My dad is convinced that with a slide gate on bottom and enough caulk/seals you can create a vaccum in the hopper. I thought I read somewhere that it has been tried and couldn't be done, but I can't come up with an answer using the search. It would really simplify things if I could suck corn/pellets straight to the bin! Thanks for the help.

I too remember reading in the past about not being able to draw a suction. If you have a fire in the pot and the slide gate would leak a little air, the heat and smoke would be drawn up into the bin. I am not sure the sides and top would handle the suction as well.

Corn4myheat made a metal barrel with a flexable cover that would close on a vaccume, and once filled with corn and vac shut off, would drain into the bin. Much safer this way. Check his posts in the old forum. He has lots of pictures of his setup.

I tried it side will buckel in,and alot of smoke