My Pellet Tests - Barefoot, Okanagan and Turman's

[DexterDay]

Anyone know where I can find Okanagans or Turmans in the Hudson Valley area? I'm in Clinton Corners, NY 12514 (Dutchess County)
Happily, I've found Barefoots. I'm looking to round out the Holy Trinity of wood pellets and maybe do some fun tests of my own when the real cold hits.

Just inherited a CB 1200 w/ my new home. Been reading on this forum 3 weeks straight and finally registered. Safe to say, I have the Wood Pellet Flu and it looks terminal.

Thanks for any and all help!

The CB 1200 will burn any pellet with ease. Its the ash and heat that I look for.

I dont have access to Okies and other "Super" brands (not really Super anyomore by PFI standards). But Somersets, AWF, Pro Pellet, Greenway, Green Supreme, and Lignetics (Presto's and Green label) all burn the best in my Quad. Try before you buy for sure.

Congrats on the inheritance of the stove and welcome to the "Sickness" er, I mean Forum.

 

[DonD]

Happily, I've found Barefoots. I'm looking to round out the Holy Trinity of wood pellets...

I like it!

I got my Holy Trinity at CT Pellet which looks to be no farther from you than they are from me. They don't claim to deliver outside of CT and are not cheap for the pellets or delivery but it depends on how bad you want'em. Might be worth a call.

 

[jwspinn]

Thanks people! Great advice.
Who knew hunting, gathering and burning bags of compressed sawdust could be so much fun?!

 

[DonD]

Here's my Turman's results. Generally speaking I liked them a lot but not as much as the Barefoots. They were very dusty and seemed to leave my glass dirtier than the Barefoots. The Turman's measured the hottest so far but my Barefoot results are suspect. It was my first run and I didn't clean the stove before testing them. I suspect that resulted in lower temps and might explain why tubes 1-5 were hotter but tubes 6-10 were cooler than with Okies. I'm going to retest the Barefoots next. Hopefully the more I do this, the more consistent my methods (and results) will be.

 

[DonD]

Here's the test results with the axis scale changed.

 

[newf lover]

Looks like 3 great pellets there. I've burned all 3 and liked them, but you can tell from my signature which one my stove liked best!

 

[johnnycomelately]

Here's the test results with the axis scale changed.

At the end of October, when the big storm hit the northeast, there wasn't a generator to be found anywhere, except at the Home Depot near where I live. There was one left, but the associate admitted to me that it was still on the shelf because it was missing a dipstick and therefore the engine will not run without spewing oil all over the place

You will see soon enough where I am going with this........

So, I found a pressure washer in the painting department with the same engine, and asked the associate if I could rob the dipstick off of that pressure washer. He said sure, no problem. So there I am, in the midst of a big power outage. Nobody around has power, no generators are to be found, lines are miles long at gas stations where there ere generators pumping gas, and I just scored myself a generator.....

Give me a minute here..........

So, up at the checkout counter, the girl at the register congratulates me and then notices a manufacturer's sticker on the generator that is peeling a little bit. She (meaning to be helpful, I know) procedes to tell me that a little soap and hot water will get the rest of the sticker off with out hurting the nice orange paint of the frame. I'm thinking to myself "are you freaking kidding me?...It's a freaking sticker!" I mean, nobody areoun has power, I got a generator, and she thinks I care about a damn sticker peeling? Sweet Jesus! Then she procedes to tell me that in aisle "such and such" there is a non-abrasive detergent that might do the trick. I very politely (well at least not rudely) told her that I cant wait for the day in my life where I have that kind of leisure time to worry about a sticker, and then thought to myself, if there exists anywhere, a man with that Kind of free time.

Well.....Iv'e found that man.
Enter DonD.
Don, I envy you like I envy Tom Brady. You're that man that the sales associate at H.D. mistook me for. Don't know how you do it, but you are the doctor, mayor, chief and wizard of time management.

But seriously, thank you for your time in putting this together and contributing this information. It is actually very useful, and you have great taste in pellets...... If I only had your spare time.
Well anyways...Gotta go- I need to go iron my socks before I go out to pollish the insides of my gutters.

 

[smoke show]

johnny is my new idol. ;-)

 

[DonD]

I'm not entirely positive but I think it took me less time to run the tests, put the results in Excel and post them than it took you to write that.

Good story though, just sayin'...

Anyway, what's your favorite?

So far for I like Barefoots best then Turman's (dusty) and Okies pretty far behind them. They were dusty, didn't burn clean at all on low and are looking less hot than the others. at least in my stove.

 

[johnnycomelately]

I'm not entirely positive but I think it took me less time to run the tests, put the results in Excel and post them than it took you to write that.

Good story though, just sayin'...

Anyway, what's your favorite?

So far for I like Barefoots best then Turman's (dusty) and Okies pretty far behind them. They were dusty, didn't burn clean at all on low and are looking less hot than the others. at least in my stove.

I like the Turmans first, then Okies second and then Barefoots. But, actually the difference between the three, to me, is so minimal, that I would say they are all beauties. To me, Turman, Barefoot, and Okies are like the three Kardashian sisters. Maybe you like one a little better than the others, but c'mon, aint none of us gunna say no to any of them...Right?

 

[DonD]

Yep, I agree with you 100%. No sense in burning crap pellets. But... I'll take Kim over Khloé or Kourtney any day. Kim is more like Barefoots to me.

 

[smoke show]

Yep, I agree with you 100%. No sense in burning crap pellets. But... I'll take Kim over Khloé or Kourtney any day. Kim is more like Barefoots to me.

 

[johnnycomelately]

Oh, what a coinsidence.....
Barefoot and Turman are Hardwood too!

 

[johnnycomelately]

Suddenly, on a chilly Sunday morning in December, this thread is really starting to kick some ass!

 

[johnnycomelately]

what stove are you running johnny ?

Oh...Nice Mount....way to kill a great thread.
Harman
Now, back to the Hollywood T&A
Is there any doubt that we were the kids in school always getting yelled at by the teacher?

 

[jtakeman]

Boy, Did this thread head south! :red:

Johnny, I agree! All 3 brands are so close that many couldn't tell the difference on a cold winter day. One thing they'd have in common is the house would be toasty warm. :coolsmirk:

DonD, Here is where putting an average pellet in the mix has some leverage. It makes these better brands shine. Just saying! ;-)

 

[tjnamtiw]

Yep, I agree with you 100%. No sense in burning crap pellets. But... I'll take Kim over Khloé or Kourtney any day. Kim is more like Barefoots to me.

And she promised me she wouldn't pose for anymore pictures I'm crushed.

 

[DonD]

At the risk of causing Johnny C to have to concoct another elaborate story in wonderment as to how I could possibly have a spare hour in my life to do it, I decided to retest the Barefoots I tested earlier. Last time I didn't clean the stove first. Let's see if it makes a difference.

Waiting for the stove to cool so I can clean it...

 

[johnnycomelately]

At the risk of causing Johnny C to have to concoct another elaborate story in wonderment as to how I could possibly have a spare hour in my life to do it, I decided to retest the Barefoots I tested earlier. Last time I didn't clean the stove first. Let's see if it makes a difference.

Waiting for the stove to cool so I can clean it...

Fortunately for you I don't have time to comment on that.....Right now, I must go outside and change the air in my tires.

 

[DonD]

Air or nitrogen?

 

[76brian]

Air or nitrogen?

It's that time of year to change out the summer air for winter air.

Better change the headlight fluid while you're at it, and check out the carburetor bearings!

On a side note, I would love to see you test some cubies and LG if you can find them around there.

 

[DonD]

Air or nitrogen?

It's that time of year to change out the summer air for winter air.

Better change the headlight fluid while you're at it, and check out the carburetor bearings!

On a side note, I would love to see you test some cubies and LG if you can find them around there.

LOL That's why I asked Johnny if he was using nitrogen in his tires. I hear you don't have to change it as often. The other things you mentioned - yeah better do that before it's too late.

I was thinking of trying some Cubies but not sure I'm going to get to it. The local retailer that has them doesn't have Turman's and vice versa. Might be worth it to try so I know what I want to load up on next year. After all, that's what I'm doing this for. But after CT Pellet did such a great job getting them up on my porch I'm inclined to stick with them and Barefoot or Turman's. We'll see...

 

[DonD]

First results - a clean stove burns hotter. Duh!

This shows it. Same stove/same pallet of pellets - clean stove burned an average of 13 deg hotter. This kind of explains the earlier results where the left side was hotter with Barefoot and the right side was hotter with Okies. Seems the dirty stove effected the right side more when I tested the Barefoots. Granted the left side didn't change much and the hot #5 tube didn't change much but a lot of air comes out tubes 6 and 7 and the difference there was pretty big. Keep them stoves clean! ;-)

 

[DonD]

Next results - Barefoot/Okie/Turman's comparison with the new Barefoot data.

Both hardwoods were virtually identical (just over 1 deg average difference), and this I didn't expect, both were a pretty good margin hotter (15 - 16 deg average) than the Okies.

Looks like next year I'll be one of those northeast hardwood heads or whatever it was Jay called them (us). I'm gonna burn Okies for the next couple weeks and then I'll see if I get any better results.

 

[johnnycomelately]

Next results - Barefoot/Okie/Turman's comparison with the new Barefoot data.

Both hardwoods were virtually identical (just over 1 deg average difference), and this I didn't expect, both were a pretty good margin hotter (15 - 16 deg average) than the Okies.

Looks like next year I'll be one of those northeast hardwood heads or whatever it was Jay called them (us). I'm gonna burn Okies for the next couple weeks and then I'll see if I get any better results.

All ribbing aside, you and I have a bit in common. You and I seem to like the good sh*t. I don't see as big of a big difference between the three as you do, and will continue to buy all three (as long as one doesn't become so outrageously expensive compared to the other two). I like to mix it up, and as the old saying goes...."When in Rome, dont put all your eggs in is better than two in a bush ".