Dealer honesty

 
nut
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Post by nut » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 2:14 pm

I know that 40 cu ft per ton is only a ballpark figure but my last load of nut was so far off from this that is has me wondering if my dealer is ripping me off. He never gives me a weight slip, only a receipt from him. My bin was completely empty so it was not hard to calculate the volume of delivered coal. 151.08 cu ft (3.02tons) was delivered by my calculations. It was supposed to be 5 tons. Could it possibly be off by that much?

Edit: I weighed a cu ft of this coal and it was 51 lbs. This still only comes to 3.85 tons.
Last edited by nut on Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 2:28 pm

:lol: ---I'm sorry!!! A ton would actually be 38. some nonsense cf. Even my rinky dink lil dealer out here in the middle of nowhere has calculated what his bucket holds when loading tonnage. I'd be having a serious talk if his calculations were that far off--REMEMBER, ya don't want to hurt his feelings. BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 3:49 pm

Have you been to the dealer's yard? Does he even have a scale? I've bought coal from a guy that used his loader bucket to "measure" the coal. It was a little light but cheap enough it wasn't worth complaining about.

 
nut
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Post by nut » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 4:41 pm

No, he is only a coal trucker. He picks it up at a yard a couple hours from here and delivers around the area. His price is a little cheaper than the going rate but not if he is short changing me . Then he is actually more expensive than going rate.

 
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Post by franco b » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 5:24 pm

If you can accurately measure and weigh one cubic foot, it should give you a better idea if the delivery is accurate.

 
nut
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Post by nut » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 6:28 pm

That is a good suggestion. Maybe I'll find a box that size and weigh it. Thanks.

 
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Post by Richard S. » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 6:55 pm

Not sure about other states but any bulk coal sale in the PA by law should include weight slip, if it's divided truck there needs to be slip for each division. It should be the original top copy printed or inked in pen. It should include the following information .
  • Full Address of the scale
  • Date and Time of Weighing
  • License plate number on the truck/trailer
  • Seller: Dealers Name and Address Name
  • Purchaser: Name and/or Address of the Final Customer
  • Size of the Coal
  • Weigtmasters Signature and License Number
  • Tare Weight, Net Weight and Gross Weight
Here is an example (note this is a dealers copy):
Image
franco b wrote:
Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 5:24 pm
If you can accurately measure and weigh one cubic foot, it should give you a better idea if the delivery is accurate.
This is not going to work as expected especially with the nut, the problem is the sides of the box create a lot more more volume. e.g. if you filled 40 1 cubic boxes and dumped them into a 40 cubic box it's not going to fill the 40 cubic foot box.

Estimates by volume are just that, estimates. Also note that the coal currently coming out Lehigh and Blaschak is very dense so that is another consideration. The only way to really tell is to weigh it and for that you need an accurate calibrated scale. Bathroom scales are notoriously inaccurate.....


 
nut
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Post by nut » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 7:10 pm

Good points. I realize it is only an estimate but I would think it should be close. I weighed a 1 cu ft box of coal on a bathroom scale and it was 51 pounds. This calculates out to 3.85 tons. Not even close to 5 tons. I would need another 38 cu ft to equal 5 tons.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 7:45 pm

Time to rattle his cage.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Wed. Aug. 28, 2019 7:48 pm

Indeed C. N, you're just gonna get opinions, charts & speculation here. Ya need to get with your trucker.

 
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Post by Phil May » Wed. Sep. 11, 2019 3:16 pm

You need to do this 10 times with fresh coal each time. Add the weights together and divide by 10. There is a difference from bottom of pile to the top of pile.

 
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Sep. 12, 2019 3:22 am

Something is off here.. A cubic ft of coal is gonna be heavier than 51 pounds.

A 5 gallon pail weighs 41 pounds which is .67 cubic ft.

Also a ton is closer to 33 cubic ft.

 
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Post by lsayre » Thu. Sep. 12, 2019 6:08 am

5 gallon plastic pails have somewhere around 5-2/3 gallon capacity when filled level to the top. That would place them at closer to ~0.7574 cu-ft if completely filled to the brim. If we consider the average pail to be ~96% filled, then we are at ~0.96 x ~0.7574 = ~0.727 cu-ft.

41/0.727 = ~56.4 Lbs./cu-ft

2000/56.4 = ~35.5 cu-ft per ton

A full/max truckload of ~45,000 Lbs. would require a truck/trailer with (at least) 30 cubic yard capacity.

 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Thu. Sep. 12, 2019 9:24 am

about 23-24 ton in the average TT delivery...
26 ton and it is a bit over-weight...
at least on the trip to CC...

 
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Post by Lightning » Thu. Sep. 12, 2019 12:15 pm

Is this nut size coal? Try it again with 61 pounds per cubic foot..

61 pounds × 151 cu ft = 9200 pounds

Try your measurement again and see if you can squeeze anymore volume out of your coal supply. I believe 61 pounds per cubic foot for nut size is accurate based on measurements I have done. Also, coal density does vary a smidgen.


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