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Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
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Questions on Pellet Mills
What Materials Can I Use to Make Pellets?
Questions on Hammer Mills
Using Pellets for Fuel?
Shipping?
How do I Make Pellets?
What Kind of Production Rates Can I Expect?
Why Are Our Prices so Low?
How Can I Become a Dealer?
Do Pellet Masters offer Financing?
Pellet Mills Questions
Q. What is a pellet mill?
A. A pellet mill is a machine that converts raw biomass materials, through processes of pressure and heat,
into a pellet form.
Q. What are some uses for pellets?
A. We have worked with customers interested in utilizing pellets for a wide range of uses from animal feed,
heating fuel, and animal bedding to specialty wood pellets used in BBQ smokers.
Q. Can all pellet mills make wood pellets?
A. No, Many pellet mills are designed for making animal feed pellets. These pellet mills can make fuel pellets
from softer biomass materials like leaves, lawn clippings, and pine needles or a mixture of these softer
materials with sawdust, but we do not recommend these pellet mills for making 100% wood pellets.
Q. Do you have PelletMills/HammerMills in stock?
A. Yes, We currently offer the largest inventory of pellet and hammer mills in North America. We are also able to
source other pellet and hammer mills models and most often ship in stock pellet and hammer mills the same day
Q. Do you offer "Service" after the sale?
A. Yes, we are willing to answer any questions. We also have years of technical knowlage pellitizing many
different materials.
Q. Do you have replacement parts available?
A. Yes, We have the largest inventory of replacement dies, rollers for pellet mills in North America. We also offer a large selection of parts for hammer mills to include replacement hammers and screen in various sizes.
We are also able to source custom parts for your special needs.
Materials Questions
Q. What materials can I make pellets from?
A. We have experiance with "pelletizing" a wide range of materials such as sawdust, corn cobs, corn stalks,
straw, various grasses, leaves, cardboard, paper, etc.
Q. What if I have a unique materials I want to make pellets from?
A. We pride ourselves on always learning and are often willing, for a small fee, to perfom tests at our facility to determine the feasibility of pellizing a material.
Hammer Mill Questions
Q. What is a hammer mill?
A. A hammer mill is a machine which through operates by impact action and will pulverize most dry, free-flowing materials. Material fed into the hammer mill from the top falls into the grinding chamber. The material is contacted by a series of hardened steel hammers rotating at high speed. The material is ground by repeated contact with these hammers, contact with the walls of the grinding chamber, and particle to particle contact. The material remains in the hammer mill grinding chamber until particles become small enough to escape by passing through the perforated screen that covers the bottom half of the grinding chamber. Interchangeable hammer mill screens are gererally available to allow for fine or coarse grinding of most products.
Pellets for Fuel?
Q. Why burn Pellets?
A. Many Reasons
-pellet stoves burn cleanly and efficiently
- pellet stoves are simple to install compared to wood stoves
- pellet stoves feed themselves so you can wake up to a warm house
- pellets can be made from many materials (like leaves) that cannot otherwise be easily burned for heat
- pellets are easy to store and handle
Q. What materials can be used to produce pellets for heating?
A. Many materials can make pellets with good heat content including sawdust, leaves,various grasses, pine needles,
grain screenings, and corn stalks.
Q. Are there any other materials that can be utilized in making pellets for heating?
A. Many waste products also can make fuel pellets including horse manure, cardboard, sunflower seed husks, and even
weeds from the ditch.
Q. Can my pellet stove burn all biomas pellets?
A. Generally if a pellet stove can burn corn then it will burn biomass pellets well. Stoves that are labeled
“burn premium wood pellets only” may be sensitive to ash and are not recommended for burning biomass pellets.
Q. Can all pellet mills make wood pellets?
A. No. Many pellet mills are designed for making animal feed pellets. These pellet mills can make fuel
pellets from softer biomass materials like leaves, lawn clippings, and pine needles or a mixture of these
softer materials with sawdust, but we do not recommend these pellet mills for making 100% wood pellets.
Q. What about the information I've read on the internet about additives and binders that can allow all pellet mills to
make wood pellets.
A. Some commercial additives can help. Also often locally available inexpensive or free materials like used
vegetable oil, grain screenings, or dry distiller grain can help.
Q. What is the btu output per pound of non-hardwood pellets when used for fuel.
A. We have had a laboratory perform tests of various materials.
Here is a link to their
report: Twin Ports
Testing (Moisture, BTU/lb, Ash, Sulfur).
Shipping
Q. How can we offer such low shipping costs?
A. Because of the volume of mills we ship, we are able to get great rates from many shipping companies.
We are also capable of shipping worldwide.
Making Pellets
Q. Does the material need to be prepared before entering the pellet mill?
A. Yes, The material should be a suitable size and moisture
Q. What size does the material need to be?
A. The size of material corresponds with the pellet size desired, usually to make ¼" (6 mm) pellets
we need ¼" (6 mm) material. This is often accomplished by processing the materials through a hammer mill.
Q. What moisture works best for making pellets?
A. We reccomend an approximate moisture content of 15%. If your material is too dry you can add moisture.
If it is too wet you can dry it or mix it with another lower moisture material (like cardboard).
Q. What materials can I make pellets from?
A. We have experiance with "pelletizing" a wide range of materials such as sawdust, corn cobs, corn stalks,
straw, various grasses, leaves, cardboard, paper, etc.
Q. What are some uses for pellets?
A. We have worked with customers interested in utilizing pellets for a wide range of uses from animal feed,
heating fuel, and animal bedding to formulating specialty wood pellets used in BBQ smokers.
Q. Can all pellet mills make wood pellets?
A. No. Many pellet mills are designed for making animal feed pellets. These pellet mills can make fuel pellets
from softer biomass materials like leaves, lawn clippings, and pine needles or a mixture of these softer
materials with sawdust, but we do not recommend these pellet mills for making 100% wood pellets.
Production Rates
Q. What production rate can I expect from my pellet mill?
A. The production rate of a well designed pellet mill is about 20 pounds of fuel pellets per horsepower per hour.
So, for example, this video from our PelletMasters web site shows a 12” Blue and Yellow pellet mill with a 20 hp motor making about 400 pounds of pellets per hour.
Soft materials like grains will have a higher production rate than materials like hardwood sawdust.
Q. Why are your production rate claims so much lower that the competitors?
A. We believe that competitors’ claims of 300 pounds per hour from a 6” pellet mill or 600 pounds per hour from an
8” pellet mill are simply fantasy. We suggest that you compare pellet mills by die size and motor power
rather than unverified claims of production rate.
Why Are our prices so Low?
Q. How can Pellet Masters prices be so much lower than your competition?
A. Top ten reasons:
#10 - Our staff work for pellets
#8 - Our overhead is low!
#7 - Our business model is based on volume not high margins.
#6 - We heat for free!
#5 - We buy large quantities with the best volume discounts.
#4 - Our volume allows us to negotiate low shipping rates with multiple carriers.
#3 - We have our own overseas logistics office.
#2 - By shipping only full containers we do not suffer shipping damage costs to
pass on.
#1 - The boss is crazy! He tries to beat ANY competitor’s price.
How can I become a Dealer?
Q. How can I become a dealer?
A. Give us a call... 715 726-3100. We are always eager to talk about the opportunities in life.
Does Pellet Masters offer Financing?
Q. Does Pellet Masters offer Financing?
A. At this time Pellet Masters does not offer financing, however we have worked with numerous leasing companies in the past. Here are links to some leasing companies our customers have used:
