Smaller bags for pellets?

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krooser

Minister of Fire
Jan 2, 2008
2,423
Waupaca, WI
www.rumblefest.net
I was watching a video recently that showed a woman from Scotland loading her pellet stove. The bags that her pellets were in were long and round...kinda like 'tube sand' that you can buy from your local hardware retailer to use for winter traction.

Since I'm old and decrepit I kinda like the idea of a 25 or 30 lb bag instead of those 40 pounders... what say you?

http://http.cdnlayer.com/ec1images/225/products/5/5095021.jpg
 
krooser said:
.....Since I'm old and decrepit I kinda like the idea of a 25 or 30 lb bag instead of those 40 pounders... what say you?...

Mr. Lombardi would just shake his head and mutter "wussey"
 
I looked it up, seems 10kg bags are the norm. I had noticed that they had downsized Cement to 25kg, I believe it was a result of the Material Handling Regulations.

Also the price in Pounds seemed the same as in Dollars here.

When I was looking at a Pellet Boiler for the Hotel the only thing that made sense was bulk delivery, no manual handling at all. (The price of the Boiler system killed that idea)
 
I had to get help the other day at Walmart to put the dog food in the cart. Broken back I have been nursing and some days just standing up is a feat.

Last summer I broke the bottom out of a cart at Lowe's with concrete bags. 80lb bags and I had maybe 10 or 11 bags in there, tossed one more in and that's all she wrote. You'd think they would write a weight limit tag for them or something. Yeah I know they have metal dollies, just there was none around and I already had the cart.
 
If the price was even, I might put in a ton of those, just in case my wife had to tend the fire for some reason, other than that, no.
More bags will equal more damaged bags, and more handling.
 
It would be nice to have smaller weight bags, but........ I have to agree with hossthehermit, more handling, and more damaged bags. Especiall at the big box stores. They mostly have no clue about pellets and how they should be stored and moved around.

I bought a small hand truck to move my bags. It only holds one bag and I have to make many trips, but it sure is easier on the back. 4 steps up into the house is not much of a problem with the hand truck.
 
I think the 12 oz cans are to heavy, can I have an 8oz.?

Eric
 
You sure can!! LOL

But you'd have to have more cans to make up for the lesser amount!
 
One "Mart" that we get into from time to time has pellets in 25 pound bags now.

I keep a few bags of these handy to use to "start" the fire.

I use a propane torch to light the fire and the pellets work better than starting with the shells.

The shells dont smell that nice when they are smoking a bit whil I light the fire.

I dont care for the 25 pounders, as mentioned, more bags, more chance of damage.

Tha advertisement was promoting "easier to handle" 25 pound size.

I pack my shells up two flights of stairs in 6 gallon buckets at 25 pounds per bucket, two buckets at a time.

Open the sack and dip out what you want into a pail then carry to the stove. ???

40 pound bags are still the standard.


Snowy
 
I can't lift the 40 pound bags. I have to drag them across the floor if they are full, then I open them and use a bowl to make multiple scoops until I have the bag empty enough to lift it and pour. I think my husband has cleaned and lit the pellet stove once now and my sons had to do it while we were out of town for a couple of days and somehow they smoked out the entire house. Anyway the stove care is primarily my thing and I wouldn't hate lighter bags either.
 
kinsman stoves said:
I think the 12 oz cans are to heavy, can I have an 8oz.?

Eric
I prefer the 16 oz myself, less mess with the cans and a good workout lifting the puonders. lol
 
magsf11 said:
kinsman stoves said:
I think the 12 oz cans are to heavy, can I have an 8oz.?

Eric
I prefer the 16 oz myself, less mess with the cans and a good workout lifting the puonders. lol

Hey Eric you need to take a 30 can pack of the pounders in each hand and start lifting them above your head, eventually the 40 pound pellets bags will be a breeze.

If you want I might be able to scrounge up a couple cases of "tin" can covers (they weigh in at about 75 pounds apiece), some sacks of salt (100 pounds), or a couple bags of chicken feed (50 pounds).
 
I think there are a lot of people out there who would buy 20 lb bags. Not everyone has a good back anymore and most of us have wives that are not body builders. I had asked BTU about smaller bags and he said he would check but just flat out dropped it. Yes it is more handleing on the bag count. I would pay more money for smaller bags as I have had 4 surgeries on my back and still want to burn pellets. You younger pups should be asking for 80 lbs to put us on a even footing.
 
kinsman stoves said:
I think the 12 oz cans are to heavy, can I have an 8oz.?

Eric

Yes you can....just move to Japan. That's the size of the cans there. Or you can have a nice Geisha girl hold the can for you. ;-)
 
imacman said:
kinsman stoves said:
I think the 12 oz cans are to heavy, can I have an 8oz.?

Eric

Yes you can....just move to Japan. That's the size of the cans there. Or you can have a nice Geisha girl hold the can for you. ;-)

I'd rather hold her can! :) Oops I think krooser is rubbing off on me! :ahhh:
 
j-takeman said:
imacman said:
kinsman stoves said:
I think the 12 oz cans are to heavy, can I have an 8oz.?

Eric

Yes you can....just move to Japan. That's the size of the cans there. Or you can have a nice Geisha girl hold the can for you. ;-)

I'd rather hold her can! :) Oops I think krooser is rubbing off on me! :ahhh:
Here ya go J
 

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Glosta said:
Smaller bag. Not for me. I'd like to see a 48lb. bonus bag. 20% more for the price of 40lbs. :)
+1
 
Bkins said:
I think there are a lot of people out there who would buy 20 lb bags. Not everyone has a good back anymore and most of us have wives that are not body builders. I had asked BTU about smaller bags and he said he would check but just flat out dropped it. Yes it is more handleing on the bag count. I would pay more money for smaller bags as I have had 4 surgeries on my back and still want to burn pellets. You younger pups should be asking for 80 lbs to put us on a even footing.

Bkins,

I got a message from this fella. He said he didn't drop it. He ....................... O' heck I'll just qoute the email for you!

25lb bags would cost at a minimum $20-$25 per ton to produce….extra bags/handling and labor……but the big resistance has come from the dealers themselves. We did a survey and 99% of the dealers didn’t want the extra inventory, didn’t have the space, didn’t want to tie up extra work capital on something that probably wouldn’t move as fast and thought the limited demand with the higher cost would make it prohibited…….remember this is a business that everyone has to make a profit at to stay in business…..somebody might want the smaller bag, but the truth is that most (not all, but most) don’t want to have to pay any more for it and it just can’t happen……another words the numbers just don’t work……….many have tried this and have come to the very same conclusion. It’s one of those great ideas on paper that fail in the real world…

Just acting as the middle message man, Hope it helps!
 
Yesterday I bought a couple of bags of a( to me ) new brand of pellets from Poland. They come in 25 kg bags. That's 55 lb .

The hopper of my Quest Plus can take exactly one of these 55 lb bags and not one pellet more :)

The quality of the pellets is excellent... lots of heat, low ash, no clinkers. Pure softwood with a delicious smell of fresh resin and they are cheaper than the previous brand I used, so I think I'll buy them next time.
 
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