I've come to understand two hours is the cutoff for smoke. Any more than that is a waste of your wood and time.You fill it with pellets and start it with a torch and set it inside the smoker. It will burn itself out after 2 hours unless you add more pellets to it. A 1/4 inch smoke ring is as much as your likely to ever see. Even the pros dont get more than that and they say meat only takes the smoke in for 4 hours but not sure if thats true.
And for the other point on pellets. Lowes has Pit boss pellets for 10 bucks a bag. You have to watch some of the cheaper bulk pellets as they are hardwood with flavors added. Usually chemical.