Stall Pellets in a Pellet Stove

[AngC]

Bright Idea Number Ten Billion and One

When Nicky had his eye injury he was locked up in his stall. A neighbor suggested stall pellets, so we tried a bag under the straw. Pellets worked great so we bought half a ton. Our goobs don’t do their business in the stalls; Nicky’s healed and back out so the pellets just lay there under the straw and don't expand; additionally Baby puts anything in her mouth including pellets so couldn’t use them in that stall.

So there we are with a half ton of pellets. In flower beds, a thin layer makes a nice marker on top of soil so I can see where stuff is. That took care of a half a bag, maybe.

Last fall, we put in a pellet stove. It’s AGP (All Grade Pellets.) The hopper is fed from the top and is outfitted with a sharp chopping blade. With a good grade of pellets, the fines (dust) burns great; no problem. After Googling a bit and deciding we wouldn’t burn the house down, last weekend we dumped in a bag of stall pellets. They burned. Heat production seemed lower; flame color was a bit different-less bright, less orange. Then the stove stopped and wouldn’t light. Made a big old mess digging out the pellets and found the hopper and blade really, REALLY jammed. I think the stall pellets are too soft; different extrusion pressure maybe.

So if anyone else had the same idea, despite what you may read on the internet, it doesn’t work too well.

 

[susanne]

We've always done the reverse -- we use stove pellets as horse stall bedding (fir or pine only, no accelerants or other additives). I think you're right that the stove pellets use a different process, as they do take longer to break down and don't fluff quite as readily with spritzing.

You could sell your 1/2 ton of bedding pellets on Craigslist, then if you need pellet bedding in the future, just use some of your wood stove pellets (assuming they are 100% fir or pine and are additive-free -- like you, I live in the land of the fir tree, and I haven't seen pellets that are anything else).

 

[MindyLee]

I sell both wood and equine pellets. (work at TSC)

I never would suggest burning eqine pellets because they are made from pine, not hardwood. Thats y your stove gummed up, the sap. Also it can void any manafactury warranties.

(And yes, they can tell if equine pellets killed your stove)

Also, they dont produce good heat cause they burn to quickly.

If ya was in desperate measures for heat, then thats the only time I would burn them, but not a long time. The pellets may look the same BUT are not and dont work the same.

Ya can use

corn, Its dirty burning but only for more ash

soy bean

and

cherry pits

Hope this helps!

 

[jayne]

Ang, I live in Arlington, too, and could probably take those pellet off your hands.

I go through about 2.5 tons of stall pellets a year. PM me?

 

[susanne]

The problem is not with softwood -- virtually all of the wood stove pellets sold in the NW are made of softwood -- 100% fir or pine -- and they burn beautifully with no problems. As I mentioned above, I do believe they are processed differently from those marketed specifically for pet bedding, but they are 100% with no additives. It's a by-product of the northwest timber industry.

 

[chandab]

The problem is not with softwood -- virtually all of the wood stove pellets sold in the NW are made of softwood -- 100% fir or pine -- and they burn beautifully with no problems. As I mentioned above, I do believe they are processed differently from those marketed specifically for pet bedding, but they are 100% with no additives. It's a by-product of the northwest timber industry.

I'm using plain stove pellets in my stalls, they are 100% pine beetle damaged pine.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Our stove pellets work just fine for stall pellets too. We, like susanne, have pine, fir or occasionally spruce( all soft woods and manufactured near us) and as long as there are no additives the pellets are safe for bedding. I'm not sure if perhaps they are more tightly compressed tho (haven't used a bedding pellet to compare) and most people mist them to help start the process of breaking up the pellet.

 

[AngC]

I may revisit the use of stall pellets as stall pellets. I cheerfully did not read the directions prior to use and now Susanne and Chandab have mentioned moistening the pellets. I knew you could do that, but my errant logic was: I’m trying to keep the horses dry so why would I want to put wet sawdust in the stalls?

We stocked up on stove pellets so weren’t freezing; this was one of those “I wonder what’ll happen experiments” since we weren’t using them. The stove pellets are 100 percent doug fir (Bear Mountain); the stall pellets are 100 percent pine; neither have additives. The reason we tried this is because the Nature’s Bedding website shows they manufacture both stall and stove pellets; both made of 100 percent, kiln-dried pine. I thought maybe they just put the same pellets in different bags. I can outcompete the cheapest of the cheap sometimes, but when buying stove pellets we bought the most expensive available on the theory they’d be the best and not cause stove problems. So I have no experience with other less expensive (perhaps lower quality) stove pellets. But after trying the pine bedding pellets, it kind of makes me wonder about the All Grade Pellet rating of the stove now.

Regarding the use of corn and other alternatives… I don’t even think they sell stoves around here that can burn those. My stove manual specifically says NOT. For corn, I think you have to have some kind of stirring apparatus on the burn pan. It’s kind of interesting that in different areas of the country they sell different fuels made of different leftover products. If everyone else’s corn around here grows like mine doesn’t, I can sure see why no one offers corn by-products as a fuel here!

 

[Marty]

When you put your pellets down, you are supposed to sprinkle them down with a hose, lightly. Just enough to see them get moist. Then, they will "explode" into nice dry fully bedding. They will not be wet at all. Try it. If they do not breakdown, you didn't get them wet enough so dampen them again.