Anyone rolling their own ?

I was just watching some of these pellet mills on you tube last night. Here's a link to a small pellet mill:
http://www.pelletpros.com/id68.html

I also wonder how well this would work.
Mike -

Somehow I doubt the economics of this on small scales.

Here is a site that speaks positive about these machines.
http://www.makeyourownpellets.com/

sometimes I roll my own..... :coolsmile:

vgrund said:

Somehow I doubt the economics of this on small scales.

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After seeing the video on YouTube and the PelletPro site I have to agree..seems alot of material(especially sawdust) and time are needed to reap any rewards..now if you had a working farm I would change my answer completely

kinsman stoves said:

I have not heard of one person making their own pelletsd that burn anyway close to commercial pellets.

I think the machines are a scam for pellet fuel. I think they might work for animal bedding or feed but that is it.

Eric

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With that kind of thinking. No one would ever start a business. Samuel Adams among every other one wouldn't be in business.

They do have pellet mills. Maybe you could make your own. Develop a drying process and your in business.

I think if a small pellet mill were cheap enough, and not $3000 , and, I knew I could take any biomass like grass clippings, paper, cardboard etc, and run them through a pellet mill and make my own I would do it, but it takes a lot of biomass to produce one ton of pellets. Im sure if several people got together, and got a pellet mill and had the land, such as a farm and they all pitched in together to crank out pellets for the winter I bet it could work.

The problem I think besides the cost of equipment and the biomaterial, is will this stuff burn in our stoves? I know it wouldnt burn in my Quadrafire unit, its made for wood, and corn, and maybe cherry pits. Im not sure about some other pellet burners out there, I saw the web page about the grass pellet test on several stoves and saw the poor results with almost all the name brands that I know of. The big problem being a dirty stove that needed cleaned several times a day to keep it burning when other fuels were tested. Premium, low ash hardwood seems to be one of the better fuels to run in the stoves today, but even Pellets are getting very expensive, and in a lot of areas burning oil is cheaper, as is natural gas.

I think it would be great if our pellet stoves could burn pellets of almost any material, I think we might see recycled paper pellets, or maybe a hybrid mix of wood, paper, and grass. That really sounds exciting when I think about it, I know it's doable, and Im sure there are some guys out there trying hard to make a stove that would be efficient, clean, and thrifty, because thats the typs of units that would sell in todays high energy cost heating.


I also dont think these Pellet mills are a scam, I've watched several videos, and I can see that they do work, but they sure do cost a lot too. Maybe one day the cost of the mill itself will be within reach of the average home user, who could mow his lawn and rake his leaves, and save them to make pellets out of. The thought sounds nice to me anyway.

Mark Fellows said:

kinsman stoves said:

I have not heard of one person making their own pelletsd that burn anyway close to commercial pellets.

I think the machines are a scam for pellet fuel. I think they might work for animal bedding or feed but that is it.

Eric

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With that kind of thinking. No one would ever start a business. Samuel Adams among every other one wouldn't be in business.

They do have pellet mills. Maybe you could make your own. Develop a drying process and your in business.

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I understand but like I said someone needs to show me a good pellet from a home made machine.

I started my business from nothing. Everything started from nothing but do not invest your 401K in one of these machines.

Eric

kinsman stoves said:

Mark Fellows said:

kinsman stoves said:

I have not heard of one person making their own pelletsd that burn anyway close to commercial pellets.

I think the machines are a scam for pellet fuel. I think they might work for animal bedding or feed but that is it.

Eric

Click to expand...

With that kind of thinking. No one would ever start a business. Samuel Adams among every other one wouldn't be in business.

They do have pellet mills. Maybe you could make your own. Develop a drying process and your in business.

Click to expand...

I understand but like I said someone needs to show me a good pellet from a home made machine.

I started my business from nothing. Everything started from nothing but do not invest your 401K in one of these machines.

Eric

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Makes perfect sense but at 3000.00 that isn't a 401K. then you need a drying process like a kiln. Could be a neat hobby.

Mark

possibly stove designs might have to change to allow for softer pellets, but I also think that $3000 isn't that much compared to what people pay for stoves, installation, and 3-5 tons of pellets.

I took the plunge and bought a 200 machine. After 2 weeks of trying to get any sort of pellet out of it I returned it to the supplier. I think the problem was not enough pressure to press the pellets through. I returned with the smaller 150 and hey presto using exactly the same material instant good quality pellets. Moral of the story bigger is not always better.

the economics of these look bad before you even consider the cost of the dies and frequency of replacement...that is the part that really kills the concept for me!....anyone tried rabbit poop in their stove?

renewablejohn said:

I took the plunge and bought a 200 machine. After 2 weeks of trying to get any sort of pellet out of it I returned it to the supplier. I think the problem was not enough pressure to press the pellets through. I returned with the smaller 150 and hey presto using exactly the same material instant good quality pellets. Moral of the story bigger is not always better.

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More info please. How are the pellets burning? How do feel about it being cost effective?
Thanks, Mike -

renewablejohn said:

I took the plunge and bought a 200 machine. After 2 weeks of trying to get any sort of pellet out of it I returned it to the supplier. I think the problem was not enough pressure to press the pellets through. I returned with the smaller 150 and hey presto using exactly the same material instant good quality pellets. Moral of the story bigger is not always better.

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Uh, yeah more info!

I agree that it would be more suitable for a farm where some equipment is already owned. The material needs to be collected, stored, shredded, at the right moisture content, extruded, dried, and stored again.

If you need one ton of pellets, visuallize more than 50 small square bales of hay! But then, that's only 1/2 acre of grass.

Let's hope "renewablejohn" will share some more with us. I do believe it could be doable and a little easier on us older guys than busting firewood.

The smaller mills, do lack the needed pressure to make grade A hard pellets. They will make softer wood pellets, grass, paper, and cardboard. Which won't burn well in a lot of stove. If you have the time and will to make your own, your all set.

I would like someone to honestly test the pellets produced for density, compaction, consistency and some measure of the BTu output. These units may be good for bedding and food, but stove burning is a whole different animal. I have one friend who took the plunge. He had the land and a building and a will to succeed. I think he is pushing a million invested and only this Fall is satisfied with his production. That is a far way from the portable presses being sold. You notice all the websites are totally vague about the productivity and quality. And they are talking about the end step in the process.

Those considering this should really look at the sticky at the first of the forum. There is much more than an extruder involved. One fellow on another forum last year said he got a light ton out of each die, and he was making his own replacements. He was really pushing others to buy his set up. He wanted to switch to corn burning...... That tells me a lot.

Nicholas440 said:

...I would do it, but it takes a lot of biomass to produce one ton of pellets...

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Yeah, I agree...about a ton. :cheese:

fataugie said:

Nicholas440 said:

...I would do it, but it takes a lot of biomass to produce one ton of pellets...

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Yeah, I agree...about a ton. :cheese:

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Not true. You are getting one ton of finished pellets and depending on the moisture content of the "bio-mass" you may need 10 tons.

lpgreg said:

Here is a site that speaks positive about these machines.
http://www.makeyourownpellets.com/

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BECAUSE HE SELLS THEM AT A 400% PROFIT! Search this forum for other threads on the same topic and also be sure to read the comments on the forum at that website for a lot of good info, both pro and con. It is an interesting concept but it WILL be a lot of work and trial and error. There are a lot of variables that stand in your way.

littlesmokey said:

fataugie said:

Nicholas440 said:

...I would do it, but it takes a lot of biomass to produce one ton of pellets...

Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree...about a ton. :cheese:

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Not true. You are getting one ton of finished pellets and depending on the moisture content of the "bio-mass" you may need 10 tons.

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You're right...I didn't account for moisture. But a 10:1 reduction sounds high.
If I had to guess without hearing that number first, I would have guessed 5:1

Considering where the mills get some their raw product (furniture production, pallet manufacturers, etc)...I would have assumed the scraps were kiln dried to begin with.

Markcas123 said:

Develop a drying process and your in business.

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Therein lies the problem. Most items like hay bales (1000# round) and wood mulch are too wet to process so you have to dry them. That means adding heat which means using energy which means adding cost. If you could also have a supply of very dry product like kiln dried wood sawdust and planer shavings, you could mix and lower the moisture content but it's hit and miss. I looked long and hard at this whole thing and even found the Chinese suppliers, got quotes, got costs from an import broker in Savannah, and was a day away from pulling the trigger when reality set in. (Reality in the form of the wife saying 'NO WAY IN HELL ARE YOU DOING THAT!)