All Other States Tractor Supply prebuy offer

[dpwoods]

I just got a card from Tractor Supply with a prebuy offer for 2021. It's $25 a ton off their list price. You can order till August 1, pay 25% down, and pay the rest on pickup. Pellets must be picked up by October 1. 8 ton limit. In my part of the world that makes their pellets $234.50/ton. It's within a dollar/ton of current pickup price at Menards with their 11% rebate.
Last winter TS was selling Biopower pellets made in Atikokan, Ontario. Seemed to produce a little less ash than the Indeck Energy pellets that Menards was selling.
Neither Biopower or Indeck Energy are great pellets, but that is what is available in northern MN... We have lots of forest industry, but both of the pellet mills that operated here closed within a couple of years. OSB and paper are more profitable and neither produces a surplus of sawdust to turn into pellets...
Propane prices are trending up, prebuy last year locally was $1.40/ gallon, for this coming winter it will be $1.65/gallon. My guess is that pellet prices will follow.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I suspect you are right and I see TSC is promoting a number is stoves (all made in China) as well.

I see no quoted price per ton on the TSC pellets (which I buy here because my local TSC has Michigan Hardwood usually)...

That tells me the PPT is more than last year but how much more is conjecture,

At most, I need a ton. Have 3 ton in the barn and 5 ton of corn.

In my case I don't much care about pellet quality or ash content. All they do is keep the corn clinkers under control.

Bought pellets at Menards one time. never again

 

[SidecarFlip]

I will say one thing about TSC and that is, they never charge me sales tax on pellets and never have. Menards on the other hand does. 6% (here) is 6% any way you cut it.

The Menards 11% off is a gimmick anyway. You don't get 11% off after you pay the sales tax rate which can be from 5-7% and it's always a store merchandise credit, not a cash back. I shop there but that 11% off thing is deceptive advertising.

 

[bogieb]

I suspect you are right and I see TSC is promoting a number is stoves (all made in China) as well.

I see no quoted price per ton on the TSC pellets (which I buy here because my local TSC has Michigan Hardwood usually)...

That tells me the PPT is more than last year but how much more is conjecture,

At most, I need a ton. Have 3 ton in the barn and 5 ton of corn.

In my case I don't much care about pellet quality or ash content. All they do is keep the corn clinkers under control.

Bought pellets at Menards one time. never again

I've never seen an actual price for pellets on TSC ads. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen other places, but not in my neck of the woods. I went online and they are saying $5.19/bag for my local store. And the ton price is $10 off that. No rise in price from the last couple of years. I already have 3 tons in my basement and am trying to figure out how to squeeze a ton into my 1-car garage that is already overflowing with stuff (car, bike, mower, snowblower). Eh, I'm not too worried as wood pellets will never get so expensive that they aren't a better value than propane (I paid $4.10/gallon in April and the price will do nothing but go up).

The local Agway just put out an ad for pre-season and they are saying $295/ton. They usually carry NEWPs and it seems to me that has been the same price for the last couple of years also.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I remember when they were 100 bucks US a ton..... I'm kind of basing my thought on the price of lumber today. Propane prices are way more volatile, filled all 3 bottles this spring for $1.65. Kind of locked into propane for the shop with in floor PEX heat.

We have a few months before all that comes down anyway.

 

[03Jarhead]

Just preordered 2 tons this morning from TS. After the $25 off, they came out to $199 per ton. They were the Greene team pellets.

 

[SidecarFlip]

'bout what they were last year. Just be careful when you pick them up. TS has a bad habit of giving people old stock that has sat outside all summer and drawn damp. Have a bad habit of impaling bags too. I'll probably order up a ton for myself but if they have any leftover stock (which they usually do, I'll barter with the manager for a cheap deal which I usually do...lol)...

 

[03Jarhead]

Fortunately my local tractor supply has a huge store and all pellets are stored inside and plastic wrapped in the back warehouse. Spoke to the manager when I ordered and he took me in the back to show me. Said they were just delivered this week and fresh from their supplier.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Fortunately my local tractor supply has a huge store and all pellets are stored inside and plastic wrapped in the back warehouse. Spoke to the manager when I ordered and he took me in the back to show me. Said they were just delivered this week and fresh from their supplier.

Not ours, everything is outside including the older no sale rusting mowers. Big store too but no inside storage.

 

[bogieb]

Since I load the bags by hand into my Explorer, I can reject any bag I don't want. Although most of the pellets are stored outside at my local store, they are kept wrapped and bagged and their pretty good with the fork lift so there is rarely damaged product. Even when there is, they don't try to pull out damaged tons to sell for bulk. They sell plenty by the bag and will put those pallets out at the front of the store for those who buy that way.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I don't do that. In the past before I started getting my free corn and ran straight pellets, I'd hook up my goose neck hay trailer and go to the local TSC and have them load 4 or 6 skids of pellets on the deck, strap them and head home. I have a hi-lo here so I just unload them, stack them 2 high in the barn and use as needed. Now, with the corn I get a skid or 2 maybe. This year will be one skid as I have a couple in the barn already. I get my corn palletized too, with 2500 pounds on a pallet in bags but I haul that down from the seed farm with a farm tractor with forks on it. Some of the corn comes in bulk in a gravity wagon and it gets augered into one of my bulk tanks (which are now empty and I've sold off the last of my cattle so they will remain empty until I sell them. Not needed anymore.

I don't want to handle pellets or corn anymore than necessary actually.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I pre-ordered 4 tons this week at $210/ton after discounts. They're promising Atkikokan pellets, which I had good success with last season.

Edit: Oops, the actual brand name is Biopower pellets, from Atikokan, Ontario.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Since I load the bags by hand into my Explorer, I can reject any bag I don't want. Although most of the pellets are stored outside at my local store, they are kept wrapped and bagged and their pretty good with the fork lift so there is rarely damaged product. Even when there is, they don't try to pull out damaged tons to sell for bulk. They sell plenty by the bag and will put those pallets out at the front of the store for those who buy that way.

One thing that my local Tractor Supply does is... I get them on full pallets and if I find a bag in the pallet that has gotten wet, all I have to do is take the empty sack back and they replace it, no questions. Always been that way as long as I can remember and I've returned empty bags more than once. Like if the stick any bags on a skid when loading them, they know it's coming back as it dribbles pellets on the floor of my trailer....lol

 

[SidecarFlip]

I actually have enough for next year as well. My issue is, more than anything else is...what will the cost per ton next winter (not this winter) will be...

 

[bogieb]

Pre-bought 2 tons at the last minute yesterday. I sold my car on Friday so now have room to keep pellets in my under house garage (garage isn't tall enough for my SUV). Came out to 234.50/ton for me too.

 

[kafox]

Pre-bought 2 tons at the last minute yesterday. I sold my car on Friday so now have room to keep pellets in my under house garage (garage isn't tall enough for my SUV). Came out to 234.50/ton for me too.

Do you know what brand they will be?

 

[SidecarFlip]

64 dollar question but in my case it don't matter.

 

[bogieb]

Do you know what brand they will be?

This particular store usually carries MWPs. But that doesn't mean that will be the case this year. Other TSC's in the state carry GS's, so I really don't know how the territories are divided up for deliveries. Doesn't really matter in my case as long as they aren't Therma Glo's!

 

[SidecarFlip]

Never hear of any of those brands. Here it's Lignetics, or Michigan Hardwood and that is it. Both fairly local so transportation isn't too bad. Long distance pellets with fuel at $3.+ a gallon, on road is pretty much out the window.

 

[bogieb]

MWP's = Maine Wood Pellets (not to be confused with Maine's Best) - a nice solid middle of the road pellet. GS = Green Supreme (now part of Lignetics). Some versions of GS are better than others. Ironically, the Northeast blend is not the best and tends to be pretty ashy even compared to other middling pellets.

 

[lagger]

my local tsc (Middletown NY) has a new brand this year according to Gepir, Eastern Shore forest products no idea what they are like yet.. also have 2 other nearby TSC stores but have not checked their stock yet 5.19 a bag

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I just picked up my fourth ton of pellets I bought under the pre-season sale at $210/ton. They're the same pellets they got last year, BioPower from Atikokan, Ontario. I was impressed with them last season -- good heat with moderate ash.
I noticed their regular price per bag when I was in the store -- $4.69, or $235/ton without discount. The store has offered a bulk price for a ton or more in the past, but I saw nothing posted.
They also had Green Supremes for sale. I hadn't seen that brand in our area before, but Lignetics bought out Marth, a large regional producer in Wisconsin, so maybe they're coming out of the Marth plant.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Was at TSC the other day and the clerk mentioned that any pre buy has to be picked up before the 1st. Something I need to do next week. I'll take the 1 ton truck down and fetch them.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Not ours, everything is outside including the older no sale rusting mowers. Big store too but no inside storage.

I see my local TSC store is adding covered storage in the side lot. Contractors are erecting the building presently. About time actually... Very busy store.

 

[bogieb]

Was at TSC the other day and the clerk mentioned that any pre buy has to be picked up before the 1st. Something I need to do next week. I'll take the 1 ton truck down and fetch them.

I picked up my 2 tons over the weekend. Last year I didn't pick them up before October 1 (I was thinking Nov 1 and I went in some time in the middle of October). Nothing bad happened , they didn't even scold me. I did mention it before they could notice and they were like, "no big deal." YMMV