tree cycle followup

[jtakeman]

J, my son is going to have a day off from school soon, don't know exactly what day, but I'm taking a trip upstate NY and driving up thruway. I don't know how far you would be from the thruway but I could bring a couple bags of TC with me for you to try. I'm getting off at exit 18 to take 28w to Margarettsville. The problem is I will be towing about 9k lbs of just the camper and really can't go site seeing. If you are closer to 87 than the place you say is now carrying TC I'll bring a couple bags and we can meet at an exit or rest stop between exit 17-18 or is it between 16-17.

Pelletnubi, Thanks for the very nice offer. But thats way out of my way. I go to bristol 2 to 3 times a month. I just stop in when I do. Not a biggie. Much appreciate the offer though!

 

[poconoman]

Sounds great Jake. Hopefully they perform well for you.

His name is not Jake it's J-takeman. Sounds familiar. LOL Don't know if you remember

Man, I can't remember. You got me there. :lol:

 

[Bob Taggart]

I have made it a policy not to respond to post on this site because I feel that it is a forum for the people burning pellets, not for businesses. However, I would like to let you know exactly why Phil Curtolo (aka pelletpig54) is posting such nasty and slanderous comments. Phil lives behind the plant and as you can see by his message to me, printed below, he feels that the property we purchased is actually his. He has erected a swing set on our property, (set in concrete), he has dug up our lawn and planted a garden and dumps his grass clippings and compost on our property. Because of our litigious society and the liability potential of having kids playing on our property it became necessary to put an end to Phil’s delusion that he can freely use our land. Phil continues to trespass on our land and when confronted he has taken up a campaign against myself and our company. The property that we purchased has been zoned industrial for over 45 years, well before Phil moved next door. As far as all of his comments I will let everyone use their own judgment based on Phil’s motivation. Since I will not post again if anyone has any questions about anything you can reach myself or Mike Z. at our plant or e-mail me directly. Thank you to all of our supporters. Bob Taggart [email protected]

"This message is for Mr. Taggart. My name is Phil Curtolo. We met at the October 2008 Board of Supervisors meeting in Plainfield Township. I live with my wife and 2-year old son on a directly neighboring property to the Nazareth location. I beg you to reconsider erecting a fence in our backyard. My son plays back there every day, my wife and I have our garden back there, and we have always considered that land to be part of our home. In an Express-Times article linked on your webiste, you stated that you "don't want to disturb [y]our neighbors." This would be more devastating to us than any noise, regardless of whether it's over the allowed limit by the zoning ordinance. Please reconsider, and please call me so that we can talk further. My number at home is 610-746-4032. Thank you."

 

[poconoman]

Well, I'd like to see what Mr. Curtolo has to say about this.

 

[slvrblkk]

I think this thread should probably get locked at this point.....jmo

 

[BadDad320]

The TreeCycle Soap Opera continues....... What's next??? I may just wait for the movie version to come out......

 

[jtakeman]

We'll at least we see both sides now! I just knew there had to be more to the story.

onetimeposter,

Glad you had your say. I just hope there is a happy end for all involved.

Glad you could join us here, Stop by anytime and chat pellets with us. We love hearing about pellets. Tell Mike Z I said hello.

 

[fidiro]

And the other side speaks out.

Poconoman, I made the same mistake one post on this thread and imacman corrected me. No hard feelings.

J, sorry that you're not closer to grab the pellets.

 

[poconoman]

And the other side speaks out.

Poconoman, I made the same mistake one post on this thread and imacman corrected me. No hard feelings.

Post # 130. lol!

 

[jtakeman]

As long as you guys aren't calling me JERK! I guess its OK. :lol: :cheese: ;-P

 

[ADVA]

Thanks again for another lesson learned. I figure if I don't ask I will never know.

We are all here to learn. Glad I could explain it for you!

Jay,

Got a problem:
Dont know how to properly measure ash weight as well as consistency.
Could you help me out please.
You could put the lab coat on with the pocket protector for effect if you like Sir.


Should I brush the entire inside of stove into the Ash pan or just pull it out?

Am concerned about "Volume".
When you "mix/disturb" Ash greatly it decreases the volume & changes the consistency.
Should I just pour it in a glass jar?
I dont have a Mason Jar...
:bug:

Yes, I then swept under the ash pan for any that missed it. I also swept the fan area too. Collect everything you can. Do the same for any pellet you test to be fair!

I used a mason jar, But any jar will do as long as it will hold all the volume. Maybe a mayo jar? I like the mason jars because of there graduated markings. I did worry about consistency but once you weigh it. You will see the difference. Check the results for the Michigan pellets I burned. There consistency was very light and fluffy. Almost filled the whole jar but weight less than some with a 5/8 to 3/4 full jar. I just poured it in, But you could settle it with tapping lightly on the jar. just tap each pellet sample the same amount as best as possible. No tapping worked for me. Just be consistent with all of the samples you do!

Happy testing!

Yes,
Testing a decent pellet does make you happy!

I still have over a ton of mainly Natures Heat & Currans to dump/cut 50/50 with these new TC's.
The first bunch of Currans I bought burnt OK.
However the rest of them were not too good.
Cant wait to get rid of them both.
Guess I should not complain.
Thats why I bought the Harman bottom feed. It will burn poor grade pellets.
I picked up over 2-ton of the Natures Heat someone else could not burn for 1.87 per bag.
I could burn them without mixing 50/50 however it does put strain on the stove.
Right now though I dont want to be bothered mixing.
Would rather just burn the new TC's.

I cleaned & blew out the entire stove with air prior to testing.
Cleaned the fan blades too & even the ash pan exterior & interior.

Questions:
1-Should I clean the baffles too?
2-Can I burn 2-bags then just divide the ash weight by two?
One problem I see with this is...I will have to burn 2-bags of every other pellet I test to be consistent in testing.
3-Till I lowered the feed to 3-3 1/4.
A few pieces of burning pellets dropped off the edge of the burn pot.
Should I sift these out?

Thanks for your reply & help.
I have a renewed appreciation for what You go thru for us here.
To test pellets properly is very time consuming.
Not simple as just throwing a bag in!

Now if only I could get my hands on a Mason Jar!

Geeeezzz!

What Happened here the last few weeks!
I was going to Quote the person with the nasty attitude.
But figured it was not worth it...





Jay,

Here are the pics & weights & Ash Content for the TREECYCLES 7-2010's.

They weigh in at .30lbs. That's ash only.
Not the jar.
If I put a 3/8" washer it kicks it up to .35lbs.
So I would say it's about .33lbs.
Since the scale only measures in .05 increments.
I figured out that the .33lbs of ASH is 5.4oz. in weight.
(correction)=Jay figured out the ash is 5.38oz. in weight. Thanks Jay!

The ash level "if I fluff it up as much as possible" in the Mason Jar is just over the 12oz. mark.
If I try to "settle the ash by smacking the jar on the table" it goes to just under the 11oz. mark.

I dont know what this all means.
I have to say. I am very impressed with these TreeCycles.
Ash Looks like the Okanagan's.

Today was first time I opened the stove since I burnt the bag.
I touched the ashes on the edge of the burn pot & they just disintegrated into even finer powder!
These are completely different & personally I am impressed.
I think I am going to get serious with these pellets.

Took a brush & paint brush & wiped the entire stove out.
Every nook & cranny.

It should be noted that the ASH has not one hard piece in it from any silica or other materials becoming hard or glassy.
Putting my hands thru the ash & I could not feel one sharp or hard piece etc.

Then after I smacked the ash pan on the steel table to get every bit of ash out.
I blew out the stove with air & swept up the little extra I got.
Found a dozen pieces of pellets that did not burn all the way.
Must have dropped of edge of burn pot.
They are not in the mason jar.

BTW- Sorry took so long.
Been busy & after 4-supermarkets I finally found a dozen Mason Jars at Walmart.

NOTE:
All the pictures are untouched, non-auto corrected.
Just shrunk in pixels to the maximum size this site will allow.

 

[ADVA]

[
Yes, I then swept under the ash pan for any that missed it. I also swept the fan area too. Collect everything you can. Do the same for any pellet you test to be fair!

I used a mason jar, But any jar will do as long as it will hold all the volume. Maybe a mayo jar? I like the mason jars because of there graduated markings. I did worry about consistency but once you weigh it. You will see the difference. Check the results for the Michigan pellets I burned. There consistency was very light and fluffy. Almost filled the whole jar but weight less than some with a 5/8 to 3/4 full jar. I just poured it in, But you could settle it with tapping lightly on the jar. just tap each pellet sample the same amount as best as possible. No tapping worked for me. Just be consistent with all of the samples you do!

Happy testing!

Yes,
Testing a decent pellet does make you happy!

I still have over a ton of mainly Natures Heat & Currans to dump/cut 50/50 with these new TC's.
The first bunch of Currans I bought burnt OK.
However the rest of them were not too good.
Cant wait to get rid of them both.
Guess I should not complain.
Thats why I bought the Harman bottom feed. It will burn poor grade pellets.
I picked up over 2-ton of the Natures Heat someone else could not burn for 1.87 per bag.
I could burn them without mixing 50/50 however it does put strain on the stove.
Right now though I dont want to be bothered mixing.
Would rather just burn the new TC's.

I cleaned & blew out the entire stove with air prior to testing.
Cleaned the fan blades too & even the ash pan exterior & interior.

Questions:
1-Should I clean the baffles too?
2-Can I burn 2-bags then just divide the ash weight by two?
One problem I see with this is...I will have to burn 2-bags of every other pellet I test to be consistent in testing.
3-Till I lowered the feed to 3-3 1/4.
A few pieces of burning pellets dropped off the edge of the burn pot.
Should I sift these out?

Thanks for your reply & help.
I have a renewed appreciation for what You go thru for us here.
To test pellets properly is very time consuming.
Not simple as just throwing a bag in!

Now if only I could get my hands on a Mason Jar!

1.)The best way is clean everything and catch everything. Try not to miss any ash. If you didn't clean the baffles now some ash may fall into the next batch and through that batch off.

2.) Yes should be Ok to do that.

3.) Yes I always sifted out the unburned pellet.

Mixing the not so good stuff with a better pellet helps to burn them. Thats one thing I don't need to do with my Omega. I have not found a pellet this thing can't burn. Not counting water damaged pellets!

Yes, its much more work than some realize. Brushing down the whole stove to collect the ash is much harder and takes longer than whipping out the ash vac!

Thanks for taking the time to test these pellets for us, I appreciate the work you are doing. I hope I can help where I can. Have fun fellow tester!

Here Are a few More pics of the TREECYCLES.
All the pictures are untouched, non-auto corrected.
Just shrunk in pixels to the maximum size this site will allow.

 

[BadDad320]

Heard a radio advert for Treecycle @ $189.00 somewhere in the Lehigh Valley / Delaware Valley Area..... If they are now as good as the test shows they would be the best deal in the area........

 

[ADVA]

Heard a radio advert for Treecycle @ $189.00 somewhere in the Lehigh Valley / Delaware Valley Area..... If they are now as good as the test shows they would be the best deal in the area........

Last season I spoke to Mike as He was working hard on getting the new mill running right.
I let Him know if He could get a pellet in the top 5.
They could beat the competition since they are all "imported from a far distance" & therefore reflected in their higher prices.

That He could capture the entire area if the Pellets are consistent high heat & low ash & the price be lower.
That was His plan & looks like TreeCycle may be on their way.

He is paying some good money for some good wood from a few choice suppliers He pulled in.

 

[fidiro]

Makes me even happier that I ordered 3 tons with no regrets. I have not had a chance to start a fresh bag but I did throw a ripped bag, that I didn't want to go to waste since it ripped right in the middle. I dumped the leftover pellets from the ripped bag into the hopper right over about 10lbs of clean energy from last year. Although it's still not finished, it already burned through the clean energy and started feeding the TC's. I saw a fluffier higher volume ash from the CleanEnergy leftovers and as they started to finish at the bottom of hopper and the TC's started started going through and burning, I cleaned the stove just to see the same ash that you are getting. It is a very fine ash.

I have never tried the Okies but to have this ash compared to a higher pellet grade is good news in my book. TC is a local company and since they don't need to ship long distances for us, it will keep the price right. Again I am glad I stuck with TC and gave them a chance even after all the bad news I read about them, especially in this thread.

There are guys/gals out there looking for shoulder pellets and I would say this one will be better than just shoulder use with a much lower price tag. I just hope they don't change the way they make these for next season.

I wish I had enough guys in my area to split a full load next year to get an even better deal.

 

[ADVA]

Makes me even happier that I ordered 3 tons with no regrets. I have not had a chance to start a fresh bag but I did throw a ripped bag, that I didn't want to go to waste since it ripped right in the middle. I dumped the leftover pellets from the ripped bag into the hopper right over about 10lbs of clean energy from last year. Although it's still not finished, it already burned through the clean energy and started feeding the TC's. I saw a fluffier higher volume ash from the CleanEnergy leftovers and as they started to finish at the bottom of hopper and the TC's started started going through and burning, I cleaned the stove just to see the same ash that you are getting. It is a very fine ash.

I have never tried the Okies but to have this ash compared to a higher pellet grade is good news in my book. TC is a local company and since they don't need to ship long distances for us, it will keep the price right. Again I am glad I stuck with TC and gave them a chance even after all the bad news I read about them, especially in this thread.

There are guys/gals out there looking for shoulder pellets and I would say this one will be better than just shoulder use with a much lower price tag. I just hope they don't change the way they make these for next season.

I wish I had enough guys in my area to split a full load next year to get an even better deal.

Nubi,

Glad to see your getting the same fine ash.
Consistency is key.
Let me know the date on the bags if you could.

There are established pellet companies that their first year or two put out a decent pellet & are now
putting out garbage for years & riding on their "first good word".
Complaints go unheeded.
There are pellet companies that just plain put out some ok & the rest horrible pellets.
That is the cycling of their wood supplies. Most of it not good.
Complaints go unheeded.
Unheeded cause that "IS" their business plan.

The Difference:

TreeCycle is a new start up business that actually do care to get their pellets right.
The proof is in the Pellets.
They have CONSISTENTLY put out a better & better pellet.
Frankly it blows away 4-different Pellets I have burned from two big box stores.
From my reading the posts here by others & from speaking to Management.
They have been good for their word & More than fair when it came to problems.
You dont see big box stores giving you that kind of service.

Sad thing is many, many Consumers do not know any better.
They are burning horrible pellets possibly frustrated & even destroying their stoves.
Thanks to these sites & the likes of people's hard work & wisdom as Jay & Others here.
The Consumer can get a fairly good education on Pellets.


TreeCycle is a "New Business" that dealt with the growing pains of getting their Newly Installed Pellet Mill
up & running properly. You dont see Jay & Others trashing TreeCycle for this very reason.
They deserve a fair shake...


Big difference from other pellet companies for the "time being" are set in their ways in big contracts putting out crap.
Maybe as TreeCycle keeps cutting into their profit margin these others will either change or no longer be.

Thats where consistency comes in.
You hope TreeCycle along with others putting out a decent pellet will not start accepting these wood suppliers with "bad wood".
Looks like as long as Mike is running TreeCycle. That wont happen.

 

[fidiro]

H, my bags are dated 06/10 They are the new bags with the pellet stove picture.

 

[sydsdad]

Can i get these around the Philadelphia suburbs anywhere? ty rmw

 

[ADVA]

H, my bags are dated 06/10 They are the new bags with the pellet stove picture.

Obi-wan pnubi,
Could not help myself...

Thanks for getting back to me with the production date!

 

[ADVA]

Can i get these around the Philadelphia suburbs anywhere? ty rmw

Call the office & ask for a list of suppliers.
They should have a list.

800-685-2406

 

[slvrblkk]

Well, I have to say that I just got done burning some of the replacement TC pellets Mike gave me and they are burning GREAT....burning hot and little ash...like everyone else is reporting, the ash is very fine and powdery....I hope that this continues this way! Now, I'm off to burn some Stove Chows just to try......

 

[fidiro]

Well, I have to say that I just got done burning some of the replacement TC pellets Mike gave me and they are burning GREAT....burning hot and little ash...like everyone else is reporting, the ash is very fine and powdery....I hope that this continues this way! Now, I'm off to burn some Stove Chows just to try......

Glad to hear you have the same fine ash.

I just finished cleaning my stove. I vacuumed the hopper, I pulled the exhaust fan off and vacuumed, I basically vacuumed everything from the burn pot to the ash pan. Anything that had dust I vacuumed. I pulled the t-cap and cleaned.

I then added a fresh bag of TC and just had to fire it up. I will try to get a mason jar and brush any ash I can find into the pan and pull the tee cap to collect the ash from there as well. I will not be testing any heat output yet but want to see the ash for the first 4-5 bags, but with this weather will take me a month to run 4 bags.

 

[slvrblkk]

Well, I have to say that I just got done burning some of the replacement TC pellets Mike gave me and they are burning GREAT....burning hot and little ash...like everyone else is reporting, the ash is very fine and powdery....I hope that this continues this way! Now, I'm off to burn some Stove Chows just to try......

Glad to hear you have the same fine ash.

I just finished cleaning my stove. I vacuumed the hopper, I pulled the exhaust fan off and vacuumed, I basically vacuumed everything from the burn pot to the ash pan. Anything that had dust I vacuumed. I pulled the t-cap and cleaned.

I then added a fresh bag of TC and just had to fire it up. I will try to get a mason jar and brush any ash I can find into the pan and pull the tee cap to collect the ash from there as well. I will not be testing any heat output yet but want to see the ash for the first 4-5 bags, but with this weather will take me a month to run 4 bags.

It certainly is nice to take the chill off this rainy night tonight though!

 

[glockshooter]

Low was 40f last night, highs tomorrow predicted to be no higher than 50. Wish I was cleaned and ready to go!!

 

[jtakeman]

Well, I have to say that I just got done burning some of the replacement TC pellets Mike gave me and they are burning GREAT....burning hot and little ash...like everyone else is reporting, the ash is very fine and powdery....I hope that this continues this way! Now, I'm off to burn some Stove Chows just to try......

Glad to hear you have the same fine ash.

I just finished cleaning my stove. I vacuumed the hopper, I pulled the exhaust fan off and vacuumed, I basically vacuumed everything from the burn pot to the ash pan. Anything that had dust I vacuumed. I pulled the t-cap and cleaned.

I then added a fresh bag of TC and just had to fire it up. I will try to get a mason jar and brush any ash I can find into the pan and pull the tee cap to collect the ash from there as well. I will not be testing any heat output yet but want to see the ash for the first 4-5 bags, but with this weather will take me a month to run 4 bags.

Nice to see another tester! I would just do a 2 bag burn. A 4 bag burn will require something larger than a mason jar to hold the ash.

I ordered a couple of lab coats and pocket protectors for you and H advance.