burned a couple hundred pounds of Blackstone thus far. I don't see any difference to the Greene Golds ($269) from last year which are now $319 locally. I'm sure the EasyBlaze premium i'll try as we get further into the season will produce much less ash, but for now the $269 price tag is good for early/late burning, and for the price point - excellent! good heat, minimal fines, typical hardwood ash. The Blackstone pellets are shorter, no 1.5 inch stuff, but some 1/4 inch shorties. Trucking is the issue, so for those of us in southern New England it's a deal.
I have burned 4 bags of the Still River pellets and am pleasantly surprised. No clunkers and average ash. They were not very dense though, one of the least dense I have seen. However, they were perfect for the West Point because they fed slower on low than most others.
just unloaded a ton of EasyBlaze softies for my mid winter burn. but i notice room in the bag where the Blackstone/Still River have none. The skids at the shop also reflect the same - the EasyBlaze skids are somewhat shorter, indicating the same density finding you see. i'm going to have a conversation with the manufacturer about that.
Weigh the bags , both Steve and I noticed they were about a pound short I know that he posted that in his review
weighed 5 bags of EasyBlaze 40.4 lbs on all bags. weighed 5 bags of Blackstone...40.4 lbs each. weighed 3 bags of Greene Gold from last year...the same. now, i'd like to see the weights from one of you guys for comparison as my digital bathroom scale is what it is. I have a skid of pellets going to Torrington on Sunday, perhaps i can add a couple of bags of the Blackstone for JT to pick up. let me know JT, i'll get the address for you
I think the most important thing, is that yours proved to be very consistent... And well within a reasonable margin of error.. (IMO) Dan
This is all I ever use. If something looks out of the ordinary, I grab a couple bags of something else for comparison to make sure the scale isn't off. Last week I sold a set of wheels that I shipped out via USPS. The box on the scale weighed 13.4 lbs. I took it to the post office to send out and they slapped it on their scale and it was 13.6 lbs....close enough for me!
What your seeing is a density difference between the pellet. A higher compression rate of one to the other. I usually do weight and density in my reviews for comparison Hold off on that, I have some time off between Christmas and New Years. Hope to venture your way for a visit. I'll buzz you before I do so we can schedule a day when you are available. .
Got ahold of four bags of the Blackstones last weekend and thought I would add my observations. First, I love the smell. Only the second pellet I've used that actually smell like wood to me (the others being Vermont's). Although they are hardwood, they smell somewhat "piney" to me. Nice light color and no long pellets. P43: I have been running Pres-to's all winter in this stove and been happy with the low ash, good heat and little deposit on the glass. I have an oven thermometer that hangs off the top of the stove so it is directly in the air flow coming out of the tubes. I honestly could not tell when the Blackstones hit the firepot. The minimal ash, clear glass and air temp were exactly the same. I only knew that they had gone thru because I checked the hopper last night and it was nearly empty. P61a: I have been running ThermaGlo's in this stove for about 2 weeks. The temps have been mild so I'm getting rid of pretty much garbage pellets while I don't need much out of them. the TG are very ashy, low heat and dirties up the upper portion of the glass fairly quickly (not horrible, but worse than the P43). It was very obvious when the Blackstones hit; I haven't had to dig ash out of the pot to keep the flame from smothering, I've used a lot less pellets and the glass is pretty clean. I'm pretty happy with the Blackstones and would grab a couple of tons if I had room and they delivered. Still might see if I can finagle a ton, but the only place I know of where I can get them doesn't deliver and I can't get there during their business hours - so it is a challenge.
I absolutely hate Blackstone ! Dirty burning, too many fines, I can't get rid of these things fast enough !
Wondering if it might be a vendor storage issue. I've burned some Blackstone's and there are few fines and hardly any ash.
Every stove and set up is different , what pellet is great for 1 guy could be total chit to the next , as we always say " Try a few before you buy tons "
And an excellent reason to buy a good stove that doesn't seem to mind much what it burns. To me, that is the best direction to start with.
Not sure what the deal is? Adjusted the ever loving hell out of the stove, but it just doesn't like these things..
Never burned any so I don't know either , I would mix them with something that you know burns well for you to use them up
John I see that you only use pellets as a supplement source of heat ,with your insert , how many bags do you burn in a year ??
