DIY Pellets

[stallau]

In case anyone is interested in making their own pellets here's a machine on CL to make your own
(broken link removed to http://maine.craigslist.org/grd/4568849749.html)

 

[tjnamtiw]

Now there is a dreamer! Just because he got sucked into paying that much he thinks the next guy will too. Maybe $1000 IF the rollers and die aren't worn out.

 

[blades]

Depending on which press it is + the grinder and both being Diesel powered I would hazard a guess that is about 1/2 of what was paid new. Not too bad a price. New dies on average for flat plate mills are about $300. So haggel away. Too far from me freight would be a killer.

 

[tjnamtiw]

The machines were made in China. I went as far as to get quotes from a Chinese supplier for both machines plus 3 sets of replacement dies/rollers plus an extra screen for the hammer mill. The price SHIPPED to Charleston, hiring a broker to get it through customs (no customs fees), plus shipping to my door on a drop tailgate trailer totaled $4000. Yes, you can buy the machine from people here who have done the leg work that I did but it's still WORTH just $4000 new plus a reasonable amount for his labor. Plus the dies wear out very fast, require quite a bit of prep work (reaming and polishing) before they will work, and there is a steep learning curve. I planned on having the dies/rollers cryogenically treated to prolong their lives. Before I paid even a fraction of what is asked , I would want to see it make pellets for an hour. Looking at its condition, I seriously doubt it would happen.

 

[TimfromMA]

I'm too lazy.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I'm too lazy.

That too. hahaha. It's a lot of work! Gotta have the moisture content just right. Gotta have a BIG area to cool the pellets before bagging. Gotta have bags and a holder for them. And on and on and on. And of course, you have to have a good supply of feedstock of some kind.

 

[johnpma]

I worked as a cabinet maker while attending college. We heated the company with wood pellets made in house by a machine the boss purchased in Switzerland It worked very well. It was a ram the would compact the pellets from all the saw dust we generated. We would fill the basement with the pellets and heat the company all winter

 

[tjnamtiw]

I worked as a cabinet maker while attending college. We heated the company with wood pellets made in house by a machine the boss purchased in Switzerland It worked very well. It was a ram the would compact the pellets from all the saw dust we generated. We would fill the basement with the pellets and heat the company all winter

Great way to use up the sawdust!

 

[tjnamtiw]

you won't get 2 ton/hr/man with this little contraption! It could be either the 22 hp or the 15-17 hp version. Can't tell. With these, you also have to use a binder since the wood doesn't get hot enough to really bind the wood. If you can get it to feed, you'd be lucky to get a couple hundred pounds per hour, but for the home owner/tinkerer with spare time it could be viewed as a challenge or a way to justify that extra case of beer

 

[BrotherBart]

Get back to me when ya figure out a way to dry the wood before feeding it to the pellet masher.

 

[BrotherBart]

Whoops!

 

[rona]

The machines were made in China. I went as far as to get quotes from a Chinese supplier for both machines plus 3 sets of replacement dies/rollers plus an extra screen for the hammer mill. The price SHIPPED to Charleston, hiring a broker to get it through customs (no customs fees), plus shipping to my door on a drop tailgate trailer totaled $4000. Yes, you can buy the machine from people here who have done the leg work that I did but it's still WORTH just $4000 new plus a reasonable amount for his labor. Plus the dies wear out very fast, require quite a bit of prep work (reaming and polishing) before they will work, and there is a steep learning curve. I planned on having the dies/rollers cryogenically treated to prolong their lives. Before I paid even a fraction of what is asked , I would want to see it make pellets for an hour. Looking at its condition, I seriously doubt it would happen.

I watched one work a few years ago that a dealer had bought in the hopes he would be able to sell a bunch of them. He had played with it for two weeks before he held a open house to demonstrate his machine. I actually felt sorry for him as he went through the motions of making pellets. First of all it was made to make pellets for animal feed, secondly the pellets fell apart after they dried, and thirdly it was way slower then advertised.
To make a long story short it was a complete failure as to what it was advertised to do. Half of the pellets were no good and had to be fed back into the machine. If you did get decent pellets there was no way to regulate the length of them so they could be 1/2 inch to two inches long. He fooled around all afternoon trying woodchips, grass, leaves and paper. I guess there was a liquid "binder" you could purchase to help hold the pellets together but when its all said and done 5.00 a bag of pellets or 2.50 a bushel or 56lbs of corn is a bargain.

 

[Mpodesta]

Man that corn is cheap. It is triple that here.

Heck,Rona and I live in the same country and I cant get it for even remotely close to that price, almost 4x as much + a 300mile drive

 

[blades]

Basic binder= corn starch. Basic price of a compression machine for log extrusion, no binder needed $60k. ( this actually works and is not chicom)

 

[tjnamtiw]

Get back to me when ya figure out a way to dry the wood before feeding it to the pellet masher.

THAT'S the real kicker! There is no easy (cheap) way if the moisture is above the threshold!
(broken link removed) makes REAL American equipment for home use.

 

[blades]

Most commercial systems run the sized raw material through a dryer/ preheater stage before introduced to the compression unit.

 

[TimfromMA]

It's economics of scale. Making your own pellets only becomes practical and cost effective if you're going to make ALOT of them and sell what you don't personally use.

 

[blades]

I have been looking at it from a different point of view. Processing splits leaves a lot of residue, from chainsaw cuts as well as the residue from the splitting ( which would require additional reduction). Just kind of seems sad loosing that btu content. A compressed block or extrusion machine at reasonable price point ( that definition leaves a lot to be desired) is my goal. I do not consider a $60k plus as a reasonable price point. I am not interested in turning out a couple of tons an hour. Looking at it from a business standpoint - it is a lousy investment straight up unless it is a secondary operation as some have mentioned, to recoup some losses over time from the primary income source on a small scale operation.
Pellet mills - best units to use for at home would be the double reduction units- the single reduction units are just feed mills being re-purposed.
Still digging on block or extrusion type systems that yield a useful product other than fire starter items which are low compression.

Raw material- conifers are the best choice for pellets, on blocks or extrusions I don't know, likely a mix of deciduous and conifers the way to go.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Most commercial systems run the sized raw material through a dryer/ preheater stage before introduced to the compression unit.

That's why I said "(cheap)" in my message. There's nothing CHEAP about pumping btu's into something that you are going to work like heck to convert to pellets to burn to get btu's out of

 

[tjnamtiw]

Making the blocks requires some very high hydraulic pressures, big cylinders and strong 'molds'. It is almost like a plastic injection molding machine. There's nothing cheap about any of that stuff.

 

[blades]

Pallet company locally here grinds up their waste sells it as mulch, and a few of the tree services have been doing the same as well as split fire wood. One tree service contracts a tub grinder to do the grinding- those tub grinders are very expensive even used.

 

[fedtime]

My brother-in-law has a flooring company and has plenty of dry material to compress into pellets. So he bought a pellet mill, spending about $15,000.00. It was hit and miss on making a quality pellet - some were decent, others fell apart right away. He spent quite a bit of time trying to get it sorted out, without any luck.

His bottom line after loads of research: if you want to make pellets in a quantity and quality that justifies the investment (time, expense, labour), plan on spending about $150,000.00.

 

[tjnamtiw]

My brother-in-law has a flooring company and has plenty of dry material to compress into pellets. So he bought a pellet mill, spending about $15,000.00. It was hit and miss on making a quality pellet - some were decent, others fell apart right away. He spent quite a bit of time trying to get it sorted out, without any luck.

His bottom line after loads of research: if you want to make pellets in a quantity and quality that justifies the investment (time, expense, labour), plan on spending about $150,000.00.

This is what he was missing, besides about $10K too much, http://www.mataminc.com/woodfuel.php

 

[fedtime]

This is what he was missing, besides about $10K too much, http://www.mataminc.com/woodfuel.php

He tried several binding agents. We are both a couple of farm boys who can fix anything, and he is a former professional mechanic. We could not get consistent results that he could honestly market as a decent pellet.

What we learned: consistency in material fed into the pellet machine, moisture, density, feed rate, etc. is critical. We would just get the formula sorted out (moisture, type of wood, binding agent), start cranking out the pellets and one of the variables would slip, throwing the whole works off. So, we would start over - get the formula sorted, and again something would be off and the pellets crap.

We found we could produce a good looking pellet by dialing down pellet hardness, but the BTU content was poor and produced lots of ash on burning. Again, not something that could be sold as a quality pellet.

Meanwhile, staff is standing around - burning through wages...

 

[moey]

If you could rent a machine I would pay the money to satisfy my interest then say I guess the folks on hearth.com did in fact know what they were talking about.