I have not got a hold of joe yet because i have not been home to meet with him.Will try next week.
» Making Your Own Pellets
Finding Information
(669 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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sxviper04
Memberwhat did everyone give up?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hey viper...no just busy I guess. How's the beast of the east doing?
Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberthis thing works good! takes feeding at a faster rate. have the machine shop making a new die that will have smooth holes like jides. he said he couldn't ream the holes in mine because it was wearing the bits out after 6 holes. don't think his bits were very sharp. I bought a solid carbide bit and drilled 30+ holes before i broke the bit (my fault). thought they drilled like butter. bought a lot of 10 more on ebay so i'll finish it later. new die will be ready friday. i do think jide is right on the money about holes need to be perfectly smooth and round to make the best pellets. will reduce alot of extra effort to push through.
Posted 1 year ago # -
How are your pellets coming out? It's easier now that the die holes are reamed right?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hello,
So glad to find this forum. I've jumped on the bandwagon and I'm going whole hog. Just got hammer mill and pellet mill the other day. I ran some chips through the hammer mill today. Why isn't there a cover for the coolant tank? Is it usual to have steam coming out of the vent or was I running it a bit too hard? Should the dust be that fine or can I get a bigger screen and make it go faster?
I have not run the pelletizer yet. It's the bigger diesel model. Are the belts supposed to be that loose. The handle with the yellow top that I thought might be for adjustment does not seem to tighten the belts. Sorry to ask so much but thank you in advance for any and all help. It's funny, I've been dreaming of making pellets for months but I am not at all anxious to get that thing running. I'd like to make sure I get the hammermill dialed in first.Posted 1 year ago # -
I think you need to make some adjustments and start by tightening the belts. jide is going to jump in and give you some more tips. Here's the first... you should have bought through www.makeyourownpellets.com. but we'll help you from here. Welcome aboard.
Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberwelcome to the club nitch35. i believe you have the same model i have. first thing first, go buy the biggest bottle of advil or exedrin that you can find because headaches will come easy! just kidding. we have learned a great deal since we all started. feed off the info from all others. from what we've learn before you make any pellets, ream the holes with a carbide reamer. this will smooth the holes and start you making smooth shiny pellets. what size screen do you have in hammermill? the engine will run hot and evaporate off so keep an eye on coolant level. the yellow handle is to engage the clutch not for belt tension. will have to loosen engine to tighten belts. should have a little deflection on top of belts. what is your material being used and how wet is it. also please read all previous post. alot of your questions have answers posted. hope this helps.good luck
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi Nitch, I do not know to much about your hammer mill i just got mine. Got mine from Make Your Own Pellets. They told me how to use mine and mine came with 4mm and 6mm screens. as for your pellet machine belts, you have to loosen the motor and slide oneway to tighten the belts. the yellow handle top should be your clutch. you use that to engage the pellet machine after the motor is running. hey viper, did you get your die back from the machine shop? How do you want me to send you the money for the bags? get back to me. how is everything going?
Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberadmin, for what little i ran through to test, i could tell which pellets came from the new holes. store quality. be glad when the new carbides get here so i can finish it. would say this step should absolutely be done in place of sand to break in die.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I have been using the solid carbide reamer that jide suggested, on all the equipment I've sent out. It's better for new users if I can eliminate all the troubles we have had to work around. Hopefully with better info and an easier method of pelletizing, www.makeyourownpellets.com will get a solid reputation in the business. Again it's all about the pelletizing community. I've been pressing the webmaster for the new website, and hopefully that will be lauched in early November. Can't wait, starting to get heckled about the old site through email!
Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberthink we're starting to get somewhere now. just takes a little time. anything info from joe yet? just found a website for 4mm poly bags so i called jide to tell him. cheaper than i can get them for. www.napspolybag.com the lay flat work well with the sealer.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Yeah, jide's been out and about for a couple weeks now so he and Joe haven't got together yet. This week or next I think. But the new way to condition the die may have solved the clogging problem just the same. Still I'm interested in trying the new formula to see if it helps any further.
Posted 1 year ago # -
BTW, I'm ordering now for the December shipment so if you needed anything let me know right away.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hey Guys,
Thanks for the welcome and the tips. I'll know where to get my stuff from here on out admin thanks for the pitch. Are you in New Hampshire? I've currently got a pile of chips from my overgrown christmas trees. I did some thinning about a year ago and left the trees and brush to dry. Whether or not it is dry enough remains to be seen. I remember when I was doing masonry a good way to test the mix was to form a ball and see how it stuck together. When I squeezed the dust it sort of held its form. Is there a squeeze test? A good moisture meter is going to be in my future for sure. I used to work at a kiln and I recognize the value of moisture meters.Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberyou can go by feel but will likely be different from day to day. the farmex mt pro works well.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi,everyone met with Joe on saturday he brought some new binder to try and make some better pellets.Mixed up a batch of dust and added the new binder run through machine pellets came out soft and short.Put some dry dust in machine and made it heat up hotter to activate binder,pellets started comeing out hard and long.Then die would cool down and not come out let run and heated up on its own again and started makeing pellets again.Pellet temp comeing out was 180 and die temp was 240 starts making pellets at 150 and gets better when temp reaches 180.Added alittle more binder to mix and worked even better Joe was happy said they looked just like store bought.I was happy to only had to run pellets threw one time.Went out today to see if i could repeat process again every ran real well.Also i kept about 8 inches of mix in hopper at all times this makes sure it builds heat and activates the binder and holds in the heat steam comeing out of top and off pellets will burn you,but pellets are hard and dry5% on moister.Ran for abought 45 minutes and broke a set of bearings on a roller will get a set of heavy duty bearings monday and some better grease that will work in hotter temp and under that kind of pressure.Viper will get my bags monday from napspolybags.com.Used my hammer mill today and did about 1000# of hardwood saw dust worked great.
Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberdid joe say what changes were made and when it will be available? what moisture content did you use? at what ratio was it mixed compared to the old bond? had to change my bearings today also. glad i bought 4 on friday to have on hand. got the new die plate yesterday. only has 201 holes but he drilled so it has 5 round rings instead of straight lines. pellets come out very shiny. the problem i am having now is i have to refigure my formula because the heat is so much higher. got tomorrow off so gonna try to pickup some pine sawdust to try.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Talked with jide a bit ago and he's grinning ear to ear about making pellets! Glad to hear the Hammer Mill is working so well. A 1000# in a half hour is very good for hardwood sawdust. Jide, please refer the bearing numbers and grease you use for the rest of us when you get a chance.
Posted 1 year ago # -
How big are the holes in your hammer mills? Mine are very small. The screen looks difficult to get out of there unless I'm supposed to bend the tabs up that hold it in place. I'm thinking I'll just do some expanding with a drill and bit? What size bit would you use?
I made a pellet! Then it all seemed to just clog up in the die. That makes me official right? I'm in the club, probably more so since I spent a couple hours hammering the holes out. Not going to do that again. I'll be looking for a carbide bit tommorrow and a big thing of veggie oil.Posted 1 year ago # -
Screen size is 6mm, I think you have the 4mm in stalled. Pellet Pros is not the place to buy as you can tell they don't help out very much. They should also have given you a few different screen sizes for your Hammer mill, including a 6mm. As far as the die in the Pellet mill is concerned, do yourself a favor, get that carbide ream and condition the die. It will be better to work with. Have you tried to contact Pellet Pros for help?
Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Membertrust me when i say if you do get pellet pros to answer or return the call, they won,t have much info for you. Makeyourownpellets.com is the place to go.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thank you all for this forum. I feel much more confident knowing it is here. How do I get the screen out of the hammermill? Bend the tabs up and pull the screen out?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi,Nitch the sreen should be able to wiggle out but if not loosen the bearing blocks that hold the hammers in place.I dont think you will need any oil if you ream the holes out be sure to use plenty of cutting oil when reaming.Got my bags today and been packaging pellets.Viper the bags work great sealer works real well also.
Posted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberglad to here that jide. plenty of room for 40# in them? checked on some grease today thought i was gonna have a heart attack when they told me the price per case for high temp. $1200 for 10 tubes in a case. told the i'll keep buying bearings instead. but i did buy a case of mobil SCH PM 460. this is a synthetic grease with a range from -40 to 350 F. should work better. price was $6.50 per tube. nitch, have you named you hammer and punch yet. if you don't ream the die you'll be spending alot of time with them! LOL
Posted 1 year ago # -
Seems we're getting quite a few members from the UK. Welcome and feel free to ask questions here. We'd like to hear your tips and tricks to pelletizing as well, so feel free to jump in. We had Scotplod in here for a bit but haven't heard from him for a while. I'd be interested in hearing the equipment used by our UK members.
ADMINPosted 1 year ago # -
meredithhtenney
MemberI'm not from the UK, but have some questions. Can one use leaves to make pellets? I live in New England, and they're free, plentiful, and cover the ground everywhere around here. Does any one have a formula for making pellets of leaves? Do they produce a lot of ash? How small would you have to shred the leaves to pelletize them? Would some sort of leaf shredder do, or is in necessary to get a hammermill and pulverize them? The additional cost of a hammermill is looking like a stretch....Thanks for your advice.
Cheerio,
MHTPosted 1 year ago # -
Hello Meredith - just so you are aware I have pelletized leaves and with not alot of trouble doing it. They do however have a higher ash content than that of sawdust. if you want to see the pellets I made from leaves here is the link... http://www.makeyourownpellets.com/BTU%20Page.htm The image is actually the background of the BTU page. Just give it a minute to load. The thing to remember is the snaller the particle that you place in the pellet mill, the easier it is to pelletize. So yes, a Hammer mill would be best. I haven't used a shredder and then tried to pelletize so maybe another member who has a shredder can help you out with that. You can use any dried biomass to pelletize. It is possible, and I'm hoping a member will try manure and tell us the results or at least send me some. I'm curious about that too.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hey viper, I got the images of your die on my cell, now I understand what you meant by 5 circles...it sure looks nice, but I don't understand why it won't produce like the original manufacturers die. Do me a favor if you want, send the picture to help@makeyourownpellets.com and I post it.
ADMINPosted 1 year ago # -
sxviper04
Memberok
Posted 1 year ago #
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