Who makes TSC pellets?

[maraakate]

I noticed the local TSC in Lancaster, PA is now selling Cheat River Hardwood brand. I have not checked UPCs yet, but will find out later this week and let you know if they're the same as the in-house brand.

 

[maraakate]

UPCs are not the same. So who knows who made the in-house brand.

 

[Ssyko]

TSC contract pellets from their regonal/local area's so its a toss up.

 

[maraakate]

Yeah, it could be a few suppliers. The ones from TSC Central PA Area are fairly atrocious compared to other brands in the area. They are stored and bagged improperly. I have found plenty of "pregnant" bags that I have to discard and sort through. They are stored outside. I know it has been stated in this thread that they should be sealed properly and that being outside is a moot point... but not for these pellets apparently. There's been many, many bags I have found with clear water damage despite the bag being sealed. You can feel the pellets in the corners of the bags being some sort of weird hardened mass. I have also found that the bags have a fair amount of dust in them. They also have inconsistent (compared to other brands) sizes of the pellets. They also break into very tiny pieces easily just from dumping into the hopper so feed rate can be inconsistent as well.

I don't know who could be making them in our area. I doubt it would be Ironstone Mills or Kingdom Biofuel. Those are the only two local ones to me. Both of those come right out of Lancaster County and Kingdom Biofuel is Amish owned, there's a higher quality standard from the Amish. Ironstone Mills is based out of New Holland, PA which is also Amish and a lot of Mennonites and again there's a higher quality standard from those communities. I suspect they come somewhere from VA or near the Erie area, but I'm stabbing in the dark.

I know I'm making it sound like the TSC Central PA Area pellets are total garbage, they are not, but there are better options. If you don't mind sifting through bags outside at the store to find decent ones and having to clean the stove more frequently and having to up the feed rate they do produce heat and the price is cheap compared to others in the area.

I have been burning them with anywhere from 30-50% corn mixture when I can and this helps. Or I mix them with other brands in the hopper. When supply dries out and I'm down to TSC only pellets I can get by with them, but they are not ideal as the only pellet you should put in your stove.

It's unknown who else is buying pellets in our area. I haven't met another person locally to discuss what they use in their stove. Clearly people must buy them as stores stock them. I tried posting on local Facebook groups for the town I live in and only one person replied that they get theirs at TSC and they thought they were great pellets.

However, after all this hassle I did find a store that has Lignetics Hardwood/Softwood blend for only 60 cents more per bag and they are stored indoors the entire time. They burn great, have a fairly consistent size, and they are more rigid not breaking into tons of little tiny pieces.

 

[maraakate]

For anyone who is interested, the pellets in question I got from my local TSC had the UPC 738665000027. Nothing showed up online for this UPC so who knows who made it.

 

[Manly]

How do you tell who the manufacturer is of TSC pellets? Is there a way to read the barcode? Local TSC has hardwood pellets. Bought a bag @ $5.29 to try out. If they are good, I'll buy more, but if they change suppliers, I'll try one bag before buying bulk.

I purchased a ton of TSC bagged hardwood pellets recently in Farmington ct. The bar code identifies as Curran from NY. They burn well and no clumping or klinkers. Very clean and dust free. Moderate heat. 254.00 a ton. I have a 10% off coupon I will use on another ton for the garage. House gets premium softwood only.

 

[bogieb]

For anyone who is interested, the pellets in question I got from my local TSC had the UPC 738665000027. Nothing showed up online for this UPC so who knows who made it.

Looks like they expanded from animal bedding into pellets

 

[Lmn1966]

All of our TSC closed in Canada. Now its Peavey Mart. I don't our pellets in either store. If I'm desparate I'll just pick some up at Meldan manufacturer that's literally in our backyard. 5 bucks a bag... normally we buy the LG MAXIMUM at Rona.

 

[maraakate]

Looks like they expanded from animal bedding into pellets

View attachment 285875

This explains the terrible quality. What site is this btw?

 

[bogieb]

This explains the terrible quality. What site is this btw?

GS1 Company Database, You enter the 12 digit code in the GTIN tab.

 

[maraakate]

Who knows, but the pellets were pretty dirty to burn and gave off OK heat but I had to max the feed rate out for them. They clearly didn't do a good job of packaging them properly. Glad they're no longer available.

 

[whit]

In SW New Hampshire TSC's house brand of the moment is Curran, which has a mediocre rep but is burning well for me.

 

[maraakate]

It's good for the environment to convert used animal bedding into pellets! How can the quality be bad, as long as there are no bed bugs in the bedding?

I read this wrong; you are referring to USED animal bedding (missed that keyword). It sounds like a neat idea, but I'd imagine a lot of processing must be done to dry it out and sterilize it. The amount of energy output involved to reuse it for this probably doesn't jive for it to be economically feasible.

 

[rickwai]

When I put the code in from a bag from last year it just comes up Brentwood Tenn. Headquarters of Tractor Supply

 

[mtnbiker727]

You can burn some of the resulting pellets to dry the input. As long as it's heated above boiling point it's sterilized.

It would be better for the environment if all of that used animal bedding went back on the fields where it was grown the first place (nutrient cycling). Then the farmer wouldn't have to buy fertilizer, which has a significant environmental cost associated with manufacturing, transporting, and applying it.