I guess my hope is that we see more DF in some of our East Coast pellets . I would like to give these a try I think I've seen them at Lowes months ago .
Pretty sure it was America's Best because I remember the eagle on the bag . But I have seen that one also in my travels .
Ripping through bags multiple times shows lack of care. Lack of care is a management, or using the current lingo, a culture, issue. A fork missing the pallet serially is careless not packaging. Management is the process of controlling systems. But you are correct. Our goods were individually cartoned, master cartoned, shrink wrapped. Our handling concerns had more to do with contamination, proper assembly, and accurate scaling. No difference though. Mishandling resulted in garbage product.
Looking to round off my stash . My choices are Blazer 6.90 a bag , La crete 6 a bag , and Platinum 6 a bag
I think I would go with a sample platter of 25 Crete's , 20 Plat's & 5 Blazer's see how easy I can spend your money Russell
Trust me. I worked for one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world. And retired now, work with pellets, some. There is a huge difference in the two products, and the way they are handled. And how pellets are brought from tree, to your driveway. I get it. I know about that management deal, and what you are saying. The problem is not just running the fork through the bag. And the packaging element is huge. The damage comes from trying to get the pallets as close as possible to each other for shipping. It's one pallet just scraping the side of another, and because it is 6" higher than the one already in place, the bottom corner bags gets doinked... Or, if double stacked, the top cover gets scraped, and then when it rains bags get wet... Or, when the pallets are stacked on the opposite side of the trailer, you push too hard... bingo.. you run into the pallet on the other side, when you drop or lift.. I see this stuff every load, and the owner, Henry, complains about it to the supplier every day... I know, it's easy to say, 'the guys should be more careful'.. But when you see 5000+ ton of product on the ground, of stuff wrapped in Saran wrap, you can see the possibilities... Pay a guy minimum wage, and tell him he isn't going fast enough, and see how that works .... Dan
How many are you looking to buy in total? I like Will's idea of doing a sample of each kind. Variety is good.
10 la cretes, 5 blazers, 5 plats? If you find you like any of them a lot, buy larger quantities later. That's just me, I really like testing different kinds. If you just want to go with one brand, given the options and prices, I would grab the la cretes. Good new is they are all good products, so you can't go wrong no matter what you do.
Seems I said that. The trade is a management choice ,,,, It is not a culture that brings quality or is conducive to high standards. Pay the guy a fair wage (and that is more art than science) and SHOW him how to work at smartly and regardless of the product quality will improve. It is management that chooses to be OK with sloppy.
I can only use my industry background as an example BUT I believe the theory works pretty much anywhere. When I took over -- Average OT per employee was 14.5 hours -- average objectionable product was 17.4% (industry average was 11.8%) In 3 months overtime was under 3 hours and acceptable product was 10.9% (in a year it under 5%). Management made a choice of what was acceptable and gave people the tools and time to accomplish the task within a reward system that increased pay. I have seen the system work in warehouses (material handling), production and retail. Excessive damage is bad management regardless of the product. Perhaps the pellet industry should wise up and we would all benefit.
My 2 cent's as a consumer. I just had a situation where I bought 2 test bags from a brand with great reviews but when I got my 2 tons delivered the color and size were completely different. The pellets did burn fine and the longer ones were no problem for my stove so I guess I was lucky , but when we buy super premium we assume each bag will be similar unless the company makes us aware of changes in their product. It seems the bottom line is we're not going to really know where the pellets come from but just have to trust in the reputation of the brand .
Dan This is what prompted my comment -- "One place I would never buy pellets from is Lowes . I stopped in yesterday just to browse around and I 've never seen suck a miss handling of pellets , there were 3 pallets in front of the entrance stacked 2 high with broken bags everywhere with sawdust and swollen pellets hanging out of them . I walk to the garden section and now I see 4 single pallets in the same condition with puddles of water on top , looks like the dumpsters are going to be full " How you involved your back and small dealers is beyond me. I'm with you though its a dead horse. and best put to bed.
Back on point -- Lacrete would be my choice in a popularity contest. Course the limiting factor would be the brands available to me. We only have one, what I would consider, pellet guy who offers variety and he carries Energex Hardwood, Barefroot, NEWP, Curran, Hammer, Dry Creek , LaCrete, Platinum (Vanderhoof) , Cubex, North Country, Okie (black bag), and Trebio. I tried each and the Lacrete, Platinum, and Oakie were voted the most popular by my Serenity and more importantly the Linda. The other small shops carry mostly Dry Creek, PA, Curran, one has Ambiance. Other than Curran the other brands are hit and miss, mostly miss last year when we got deep into winter.
Nice variety! Don't know of anyone (except a couple that are hours away from me) that carry more than a couple of brands - and most only carry one (and usually not that good of a pellet either). BBS's have more variety than any place around. If I'd known what I know now, I would have bought a house someplace closer to a place that sells good pellets
If you have access to those brands, at the very least treat yourself to a few bags of each if you've never burned them before. I've got a feeling that you won't be disappointed.
