How do you unload and store your wood pellets?

[ChrisWNY]

So my wife and I have a "system" for unloading and storing our pellets. The Fahrenheit pellet furnace sits in the basement (ducted to our first floor), so therefore all wood pellets are stored in the basement. I pick up wood pellets 1 ton at a time with my F-150 pickup, back the truck partially into the garage, then I remove all the bags off the pallet and onto a dry garage floor. Now comes the fun part, getting them into the basement. I don't have a direct entry way from the garage to the basement, but do have a doorway from the garage into the kitchen, and the basement door is just a few feet away in the kitchen. I had some cabinet paneling left over from when my house was built in 2008, so I cut the panel in half with a circular saw which I run down the left-side of my basement staircase, so it acts as a ramp (I duct tape the top of the panel to the top basement stair to hold it in place). I bring 1 or 2 bags in at a time from the garage, then slide them down the DIY ramp while my wife stays in the basement and stacks them on top of wooden pallets (to keep the bags off the concrete slab). We can get a whole ton unloaded into the basement this way in under 20 minutes. Definitely enough exercise for the whole week but it works well. I feel bad that she has to stack that many because one pellet bag is almost half her weight LOL but she manages to keep up with me.

Just wondering what others do in their situations, whether it's stacking them outside somewhere and covering with a tarp, or creative systems that people have come up with to make unloading/storing wood pellet bags an efficient task...

 

[dlavigne7324]

So my wife and I have a "system" for unloading and storing our pellets. The Fahrenheit pellet furnace sits in the basement (ducted to our first floor), so therefore all wood pellets are stored in the basement. I pick up wood pellets 1 ton at a time with my F-150 pickup, back the truck partially into the garage, then I remove all the bags off the pallet and onto a dry garage floor. Now comes the fun part, getting them into the basement. I don't have a direct entry way from the garage to the basement, but do have a doorway from the garage into the kitchen, and the basement door is just a few feet away in the kitchen. I had some cabinet paneling left over from when my house was built in 2008, so I cut the panel in half with a circular saw which I run down the left-side of my basement staircase, so it acts as a ramp (I duct tape the top of the panel to the top basement stair to hold it in place). I bring 1 or 2 bags in at a time from the garage, then slide them down the DIY ramp while my wife stays in the basement and stacks them on top of wooden pallets (to keep the bags off the concrete slab). We can get a whole ton unloaded into the basement this way in under 20 minutes. Definitely enough exercise for the whole week but it works well. I feel bad that she has to stack that many because one pellet bag is almost half her weight LOL but she manages to keep up with me.

Just wondering what others do in their situations, whether it's stacking them outside somewhere and covering with a tarp, or creative systems that people have come up with to make unloading/storing wood pellet bags an efficient task...

I lift them up .. I put them down ..

 

[jotul?]

I know a way to do it in half the time with no effort at all. However, I don't want you rested enough to cheer for the Sabers so I can't tell you. If you were a Pens fan...

 

[TimfromMA]

I pick up my pellets 1 ton at a time in my trailer. I then load them 5 bags at a time onto a hand truck, wheel them into my walk in basement then unload and stack.

 

[canuck_22]

All 150 bags will be in my basement, better eat my spinach, no help.

 

[kofkorn]

We use an old International tractor with a forklift attachment that is modified to fit on the bucket. We get the pallets dropped in the driveway and then use the tractor to move them into my garage or shed. Then I have a pallet jack to move them exactly where I want them. I typically store two full pallets in the garage with 1 or 1 1/2 tons spread on top of them. 3 1/2 is usually enough to get me through to at least March.

The bucket is just narrow enough to pick pallets off of my 6 1/2' wide trailer if I decide to haul them myself. Normally, I don't need to move the bags more than once, from the garage to the house. That is other than stacking the extra 1.5 tons on top of the two pallets.

 

[ChrisWNY]

I know a way to do it in half the time with no effort at all. However, I don't want you rested enough to cheer for the Sabers so I can't tell you. If you were a Pens fan...

If it's any consolation, I usually print out a nice color Pens logo onto photo paper and use it as a target, letting the sliding pellet bags crush the paper repeatedly. Last time I printed a photo of Crosby and he looked like this when I was done unloading...

 

[Mr. Spock]

I grab a six pack and look at them in the driveway for while. When I don't give a hoot anymore I re-stack 'em in the garage.

 

[hossthehermit]

Like this .....

 

[thundercracker]

nice. is there any problem with storing pellets in your basement? does it attract rodents/insects? i'm a newbie and i got 3 tons coming...

 

[hossthehermit]

nice. is there any problem with storing pellets in your basement? does it attract rodents/insects? i'm a newbie and i got 3 tons coming...

Been keeping them there since 2008 ............. Burning a St. Croix Revolution furnace that's in the cellar ducted in parallel with my oil furnace which is only there for emergencies now. The slide system came after the second year of hauling them around by the door.

 

[DneprDave]

I pick up one or two tons in my F350 truck, back it down the side of my house, unload them one at a time, carry them under my back porch and stack them on a pallet up against the house.

Yes, I store them outside, but they don't get wet. I use the pellet stove to heat my enclosed porch in the winter, the pellet stash is almost directly under the pellet stove I don't have to carry the bags of pellets very far to reload the stove.

Dave

 

[hossthehermit]

First year, hauled 'em myself, carted 'em all the way around ........







Second year, had 'em delivered, carted 'em in from half way ...........



The slide is the best .............

 

[yrock87]

I have room for 6 tons between both walls in my garage and under the staircase. The last two tons are outside under plywood and a tarp. I stack one row thick on both sides of my garage. Comes even with the garage door and my shelving / workbench.

 

[stmar]

I keep mine in the barn, most years the supplier delivers and unloads with a forklift but this year I had to go get them and unload by hand. I have a firewood rack that holds about 20 bags in the garage. I try to keep it topped off between weather events, I use my ATV and cart, 10 bags at a time. I told my wife that the ATV was a tool and this is proof

 

[Tonyray]

we remove those 2 basement windows on the right there and hand them in 1 at a time..
doesn''t take long..
Keep them covered just in case since all our water pipes travel above the pallets.
remaining 2 tons will be here next sat.

 

[ttdberg]

I back my truck up to the walkout basement door and from there load the bags about 8 at a time onto a cart then wheel them over and re-stack them into pallets 15 to 17 rows high. It's actually very quick and easy to do this way.

 

[hossthehermit]

we remove those 2 basement windows on the right there and hand them in 1 at a time..
doesn''t take long..
Keep them covered just in case since all our water pipes travel above the pallets.
remaining 2 tons will be here next sat.

How far ya haulin' them ??????????? Pretty good load for that truck .......

 

[jotul?]

If it's any consolation, I usually print out a nice color Pens logo onto photo paper and use it as a target, letting the sliding pellet bags crush the paper repeatedly. Last time I printed a photo of Crosby and he looked like this when I was done unloading...

I make one comment and poor Sid takes it right in the neck. Man. I guess I'll wait until the regular season starts before we start looking at win/loss stats.

 

[LGTWhit]

Pretty simple, get delivered, use neighbors pallet jack and wheel 4 tons to back of garage, then stack another ton on top
(broken image removed)(broken image removed)

 

[bill3rail]

Pick up one ton at a time with my friend and his 1969 GMC P/U, he backs up to the front of my pellet shed and load one bag at a time into 7 stacks of 35 bags.

Bill

 

[Ctcarl]

This year got 4 tons delivered from Loews .carried one bag a time.then a few weeks did a run for 30 more bags in my SUV .had my daughter and her fb help me unload that one lol.

 

[fmsm]

I would be concerned sliding them, doesn't it create substantially more fines?

 

[Big papa]

So my wife and I have a "system" for unloading and storing our pellets. The Fahrenheit pellet furnace sits in the basement (ducted to our first floor), so therefore all wood pellets are stored in the basement. I pick up wood pellets 1 ton at a time with my F-150 pickup, back the truck partially into the garage, then I remove all the bags off the pallet and onto a dry garage floor. Now comes the fun part, getting them into the basement. I don't have a direct entry way from the garage to the basement, but do have a doorway from the garage into the kitchen, and the basement door is just a few feet away in the kitchen. I had some cabinet paneling left over from when my house was built in 2008, so I cut the panel in half with a circular saw which I run down the left-side of my basement staircase, so it acts as a ramp (I duct tape the top of the panel to the top basement stair to hold it in place). I bring 1 or 2 bags in at a time from the garage, then slide them down the DIY ramp while my wife stays in the basement and stacks them on top of wooden pallets (to keep the bags off the concrete slab). We can get a whole ton unloaded into the basement this way in under 20 minutes. Definitely enough exercise for the whole week but it works well. I feel bad that she has to stack that many because one pellet bag is almost half her weight LOL but she manages to keep up with me.

Just wondering what others do in their situations, whether it's stacking them outside somewhere and covering with a tarp, or creative systems that people have come up with to make unloading/storing wood pellet bags an efficient task...

I have an 18 year old slave that takes small handouts so I don't touch a bag

 

[m159267]

I pick up my pellets 1 ton at a time in my trailer. I then load them 5 bags at a time onto a hand truck, wheel them into my walk in basement then unload and stack.

+1