In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Pellet heads!! What's up today?

Discussion in 'Pellet Stoves, Pellet Fireplaces, Pellet Furnaces' started by DexterDay, Jan 16, 2014.

  1. imacman

    imacman

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2013
    Messages:
    6,521
    Likes Received:
    26,998
    Location:
    Denver, NC
    NOT!

    It almost like they're up there, waving in the wind, laughing at you while you keep waiting for them to fall......they're saying "yeah, I'm still up here". :hair:
     
  2. Pete Zahria

    Pete Zahria

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2015
    Messages:
    2,003
    Likes Received:
    10,396
    Location:
    New Hampster
    Have never seen this many acorns... ever.

    Dan
     
    Rich250, bogieb, slvrblkk and 2 others like this.
  3. bogieb

    bogieb

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2015
    Messages:
    11,434
    Likes Received:
    69,450
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    It seems to be a mast year for acorns, but I don't think it is as bad as one season in late 90's or early 2000's that I was raking up bushel - fulls daily in the back yard of my old house. Taking the dogs to the pen (up a hill) in the dark mornings was taking your life into your own hands becuase you were rolling on them more than walking on the ground. Course it could be that way there now, I don't go by there at all, so don't know for sure.
     
    imacman, slvrblkk and IHATEPROPANE like this.
  4. Earl764

    Earl764

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2015
    Messages:
    952
    Likes Received:
    5,956
    Location:
    CT
    I think this means a big squirrel and mouse population boom next year, followed by a tick boom.

    Yay?
     
  5. SmokeyTheBear

    SmokeyTheBear

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2013
    Messages:
    7,902
    Likes Received:
    37,597
    Location:
    Standish, ME

    You left out the chippies. I'm doing my part by providing the bait next door tom is taking one everyday. His mommy is pizzed at both of us.
     
  6. SmokeyTheBear

    SmokeyTheBear

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2013
    Messages:
    7,902
    Likes Received:
    37,597
    Location:
    Standish, ME
    Chow'da it is whats for supper.
     
  7. SmokeyTheBear

    SmokeyTheBear

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2013
    Messages:
    7,902
    Likes Received:
    37,597
    Location:
    Standish, ME

    That is exactly what they are doing.
     
  8. Pete Zahria

    Pete Zahria

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2015
    Messages:
    2,003
    Likes Received:
    10,396
    Location:
    New Hampster
    Maybe my trees were not that big 25 years ago, for me to notice..
    :emb:

    Dan
     
    IHATEPROPANE, imacman and bogieb like this.
  9. Snowy Rivers

    Snowy Rivers

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2015
    Messages:
    2,729
    Likes Received:
    11,955
    Location:
    Newberg, Oregon
    Loaded up the outfit and headed out to the new shell supplier yesterday..

    We had scheduled a load for Friday, but the weather was sooooooooooooooo nice that we decided to see if we could do it Thursday instead...

    The answer was YESSSSSSSSSSSS.

    Headed out.....

    The new place is HUGE...

    Not the MOM and POP feel of the old plant.
    Get to the plant...Check in at the front office to get clearance to enter the yard.

    Drive back to the scale and get a light weigh....

    Huge scale will handle a Semi all at once....
    The old plant required us to weigh the Burb, then weight the trailer..

    Much nicer to just pull on and get weighed.

    The place was stupid busy... with trucks lined up to pick up Nuts that are dried and still in the shell...

    Fork lifts haulin azz everywhere with large totes on them.

    Several loading ramps in the outer lot with semis getting loaded.

    We get our light weight and the weigh master has me pull forward off the scale enough to allow the big rigs to exit the scale platform.

    Sit and wait a bit while a fella on a forklift with a rollover goes to get shells (Allows the tote to be dumped sideways... also has a bidirectional side shift.
    Within a bit there is a dude with a tote filled with what appears to be freshly picked from the orchard whole nuts (Damp too) NO NO NO NO

    A conversation ensues with the lift operator and the little girl weigh master.

    Dude disappears and is soon back with the real deal...

    He fills our dumpster full and I back the rig up onto the scale again.


    Paperwork in hand...we head to the office to pay for our prize......

    1600 pounds..... 3 cents a pound. $48

    I am still not happy about having to change suppliers...... but there is a bright side.

    The plant manager told me they run the shelling line nearly year round.

    Having a long operating season gives us more latitude in getting our supplies in.

    Sadly I can't get pics from the plant area.

    Signs everywhere NO CAMERAS......NO PICTURES

    Seems they don't want visitors copying how they run their operation..

    Pretty much standard procedure in a lot of businesses .....

    So we have our first load home.

    The day got started late and we only unloaded about half of it yesterday afternoon.

    Was getting dusk when we pulled the pin on things and went in for the night.

    I think we unloaded 5 barrels full (9 is usually a full load)

    I noticed a lot of sticks in this stuff.....I THINK WE BOUGHT HALF AN ORCHARD TOO..

    Once we get the stuff unloaded and the outfit put away we will try running some product through "Munchy"

    Thinking about pouring the stuff through a large screen first to get the LOGS out of it.

    The large sticks will jam Munchy and make the crushing process a lot more tedious.

    Having to stop and clear jams is not hard....just time consuming....and irritating...

    I will get some piccy's of the new material today as we have all day too fool with stuff.

    I wanted a load of shells, but ended up with a lot of FIRE WOOD TOO:picard::rofl: :lol:
    The best part is that we have super weather... Temps in the high 50's F to low 60's F

    T SHIRT WEATHER.....For me anyway.

    We stopped in town on the way home to grab a lunch/dinner and we are nearly finished and the manager come running over and politely asked us to EVACUATE THE BUILDING.......Electrical fire in the kitchen.

    So we got a free meal.

    We eat at this joint all the time...hope it was not serious.....
    Fire Dept showed up with 2 huge rigs...

    The parking lot is fairly good sized and is being repaved....fire dudes had a pain getting to the restaurant with the trucks.

    Ah well......interesting day anyway....
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2019
  10. bogieb

    bogieb

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2015
    Messages:
    11,434
    Likes Received:
    69,450
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2019
    ivanhoe, ttdberg, gbreda and 3 others like this.
  11. gbreda

    gbreda

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2013
    Messages:
    7,430
    Likes Received:
    36,786
    Location:
    NH
    ivanhoe, IHATEPROPANE, bogieb and 2 others like this.
  12. ChandlerR

    ChandlerR

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2017
    Messages:
    470
    Likes Received:
    2,865
    Location:
    Seacoast NH
    We've had three crappy days. Cool and cloudy but not much rain thankfully. I think I told you about the 1982 Harley FLH I got last year. It had sat for 17 years and was mostly taken apart. I fixed it and rode it all summer but put it up for sale a few weeks ago. My plan was to sell the Harley and get the motorcycle that I really wanted. Well, yesterday I did just that. With no money other than what I got for the Harley, I bought a 2007 BMW R1200RT. I ride it home on Sunday.
    [​IMG]
     
  13. imacman

    imacman

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2013
    Messages:
    6,521
    Likes Received:
    26,998
    Location:
    Denver, NC
    I used to pick those up, (and every other model BMW made) at the repair center in Woodcliff Lake, NJ to bring to auction. Hated those huge "bags".....couldn't get my dam leg over them to get on. 1200 LT was a huge beast (w/ reverse gear), but my fav was the 1000R.
    Otherwise, they're great bikes.
     
  14. ChandlerR

    ChandlerR

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2017
    Messages:
    470
    Likes Received:
    2,865
    Location:
    Seacoast NH
    I had a 2002 R1150Rt that I put 82,000 miles on with 0 issues. I rode it to and from Texas many years to ride with friends there. This one also has 82,000 miles and it was owned by a geezer who was a maintenance fanatic. I love the bags (and the top box) because they come right off and are used as luggage. I had two weeks worth of clothes, electronics, and other gear in them when I travelled.
     
  15. bogieb

    bogieb

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2015
    Messages:
    11,434
    Likes Received:
    69,450
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    I figured they wouldn't last long.
     
  16. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2013
    Messages:
    11,720
    Likes Received:
    52,635
    Location:
    NW CT foothills
    Hoping the Nor easter wind dies down so we can get some :seasoned:in today. Otherwise its yard work............... :BrianK:

    Or vehicle maintenance :makeitrain"
     
  17. will711

    will711

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2013
    Messages:
    10,270
    Likes Received:
    50,825
    Location:
    Pocono Mts.
    That's what I be doing today , but not until I finish my Beer :coldone:
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2019
  18. Snowy Rivers

    Snowy Rivers

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2015
    Messages:
    2,729
    Likes Received:
    11,955
    Location:
    Newberg, Oregon
    Yesterday was a sweet treat when it comes to DOIN SHELL STUFF..

    I got after things early.....

    Son in law was over and we discussed some ideas to make things easier and maybe be able to haul in more materials at one time.

    Sadly everything costs money :makeitrain"to change.

    With about 75 barrels (Mostly free) and the dumpster paid for I really do not want to start tossing money at the project.

    We thrashed out the idea of trying to get a couple of the large totes the plants use to haul the nuts in from the orchards and also use to store the stuff in while they are in the warehouse.

    Currently our dumpster hold 1-1/2 totes of shells... would be cool to be able to just sit 2 full totes on the trailer.

    We hashed out the idea of a steel angle frame with casters on it that we could roll off when we get home.

    Easy to do....not sure about the cost of the totes though...

    I have seen these in PLASTIC (Harvest bins) used at $150 each.

    More $$$$$

    I really like what we have as the barrels keep the material quite nice and RODENT free for years.

    We are running stuff now that we bought 4-5 years ago, and it is just fine...

    Gonna be just plain costly to change things around to be able to easily haul and store large amounts of materials with the idea of compact storage and ease of handling in mind.

    Now with having to drive 40 miles to get material it adds the extra travel time to start with....then we add the extra cost of the materials..... more fuel for the rig too...


    We are still way up on the front side of the curve compared to using pellets...Still costs to haul them home too.

    Having just had to spend a bunch of $$$$ to build Munchy to deal with the 1/2 shells, we are at a stable point at present.

    To start down another path is just not sounding good to me.

    More work....more money.

    Thinking that we need to be happy that we have a good supplier that will serve us and not go off on another CRUSADE...... IN SEARCH OF ELDORADO.....

    Pics from yesterday.

    Tractor at the stable getting some needed barrels from storage (Had to dig out 4 to hold the last of the new load)

    Up at the house with stuff scattered all over the place.

    The Vacuum (We call him R2....DOES SORT OF LOOK LIKE IT)

    All the hoses and rigging...

    All the barrels and the dumpster in the barn on the slab after the work was done.

    Lots of good heating there for sure.

    And us old fools get some exercise too.... :picard:
     

    Attached Files:

  19. ttdberg

    ttdberg Pellet Pig

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2014
    Messages:
    3,574
    Likes Received:
    15,895
    Location:
    CT
    First major leaf pickup operation here today. Now it’s miller time.
    :drunk:
     
    ivanhoe, imacman, jtakeman and 4 others like this.
  20. slvrblkk

    slvrblkk

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2013
    Messages:
    6,637
    Likes Received:
    29,489
    Location:
    Northampton, PA
    Miller? I definitely don't believe you... You've got something(s) way better than that. :D
     
    ivanhoe, imacman, jtakeman and 6 others like this.