Which method do you use to fill your stove?

[sydney1963]

i made a pellet sifter out of pvc pipe, I saw the link on here a while back, it works very well. I open the bags on the porch, pour in to a funnel on top of pvc sifter, turn on the shop vac, and it comes out below into a 5 gallon bucket.

Me too.

I made one of these as well ($20 without having to buy a shop vac) only because the first 3 bags of pellets that I opened were loaded with fines (I would say 4 cups) and thought I had a bad bunch of Penningtons. By the way the vacuum works really well. All the other bags I have opened since then are virtually fines free and definitely a darker color than the first bags. Must have been 2 different lots. Hopefully I got all dark colored ones. No sifting here.

 

[sinnian]

My auger actually needs and uses the fines as lubrication! Just dump the pellets from the bag to the hopper.

 

[rmac]

Pour straight from the bag...no sifting, no problems.

 

[GVA]

never sifted, but if I had to I would have found a new supplier who didn't abuse the pellets...
I had a couple of bridges and it was cause they had gotten wet, not fines it was more like oatmeal....
pour 'em in but keep the lights on when you do it ;-)

 

[wilbilt]

I pour them directly from the bag. I do have concerns about the fines, though.

Even using fuel of the same brand from the same supplier, the quantity of fines seems to vary greatly from one batch to the next. My auger has been somewhat intermittent in efficiency the past couple of days, and I suspect it is choking on the dust.

 

[Bushbuck]

Both my stoves are in a corner and filling the hoppers are easy from a bucket. its kind of clumsy from the bag on the side. We can fill them without dropping a pellet. The fines tray is just a bonus. We load them that way just because it is easier to carry them in and easier to load.