so if this catches on...

[Bowhunter1]

will we see wider spread shortages and higher prices than we already do now?
(broken link removed to http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S3756533.shtml)

 

[3650]

I guess if pellets go up then the oil industry can kick us in the nuts too. They will probably all get together and put a gun to our heads. They will have to get corn up there too and that might take some doing. Maybe they will just mandate using a food source for fuel...oh wait they did that....lol. They might increase it.

 

[Peterfield]

There weren't shortages everywhere this year and I suspect there won't be next year, particularly if its a normal winter. As to prices, no one really knows yet.

 

[Bowhunter1]

There weren't shortages everywhere this year and I suspect there won't be next year, particularly if its a normal winter. As to prices, no one really knows yet.

True, i buy well before needed but i did see a lot of posts for people "looking" in the dead of cold....pricing is bothersome, im not too far from the break even with the low oil prices. my local hardware store is having an early buy right now. last year the early buy prices were ridiculous. funny, he still has 10-15 ton of newps there from last year!

 

[SidecarFlip]

I guess if pellets go up then the oil industry can kick us in the nuts too. They will probably all get together and put a gun to our heads. They will have to get corn up there too and that might take some doing. Maybe they will just mandate using a food source for fuel...oh wait they did that....lol. They might increase it.

I just doubled my order for feed ready, cleaned/screened field corn (15%...lol) from 1000 bushel to 2000 bushel which fills both my tanks. Barring cattle feed, thats a year supply at basically $145.00 a ton. That compares real favoribly with premium wood pellets at $275.00 a ton. I think 15%/56lbs/bu corn wins. Conversely, I don't see corn breaking 4 bucks in the foreseeable future, even if China increases their imports of US corn.

So long as corn remains less than $4.00/bu/56lbs, it's a clear winner over pellets so long as it's available in a certain market, like here or where you are at.

I knew I bought 2 of those GSI tanks for a reason a few years back.

 

[Bowhunter1]

I just doubled my order for feed ready, cleaned/screened field corn (15%...lol) from 1000 bushel to 2000 bushel which fills both my tanks. Barring cattle feed, thats a year supply at basically $145.00 a ton. That compares real favoribly with premium wood pellets at $275.00 a ton. I think 15%/56lbs/bu corn wins. Conversely, I don't see corn breaking 4 bucks in the foreseeable future, even if China increases their imports of US corn.

So long as corn remains less than $4.00/bu/56lbs, it's a clear winner over pellets so long as it's available in a certain market, like here or where you are at.

I knew I bought 2 of those GSI tanks for a reason a few years back.

Funny you mention corn, im in the process now to find containers to keep it in, lots of field corn around here for not a lot of money.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Keep in mind that with the current price of pellets, corn would have ti be over 4 bucks a bushel (well over) to equal the pellet price. 1 bushel = 56 pounds or 2000 divided by 56.., basically 36 bushel to a ton. 36 x $4.00 (for example)= $144.00 per ton compared to pellets at lets say, 240 a ton, thats right around 100 bucks less per ton.

No brainer for me, but you have to have corn available and for most multifuel stoves today, you'll still need pellets at a 50-50 ratio. I can run straight corn with a clinker pot but it's so much easier to mix pellets and corn from a cleaning standpoint and a less clinker standpoint.

I store mine in my grain tanks (like a good farmer) but empty IBC totes work real well, so do 55 gallon metal drums with removable lids and fabricated bins out of OSB or plywood. Just remember it needs a tight fitting lid because corn is mouse (and rat) candy and field coen must ne 15%RM or below and it needs cleaned. Cob pieces and trash don't auger too well. I buy my coen from the co-op cleaned for animal feed. That eliminates me cleaning it, a big plus.

If you can get it, by all means roast it.

Back when corn went through the roof (and badically put a bunch of manufacturers of coen stoves out of business, pellets were about 200 a ton. When the corn exploded, I switched to pellets (because I have a multifuel stove). Now that pellets are getting inflated in price and corn is cheap (compared to what it was in the past decade), corn has become once again, the fuel of choice for those that can get it.

 

[3650]

Its kind of hard to get an IBC tote loaded at the grain elevator. The hole just isnt big enough and if you try some kind of transition it will choke up because they cant feed it slow enough. Any ideas? I've got two I want to use but they wont load them. Have to load it on something else and shovel it in them.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Try loading your pickup or an open container and 'vacuuming' the corn into the tote. You can actually mount a cleaner like a Shur-Clean on top of the tote, with the discharge going in the tote. I happen to have one for sale.....

 

[foamit up]

Where would i buy corn in Maine. Not much grown here. Wondering if it will burn in the BIOWIN. I burned 14 tons of pellets this year. Thinking i might try it.

 

[Patti]

Try loading your pickup or an open container and 'vacuuming' the corn into the tote. You can actually mount a cleaner like a Shur-Clean on top of the tote, with the discharge going in the tote. I happen to have one for sale.....

Hi Sidecar! I am considering burning corn in my 25kW Woodpecker boiler, so I have just started researching to see if this is viable. Do you know anything about these boilers? The manual says that the pellets have to be below 10% moisture, so I'm sure I can find corn with a lower moisture content than that. I had a load of pellets blown in by a feed supply truck (the only one I could find to deliver the pellets in bulk) and it really chewed the pellets up and created a LOT of fines. The boiler handled them without any problem, so I'm not overly concerned with the amount of fines I would get with corn.
I understand that corn burns hotter than pellets, so is that one of the key things I have to be concerned with? I have a brand new stainless steel burner tube. The max temperature I have it set at right now is 180, but it can go higher. I can't remember offhand what the upper level limit is (when it reaches the point that it is too hot and shuts down), but I will check the manual.
Are there any special requirements/features that a boiler has to have in order to burn corn as opposed to pellets?
Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Since I have just started thinking about corn, I don't know much about cleaners etc. I have an old (antique) fan mill, but I really don't want to be cleaning corn by hand so can you tell me about the corn cleaner you have. Can you also let me know how much you are asking for it. Thanks! Patti

 

[SidecarFlip]

I'm not familiar with the Woodpecker boiler (other than what I read online). I think I'd call the manufacturer in Rutland, Vermont and inquire if it will run on shelled corn. Candidly, I don't know if it will or won't. Corn takes different draft fan settings and feed settings than pellets do. I don't see any reference to any fuel other than pellets in any Woodpecker blurb or techinical dissertation.

I buy my corn pre cleaned for livestock feed and burn it right from the bulk bin but your situation could very well be different. What works for me, may not work for you. I'd proceed with caution and/or inquiring with the OEM about compatability.

 

[Patti]

I'm not familiar with the Woodpecker boiler (other than what I read online). I think I'd call the manufacturer in Rutland, Vermont and inquire if it will run on shelled corn. Candidly, I don't know if it will or won't. Corn takes different draft fan settings and feed settings than pellets do. I don't see any reference to any fuel other than pellets in any Woodpecker blurb or techinical dissertation.

I buy my corn pre cleaned for livestock feed and burn it right from the bulk bin but your situation could very well be different. What works for me, may not work for you. I'd proceed with caution and/or inquiring with the OEM about compatability.

Great! Thanks for the feedback SidecarFlip. Are they actually being manufactured in Vermont now? I thought George Robbins at WeBiomass was just a dealer....I understood that the original owners of the company that made Woodpeckers (Gerkros, in Ireland) sold to someone else in Ireland. When I googled it to contact the new owners I read that it was in Receivership or Chapter 12 (or whatever it is they call it when a company folds). I have heard through the grapevine that the original owners of Woodpecker now have a different company, but when I emailed them and asked them some questions I didn't get any response, so ???? Who knows!

 

[SidecarFlip]

Thats what I read (on the Internet), Stateside now. Again, I know nothing about them, so contacting the builder is recommended fas as running corn instead of pellets. Not many stoves/appliances can be readily converted to corn and/or a corn pellet mix.

 

[OhioBurner©]

will we see wider spread shortages and higher prices than we already do now?
(broken link removed to http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S3756533.shtml)

Well prices are already high and some folks couldn't find decent pellets the last couple years (I was just about out of options midwinter as well, unless I wanted to buy crap pellets until I came across the horse bedding pellets that worked ok). I don't see a huge savings for the future with pellets. Especially when the stoves cost so much more (new ones anyhow), and pellets are now going commercial.

I'd debate trying corn but would have to buy a new stove (want too anyhow if I can find a nice used one). Hauling them in the truck loose or storing in bulk doesn't sound like an option I'd care to mess with. Can you get them bagged? How much more is the bagged stuff?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Bagged corn is usually between 7 and 10 bucks at TSC. Not a viable alternative at all.

Corn takes some logistical thinking. You certainly can haul a load from the elevator in your truck bed, just line the bed with a cheap tarp that extends up a ways, fill it up and tarp over the toip. No biggie,

IMO, pellets arew going to continue the upward price spiral so long as we (USA) keep exporting them and greed takes the front seat.

 

[peakbagger]

The original article forgets to mention that the pellet boilers were so popular in the model towns as the owners got one heck of a deal. In NH, the combination of federal state and other grants dropped the price to the homeowner to about $5,000 from an estimate 20 K. Plus MES guaranteed the pellet cost for a couple of years and each home also got free energy audits and subsidized weatherization. MES has plant nearby and with 40 boilers installed under the grant they have a large enough customer base that justifies buying and delivering bulk pellets.

 

[OhioBurner©]

Bagged corn is usually between 7 and 10 bucks at TSC. Not a viable alternative at all.

Corn takes some logistical thinking. You certainly can haul a load from the elevator in your truck bed, just line the bed with a cheap tarp that extends up a ways, fill it up and tarp over the toip. No biggie,

IMO, pellets arew going to continue the upward price spiral so long as we (USA) keep exporting them and greed takes the front seat.

It's not so much the hauling of the corn in the truck that's the issue its what to do with loose corn when you get home. Yeah I can see this will take some logistics. I burn pellets to save some of the hassle of wood, and this sounds like just as much or more. Hopefully with the new wood stove I'm installing and its longer burn capability I'll be able to dial back the pellet burner to part time duty and not have to run it nearly as high.