My pellet shute project completed.

[MCPO]

If anyone is interested in viewing a few pictures of how I significantly reduced my labor with regards to pellet handling , the link is posted below. Click on the images and select a bigger size if you wish.
I have a few tons of pellets stored in my rear garage and carrying them into the house and down the basement to the stove was going to be a royal PIA for me so I came up with this plan and implemented it. I spent 2 days and maybe $50 on it.
I wanted to kinda match the planter on the other side of the stairs since this deck behind my front garage is all pressure treated lumber. The chute consists of the funnel that is a 8" to 6" reducer into a 6" to 4" reducer then to 4" galvanized pipe thru the deck and into a lexan window under the deck and down into a barrel raised off the floor in a basement storage room. I raised the barrel so I could pour pellets out the bottom.
The pitch of any chute has to be minimum 45 degrees or more or the pellets will not slide /move well , as I found out the hard way.
Scooping the pellets out of the barrel would have been a needless time consuming repetative task so I fabricated a sliding pellet chute gate that opens and closes easily and fills a 5 gal pail in a few seconds.
Take a look and let me know what you think. And yeah it looks like a one holer and maybe I should put a lock on it or my grandkids will use it some night.
John
http://www.pbase.com/johnd1/pellet_shute
Added info:
....The barrel holds 8 bags and has to be filled on dry days (obviously since the shute is outside on an open deck.
.....Notice the vent (with dust filter) in the top of the barrel so the pellets could displace the air.
.....flexible hose into barrel slips on off easily for access into barrel
......white plastic bowl in funnel to prevent small animal entry
.......wood cover above funnel is lined with lexan to prevent water entry.

 

[gw2kpro]

That's a very cool setup. Nice work!

With my luck, though, one day I'd get a bunch of water down the funnel and ruin 8 bags of pellets.

Funny how things come full circle. I was commenting to my wife the other day how, if the pellet industry continues to expand, people will be taking delivery of pellets into hoppers / chutes / basements not unlike old-time coal deliveries via coal chute. Your setup is halfway there!

I have a window into my (unfinished) basement about a foot high, it is a few inches off the ground. I rigged up a couple of boards and run them through the window. The bottom end of the boards rest on a tabletop I rigged with a lip to keep the boards from sliding inward. I buy my pellets by the ton, back up the trailer to within 2 feet of the window, and slide the bags doen the boards. The wife catches them at the bottom. It takes 8 minutes to get the ton into my basement. I have to re-stack them once they are in there, but it's really easy and don't have to carry them down any stairs.

 

[MCPO]

That's a very cool setup. Nice work!

With my luck, though, one day I'd get a bunch of water down the funnel and ruin 8 bags of pellets.

Funny how things come full circle. I was commenting to my wife the other day how, if the pellet industry continues to expand, people will be taking delivery of pellets into hoppers / chutes / basements not unlike old-time coal deliveries via coal chute. Your setup is halfway there!

I have a window into my (unfinished) basement about a foot high, it is a few inches off the ground. I rigged up a couple of boards and run them through the window. The bottom end of the boards rest on a tabletop I rigged with a lip to keep the boards from sliding inward. I buy my pellets by the ton, back up the trailer to within 2 feet of the window, and slide the bags doen the boards. The wife catches them at the bottom. It takes 8 minutes to get the ton into my basement. I have to re-stack them once they are in there, but it's really easy and don't have to carry them down any stairs.

Sliding them down does save a lot of work . My wife , son , and I slid a ton and a half down the stairs and obviously had to restack them too and it sure goes fast with another person or two helping.
John

 

[peterpski666]

Has anyone used a grain screw conveyor or vacuum conveyor to go the other direction, i.e. UP? Coal(Pellet) chute to a hopper plus a 15' section of vac line plus a motor or vacuum/blower would be any easy way to
load your cellar then reload your pellet stove from a household central vac fitting. Unfortunately grain screw conveyors run about $1000. I dont want my pellets to sit in the cold cold snow either. I know Amaizing makes one, but it looks a bit more complicated and an outside unit.

 

[hotcookcpl]

Funny how things come full circle. I was commenting to my wife the other day how, if the pellet industry continues to expand, people will be taking delivery of pellets into hoppers / chutes / basements not unlike old-time coal deliveries via coal chute. Your setup is halfway there!

People are already doing this. We were recently at a fair in Brattleboro, VT where a pellet distributor was delivering pellets in bulk from a grain truck. You could also get them large one ton sacks on a pallet.

 

[ducker]

John, are you planning on sealing the cover some way? I'd think water would still drop through the gap between the planks of wood that are covering the hold when the top is on. Very cool set up

 

[MCPO]

John, are you planning on sealing the cover some way? I'd think water would still drop through the gap between the planks of wood that are covering the hold when the top is on. Very cool set up

I have a 1/8" thick lexan sheet (with rubber seal)directly under the wood cover.
John