Okanagan or Barefoots?

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dsnedegar3

Member
Hearth Supporter
Jul 4, 2008
134
Southern Connecticut
Which would you buy? Both are $279 a ton and I need a couple of tons to go with my left over Hamers.
 
Personally, I'd go with the Barefoots, but the Okanagan's are a great pellet too......I don't think you'd go wrong with either, IMO.

Why not get a ton of each, and then you can find out which you like better.
 
I am very pleased with the barefoot pellets. But I can not say anything about the Okanagan's. I have not tried them "yet".

So ditto as macman said, Get both and compare. Both pellets have great reviews and I haven't heard anything negative on either brand.

Barefoots are probably one the best 'hardwood' pellets out there. And The Okanagan's are ranked right up there as one of the leading 'Softwood' pellets available.

Both brands are tops in there class!

jay
 
if its a true toss up , i'd lean to the okanagan's as they are represented here in the forum. that said having burned the barefoots (once) and liked them a lot (usually cannot find them down here) i agree that you are in a win-win situation with those 2 brands, maybe a split order isnt a bad idea either, then you could do a comparison for the forum.
 
I could only wish that I had an opportunity to get Barefoots at that price! Last year I burned 3 tons and LOVED them.

Steve
 
Okanagans is a very good pellet. So is Barefoot. Flip a coin or let your spouse decide.
 
i've never run the barefoots, but the okanagans are like a high octane rocket fuel... very clean, very high heat out put... the pellet even looks great, no little bit or bark... almost a shame to burn them they are so pretty....
 
FOUND OKANAGANS AT OUR LOCAL BJ'S CLUB BUT THEY ONLY SELL THEM BY THE BAG. I WANTED TO BUY A PALLET WHICH WAS 1.3 TONS (65 bags) AT 5.69 A BAG THAT COMES TO $369 A TON FOUND THIS VERY STRANGE ANYBODY HAD THIS PROBLEM?
 
GIPPER said:
FOUND OKANAGANS AT OUR LOCAL BJ'S CLUB BUT THEY ONLY SELL THEM BY THE BAG. I WANTED TO BUY A PALLET WHICH WAS 1.3 TONS (65 bags) AT 5.69 A BAG THAT COMES TO $369 A TON FOUND THIS VERY STRANGE ANYBODY HAD THIS PROBLEM?
Gipper, welcome to the forum.

Only problem I see is your math. At $5.69/ bag, a ton (50 bags) is $284.50. Still way too high, IMO, given the pellet "glut' we seem to have this year.

Did you talk to the BJ's manager, and ask for a better price on the ton? If not, I'd give it a shot.
 
Gipper,

$5.69/bag is $284.50/ton. For a full 1.3 ton pallet (65 bags) it would be $369.85. Sounds like a normal price for New England. My supplier in CT has them for $292.00 ton ($379.60 for full pallet).
 
If you can get em by the bag, buy a few of each and decide from there which
one you like best.
 
Completed Sales may only be down 15% but what about backlog of orders? If this year is only down 15% total from last, the pellet industry is more screwed up than I thought.

Last year I could not find anyone with pellets in stock in may-june-july within 60 miles, my order I placed in June took 4 months to get delivered.
This year everyone has pellets available for immediate delivery and prices are down. its not just big boxes, its stove shops, local hardware stores, nurseries, feed stores, etc.

Finally if $sales are down 15% and prices are down say 10%, your tonnage must be down about 25%... no?
 
mascoma said:
......Last year I could not find anyone with pellets in stock in may-june-july within 60 miles, my order I placed in June took 4 months to get delivered. This year everyone has pellets available for immediate delivery and prices are down. its not just big boxes, its stove shops, local hardware stores, nurseries, feed stores, etc.........

BTU, I guess this was what I meant by "glut"......that relative to last year (on the consumer's end), pellets are in pretty good supply.

As mascoma said, I can drive to the 8 places near me that have pellets, and that includes "big box" stores, stove shops, hardware stores, and landscape/lawn & garden shops, and they ALL have plenty of pellets.

Last year at this time, I was scrounging for a ton here, a ton there. I finally got 5 tons from 3 different places by the end of Sept.
 
my main point is that if a 15% swing in volume is the difference between this year and last year the pellet industry needs to get its act together.
 
BTU said:
.....But don't worry Macman, when ever you are ready..cash in hand for that 26 tons of the prettiest looking pellets to show up in your backyard, you just let me know and I will make sure you will have enough to heat your rosey little behind for the season.... :-)
:lol: OK, bud, you'll be the first to know. ;-)
 
macman said:
GIPPER said:
FOUND OKANAGANS AT OUR LOCAL BJ'S CLUB BUT THEY ONLY SELL THEM BY THE BAG. I WANTED TO BUY A PALLET WHICH WAS 1.3 TONS (65 bags) AT 5.69 A BAG THAT COMES TO $369 A TON FOUND THIS VERY STRANGE ANYBODY HAD THIS PROBLEM?
Gipper, welcome to the forum.

Only problem I see is your math. At $5.69/ bag, a ton (50 bags) is $284.50. Still way too high, IMO, given the pellet "glut' we seem to have this year.

Did you talk to the BJ's manager, and ask for a better price on the ton? If not, I'd give it a shot.
 
I KNOW 50 BAGS ARE A TON BUT OKANAGAN PELLETS ARE SOLD TO BJ CLUB ON A PALLET OF 65 BAGS. SO HOW MUCH IS THE PALLET PRICE? (NOT BY THE PER BAG PRICE). THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT REPLYS. ALSO I WOULD THINK BJ CLUB COULD PUT A PALLET ON MY TRUCK.
 
Go with the Okanagan...Higher BTU / pound...Very little ash. No question which is the better pellet.
 
If they will only sell them by the bag....tell them you will take 65 bags!!! Worth the effort.
 
I would buy 1 of each, theyre both great pellets! Myself, ive always liked barefoots the best, but i want to try a few more bags of okanagans - i think they might be better, if not the same as barefoots.
 
BTU,

As I have mentioned before, I truly appreciate your sharing your knowledge of the industry with us,

BUT, BUT, BUT . . . . .part of your reply to Macman, " . . . . and I will make sure you will have enough to heat your rosey little behind for the season.... was way too much information!! ( Just kidding as usual.)

Ranger

P.S. Recently told a fellow worker, who had tried Okanagan pellets at the end of last season ( after I had to assure him that softwood pellets were a good product), and who was very happy with the Okanagan pellets, to by-pass the big box special pricing, and purchase a known good premium pellet again, that he knows he likes very much, even though the price is somewhat higher per ton. He thanked me for the advice and again purchased Okanagan.
 
BTU hope you don't think I trying to rain on the parade but it's interesting to have the ear of an "insider" and I hope you think of us here not as crazy fiber hoarders but as your customers.

What other energy supplier expects users to store 12 months of fuel at thier home?

Is it the customers job to change how we work? Or the suppliers job to adapt to the behavior of the paying customer? The vast majority of $ spent in retail is at xmas season, have you ever hear walmart say, "jees could you shoppers even out your demand cycle for us?"

Many of us would buy tonnage as needed throughout the season if we did not get hosed on pricing in january.

New industries don't get a pass because they are new, they should be driven to improve as I'm sure you are.

Price should be cost to produce product + cost to distribute + profit margin. Your pricing SHOULD NOT be any more dependant on the price of oil/LP/nat gas than most other products, especially when compared to those with similar raw inputs such as wood furniture, flooring, building supplies. (yes I realize there are more variables than I'm talking about but you referenced the cost of other energy supplies.)

Hope everyone's weather is as perfect as ours here in New Hampshire today!

BTU said:
mascoma said:
my main point is that if a 15% swing in volume is the difference between this year and last year the pellet industry needs to get its act together.

I will make you a deal mascoma, as soon as you (am referring to the general public by that) can plan far enough ahead to let me know to give me some lead time as to how much you are going to buy, when and where you need them and treat this industry as a 12 month affair instead of all rushing to the door trying to get thur it at the first signs of cold weather each year, then maybe my industry can plan accordingly so we will have enough supply in place right before you plan on purchasing, so the dealer doesn't have to finance his stock and can order properly with what your exact needs will be..

When more people will buy there yearly needs in April/May/June and not Sept/Oct/Nov then we will see a smoother distribution flow and since last year people were buying 5 tons when they needed 3, when they had only bought 3 for every year in past, it did create some problems.

This is a relatively new industry and not everything is as fine tuned as other more established products that have several years of history to refer to. But some of us have made HUGE commitments to make this work and by Gawd we are bound and determined to make it so...

Oh, one more thing, tell me the price of LP, Heating Oil, natural gas, coal, wood and electricity for the next 5 years, so I can plan accordingly as to what to expect from them, then maybe I can price accordingly out further also...
 
Hey All, 1st post. I just picked up 5 pallets of Okanagans from Blakeslee pellet in Middletown, CT. I used Hamers last year. I burned about half a bag so far to take the chill out of my house. More heat coming from the stove very noticable. Anyway, my question is I have a quadrafire mt. vern ae insert. is it recommended to burn them on the softwood setting or utility pellet setting? thanks in advance.
 
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