Pellet Bulk delivery and storage options

[gotpooch]

As per someone's suggestion, I am creating a new topic on bulk delivery and storage of Pellets....
I know that woodpellets.com - who I get my pellets from - are doing bulk deliveries but not yet in my area. They go as far as Mass and are contemplating CT this year, but not New York yet. They also have 1 ton bags where the pellets are loose in 1 ton qty but they need to be scooped out and are a hassle when the there is only a little bit left. There is no way to have the pellets poured out of them - only to scoop them. They do take the bags back if they are in reusable condition - but this option is not available in my area yet either. :0(

But for when the option is available, what kind of storage facility would be appropriate?? I have looked all over and some mention the grain bin silos - if you want it outside with an auger feed mechanism into the house near the stove - very appealing to me since I have 2 herniated discs and carrying over 4 tons over the course of the year is a bit much for my neck. But what would something like this cost?? I would love to hear other options especially ones that will not require redelivery costs and can allow me to store outside but not having to lug them into the house - some kind of self-feeding system.

 

[littlesmokey]

Where is the stove and what space inside do you have available? If not inside the house, what other existing buildings do you have space?

 

[mjbrown]

pooch,
check out the forum at www.iburncorn.com

lots of very useful suggestions and systems on that forum. most of them are designed for moving corn, but will work very well for pellets as well. good luck.


mike

 

[gotpooch]

Where is the stove and what space inside do you have available? If not inside the house, what other existing buildings do you have space?

I have a quadrafire mt vernon. I have 3 regular sheds, one carport on my driveway where I use to store the extra pellets and a garage on my property. I am using the garage to hold most of my pellets in the wintertime. Periodically I will use a dolly to move pellets from the carport to the garage. One of the sheds is right next to the house and the other two are at the end of the backyard. I am not sure how I could use the one next to the house to store the pellets without still having to lug bags or buckets thru the basement door and up 2 flights of stairs to the stove. I need an auto feed system

 

[timbo]

I'm kind of leaning towards something like this if I decide to go "bulk". Not sure of the cost yet...

http://www.polymaster.com.au/grain.html

obviously this is in Australia but you get the drift. As long as it keeps the pellets dry and it can be loaded from a bulk delivery truck...there in lies the rub. Can a delivery truck load one of these style silos from the top?

 

[gotpooch]

I'm kind of leaning towards something like this if I decide to go "bulk". Not sure of the cost yet...

http://www.polymaster.com.au/grain.html

obviously this is in Australia but you get the drift. As long as it keeps the pellets dry and it can be loaded from a bulk delivery truck...there in lies the rub. Can a delivery truck load one of these style silos from the top?

That is it. I found a similar one in Canada, but could only hold half ton or so - I need something much bigger that can hold at least 2 tons that will mean about an additional delivery during the season which I can live with...

 

[mjbrown]

check...www.plasticstoragetanks.com

i have thought of this, but wonder if the tank were placed outside, would you get moisture from being exposed to the elements and changes in temps.

 

[gotpooch]

check...www.plasticstoragetanks.com

i have thought of this, but wonder if the tank were placed outside, would you get moisture from being exposed to the elements and changes in temps.

I looked at them - the only one that made sense was the one with the cone bottom - but the opening is only 2" at the bottom - don't think that's going to work too well. These tanks seem to be more for liquids than solids...
I have also been searching the iburncorn website and nothing yet....

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Take a look here http://www.heutzpellets.com/bins.html maybe along those lines.

 

[gotpooch]

Take a look here http://www.heutzpellets.com/bins.html maybe along those lines.

That's it!! The metal option is the best for me - I do not have a lot of space for the indoor options but the metal one might work as long as I can it to feed into the house. I think woodpellets.com is planning to market these for bulk deliveries. I am curious to now what something like that would cost. They have prices for the cloth or tote options but not the auger system ones...

 

[littlesmokey]

Converting one of your storage buildings into a "pellet silo" doesn't look promising. What you may want then is a convenient way to store quantity in them. The big bags are great, but how do you move them from the delivery truck to storage.

An alternative is the adaptive use of a product from agriculture. I have friends near Boise, Idaho that live near three large farms. The farmers rotate their crops and about every three or four years they grow seed crops. Grass, vegetable, flowers, all kinds of things they process on site. They are then put in pallet sized poly bins in cages. Like bulk liquid tanks for fertilizer and food flavoring (for example). These units have sloped bottoms with gate valves. They stack as pallets and have two and four valves. Openning seem to me to be about 3-4 inches. I understand the manufacturer also has a manual release and funnel available. I can't be sure, and I am basing this on my rough math, but each poly should hold about a ton in volume, but may be too heavy to handle or move. These could be stacked in your sheds, or with the addition of casters or rollers could me moved from storage to garage as needed during the year.

The saving for me, based on volume of use doesn't justify the cost to change over. I can buy local for a savings of $25 per ton, and regionally for $35. Takes a lot of pellets to pay for the cost of the containers.

 

[jtakeman]

Check this out.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/45540/

 

[timbo]

jtakeman

That looks great...unfortunately,I don't have a dry enough cellar to put something like that in. Whatever I use, if I decide to go the bulk route, will have to be outside. Therefore I'm going to have to come up with something that keeps the pellets dry as well as easily accessible.

I'm going to keep my eyes open in craigslist, etc around here. Also I know a few farmers...they may have or know something that's available that would relatively be inexpensive that would meet my criteria.

 

[trogers]

I know that this has been discussed on another thread, so sorry for being redundant. But, besides not having to lift the 40 lb bags every day,what is the benefit to the consumer for buying in bulk? I spoke to woodpellets.com and the saleman said that there isn't much (if any) savings for buiyng bul becasue the time it takes to offload the pellets is too long. Why spend the money buying/buiding a storage unit?

 

[anka]

I think for most people bags are a better option as far as keeping pellets dry and uncrushed, and have buying flexibility in small lots...

For a boiler being able to have a 1 ton hopper would be ideal though...

I am a little skeptical about dryness and flammability, and would want a metal or poly hopper. Still, its good to have pellet pioneers and I wish you the best!

Anka

 

[Sinbad]

Please keep in mind once you go and send money to do this then how many places can you buy, and then they have you, plus if you do not use all your supply how are you going to keep it cool and dry till next heating season.

 

[timbo]

Please keep in mind once you go and send money to do this then how many places can you buy, and then they have you, plus if you do not use all your supply how are you going to keep it cool and dry till next heating season.

All good points and these are what I am currently contemplating. I have a friend that buys bulk...I need to ask him what he finds better that way then buying by the bag.