I get what your saying, Sets at $175/ton would be like scoring Sammy Adams October Fest for the price of (insert cheap name beer here!). But I think were missing Dex's point though, Of him not being able to get them at all. We can get em at least. Some regions are not as plentiful as we are. Yes we pay top dime for them. But in a pinch we have more choices then many other area's.
Yep... That's it. Somersets are great. I love them... But, just like the rest of the world? I like selection. I wouldn't mind trying a top tier pellet that cost $300 a ton.. Heck, I would like to just see other Hardwoods (Hamer and Turmans are only a state away and I can't get them ) Let alone all the Softies that are out there
I don't think Sets have even been in Central Maine. Possible southern Maine, or Northern Massachusetts as some people call it.
I'm with Dex. The nearest pellet dealer that I know of is at least 35 miles away. There's plenty of Lowes/HD/Menards/TSC/Rural King box stores in between. We're sorta at the mercy of what shows up in the box stores. Fortunately I can usually find some Somerset somewhere, but not always. Haven't checked Menards or HD lately. Lowes has AWF at 250/ton. TSC is at 2oo/ton, but only has Easy Heats and some brand I've never heard of. Same with Rural King. Good thing I stashed a bunch of sets last spring. I'm thinking about buying a ton of Easy Heats just so that I don't use of my precious Somersets in the shoulders, although I hope to burn a lot of corn too. We're almost forced to hoard pellets because of fear of what might show up in the box store next fall. Trying to make it through the winter with Easy Heats... It would be nice to have a pellet house nearby so I could order a ton or two of the better pellets if needed, and not have to rely on whatever shows up at the box stores.
I have no experience with Easy Heats, but I personally would buy a couple tons of the AWF to go with whatever else you buy.
I would love to see a pellet house a little closer to me. The closest one is in Bristol Conn. and its a major deal to run over there for a couple of tons. I scored my Somersets this year but my choices would be pretty limited if it weren't for them. TSC and HD have GS and Instant Heats, Lowes has Timber heats, GS and Green Teams. There are a few other place that offer alleghenys and Ligs, but the Ligs and GT are $289 and you need to buy a stove from the guy with the alleghenys to burn those babies at $249 a ton. My bud drove a little way north to get some Dry Creeks at $249 a ton, a 2-3 hour deal for me and 1/2 tank of gas. I wouldn't mind spending $289-300 for some of those BC softwood exotics I hear about, put a ton a way for those cold Jan.- Feb. days, but they are not really accessable to me. The Somersets at $ 237 is as good a buy as I can find. Maybe my new stove will put out good heat with a lesser pellet. Guess life could be worse. Doggy
I'm set for this year, so I'll hold off on $250 AWF, but we'll see if the price comes down again. Dex - I just checked Menards website, and they're at $250/ton. Interestingly enough, they are also advertising ultra premium softies for $325/ton. The pic on the website shows what I believe are the AWF softies. Might have to make a reason to go to Sandusky this weekend.
Don't seem em here either. I had to head south to find them and its to far for it to be worth it for me!! Them Easy Heats weren't so easy! Heat was blah IMHO. I'd take the AWF any day!! I bet if you post that never heard of brand, One of us has prolly burned them. Ain't much us pellet hoarders haven't seen. If we haven't?? Then you must suck one up for the team and have at em so we have insite!
Awf softies are nice burned 5 tons last year, only complaint was tbey had a decent amount of fines. They liked sticking to the hopper walls.
Dex - Called the Sandusky Menards this morning, and they have 100 bags of AWF white pine softies for 6.49/bag. Was gonna pick up 10-20 to try out if they're still there on Friday night. Jay - the new brands is Fiber Energy Products wood pellets. 100% hardwood. I don't have high hopes. The pellets are very thick, sorta remind me of Freedom fuel. Shoulder season at best most likely. In regards to the AWF, I think I'm going to wait till Lowes comes back down in price. They were at $250 to start, then dropped to $200 for a few weeks, now we're back to $250. Just waiting...plenty of Sets in the shed and corn in the basement.
I called Sandusky Menard's and Massillon...No Somerset's, but I thought the guy told me the pellets were on sale for $200/ton for another week or so.
AWF have always burned well for me, the hardwood at least. Not quite as good as a Somerset or Propellet/magic spark in my stove, but definitely a solid pellet, esp for $200/ton The softwoods are labeled as "ultra premium", but I've never burned them before. Will let you know once it cools down a bit more. Probably not worth the price premium to me, but I bought 12 bags to see how they burned. They were asking $314/ton, and that's waaaaaay too close to propane price wise to justify burning them on a regular basis.
The softies are supposed to be a pretty good pellet. Better than Sets, but not worth the extra cost. Although I would like to try a few bags myself. Just to see
Been filling my car 15 bags at a time while Menards has pellets on sale. Slim pickins' around here. Most stores have Indeck and/or Southern Indiana Hardwoods. I'll end up with some of each. I did find a not so local store with Somersets. I travel near enough a couple of times a week I'll have at least a ton of them before the sale is over. A couple of local stores now have softies. I found one with AWF white pine and another with Marth white pine. At $6.49 a bag it's too rich for my blood. I'm glad to see corn prices back down to a reasonable price for burning!! The less desirable hardwood pellets mix well with corn to keep the klinker from getting too hard to deal with.
