Got to Thinking About Wood Pellets

[A. Stanton]

I heard recently that because home building is down, the saw mills aren't running much. And that because wood pellets come from saw dust, production of pellets is down. My question involves the debate that rages between burning hardwoods or taking the time to process softwoods, like pine. If most of the milling at saw mills involves softwoods, like pine and douglas fir, does this mean that wood pellets are mainly comprised of dust from these softwoods? Kind of makes burning pine logs more valuable. Like to know what others think.

 

[Ductape]

I don't think there is a definitive answer. I've read hardwood pellets are better.... read softwood are better. Wood, when calculated by weight, puts out the same BTUs when burned. Since pellets are sold by weight, in theory you will get equal BTUs from both hard and softwood pellets. I'm told the softwoods burn a bit hotter , but don't last as long as hardwood pellets. So...... you will get longer burn times out of a 40lb bag of hardwood pellets, but not as much heat while they are burning. With firewood..... everything is based on volume (cord), not weight. I'll be running my first pellet stove this winter as a backup to my woodstove......so i'll give you my personal opinion in the middle of winter.

 

[husky455rancher]

i know for a fact that a pellet plant around here makes 98% of their pellets from old crappy pallets so it dont look good

 

[HUSKYMAN]

I am pretty sure every possible scrap that is burnable would go to pellet production...

Kind of like the chili at Wendy's

 

[Mike Van]

I'm pretty sure 40 lbs. of softwood pellets won't fit in the same size bag as 40 lbs. of hardwood ones. Maybe they mix them?

 

[Ductape]

Yep, some mfgs mix hardwood and softwood. Some say what the ratio is right on the bag........ some you have to guess. Interestingly, they all claim to be "premium".

 

[TheGrunt]

Pellet stove

Had a pellet stove for 2 years and would buy the pellets in bulk not bagged. That was a little cheaper, got rid of the pellet stove and put in a wood stove due to the fact the pellets went from $90 a ton to $150 a ton in 2 years. I might as well us natural gas to heat. I was buying 7 tons of pellets to heat the house for the year.

 

[husky455rancher]

yup i my dad got into it when i first came out around here really. i think he paid like 2 bucks a bag when he started. i believe now its over 5 :jawdrop: i keep tellin him to go back to wood! i say dad i got all the tools now saws, splitter, truck tractor, it'll be way easier than you did it back in the day with your micro 20 and 10" bar lmao. id even get split and stack it all for him but he dosent like help with anyting. he likes tobe self sufficient i guress all the time.he says he dont wanna do it hes too old (only 54) i see his point i get pretty sore time to time doing it depending how crazy i go.

 

[avalancher]

yup i my dad got into it when i first came out around here really. i think he paid like 2 bucks a bag when he started. i believe now its over 5 :jawdrop: i keep tellin him to go back to wood! i say dad i got all the tools now saws, splitter, truck tractor, it'll be way easier than you did it back in the day with your micro 20 and 10" bar lmao. id even get split and stack it all for him but he dosent like help with anyting. he likes tobe self sufficient i guress all the time.he says he dont wanna do it hes too old (only 54) i see his point i get pretty sore time to time doing it depending how crazy i go.

Our local feed store has pellet prices on the board, and i happened to notice that hardwood pellets are now $225 a ton, and a little bag(I guess that is a 40lb bag?) is now 9 bucks.
dont see how it would be worth it, I would rather cut wood myself, or turn up the electric heat if I wasnt able to cut myself.

 

[redprospector]

I'm pretty sure 40 lbs. of softwood pellets won't fit in the same size bag as 40 lbs. of hardwood ones. Maybe they mix them?

Yep, 40 lbs of softwood will fit in the same bag as hardwood.
I did a lot of studying on pellets a couple of years ago. I was thinking about putting in for a grant to put in a pellet plant.
Pellets aren't made from "sawdust" as most people think of sawdust. All of the sawdust is run through a hammer mill and screened down to a uniform size, and then dried to a specific moisture content. Finally it is pressed into the pellets you'd get in the store. The pellets pretty much weigh about the same reguardless of what their made of. I read where someone even made pellets out of old paper & cardboard.
The Pine pellets do burn a little faster, but you can somewhat regulate that with the stove. The biggest thing to be concerned about with any pellets is the amount of bark mixed in.

Andy

 

[Mike Van]

Heres what I based my 40 bag on - I have some huge woven-poly bags, 30" wide, 5 ft tall - I tie them on the end of a 6" pipe from my planer. A bag full [they pack pretty good from the blower] of pine shavings might weigh 20 lbs.? No more - A bag full of oak shavings is easily 40 lbs. You'd never fit 40 lbs. of pine shavings in one of these bags, you'd need 2 bags. That was just my thought - Myself, I'd never do pellets. A few winters ago there was a 2 bag limit everywhere, nobody could get them. Great, spend 3.00gas [back then] to go get your 2 bags?

 

[Jkebxjunke]

the price of the pellets havnt gone up much..its the shipping