around here $259.00/ton???? why??

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As a matter of fact its a great idea...You will have so many pellets you will drive the price down to pennies a bag...and burning pellets over natural gas is genus!!Ill bet you're the only one doing it!! Thinking outside the box is what makes America great!!! Carry on
 
As a matter of fact its a great idea...You will have so many pellets you will drive the price down to pennies a bag...and burning pellets over natural gas is genus!!Ill bet you're the only one doing it!! Thinking outside the box is what makes America great!!! Carry on
 
No NG on my street. It's either pellets or oil. I know oil is cheaper than pellets right now but I've already have 2 season's worth of pellets bought and paid for.
 
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No NG on my street. It's either pellets or oil. I know oil is cheaper than pellets right now but I've already have 2 season's worth of pellets bought and paid for.
Save them
 
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Am I reading this rite?? you have a natural gas furnace? why on earth are you burning pellets?
I do have NG furnace but when burning wood pellet at $225 a ton I would rather heat with pellets it cost less and I keep my whole house warm including the basement. My pellet stove is really a furnace seeing that it has a second floor return its comfortable 68 basement in the 70s first and second floor. I burn about a bag in a half a day when its in the 20s outside. My stove is a Frankenstein Englander pdv with 21 tubes though firebox and a 600cfm blower I like the general design but I did not think it was very efficient but I fixed that.
John
 
Im not looking to argue.. but unless you source out each and every part and build it yourself chances are its chinese. But with that said for less than 3 grand for a press and hammer delivered.. any cheapo parts can be modified later if need be. We have built our own machinery before so its not that big of deal. Have plenty of parts and plenty of motors if needed.
As for drying? I dont see the need to dry something that has already been kiln dried..? Cooled maybe yes. As for time.. that can be found alot easier than finding a couple grand to buy pellets.

Like i said im only considering it.. toying with the idea right now.

I would love to find a pellet made with cedar. But i garuntee if i did i wouldnt be able to afford it.
 
My stove is a Frankenstein Englander pdv with 21 tubes though firebox and a 600cfm blower I like the general design but I did not think it was very efficient but I fixed that.
John

You gotta post pictures!
 
I do have NG furnace but when burning wood pellet at $225 a ton I would rather heat with pellets it cost less and I keep my whole house warm including the basement. My pellet stove is really a furnace seeing that it has a second floor return its comfortable 68 basement in the 70s first and second floor. I burn about a bag in a half a day when its in the 20s outside. My stove is a Frankenstein Englander pdv with 21 tubes though firebox and a 600cfm blower I like the general design but I did not think it was very efficient but I fixed that.
John
Without actually checking what you are paying per "therm" and all that stuff but it has been general knowledge natural gas is cheaper then pellets per BTU... you may feel warmer but I' m betting you would spend less if you just turned your natural gas device to a warmer setting. since I cant buy gas , I cant be bothered to do the math...Long and short of it is your house will require X amount of BTU's to heat it for the winter...the less you pay per BTU, the les you pay.
http://www.woodpellets4me.com/pellets-calculator.html
 
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A big thing missing in BTU charts is duct losses in central heating systems. A lot gets lost in attic and basement ductwork that stays in the living space with a pellet puppy.
 
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Yea old rules of this forum..."pic's or it didn't happen"...LOL
I have done the numbers and the pellet stove has always come out on top of the NG. Allot of it is the house is old but its well insulated the NG system is set up one zone no heat in basement and I have a little shop too its nice when its warm.
My stove/furnace 21 tubes extra side fans so when it on high and I want my basement warmer it has a Harman style double blade impeller more flow but the burn plate is different. I have a 12 volt system on a series of fans to keep the auger motors cool they are now six years old I have spare everything even a spare stove I got for $100. Craig's lists. I also control the air intake with a gate valve It works really well and heats my whole house with ease I'm sure I will hear you can't do that but it stays clean burns clean.
John


John
 
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I know I'm asking a lot, but how about pics of all the mods you did?
 
OK. Agreed on Frankenstove.
 
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The stove did not come with any heat exchanger tubes so those are 1 inch DOM tubes that run though the fire box they are about 14 inch's long I bent the in my hydraulic tubing bender drilled the holes and welded the in. what you can't see is In order to let it breath I had to make up a new air manifold in back with two five inch tubes for return. I can take a photo of that without removing the pellet box. Blower is no longer in the stove its above it pulling the heat out instead of pushing it. Here is picture of the gate valve with the Harman double blade impeller I only open it about 1/4 so the heat stays in the stove and to the heat exchangers instead of just running up the stack.
John
 
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Paging @stoveguy2esw Call in the lobby for Mike Holton. The guys in the shop are gonna love these pics.
 
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I have done the numbers and the pellet stove has always come out on top of the NG. Allot of it is the house is old but its well insulated the NG system is set up one zone no heat in basement and I have a little shop too its nice when its warm.
My stove/furnace 21 tubes extra side fans so when it on high and I want my basement warmer it has a Harman style double blade impeller more flow but the burn plate is different. I have a 12 volt system on a series of fans to keep the auger motors cool they are now six years old I have spare everything even a spare stove I got for $100. Craig's lists. I also control the air intake with a gate valve It works really well and heats my whole house with ease I'm sure I will hear you can't do that but it stays clean burns clean.
John


John
I am VERY impressed!! I would be interested in exhaust temps to compare them with pellet consumption. I sure you are doing something to help with your adjustments...NICE!!
 

Awesome videos.. which i have watched already. But thank you for trying to prove a point of adding moisture to soy beans or grain or anything in that form..which i already knew. Saw dust will still have some moisture content even after its kiln dried. It is never dried 100%. Out of every video i have watched of WOOD pellet making i have not seen any water added unless it was absolutely needed. It will depend on the dryness of the dust. Hardwood sawdust may need moisture added....Pine and cedar are full of oils in which when heated going through the mill should act as a glue keeping them together. I could be absolutely wrong here but even if moisture needs to be added so be it.. an old cement mixer will do the job just fine. And can be cooled and "dried" if need be in our kiln in which i could make very large screen racks and do it very easily.. i am considering trying this to use our WOOD waste only and not be pruducing pellets 24/7. Only as another way to reduce our waste.
Any other opinions are completely welcome. I would like to hear from others as well.
 
Awesome videos.. which i have watched already. But thank you for trying to prove a point of adding moisture to soy beans or grain or anything in that form..which i already knew. Saw dust will still have some moisture content even after its kiln dried. It is never dried 100%. Out of every video i have watched of WOOD pellet making i have not seen any water added unless it was absolutely needed. It will depend on the dryness of the dust. Hardwood sawdust may need moisture added....Pine and cedar are full of oils in which when heated going through the mill should act as a glue keeping them together. I could be absolutely wrong here but even if moisture needs to be added so be it.. an old cement mixer will do the job just fine. And can be cooled and "dried" if need be in our kiln in which i could make very large screen racks and do it very easily.. i am considering trying this to use our WOOD waste only and not be pruducing pellets 24/7. Only as another way to reduce our waste.
Any other opinions are completely welcome. I would like to hear from others as well.
I did some very complex calculations.... Buy 2 machines and it will DOUBLE your production!!
 
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Ya know I have a saying " winners find solutions to problems ... losers find problems in solutions" Now where I fall in this saying Ill let others decide.. Another "saying" I rather like as well... "advice ... wise men don't need it...fools won't heed it" Again where you fall in this, I'll let others decide...good luck and I hope you make me look like a big dummy...
 
I did some very complex calculations.... Buy 2 machines and it will DOUBLE your production!!
Just because i dont bow down to one persons opinion does not mean either party is right...
Look at it from point as well.. right now i am working. I have time to bicker back and forth on here right? The winter months are extremely slow for us.. why not throw in a possibilty of slight production increase for a couple months out of the year? Not only keeping me working but heating my home, the work place and possibly a few others mean while keeping our scrap pile down year to year instead of watching it rot.

Our model home is normally not heated.. it could be with these on site made pellets.. our kiln could be potentially heated with pellet instead of electricity...along with a couple other areas..

As stated it is only a consideration at this point.
 
The idea of using the waste from your job to create a form of energy is what using Biomass is all about. Yes, making your own pellets will be a pain at first. Since you already have the wood chipped and dried, you eliminate the expense of the equipment needed for that. You may have to play around with a bonding additive since the pellet presses you are looking at don't operate in the same pressure range as the actual wood pellet presses for mass production do. Not an issue though. I have seen companies use a vegetable oil type additive (Green Supreme), while others just rely on moisture alone. Since you'll have raw material to play with, you can run small batches to get the idea of what works.

I think you could do it, with patience, and be successful. Good luck!
 
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Precisely why I opted not to buy pellets this season. With propane at $1.50 per gallon, it would be flat out foolish to purchase pellets this season. I suspect that you won't see the pellet shortages this season that we all saw last season!
 
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