I keep seeing the acronym "TSC" and talking about green bags.... Now, I want to get a heavy hitter and we are somewhat limited to beetle kill pine pellets here for the most part, although you can run into other stuff occasionally. I have discovered I can buy these http://www.murdochs.com/shop/lignetics-premium-quality-wood-pellets-40-lb-bag The price is pretty high compared to what I'm used to, but I'm willing to try them if you guys thing they deserve a gold star. IF they are as good as people say, what is the difference between different colored bags and what is TSC? lol I would like to have something that burns super hot for the really cold spells which, really are far and few here. We get about 3 spells a winter where it sits at -10f or worse for about a week but it's usually not too terribly cold. Thanks in advance
Heat will be nice, But seeing you live in softwood land. You'll find theses hardwoods have a lot more ash. I usually see around 0.6% ash content from them on average. About a 1/3 more than you'd see from the Rockies. I'd check them out and see if they are actually the Orange labeled softwoods. Those are just as clean as the rockies and should produce a bit more heat!
Have been burning ligs for the better part of 20 years.Used to be the only kinds to get here was ligs and eurekas.Eurekas very inconsistant,you get a good batch and then a really bad batch,ligs always consistant.Now the last 2 years lots of different pellets out here,but as I live up in mountains I try to get stock early,and ligs come in first.Both are locally made,and usually not the same pellets they get back east.Oakies and north idaho both burn cleaner and hotter,but I cannot wait untill november to haul them home.The oakies out here are also different than the eastern ones,and would be my first choice,depending on price/time.Also have heard good things about the pellets made in south dakota this year,but have not burned any.My integra likes better pellets,the harmon doesn't seem to care,and has big ash bin.Now to poor a cup of java in my FHC mug and wait for sun to come up.
TSC is Tractor Supply Co - It's a hardware store chain. Until now, I thought it was east coast only, but according to their website, they are in 44 states. http://www.tractorsupply.com/ They sell everything from garden tractors to wood splitters to snow blowers to pellet stoves. For many, it is one of the most common places to buy pellets. The lignetics we see around here (New England) are the hardwoods out of Virginia - with the green writing on the bag - shown in the pic posted by T-BONE in post #555 here: http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/pellet-shortage.7039/page-28 - Those have a pretty good reputation, and are well liked. Some complain about the ash, and yes it is certainly more than softwood pellets produce, but I have to say I'm not bothered by it, at least not in this year's batch. I've seen much worse. The picture you posted with the orange writing on the bag, I believe those are from the North Idaho plant and are actually softwoods. Kind of odd, though because the web page page refers to them as hard wood and then says they are red fir? Pretty sure those really are softies, and I have a funny feeling they are the same as the softwood Pres-to-logs we saw out here briefly, earlier in the season. Some of the best I have ever burned! If it's convenient, pick up a few bags to test with. $6.50/bag is a lot though (for me, anyway) so I would definitely test and make sure they are the the best before committing to buying a lot of them. What is the price if you buy a whole ton? EDIT: Never mind about the price question, I see they are $299 when bought by the ton.
Didn't make it today but I'll go grab a few bags tomorrow. Thank you very much for the input everyone. It's tough because I can actually get eco-flames for $2 a bag from my girlfriends work on her employee discount. They are the broken bags that they can't sell but usually aren't missing much and if the bag is less than 3/4 full they let you take two bags and call it one. I do however want something that will burn hotter for the treacherous times in the winter. Home Depot also has stove chow, I've read good things about them too.
Good, solid pellet. Maybe not the best for those really cold times, but they'll keep you warm most of the time. Jay T. burns them a lot.
Ah then stove chow is out, I've been burning a lot of Western Wood Products pellets lately and they are blowing anything Confluence makes out of the water (Rocky Mountains and Eco-Flames). Just looking for a cooker of a pellet locally, not much to come by. Heartlands are everywhere but I'm not too impressed. They seem to burn just the same as Rockys, a little more clinker issue but otherwise identical.
Red fir is very similar to Douglas fir. Very hard to tell the difference and ash content is only slightly higher.
That mill registration number points to the Sandpoint, Idaho mill and the badge looks very similar to the one on the PTL softies. Only difference I can see is the BTU says 8000 instead of 8200. Think you are going to like them. Very interested to see how they do compared to the pine pellets you normally burn? http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/presto-logs-pellets.7295/page-2
The way I see it, if a manufacturer has stones enough to put the ash content of less than .5% right on the bag, it should be a decent pellet. The ones that say less than 1% I try to stay away from.
I think RockyMtnHigh is going to try them, he could give a better opinion as we are new to pellets. Husband used our bag last night, he didn't see a difference that would justify the extra expense.
I'd love to try those bad boys too!!! If they burn like the PTL softies, I think you are going to love them wildwest! BTW, thanks for posting the UPC!
That's the ones I have been burning for years(from sandpoint) and they are very consistent.Also not the first time murdochs has made a misteak in their adds(we have one here).They used to be a central tractor(anybody remember them?) then went with the family name,then sold out,but the daughter still works at the bozeman store.
