I have a Quadrafire CB 1200. It is a multi fuel stove. Pellets are nowhere to be found in or near Salem, NH, so I bought 6 bags of corn to mix with the remaining pellets that I have. I didn't know corn was more expensive than pellets. I bought a ton of LeCrete at Dodge Grain for $295...One 50lb bag of corn at Dodge Grain was $10.99. That's $5.90/bag for the 40lb pellets...So another 10 pounds of corn costs another $5.00. Why is corn so expensive? Is this normal? Does anyone know where I can find corn cheaper? I also would like to know if I need to do anything to my stove to burn corn, other than mixing the 50/50 blend?
Burning corn for first time
- Thread starter JohnD
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Once they started putting corn ethanol in gasoline, cheap corn was all over with.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
We get hit in more ways,beef higher,farm/corn subsidies,worse fuel economy,and likely more car repairs(especially on older ones).
Bioburner
Moderator
End of January I bought some bulk corn bulk from elevator and was $140 ton. Put it a bag, ship it etc etc
Man, you guys are getting hosed. Corn is 4.80 a bushel right now, and there is generally 56lbs in a bushel.
TimfromMA
Minister of Fire
Bioburner
Moderator
I can go to several stores selling horse feed etc and the price for bagged corn is $8.49 plus per fifty pound sack. The markup is 100%. The same for your bird food.
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
I'll say...
this is my understanding of that situation....It takes more units of petroleum to produce ethanol then you get from the ethanol. ALSO ... Corn kicks the crap outta the field, so more fertilizer is needed(fertilizer is petroleum based) This combined with the fact that people are starving in the world and we are burning food!
Some other facts I heve been told about ethanol....Pure ethanol at the pumps contains just enough gas to "denature" it (make it not drinkable)... Ethanol is tough on older equipment (seals and the like)...ethanol is very hard on 2 cycle engines (chain saws...burn hi test) because it is oxygen bearing...ethanol is very easy to remove from gas.(I do it for my saws)
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
And makes fuel storage time short,after 3 weeks gas is crap.Draws much moisture from air.Less output-less horsepower,more fuel used,I could go on and on----ASE master for many years.
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
batchman
Burning Hunk
I'm curious how you easily remove the ethanol - it's a problem for one of our race cars (eats the injectors) - been lucky so far but I'm pretty sure I'm on borrowed time.
Will the ethanol just evaporate first?
Thanks,
- Jeff
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Bioburner
Moderator
What do you think will happen now that they are going to use sugar beets for alcohol? Start charging for sugar by the cube?
Bioburner
Moderator
B Smithers
New Member
As mentioned above, find a farmer in your area who would be willing to sell. The price of corn has been down since December I have bought it as cheap as $4 a bushel. A lot of farmers dry and store their corn until they sell, many times they will have a small amount remaining in the bottom of their bins that is not enough to make trucking to the elevator worth while so they are more than willing to sell to clean everything up. As long as the price stays down I am 100% corn and love it. B
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
Mix water in the mixture of gas and ethanol...mix well(don't emulsify)..let stand....siphon off gas from top....
Bioburner
Moderator
Under 13% moisture, any more and wont store anyway when it gets warm. Whole feed grade corn. If going to store for summer, find closable lid barrels and toss in some moth balls to keep vermin and moths from wanting to get in. Barrels on CL can be had for around $15 or with lids.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Been there,done that,gas would barely burn in engine,barely light with a match.Man I miss 1970's high test!
We are burning food? Now where have I heard that before? Now go buy some and eat it. Big difference between N2 yellow corn which is the most common corn raised and sweet corn that you buy in the store. Or buy some in the store and dump it in your stove. I guess its all based on where your position in the food chain is . If you are a farmer you need to make a profit to stay in business.
Right now with fracking our heating costs should be way down as based on the amount of petroleum produced in the US. Is it? Gas is going up LP is going up Nat gas is going up electricity is going up. Corn has gone down from over 8.00 a bushel to a little over 4.00 a bushel. Maybe you can explain that to me?
When ethanol was started there was a over production of corn with no market. So ethanol is produced and the waste or leftover corn material is fed to the cattle with no waste. At the time the oil producing countries had us over a barrel and could charge what they want or limit production and cause shortages. It was hoped that by producing ethanol we would gain .25 cents a bushel for the corn crop.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
Explanation... farmers have been getting screwed for years now...why would they stop now? ...its sad...
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