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I'm asking, because I've planted about 50 hybrid Poplar trees, and I'm considering trying to make some pellets myself.
Please share your experiences, if you care to.
Questions.
Will 50 be enough, to produce enough, to heat a medium sized house?
What sort of equipment would you suggest? (As in, tractor mounted, electric, or with it's own engine.)
What time of year is it best to make the pellets? (Does it matter if the leaves go in?)
How finely does the wood need to be pulped, before being fed into the pelletizer?
Any information, I think would be of use.
Many thanks.
I don’t think it would work.
First- the fast growing trees like poplars don’t provide as much BTU
Second - it still would take it many years to get enough wood from them.
The third - instead of making pellets - it is less expensive to just buy a real firewood wood stove -simpler, less expensive and more efficient, works even during power outage- the pellet stove would not.
(You cut the firewood in the dead of the winter- end of Dec, as in some milder climates the tree’s sap starts running in January- making the wood wet from the inside)
You better off starting collecting fallen trees- with the permission of course- or removing unwanted trees- need a good training, license and insurance for that.
What is your climate zone? How big and how well insulated is your house? Are you allowed to burn firewood in your town?
Sometimes it is just simpler to “recycle” existing trees for firewood
Turning the trees into pellets just adds an extra energy dependent step in the process. When the SHTF, as the survivalists say, you may not have access to that extra energy...Just burn the wood in a stove/furnace/fireplace that doesn't require pelletization.
What trees you grow depends on your climate and soil-- Poplars are pioneer species and do better in poor/shallow soil than other hardwoods. If that's what you have, then maybe they're your best choice...While BTU density of various species is different, they're generally close enough and won't be the deciding factor if you're growing your own-- You use what is available.
The amount of wood used each heating season depends, of course, on your climate, but also on the size of the space, how it's arranged, how well it's insulated and your heating system....I use a cord (128 cu ft) of oak each month to heat a 2000 SQ FT earthberm house, while my neighbor uses 2+ cords/m for a smaller, log cabin style house.
General rule is that a tree 24 ft tall and 18 in diameter at the base provides a half cord of firewood....Coppicing is a way of providing sustainability, but requires more trees per cord.
In my area, firewood is readily available from several lumberjacks, and given the amount of time, labor (potentilly dangerous) and equipment involved, at the price of $250/cord it's well worth it to just buy it from them.
Good price, here it is anywhere from 300 for spruce cut in rounds or lengths up to 450 for birch fully cut. It is a lot of work as most of us use snowmobiles. Gas here is almost 7.00 a gal.
Pellet stoves are more efficient. But unless you can do it on industrial scale, pellet production is going to be inefficient.
Well seasoned firewood in just about any wood stove with good drawing chimney and all is good. Just they werent kidding about firewood warming you twice if you do your own. And if you buy it, not sure its all that much cheaper than any other heating fuel. People that get into firewood biz tend not to stay in the firewood biz, its a hard way to make a living.
I'll add a bit to the problem to clear things up a little.
I'm on the south coast of England, close enough to the sea, to be receiving salt spray on windy days, which we get a lot of. Down here there's not a lot of woodland, due to livestock farming, and the winds stripping most trees of their leaves. The only trees that stand out, while not in sheltered positions, are Poplars. I do have other trees, Willows, Chestnuts, Maples, Hawthorns, Blackthorns, Oaks, Hazelnuts, but most only ever reach 13 feet tall, and then stop growing, but with a flat top.
We've now got laws here against just burning unseasoned wood, so have to buy in barn seasoned wood, and firewood isn't even allowed to be sold, unless it's been seasoned.
I may just have to make the most of the wind, and buy a turbine, I suppose.
I'll add a bit to the problem to clear things up a little.
I'm on the south coast of England, close enough to the sea, to be receiving salt spray on windy days, which we get a lot of. Down here there's not a lot of woodland, due to livestock farming, and the winds stripping most trees of their leaves. The only trees that stand out, while not in sheltered positions, are Poplars. I do have other trees, Willows, Chestnuts, Maples, Hawthorns, Blackthorns, Oaks, Hazelnuts, but most only ever reach 13 feet tall, and then stop growing, but with a flat top.
We've now got laws here against just burning unseasoned wood, so have to buy in barn seasoned wood, and firewood isn't even allowed to be sold, unless it's been seasoned.
I may just have to make the most of the wind, and buy a turbine, I suppose.
You're overthinking it.
Why would you want to burn unseasoned wood in the first place?
So you cut your tree, cut it into appropriate size logs, split/stack, and cover it for six months to a year, and its seasoned. If you cut it in December there will be less moisture and you won't need to season it as long. I cut a tree in Spring and that took 10 months to dry adequately once stacked.
Why would you want to burn unseasoned wood in the first place?
So you cut your tree, cut it into appropriate size logs, split/stack, and cover it for six months to a year, and its seasoned. If you cut it in December there will be less moisture and you won't need to season it as long. I cut a tree in Spring and that took 10 months to dry adequately once stacked.
Stick with maples - fast growing and higher BTU. Oaks are better, but it takes longer time to dry it.
Talk to old timers- England is the best in a firewood production- they used so called “stools”- cutting young trees of skinny diameter, forcing trees to re- sprout from the base of the tree-“stool” and to grow 3-4 trunks instead of one and harvest them when they 3’’ or so thick.
You don’t need to grow tall, large trees - as you may not be even to grow them in salt spray- and you need a lifetime of waiting for a tree to grow to a substantial size.
Grow many branches - they dry faster. Do not need splitting, burn hot when dry.
Poplars are pretty useless as a firewood. Waste of energy to grow, cut and split - you end up in negative energy land overall.
Why not read on regarding air sealing your house and after you airseal it to the best ability - insulate if possible - attic first and foremost, make sure your windows and doors are not drafty - there are a lot of retrofit sealants and gaskets available-
Heavy drapery- preferably with a bump lining, pelmets above them- you could make it yourself.
Alternatively - you could install interior solid wood shutters or both- thick drapery over shutters to keep the chill out.
Or you may have already exterior shutters- close them for the night - they are better than interior shutters
Insulate pipes to prevent freezing them on occasion in a really frosty storm.
Invest in a warm blanket, socks, sweaters - wool is the best.
As you posted in green living thread - I surmise that you want to be green.
Conserving the heat is the same as making the heat - as you need less heating to stay comfy.
Don’t focus on pellets, especially making your own - it is highly wasteful, not-self reliant, not “green” and unsustainable
Look at the big picture. Reduce your heating needs. Only heat yourself- not the house if it is possible or just the room you are in.
Point of use heating.
Please let go off pellets making. Even if you want to start business - nobody would buy poplar pellets, they are not efficient and would be too expensive to produce even on commercial scale - too much moisture to dry out - not enough btu to justify time and expense
Last edited by L00k4ward; 11-22-2021 at 11:27 AM..
More is being made of the low energy content of popular than it deserves...Think of it this way-- good oak has 26M BTU/cord, but takes 80 yrs to grow...Poplar has 16M, but grows fast, so you'll wind up producing more BTU/yr.
If you're talking about personal use, it's good enough-- you can grow plenty and quickly. Consider coppicing or stooling for sustainability....If you're talking about growing for commerciual sale, poplar will be a tough sell. I thnk we've all agreed, making pellets is an inefficient idea.
BTW- the answer to the question of "why would you burn wet wood?" is "cuz that's all I got and don't want to freeze." ..As much as a quarter of the energy in wet wood goes into heating up the water therein (hi heat capacity of water). Big deal. Just use 25% more wood. You're growing it for free...Also, more attention needs to be paid on chimney cleaning after burning green wood-- lower temp of smoke means more creosote deposited-- more of a fire hazard.
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