Coalpail.com Forum

Mike, Do all the strip mines float their coal? In a deep mine maybe they don't have to float their coal because the miner can do a better job of mining than a drag line operator hundreds of feet away? Are you saying that a well run deep mine can get away with just a picking table?

I love learning this coal stuff.
DON

As a rule the coal from a deep mine is cleaner than the coal from a strip mine BEFORE it goes to a breaker. Most of the breakers out there have some sort of seperation equipment. Only a handfull of small breakers don't. All of the big breakers from the 1920's on had some sort of seperation equipment even if the were running 100% deep mined coal. In your average vein of Anthracite you have whats called a divider. It's not really coal and it's not really rock it does burn but at a lower BTU than the coal around it and with a higher ash content. It's almost impossible to remove without seperation equipment. The coal from a strip mine is not inferior in any way shape or form from the coal from a deep mine. It just needs a little more processing than the coal from your average deep mine because of the extra slate that gets picked up with it when being mined.

People I know who work at the mines or breakers(I live just outside Wilkes-Barre, Pa) have said that coal should have "bone" in it to burn well. I took this to mean the pieces that are somewhat dull looking rather than glossy. I see it in the coal I have (chestnut from Chervy) and have had no problems. No klinkers and fine ash in the pan. It's supposed to be deep mined and it sure burns nice, but I don't know for sure. Is this true about the "bone" or are they yanking my chain?

the stuff ive been burning says right on the bag deep mined coal. its burning quite well.

I bought a load for myself and my grandfather at Split Vein in Shamokin and we're both getting upwards of 60% ash back....what gives? I'm using a Keystoker KA6 and he has a Harman Boiler. I'm really not happy with this. Where can I get better coal down that way? I buy 4 ton at a time. We used to buy at Sovitsky Bros. but they are no longer in business.

warm now wrote:People I know who work at the mines or breakers(I live just outside Wilkes-Barre, Pa) have said that coal should have "bone" in it to burn well. I took this to mean the pieces that are somewhat dull looking rather than glossy. I see it in the coal I have (chestnut from Chervy) and have had no problems. No klinkers and fine ash in the pan. It's supposed to be deep mined and it sure burns nice, but I don't know for sure. Is this true about the "bone" or are they yanking my chain?

If you want to listen to the old timers that's what they will tell you.

BennyLumpkin wrote:I bought a load for myself and my grandfather at Split Vein in Shamokin and we're both getting upwards of 60% ash back....what gives? I'm using a Keystoker KA6 and he has a Harman Boiler. I'm really not happy with this. Where can I get better coal down that way? I buy 4 ton at a time. We used to buy at Sovitsky Bros. but they are no longer in business.

By weight or volume? 60% by weight would be a little unbelievable.

Volume...I'm going to weigh my next output and input for a better idea.

Ok using my KA6 I put 92.2 lbs in of rice and took out 27.8 lbs of ash in about 26 hours....my math is horrible to figure out the percentage but it's kinda high I think and it's all clump and little dust. I'm heating my domestic hot water and about 3000 square feet of uninsulated Victorian home.

I just figured it up at just over 30% by weight. Pretty high isn't it?