My local coal yard had alot of unusable coal. It was in the corners of the old concrete structures, mixed with dirt, sticks, and concrete pieces and stone that had spalled off the ancient structures. He said he could drive 40+ miles to a breaker and they would buy it as scrap for $25/ton and resift it. I said I'd buy it all for that price, especially since the current price is $350/ton. It was a mixture of nut all the way down to dirt.
He also sifts his new coal and all the fines fall into a pile which he also wanted to get rid of. I took that too.
Here is the coal supply.
My wood stove, a Hearthstone 2, was designed to burn wood and chestnut coal, with a grate setup.
My wood burning grate was burned out after 40 years of abuse and even chestnut coal would fall through. The replacement grate was unavailable and sold for $320.
I bought this style of french drain cover and cut 2 covers to lay into the spot where the old grate was removed. The grates were $75 apiece last year.
I start a small wood fire using a few pieces of pallet wood and then add a few shovels to both sides of center so as not to smother the wood. Once the fire is burning, move the coal to the center. After establishing a coal fire, I scratch the bottom of the pile and add coal only.
I fabricated a rake using rebar to get to the back of the firebox so i can rake over the grates and the ashes fall through. I only use the rake in the morning after the coal has burned out.
Eventually, the firebox has a layer of clinkers and large rocks that don't burn anymore and the get shoveled out and the process begins anew. I always keep a thin layer of spent coal to cover the grates to protect them from glowing coal.
Here is the ash
The chimney for the Hearthstone has enough draft that I can easily burn this tiny sized coal easily into the 50s. Currently, the temps are in the 40s and this is the fire without any fan stoking it.
