Coalpail.com Forum

Took a mini vacation to coal country Sunday and came back today with literally one ton of souvenirs. I had the need to see the area that mines the coal I am going to burn. Sunday, My wife and I drove down to carbon county and drove around Jim Thrope. Got there too late to take in any tours. Drove back up 209 through all of the little towns. Stopped in Tamaqua to eat at the Train Station. Continued on to Pottsville, drove around town a little and then to a hotel the the Hazelton area.

Got up today and drove down to Sherman coal. Meet Tim there and had a good talk about his operation. I believe he said he is running the operation and his Dad is the owner. He described the operation, not big by any means but is working to build it back up. Talked about coal quality. His philosophy is that he buys the coal he processes from sources he knows produces good coal and doesn't deliver junk. He stated that coal quality can vary even from the same mine.

I bought a ton of buckwheat from him for $162.00. I plan to burn some soon and see how I like it plus I need to test my new boiler before I commit to more coal. He wasn't specific when there would be a price increase but he said that there a good chance of it this summer.

Made more tourist stops on the way home, but more on this later.

I also enjoyed Jim Thorpe last Friday. My sister-in-laws were in town for the week for a family funeral so I thought that place would be a nice diversion. Turned out it was. Last time I was there was about 20 years ago. We ate lunch at a place called Absinthe. They actually sell absinthe liquor. I thought it was not sold in PA but appartently was legalized in 2008. I was so tempted to try some but my wife was scared to death of me trying it so I didn't. It was neat seeing the display. Hope you enjoyed the trip. I hate that part of Route 209 however. Let us know how the Sherman's coal works out.

Sherman coal is a good white ash coal.The ash will be like dust.It doesn;t make as many BTU's as red ash coal but as far as white ash coal goes it;s some of the best.
DON

BB, do you get sherman here in NYS??

Im a bit late to the conversation I started burning Sherman Coal late last winter and it's been excellent.

i lived about two miles from sherman. it's decent coal.
not sure about now but the last time i was there they have a wet breaker.
it is a real mess in the winter, one time i had water up to my doors in my little truck. i started getting my coal in mount carmel where they load dry with a bobcat.
any idea of their 2017-2018 price?
sherman is real convenient because it is at interstate 81.

I'm surprised they don't put the piles a little further away from the breaker.

ASea wrote: ↑

Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 9:00 am

I'm surprised they don't put the piles a little further away from the breaker.

they don't load from a pile there. they load from the breaker which uses water to move the coal.

lincolnmania wrote: ↑

Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 11:33 am

they don't load from a pile there. they load from the breaker which uses water to move the coal.

That's interesting to know, It must dry out by the time I get it here in MA wish I was paying what you guys are down there.

I ran up to Sherman yesterday and got a load of stove, 2.1 tons. I called Direnzo’s in July and this past week, but they didn’t have any stove. Direnzo’s mentioned about doing a different business model ? They recommended Sherman to me. I liked Sherman’s. They loaded me with a big payloader. We talked a while in the office about old trucks and drag racing. I’ll probably go up again next Saturday. $180. a ton. Dennis

Ran up to Sherman’s again today. Another 2.1 tons. That’s one scoop from the big payloader. They were busy today, two dump trailers getting loaded and another coal delivery truck getting loaded. They’re just off of 81, two miles closer than Direnzo’s. And they’re Ford guys. Dennis