My DIY pellet sifter

I like to sift my pellets to get the dust and small chunks out. I know some people just say the heck with it, dump the bag in the hopper. My Quad CB1200 doesn't seem to like dust in the auger area, so I like to keep it clean as possible.

Anyways, I built a passive screener, based off the $40 commercial design and similar to what one of the corn burners built. It sits on a 5 gallon bucket that captures the little stuff and the good sized pieces get deposited in the other 5 gallon bucket. Its built with some junk Chinese 3/4" birch plywood I had laying around. I had some 24"x24" panels already cut, so thats the size I used. The screen is 1/4" stuff you find at Home Depot. No glue, all drywall screws so i can take it apart if needed. I did this real quick and didn't really care about a precision job, so pardon the craftsmanship! The pellets I used for a test was a box of different pellets I had laying around that needed cleaned. A combo of Energex hardwoods and a softwood pellet. I just thought I'd share some photos with the pellet burner community. Let me know if anyone has any questions..

Thanx. It seems to work. I'll find out how well this season. Yes i thought about the PVC type as well, but I had all the supplies for this one on hand, so it was nothing additional out of pocket. I'd like to see that picture of the auger. I get "sediment" build up in the bottom of mine. Too much and the feed rate gets affected. Its a pain to clean out the entire hopper. Perhaps I won't have to do it as often if i pre-filter. Worth a shot!

Yes I have the insert. It should be about the same as your freestander. Those Canadian softwood pellets I burned last year might have more dust & crumbs in them. I have 1 ton of them left, and 3 tons of Lig's Prestologs coming tommorow. I see you have some of those too. I couldn't beat the price of them ($197 - 10% off = $177/ton @ Home Depot). I hope they do well. I'll be burning the softwoods first tho.

Interesting. Nice setup. I like how you keep the area clean and organized. You're in it for the long haul!

Just a small update on my sifter. The large opening had pellets flying all over the place. So I experimented with some smaller openings and kludged on a restriction plate. Much happier now!
I've been keeping 4 buckets of sifted pellets in the house at a time (2 bags worth) and its been great. Less dust in the house, less dust in the stove. Yesterday appears to be the last of the warm days around here as we plunge into winter.

DexterDay said:

I see you have Okies.. I live in Ohio and have never got any. Where abouts did you get the Okies in Pa? For the right price I might make a road trip and see what all the "Hype" is with these pellets.

No Super Premium pellets where I live. Not a bad selection. But I wish we had more.

How are those Presto-Logs compared to the Okies? The Presto-logs are pretty good in the Quad. Not as good as Somersets. But I got mine for $177 too. So for the price, you cant beat it.

Thanks for any info. BTW- That sifter looks great!

Click to expand...

Thanks! It was a quickie project just slapped together, but it works and sure beats the kitchen strainer I was using last year.. it hardly takes any time to sift 2 bags, even if i make 2 passes through the device!

Those softwood pellets are from last year, and were not available this year at the local Agway dealer, or i would have bought them for this season. No major complaints with them and they seem to produce less fly ash than the Energex's I had. This year I took my business to Lowes, mainly because the price was right ($177/ton). I'm glad to hear that the Prestos run good in the quad. I haven't burned any yet. I'm using my oldest pellets first. I probably should save the softwoods for the coldest months eh? I've used a dozen or so bags so far..