extra long pellets jamming hopper feed!

hi,
i just purchased 4.5tons(ouch) of pellets which the pellets are randomly long. this is causing pellet jamming in the hopper and stop feeding the stove, ggrr! i will be talking to the supplier this week to see what can be done with this mess. these pellets are from a new supplier and i do not want to mention any names as of yet and see what good comes of this problem. i was told that they were aware of the longer pellets(i complained last year to the company after trying a few of bags) and the plant made modifications to remedy this, it looks like they sold me old stock or they haven't rectified the problem! as anyone come up with a homemade gadgetry to make the pellets shorter? if i have no recourse with the supplier, i will mention a name. thx for listening to my rant.........

I have heard of walking on the bag helps, But never tried it myself.

Last year I had a batch of AWF's that were really long 2"-3" witha couple being bigger than that...

I sent them a kind email, telling them about there product and my discontent.

Had to send several pics of the pellets laid down next to a tape measure. But by the end of the week I received a $50 gift card for TSC. Did that cover the entire ton??? No. But did it make me happy?? Yes.

I went to a TSC and seen they had AWF's. The woman let me go through the torn bags on the bottom. These were a different batch. So I returned the favor and spent the $50 on there pellet again.

Glad I did too. They are a good pellet. So long as they are the correct size. My favorite is still Somerset... Small pellets. About a 1/2"-3/4" avg and Hot...

mine are about the same length, 2", 3" and some longer. i shouldn't have taken his word on them been made smaller. will find out tomorrow on the outcome of this mess, if not i'll get in touch with the manufacturer! walking on the bags i gonna try, hope it works as i got 225 bags to step on.

Another method would be to grab a handful and break all the long ones to desired size. Great fun while watching the tell!(really I'm kidding) My stove hasn't had an issue eating long pellets, I consider myself lucky! If the bag has ther PFI stamp/logo/label on the bag? You could notify them too!

What brand are we talking about? Would help others as to check the length before purchasing this brand!

Yeah it would be ok to name them. I did with the AWF's. Its the batch that you got. I had that long AWF's but have since bought a few bags here and there and both sets were good. This would be giving people a heads up. And some manuf have the batch #'s on the bag (American Wood Fibers does) so others can check what they have. People will buy what they like. Your one bad comment wouldnt sway me much. I now try everything before burning (except my last 2 tons and they came from a reputable person I trust) So if I find they are long, ashy, no heat, etc. I just do not purchase them again.

don't laugh, i was exactly doing that but it is so time consuming.......
the stove can use them but will eventually jam up in the middle of the night when you need the heat the most, i hate it when the dinosaurus kicks in to supplement the extra heat requirement.
i will soon post the manufacturer's name but they are new on the block and i want to give them the chance to rectify the problem.

I believe he specifications on premium woods pellets are no longer than 1.5 inches. Therefore, if these are premium pellets that you purchased, they are probably out of spec.

One reason I really like Somersets they are usually half an inch or less....

the seller wasn't to responsive on the issue, mix with better pellets(yeah right!). made a call to the manufacturer and was told he would get back to me, so far no response. i would hate to bring them back, just to much handling effort on my part.... i'm in the process of fabricating a screener to filter out the long pellets on the run(i will post pics of it later). stepping on the bags did not do the trick! no somersets here as far as i know. ok, now to disclose the manufacturer= LACWOOD premium pellets from Hearst, Ontario, Canada(sorry but you left me no choice to disclose the culprit)!! i will swallow my words if i find acceptable pellets further down my supply.....

Lacwood must have resolved this issue as I have burnt over a ton of these so far this winter and I have not had any problems with the pellet length. I will see the odd one at 1.5 inches but standard size is 1 inch or shorter. I find they give out lots of heat, produce little ash and no clinkers.

Had a couple tons of long pellets jamming up in the hopper. This paint/mud mixer stopped it.

why would you

even if you got one bag, they @#@%$ up. and protecting the guilty is not acceptable ...IMHO. this is what makes forums so valuable.

rilly? not at all impressed they should have said" what can we do to make this right" again...IMHO guess I just "old school"

Another trick to break some up it to take a baseball bat to the bag while thinking about the 2 percent hike in payroll tax or the 8 cents a gallon the price of gas went up this week. Hey its hard to get a good swing on things if your happy

Using a paint mixer or beating with a ball bat? Not sure I can do that. I'd rather touch my pellet!

I'm glad it's working out for you. I still have a sour taste of the product and wouldn't recommend them. Now to try to find some somerset's, turman's and other fine pellets would be a god's gift to the quality deprived northern PIGS!

i tried them again and i still see some long ones. they don't seem to be as long as before so i bought a few more bags. time will tell if i did the right thing.......i suppose BEER as been wiping out the SOUR taste!

Ironic that I haven't seen Okanagans and they are produced in BC! Obviously they go for the population density areas.

Lacwood also produces horse bedding pellets - possibly not careful on switch over or you got old supply before the "fix". I do applaud their efforts on responsible use of their waste - now to concentrate on the quality control.