How Do They Load You at the Mine?

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Tue. Mar. 15, 2016 6:21 am

I just picked up my IBC totes that I will be using to haul/store my coal. Having never been to a coal mine I am curious as to how they load you out? I am hoping I can pull under a conveyor and fill each tote that way but if they use a bucket loader then I will need to make some sort of giant funnel. I really don't want to shovel 10 tons of coal!

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Tue. Mar. 15, 2016 7:30 am

First off, you want to buy your coal at a breaker, not a mine. Two vastly different places. Which breaker were you going to? Some have chutes that make loading IBC,s easy, others don't.

waldo lemieux · Post by **waldo lemieux** » Tue. Mar. 15, 2016 7:34 am

Im usually loaded by the time I get to the mine(or breaker)............

lzaharis · Post by **lzaharis** » Tue. Mar. 15, 2016 11:00 am

swyman wrote:I just picked up my IBC totes that I will be using to haul/store my coal. Having never been to a coal mine I am curious as to how they load you out? I am hoping I can pull under a conveyor and fill each tote that way but if they use a bucket loader then I will need to make some sort of giant funnel. I really don't want to shovel 10 tons of coal!

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It does not happen that way at a bulk mine load out stockpile.

Loading with a conveyor will not work unless the conveyor is powered with a hydraulic
motor and has a extension tube for dust control and stacking conveyors are not ment for short loads.

The thing is you would have to move X number of times to fill each tote in this manner.

Its better to go to a breaker and to have them unload all your totes
and fill them with a skid loader or a backhoe-if they will do that for you.

Short of asking them to unload the IBC's with their forklift and filling them
with skid loader you will not have a lot of options as the bulk loading
process is very messy if you do not have a large dump trailer as a target.

I hate to suggest it, but as you have dealt with a lot this year like me ordering a 22 ton load
and dumping it on a heavy tarp and scooping it up and dumping it in the pallet totes
and hope you do it without tearing the tarp may be the better option.

I would call first at least a 10 days in advance and ask if you could bring your totes and ask about having them unload them from your trailer fill them and then reload them on the trailer as that takes a lot of time
to do and going to the breaker in the summer in the slow season is the best way to manage this
unless you can purchase a trailer load of coal and see if the driver would bring back a load of salt
rock salt from Detroit Salt in Michigan to deliver in PA.

You will have to tarp your load as well as the law enforcement folks are intolerant of uncovered loads
of bulk materials and you will be fined for it.

If you have the heavy straps(the thick woven ones) all the better or chain binders but the straps would be better to hold the totes in place as the load will continue to settle for the first 30 miles or so and you will need to check your straps after 5 miles, 10 miles and then thirty miles before you continue on.

Its always better to arrive the day before and then load the next day as you will be more awake after sleeping the night through and then calling the scale house in the morning telling them you are nearby and then going to the breaker to load up as this gives them time to get ready for you as you will need to remove the totes.

The other thing is your scaled weights and being loaded properly as your totes and the coal cannot exceed
the loaded weight of the trailer. each tote will have to be weighed and then the total will have to be tallied and then you may have to shovel out coal if there is too much in the totes.

You will get ticketed if you have spilled coal on the trailer and it falls off too.

I want you to succeed not fail.

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Tue. Mar. 15, 2016 1:02 pm

All that isn't true either. For breakers that load with a front end loader or bobcat, you are going to be a big pain in the butt! If you go the right breaker it will be quite fine as it gets done all the time. Direnzo's loads IBC's. So doesn't Hudson and Superior. Calvin lenig's loads them also. Mallard coal company has the facilities to if they have time. They will load you with a bobcat at a couple places but you must stand there with a big board to divert the coal from one side.

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 2:23 am

Thanks for the replies. Didn't know there was a different place between the mine and the breaker. I thought the breaker was there to size the coal coming straight out of the mine, kinda like the stone quarries I go to around here. I pictured them having a chute to drive under to fill and that would have been pretty easy but loading with a front end loader or bobcat I could make a nice funnel chute that would be a little wider than their bucket to make that way easy? Simplest way would to just take my dump trailer but it is only rated for 5 ton. I can see after this season I will need about 10 and by using the totes and my 30' tandem dual flat bed I could get that in 1 trip. I guess the best thing I could do is just call around, I was thinking of Lehigh as it seems they would be one of the closer places for me and I like their advertised prices? More research I guess

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 2:26 am

lzaharis wrote:
I want you to succeed not fail.

Thank you! Made it through the winter and I was about to hang it up a couple times but you guys kept me on track! How hard could picking up a little coal be

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 2:27 am

Scottscoaled wrote:All that isn't true either. For breakers that load with a front end loader or bobcat, you are going to be a big pain in the butt! If you go the right breaker it will be quite fine as it gets done all the time. Direnzo's loads IBC's. So doesn't Hudson and Superior. Calvin lenig's loads them also. Mallard coal company has the facilities to if they have time. They will load you with a bobcat at a couple places but you must stand there with a big board to divert the coal from one side.

I will definitely ask if they will or have loaded IBC's

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 7:00 am

Don't forget to drill holes in the bottom of your IBC's to let the water drain out. You are purchasing freshly washed rocks at a breaker. Let the load drain for 15-20 minutes before weighing out. Don't want to pay for the extra water weight

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 7:01 am

Scottscoaled wrote:Don't forget to drill holes in the bottom of your IBC's to let the water drain out. You are purchasing freshly washed rocks at a breaker. Let the load drain for 15-20 minutes before weighing out. Don't want to pay for the extra water weight

Didn't think of that either.....would add up for sure!

Scottscoaled · Post by **Scottscoaled** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 7:04 am

swyman wrote:
Scottscoaled wrote:Don't forget to drill holes in the bottom of your IBC's to let the water drain out. You are purchasing freshly washed rocks at a breaker. Let the load drain for 15-20 minutes before weighing out. Don't want to pay for the extra water weight
Didn't think of that either.....would add up for sure!

Only about an extra ton per ten

Post by **Richard S.** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 7:24 am

swyman wrote:T I pictured them having a chute to drive under to fill and that would have been pretty easy...

Some have chutes but they are really high to load trucks. One of those bags is going to be about a 6 to 8 foot drop. Difficult but not impossible, as mentioned call the breaker to see if they can accommodate you.

High lift truck can load you easy, perhaps they can set you up with one if you pay them. Not sure what someone would charge for it but for meit would have to be about $40. If the truck isn't moving you aren't making money.

swyman · Post by **swyman** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 3:13 pm

Richard S. wrote:

High lift truck can load you easy, perhaps they can set you up with one if you pay them. Not sure what someone would charge for it but for meit would have to be about $40. If the truck isn't moving you aren't making money.

I'm in SE Michigan so any hauling would be out of the question since I have the means to do it myself. I just don't think I could find someone to do it as cheap as I could haul it. I'm looking at around $200 in fuel and a full day which I don't mind at all.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 6:13 pm

Take your camera & take some pix--I'm curious.

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Wed. Mar. 16, 2016 6:39 pm

freetown fred wrote:Take your camera & take some pix--I'm curious.

+1