Athens Wood Pellets intial review

[j00fek]

As far as the people behind the operation, we've only got praise for them. We were a bit frantic this season in that we had the stove hooked up and had only two bags of pellets on hand to test with, then we couldn't find any for sale. We called Maine Woods to find out that we could get on a waiting list for $215 a ton, and that they recently delivered to Spring Brook in Waterville. We called up Spring Brook, and picked up a ton there for $265. Nice people at Spring Brook, but they have a very congested area for loading the trailer.

Maine Woods called us to say they had a ton ready for us; we can only haul one at a time with our little pickup and trailer. The office help was extremely nice, and set us up for another ton in December. The guy who loaded our trailer was extremely helpful, and pitched in to throw the top ten bags off the pallet into the truck. So I can't be happier with the customer service. The product, though, is low on the quality side, although the packaging is superb.

I'd like to clear up some misconceptions in this thread. I had a good look around the plant, which had changed a lot since it was a "stick mill" that I had worked at for a short time in the eighties. I thought they were making pellets out of scraps from the wood processing operations, and maybe in the beginning they were. But it seems it's switched over to just a pellet manufacturing operation.

As I drove around the plant, there were no piles of construction debris or post-consumer biomass. Also, I could see no sawdust receiving area. Instead, there were huge piles of fresh wood chips on concrete and tar unloading areas. It seemed to me that they were making at least most of the pellets directly out of chipped trees.

I guess that the high ash content is probably from not debarking trees before chipping, and that a small amount of dirt is in the pellets as well. As far as nails and other foreign stuff in them, I haven't seen any; but I would guess that they would come from trees along a fenceline that someone nailed into. Possible that bits of barbed wire fence would make their way into such a product as well.

I'll be experimenting with other brands, but I'm probably going to try my best to make these work for us, because they're easy to deal with, low price, and a short drive from our house.

at least they helped you when you went there, they will not respond to phone calls

 

[sparkydog00]

They are not premium quality.
They burn with too much ash...and the ash is of a heavy nature...which suggests to me that there is something in the3 pellet that is not fully combustible. So I will stick with 80% wood...20 % filler as the make up of these pllets. They certainly have hurt their reputation with me...I wouldn't buy anymore of these pellets...even wouldn't burn them if you gave them to me free.
That said...I have over 2 tons of these pellets. If anybody likes them...make me an offer..i will sell them at a loss just to get rid of them.

 

[ajwoodman]

Ditto!! Make me an offer!! I have about 21/2 tons. HAHA!

 

[slls]

Ditto!! Make me an offer!! I have about 21/2 tons. HAHA!

No deal, them pellets have expired.

 

[orudiskt]

As much as I dislike these pellets, I will agree with jimcooncat and say that my experience when I called Maine Woods was pretty good. They answered the phone right away, and the guy I spoke to was very nice. He stated that the company I bought the pellets through should have told me about the ash...he said they are forthright in telling their customers to expect more ash because of the bark content. Also, one of the local stove dealers told me that Maine Woods has gone a long way at working out the bugs in their operations.

All that said, its not enough for me to buy these pellets again. I have to keep our stove at about twice the feed rate as other premium pellets for the same heat, and have to empty the ash pan about every 3 days. I wish the company luck, but 3 tons of these pellets is is enough for me.

______________

Breckwell P4000

 

[pellet0708]

I thought using the word "Premium" on the product bags meant less than 1% ash??
If this is true then it is false advertising and packaging.
At least next year if we find a good brand of pellets it will seem like a vacation not cleaning the stove out every 2-3 days.
I asked two dealers specifically about these pellets and they said they were fine. No mention of higher ash content so someone is not being truthful.

 

[slls]

New company, never seen a winter, you roll the dice.

 

[DAGME]

I'd like to believe that Maine Woods Pellet company has good intentions in producing pellets -- and I hope that 3-5 years from now they have finished the growing pains of a new company and put out a better quality product. God knows, Maine needs the jobs right now -- and many of us Mainers would rather support a local company than have pellets trucked in from somewhere else.

That being said, I am very disappointed to hear that Maine Woods Pellet Co. brazenly puts "PREMIUM" on all of their bags, and then admits on the phone that these pellets produce lots of ash. It is clearly a misrepresentation of the pellets, and I suspect that the company folks know it. Yes, high bark content is going to increase ash output and the amount of sand particulates in the pellets, but take a look at the pellets shown on their website - they represent low bark content (lighter colored) pellets. Also, at the $300/ton I bought them at - that represents premium pellet prices (yes, let the buyer beware). I'd hate to think that they are taking advantage of a high demand market by rushing poor supply in. Also, I don't appreciate them essentially blaming the dealers selling their product -- mine at least didn't hear about the high ash production issue from the company but from customer complaints.

I still have 1 and 3/4 tons of Maine Woods Pellets - other than the ash (I clean the burnpot of my EF-2i twice a day), I will continue to burn them as a supplement to reduce how much oil we use. Hopefully, I'll have them finished off when our second pellet stove comes in this spring/summer. In the meantime, I'm keeping an eye out for better established pellet brands (LG, Lignetics) which may have higher availability now that oil prices have gone down.

 

[Saltair]

Good customer service is important, but only if your product is good. They are selling crap and all the smiles and good cheer in the world will not change that. I bought thee ton and was able to sell of two of them. I told the folks they burned dirty and gave them a couple bags to try and they still wanted them so I sold them. I burn an insert and the risk of problems in the hopper is too great for me so I will not burn them period. I am still trying to unload 45 bags. Someone a couple posts back mentioned premium meanaing >1% ash. I though this as well, but you need to look for the PFI stamp for that I guess. I too am concerned that they are knowingly selling an inferior product they are labeling as "premium". In fact that statement seals the deal for me. I will not be giving them a second chance unless I hear glowing reviews in the future and cant get anything else. I am bothered also that with all the bad press nobody has responded to this board or other inquiries. I certainly will not hesitate to share my experience with this misrepresented product.

 

[sparkydog00]

Another unhappy Maine Woods pellet customer...making sure this post stays close to the top...Let my misfortune be a warning to others...These pellets stink!

 

[dbjc364]

We have a Napolean S140. Athens pellets- 3 ton. We clean our stove daily-to every other day. We probaly would with any stove. Yes- we get some clinkers when we burn on high{5}. That doesnt bother me. We did our homework-asking alot of questions before purchasing the stove. We get ash-probaly 1/4-1/2 cup per bag,it lasts a day or slightly longer,that doesnt bother me either.Not sure how the man feels about it. Mostly its me who cleans it. We get good heat from the stove. If it was a wood stove-it would have to be cleaned also- and much more work involved.I'm more disgusted with the glass cleaner saying its "Ultra Cling"- when it isn't. So I dont think the pellets are bad- I think the brand of the stove is what matters most perhaps,or maybe some people weren't prepared for the daily maintenence-? I do know the man wants to try some different brands at some point. The person on the phone was quite helpful & nice-which is more than I can say for alot of companies these days.pellets were/are available in a reasonable amount of time-so overall everythings ok with us. I'm not a dealer-nor work for them-we just live in the surrounding area.

 

[pellet0708]

It is NOT the stove. We switched over to a new brand over the holidays when we were home and were amazed at how little ash they produced compared to the Athens. Could go 4-5 days without emptying the ash drawer and with the Athens we had to empty it every 30 hours or it overflowed. Not to mention the ash everywhere else. That is with the exact same setting for both brands. The difference was striking.
If these are the first pellets you have used, then you might be fine and not know any better... yes... they are wood and they burn but the up keep is exhausting.

 

[slls]

I understand there is bark in Athens pellets, that would account for high ash. It would be classified as standard pellets not premium, standard is 3% ash compared to 1% premium.

 

[lessoil]

Picture of burn pot after 4 hours of burning after cleaning ash from pot.
The glowing pellets towards the back look like a lava flow.
This "flow" wants to build itself higher and higher until
there is only a slit for the flame.
I usually clean the burn pot 3-4 times a day.

How does this compare to everyone??

 

[j00fek]

just cleaned out my stove after a 7 day operation, burn pot was 1/4 full of gummed up ash from these nice pellets. wanted to see just how long i could burn it till it just had to be done and i found it i guess.

 

[DAGME]

I'm using an Enviro EF2i that drops pellets in from the top. I usually clean the stove twice daily - approximately every 12 hours. Clean up includes shutting down the stove, dumping out the burn pot (which is usually 80% full). About 3/4 of what is in the burnpot is ash, and 1/4 is clinker. Vacuum out the sandy ash and start the stove up for another 12 hours.

One thing: if I let it go much past 12 hours, the burn pot is so full that the flame looks like it is about to spill out and over, dropping many hot embers into the ash drawer. At this point, there is so much ash in the burn pot that little air is getting in for combustion (the flame is tall and lazy, as if the damper was pushed all the way in).

So far, I've tolerated the cleaning work - since this is our first pellet stove season, I guess I don't know who easy it could be with higher quality pellets.

 

[j00fek]

I'm using an Enviro EF2i that drops pellets in from the top. I usually clean the stove twice daily - approximately every 12 hours. Clean up includes shutting down the stove, dumping out the burn pot (which is usually 80% full). About 3/4 of what is in the burnpot is ash, and 1/4 is clinker. Vacuum out the sandy ash and start the stove up for another 12 hours.

One thing: if I let it go much past 12 hours, the burn pot is so full that the flame looks like it is about to spill out and over, dropping many hot embers into the ash drawer. At this point, there is so much ash in the burn pot that little air is getting in for combustion (the flame is tall and lazy, as if the damper was pushed all the way in).

So far, I've tolerated the cleaning work - since this is our first pellet stove season, I guess I don't know who easy it could be with higher quality pellets.

have you tried using full air intake? your stove is just like mine, and i use 4/5 setting

 

[DAGME]

have you tried using full air intake? your stove is just like mine, and i use 4/5 setting

When that burnpot is filled with ash and clinkers, it doesn't matter how open the damper is - it is a "choked" burn (as I call it). As soon as I dump out the burnpot, it is back to normal.

I will be quite happy after burning the last bag of Athen's pellets!

 

[j00fek]

have you tried using full air intake? your stove is just like mine, and i use 4/5 setting

When that burnpot is filled with ash and clinkers, it doesn't matter how open the damper is - it is a "choked" burn (as I call it). As soon as I dump out the burnpot, it is back to normal.

I will be quite happy after burning the last bag of Athen's pellets!

yea, im saying after a clean burn pot, scraped then started back up with almost full air

 

[ajwoodman]

Can somebody please tell me why we haven't got any response from the Athens pellet plant???? Seems with all this bad mouthing that they would respond with some kind of response. I don't ever want to burn another bag of Athens pellets when I finally am done burning my three tons. I have got to the point now that I am mixing them with other brands. I mean any other brand burns better than they do. I know that people have called them and they have been invited to read this forum so that they know what people think of their pellets. Sounds like a really bad company that really just don't care about their customers.

 

[dbjc364]

I got to say that the style of stove to the brand of pellets probaly makes a difference. I'm sure with each of us- there was a brand of pellets that the salesman recommended at the time of purchase-but of course all of us will try different brands of pellets till we're happy with the results. Installed since October 7th- The reason we bought a Napolean in particular was the design of the burnpot and auger-able to buy an extension. We looked at Home Depots-Lowes and many others-but wanted the round burnpot-less chance of unburned pellets getting stuck in the square corners in particular,that appealed to my frugal side-and didnt want to be able to see the auger-so it would look a bit more like a wood stove, and we trusted that it was a good company being on the market for so long. We also have a large ashpan on the stove.The salesperson recommended Energix-which we burned the first 3 bags-but not knowing what the heck we were doing,and at that point didnt install the outside air-we were having problems with getting a decent flame- got a bit more clinkers,and we didnt have the damper opened enough. Since then we have installed outside air and are more familiar with the operation of the stove..4:30 a.m.-I just checked the burn pot-ran on 4 all night after being cleaned at 4 p.m. yesterday-air on 4 also.Temp is 68*-very comfortable in here. There is only a little ash in the bottom-up to the first line on my finger-no clinkers- and a real nice decent flame. Window is still clean. I didn't like the price per bag of Energix-over $6,but like I said we will keep an open mind & try other brands in the near future. So its kinda like picking a laundry detergent-which one brand works better with your machine-Tide or Arm & Hammer?

 

[krooser]

One thing I'd recommend to all of you who are using Athens pellets is to give your stove a through cleaning. I can't believe that, with all the ash these things produce, that you don't have hidden areas inside the stove that are blocking good air flow and producing a poor flame.

I'd also sugggest that you email Athens a link to this thread and let them know how people feel about their product.

Good luck... you guys have many stove cleanings ahead of you.

 

[j00fek]

One thing I'd recommend to all of you who are using Athens pellets is to give your stove a through cleaning. I can't believe that, with all the ash these things produce, that you don't have hidden areas inside the stove that are blocking good air flow and producing a poor flame.

I'd also sugggest that you email Athens a link to this thread and let them know how people feel about their product.

Good luck... you guys have many stove cleanings ahead of you.

i do this every 7 days with these pellets

 

[Jester]

Ive been burning the athens for about two weeks now. One thing Ive noticed is that I have to keep the feed rate on my stove up to almost 3 before they'll buildup enough heat to let the room air blower come on.
I was feeling lazy last night and didnt want to walk all the way across the basement to get a bag of the Maine Woods, so I grabbed a bag of big clinkers(big heat)
Ive been averaging about 62-65 degrees on the second floor of the house. I woke up this AM with the big heats having run through, and the upstairs a balmy 75.
I hadnt noticed how little heat I get out of these maine wood pellets until this morning.

Maybe they just insulate the inside of the stove with so much ash all the heat is just going up the chimney.

 

[Saltair]

We have a Napolean S140. Athens pellets- 3 ton. We clean our stove daily-to every other day. We probaly would with any stove. Yes- we get some clinkers when we burn on high{5}. That doesnt bother me. We did our homework-asking alot of questions before purchasing the stove. We get ash-probaly 1/4-1/2 cup per bag,it lasts a day or slightly longer,that doesnt bother me either.Not sure how the man feels about it. Mostly its me who cleans it. We get good heat from the stove. If it was a wood stove-it would have to be cleaned also- and much more work involved.I'm more disgusted with the glass cleaner saying its "Ultra Cling"- when it isn't. So I dont think the pellets are bad- I think the brand of the stove is what matters most perhaps,or maybe some people weren't prepared for the daily maintenence-? I do know the man wants to try some different brands at some point. The person on the phone was quite helpful & nice-which is more than I can say for alot of companies these days.pellets were/are available in a reasonable amount of time-so overall everythings ok with us. I'm not a dealer-nor work for them-we just live in the surrounding area.

It is not the stove. There are pages and pages in just this thread and many other threads with complaints about this product. The picture of the burn pot full of ash looks familiar I was having the same problem. My stove would not burn more than 12 hours on Athens pellets. My father's stove does somewhat better, but still the ash is awful. I have gotten other pellet brands and the difference is amazing. No more twice a day cleanings now I do it twice a week. I am dismayed that the company has in no way responded to this forum. They took advantage of a short term market situation, and took advatange of their customers. I was happy to be supporting a Maine business, but this is not how good business is done in Maine. I am done with Athens Pellets and will yell how I feel from the roof tops.