my harman P61A has been in use for 5 years. has burned many brands over the years ... some hardwoods made so much ash that when i would come downstairs in the AM, the flame would almost be smothered.. not always but happened with certain brands which i stopped using. the pellets push the ash into the ashpan but sometimes it would be overwhelmed.. I was home all day then so wasn't big deal as i could be OCD and pull ash couple times a day into the burnpot. I have had a part time job 4 days a week for year or so now so not home to play with the stove anymore. I burn very low ash softwoods now and when i come home there is very little ash in the pot and no buildup. wasn't all hardwoods but some like stove chows really produced mountains of ash.
That's basically what I'm finding also Tully, mine hasn't gotten to the point yet that the fire would be out or near out but the only holes in the pot that aren't blocked with ash are just the couple holes right at the fire and the flame is getting orange. If I scrape the pot the flame livens back up.
forgot to mention that very little scraping is needed now with the softies.. once a day i do it regardless if needed or not. and deff no clinkers or speedbumps anymore..
LW what consolidations occurred? We know Lignetics bought up some like the Geneva mill and NEWP. Are either of those expected to result in less product being offered in the marketplace? The Blackstone/ Still River mill in Eastford didn’t produce much this season, every time I drove by the field they used to store product, it was empty. Suspect they may be among those who were bitten by the box not following through on commitments last season. But AFAIK on the grand scheme of things, they didn’t produce a huge amount to begin with. Is there more going on here than meets the eye?
Need to visit the dealer and sip on the coolaide........ Seriously, Harmans are good stoves. But so are some of the others. Its all in the owners perspectives IMHO. And I'd likely own one if I didn't need a furnace styled stove with a big convection blower and ducting attached. I was offered the coolaide, Just decided on a cup a joe instead!! My first ton of pellets was in the $115 dollar range(CRS has me at the moment).... But being in the all electric class and no HHO, NG furnace. Pellets are the next best thing!! Wished I'd a stuffed another 20 or so tons when the fire sale happened!! But as long as I can stuff for under $250 its still far cheaper then watching the meter spin!
To me, what sets the Harmans apart from other stoves are the ease of operation and cleaning. I hear people talking about setting the draft level and changing settings for different types of pellets, etc. A Harman you set the heat level and mode of operation and that's it. As for cleaning, there are no baffles to pull or hidden passages or any of that. It's all pretty straightforward.
But that is just the thing. They are not set apart from other stoves. There are many other stoves that operate just as easily. Of course, there are some dogs out there. A good quality stove that is kept clean will run just the same.
Correct IHP but if you never owned a quality stove prior to a Harman you wouldn't know that. I'm not bashing a stove I just dropped 3800 bucks on but my Ravelli was a more versatile stove as far as how well it burned the cheap hardwoods vs the Harman because I could adjust the Ravelli to burn those cheap pellets about the best as possible so I don't necessarily see set and forget as always better. Ok I promise now I'm done
Its all about perspective there. I agree and also prefer adjustability on many things. When it comes to the stove in the basement, set it and forget it works for me. I dont even want to think about it.
My beast it pretty much set and forget as well. I haven't messed with the draft in a long while. Just spot check once in a blue moon. No hidden passages and only one baffle to remove. But when you literally only need to clean per ton. I won't complain one bit. Only adjustments have been feed trim from good to bad pellets. Good pellets I drop the feed trim down 2 and cruddy stuff gets jacked up to get some heat from them. What pushed me away from the hormone was the dinky convection blower And no way to adjust it. 135 CFM seemed to dinky for a 60K BTU beast. Omega came with 260 CFM and a tweakable upgrade to 455 cfm. There's enough room to stuff a 600 CFM, But the 455 is almost perfect. Plus me love to tinker(more like mess it up and figure out how to unmess it up)............ What else you gonna do when its cold besides beer testing.
My only comcern with the Harman is the hopper size. Although that Allure at 92lbs is pretty good. Now, back to 2018 Spring pricing. Any deals out there yet?
Bought point cut corned beef for $1.49/lb Wednesday evening (I have no idea what the difference is between point cut and flat cut besides $1/lb extra). Pretty good price around my neck of the woods.
No early buy deals around here yet. Picked up 3 tons Vermonts at $225/ton on CL over the past month. I don’t expect to find any deals (early buy or otherwise) that will top that. Keeping an eye on A1, PD, FS, and Robbins, just in case though. Last season FS had the deals to beat, and they weren’t offered until later in July or August I think, so we may be waiting a bit this season for the good deals too. There’s always something decent to be found, if you have patience - just have to keep your eyes peeled.
