice job of cleaning the pellets before putting them in the stove, and could be cheap insurance against jamming the auger w/ fines.

Here's the thread that shows the plans, parts list, and some pics (including mine):

www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/23999/

 

[heatison]

Hello I have just received 5 tons of these pellets in bags. 3 for me an 2 for my neighbor who has yet to receive his stove! I own a Glow Boy stove which is a top feed (thank someone my neighbors is going to be a bottom feed)and have been burning for 4 or 5 seasons so I've burned about 12 tons. I would say I know a good pellet when I burn 1 and these Pellets well they are pretty much crap!! I was burning Green Supreme which I bought by the bag at the local home n hearth store, they are one of the best! Didn't have to clean my burn pot out for 6 days! I had to purchase by the bag while awaiting my order of A.C.P's from the Agway store in Middle Town NY as well, ordered on July 28th received December 1st. These Appling or Fram Pellets clog my burn pan with ash in 12 hours on the second feed rate out of 4. If I open the air damper out more to lean out the mix the half burned pellets get blown out of the pot dulling the fire!! I am not happy and would love to get my money back! I talked to the driver about the pellets when he arrived and he said these were good and that the Super Sacks were not because the pellets fell from great heights before entering the Sack thus creating lots of Fines described earlier in this thread. There are no problems with fines in the bagged version, they just are CRAP. Since removing bags from the pallet I feel I have no recourse for a refund but I am going to enquire(GOOD LUCK)!! Also they are for sale on Craigs list at this time! Anyone interested, $800 for 2.75 tons.

Frank

 

[dotles51]

i opened a complaint with the BB since they are advertising as a BB account. Try it you might get lucky. I agree they are absolute garbage.
We got much better pellets from several different dealers