# pine pellets vs wood pellets



## luke4275 (Aug 3, 2013)

IVE BEEn using pine pellets from the tack store.. $8.00 for 40#. Home depot sells the wood stove pellets for 5.38 for 40#. A friend at a tack store says they are both the same.. I remember reading the pine pellets are better? thoughts?? I ask bec I will be going thru a lot of pellets so if I can save money.. why not


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## Bondre (Jun 14, 2013)

I've been told that wood stove pellets are made of recycled wood, so may well contain residues of paint and varnish that smell bad when they burn. Also that they burn faster as the wood is old and very dry. Never tried either of them though as my stove burns almond shells. I would say try a few sacks of the cheaper ones and compare them.
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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Curious to know how it works out. I thought of ordering a pallet of stove pellets but for some reason it didn't make sense.
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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

You have to be careful and make sure the stove pellets are not made from reclaimed/ recycled wood or hardwoods which can have harmful resins in them. If you can find them in a pine variety for the stove pellets then you should be okay, but you'd also need to check and see what the company uses as a binder as well.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

There are various qualities. I tried stove pellets only because the retailer's bag had broken open and he was hoping for an alternate market. They didn't blot up the urine at all. They might work as a base then put the pine on top.


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

if you do try the woodstove pellets, opt for the softwood pellets.

I forget what wood is toxic to horses (I believe walnut) but if I remember correctly even standing in walnut sawdust can cause founder issues... so with it being a hardwood easiest to stick to softs


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## backyardhorse (Feb 22, 2013)

I'd also worry about any chemicals that may have been added to make the wood pellets burn better. Yes, I've considered them too (LOOK the same and are a little cheaper), but every time I've lost my nerve when it comes right down to buying it.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

The barn floor is a mix of clay and sand with old manure packed in there. The stove pellets were tossed on a urine spot so soak it up. It was still quite wet. The pellets were still hard the next day. I'll stick with the diatomaceous earth, the kind the mechanics use. It's coarse like cat litter. A little goes a long way.


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## loveduffy (Dec 22, 2011)

check to make sure that the wood they use is safe for use with animal like others have said some wood could kill your horse


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## zandstrafarms (Feb 14, 2015)

Just out of curiosity, why do you not want to use pine shavings? I get a big 3x2 compressed bag at Tractor Supply for 3.99. I use it in my run in when it's wet.

Most people in our area get coarse saw dust from the saw mills really cheap. I'm not sure it's great on the horses to breath the dust in... but my neighbor uses it and she's an equine vet tech... the saw mills set special stuff aside just for horse people with no walnut etc. in it.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

Subbing. we have a peer and we can go though an 8ft truck bed filled with shavings in a week (its about $30 in shavings but shoveling that much weekly gets old FAST!)


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

For a while I was able to get shavings from a planer. That's in between sawdust and the coarser shavings. Nice stuff. I swapped a load of two yr old manure for a load of that.


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

Where I was at, with average 25mph winds, shavings were useless and just would blow away. The pellets would stay where I put them. I never added water to 'fluff' them up, my horse never seemed to mind. Then, when they broke apart they were wet and underneath dry ones, so they still didn't blow away. I haven't found shavings to be very absorbent. Pellets or sawdust are better in that regard. Some shavings on top or in the mission is okay though, good for fluff and keeping the horse above the wetness.
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