Gonna be a big time pellet producer...

[warmncozy]

Here's a link to a distributor. Funny thing is there only about 8 miles from me.

Didn't see anything they sell for $1000 though.

Make Your Own Pellets

Talk about a poorly designed website... how can you actually find any prices?

The quote I got was for $950.00 FOB some dock in China... didn't get a freight quote but I know a guy who bought an automotive hoist direct and it cost $300.00 for shipping to Baltimore.

I don't have any $$$ this year so it ain't gonna happen for me... I'd have more $$$ but we're buying too much crap from China and building enough stuff here

Here are some prices for you. They vary by horsepower of the unit.

8 hp Diesel Pellet Mill

 

[tjnamtiw]

The quote I got was for $950.00 FOB some dock in China... didn't get a freight quote but I know a guy who bought an automotive hoist direct and it cost $300.00 for shipping to Baltimore.

If you do it, make sure you get a quote to the port of entry and not FOB China. They should also be able to give you a name of a customs broker they use here. Call up the broker and get all the fees and shipping costs to your door. The import fees are very small since it is considered farm equipment. I got prices for a 22 hp diesel mill and hammer mill plus plenty of spare parts and it was less than $4000 total to my door with tail gate lift. Anything smaller than that and you won't have the power you need to do anything more than 'tinker' with pellets. This I get from the forums on pellet making. I haven't pulled the trigger either because of my age and 'pay back' time. I could use the equipment for a couple of years, prove it works and sell it for what I paid for it compared to what US sales are asking for the same equipment. I wouldn't worry too much about the diesel since there's probably millions of them in every corner of China running some obscure piece of equipment. It's not much more than the old hit and miss engines that have been around forever.

 

[krooser]

In response to Kroosers signature,


So how does an illegal alien manage to get a Wisconsin drivers license, two suspensions, three DUI’s plus a “possesion with intent to deliver” and still be in the US and on the road?


Governor Doyle of course!! (thank god he's leavin)

The problem is the folks of this state will find another weasel to replace him... how on earth we voted him in is beyond me.

 

[Jake]

If I were to use one of these, and started with dry hardwood sawdust (6-8% MC) Would I need to dry them after making them?


(I work at a hardwood flooring mill)

 

[smoke show]

oops

 

[smoke show]

seems a tad high but I bet it would work.
make a couple tons and i'll test em for free. hh:

 

[Meneillys]

Not sure if any one posted about the saw dust having to be dry or not? I think an old clothes dryer would work great though and you could hook the vent up to the hopper of the pellet will and then the mill into the pellet stove and you have an assembly line going on!

 

[tjnamtiw]

If I were to use one of these, and started with dry hardwood sawdust (6-8% MC) Would I need to dry them after making them?


(I work at a hardwood flooring mill)

Go to www.makeyourownpellets.com and then to their forum to read what it REALLY takes to make pellets. Your moisture content won't be high enough to make pellets and you will need a binder. THEN you have to dry them, usually on racks. Read the posts on that forum to get a feel for it.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Forgive me ignorance, I know absolutely nothing about pellets. Is producing pellets from dry hardwood mulch on a small scale practical? It would have to be powered with either single phase electric. 30hp pto on my tractor or a 4 cylinder Wisconsin I haven't come up with a purpose for.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I have spoken to a couple people that have purchase one of those pellet mills.

One couple use all their junk mail, lawn cuttings, leaves off the trees (theirs and the nieghbors) as well as other trash paper to make good useable pellet fuel.

Their fav mix is about 1/3 grass, 1/3 paper materials and 1/3 leaves.

They run the materials through little hammer mill to make it into a fine fluff
Next they take the mix and dump it into one of those cheap little cement mixers, add a little water so it will pelletize and then churn it up.

From here it goes through the pellet mill.
After the stuff comes from the mill it goes to the drying racks for a day to cool and dry good then into storage barrels.

You must be dedicated to the process. Its not a 15 minute task to make enough pellets for even a day.

That particular mill can probably make 300 pounds an hour if your up and running properly with good base stock.

Remember, you dont need sawdust to make good pellets.

Ground up paper, cardboard, and almost any biomass materials that can be compressed will work fine.

You need the Pellet mill
A hammer mill to grind the materials up so it can be pressed into pellets.
A small cement mixer to blend your recipe together.
A drying rack that can handle several hundred pounds of fresh pellets
Storage containers such as metal or plastic drums that will keep your production dry and free of Rodents


A supply of raw materials is needed too. Now leaves can likely be had free. Head off to your local city parks during the fall and gather up all the leaves you can and keep your mouth shut as to what you are doing. (oh just making our park clean and neat) ;-)

This is by no means a simple task.. You will have to plan ahead and be dedicated to the job to get it done.

Not nearly as tough as going out, driving all over and cutting, spliting, hauling and stacking firewood.

Never the less its not a job that will only take a few minutes to accomplish.

The folks I have spoken to have it all planed out and its a fall job that the whole family works at for a few weekends to get it all done.

Summer grass cuttings all get pelletized too as time permits.

I have considered this option, but as long as I have a readily available supply of Hazelnut shells I am likley not going to buy a pellet mill.


My Kids are grown now and there simply is not enough time in a day to work, live and make pellets too.


Have fun

Snowy

 

[SolarAndWood]

Thanks Snowy. It takes me about a day to produce a cord of wood from scrounging the rounds in the city to stacked in the shed. Sounds like about the same amount of effort to produce a ton of pellets. There is a project to pelletize willow at SUNY ESF here in Syracuse. Maybe I'll check in with them on the feasibility of my mulch processing concept. The idea of bringing home 5 yards of hardwood mulch in the trailer, running it through the hammer and pellet mills seems doable. The real appeal though is a boiler with a hopper instead of a gasification boiler with 1000 gallons of storage that can't be burned 24/7 efficiently. Just not sure if the economics of pellet production works out on a small scale. My big simple splitter makes quick work of a cord of wood and doesn't mind being run for a couple hours at a time.

 

[Lousyweather]

ugh.....guess I am lazy......seems like too much work for me in my busy life situation at the moment!

Also, i wonder what these odd pellet materials do to the warrantee of the stove? burning paper, etc...

 

[Meneillys]

The only problem with using mulch that I could see is possible dirt in the pellets. You can reference the Tree Cycle thread to learn about dirt issues.

 

[rick31797]

IT sounds like there is less expensive and work cutting a cord of wood..
Rick

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Me thinks its a tad labor intensive.

For this reason plus the initial cost of the equipment I am staying with the nut shells for now.

Still an intriguing idea to produce ones own pellets though.

The concept of turning all the junk mail that comes in the door, into a usable heat source does get my attention.

Between what shows up at my office and my house will make a BIG pile if allowed to stack up.

Other items that will make heat.

Old egg cartons, almost any paper wrappers or boxes that food comes in.
Brown paper bags.

Old news papers.
It is amazing how much burnables that we pay the trash collector to haul off every week.

If you turn all the burnables into useable fuel, recycle the glass,metal cans and plastic, very little is left in the trash can.

There are a few city run trash burners that turn a goodly portion of their cities garbage into electric energy.

Snowy