peletizing?

[FJH]

Is anyone here making there own pelets for pelet stoves!I am concidering getting a pelitizer and making my own pelets is it worth the money or not!?



http://www.alaskapelletmill.com/flat_plate_pellet_mills

 

[blades]

Been considered, suggest you very thoroughly research the process. One key piece of info is that you need to maintain at least 180 deg. F at the pelletizer, and input material needs to be 1/4" or smaller. The last item is of course moisture content at the time of pelletizing. Then the reduction of same to burning levels. The operation is a bit of a energy hog on the creation side.

 

[tex]

I agree. Look very close at the numbers. It likely won't be worth your time to do it yourself. Many people around here will pool there money together to buy bulk pellets right from the factory. You can save a lot of money that way. Last ones I bought were 140 a ton last year. Find a local truck owner looking for weekend work and pay him cash. Or switch to corn if your stove is capable. Price is about the same per ton, but you get a lot more heat.

 

[pipehead]

I had researched it. One thing many people under-estimate is the amount of raw material (biomass) you need (ie sawdust). It takes a huge amount of biomass to produce pellets. They also need to be "hammermilled" to a fairly small size, as Blades said. If you don't have the heat at the pelletizer, you then need a binding agent. It may be more hassel then it's worth.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Find a local truck owner looking for weekend work and pay him cash.

Have a friend with a sweet deal -- he has a company take-home service truck so he, like the rest of the staff, can respond to after-hour emergencies without first going to one of their maintenance yards.

They allow the guys to occasionally borrow the specialized stuff like dump trucks, backhoes, or in this case flatbed truck as long as it's for personal use and they return it with a full fuel tank.

So he borrows the flatbed overnight once a year, has it loaded with a truckload of pellets at who ever is cheapest that year, then splits the load with his mother and friends. Saves far more in pellet cost then he spends for the diesel.