Personal Coal Mine

mike wrote:If you own the land and the minerals you can mine the coal without any government interference as long as the coal doesnt enter into commerce. In other words if you mine enough for your own use and that's it your golden.

May be not Fed Gov. But local sure will ordinance in town borough and city township will stop you how do I know this
one guess

We have coal here on the farm. I'm still "mining" the old cistern that was filled with coal when part of the farm was stripped 15 years ago. Down in the woods there are some spots that I'll dig when he yard mine runs dry. The previous owner hand auger-ed coal which he drove to Pittsburgh, 50 miles away. He had a team of horses which could pull the whole way except for Kittanning Hill, where he hired the wrecker, a 10 mule team that dragged his team up the hill.
We also have free gas (that will finally be piped to the house in two weeks) and lots of wood. If I freeze here, it is my own fault.

Bja105, sounds like you hit it lucky, people don't realize how close to the surface the Pittsburgh seam coal is. It's too bad the downtown area in New Ken has gotten but then again the whole Pittsburgh area has gone much the same. I have some old platters from New Ken Aluminum back when the U.S. made things here. Still a good bit of farm land there but way too hilly.

bja105 wrote:We also have free gas...

Gas? As in methane or natural gas? Tell us about that.

I live closer to Lower Burrell than New Ken. Yes, New Kensington is a ghost town.
The farm is near Punxsutawney, not far from Berlin's favorite Valier Coal.

I'll be able to tell you all more about the free gas in two weeks when I hook up to the house. I bought a meter and regulator today, tomorrow I'll talk to the plumber at work about the rest of the materials I need. I'll be digging the 280' trench next weekend, laying the pipe and tracer wire, installing the meter and regulators, and piping the house. I have a new gas cook stove to install, and I'll convert the furnace from LP to natural gas.
I'll get some pics hopefully, to show the next guy who has to do this. Free gas is common in this area, but people who have done it are hard to find. 4 guys at the gas company have given me 4 different ways to pipe this.

bja105 wrote:Free gas is common in this area, but people who have done it are hard to find. 4 guys at the gas company have given me 4 different ways to pipe this.

The gas company provides the gas free?

In some instances if your well produces enough you can get the free gas + royalties. I was never so lucky but know a few who are, all I ever get is letters from the frackers wanting my permission for the property I own in Eliz. Twp.

samhill wrote:In some instances if your well produces enough you can get the free gas + royalties. I was never so lucky but know a few who are, all I ever get is letters from the frackers wanting my permission for the property I own in Eliz. Twp.

Thanks for the explanation. Along with never thinking about mineral rights, another thing Mainers can't conceive of is having their own gas or oil well. I DO have a swamp, aka beaver bog, so if ever I can produce heat with tadpoles, I'm all set.

(Actually, I have wondered whether I could run pipes through the swamp to feed a heat pump. But probably I would freeze the swamp and reduce the supply of tadpoles so the EPA would shut me down.)

Well, I'm probaly one of the last few who still pick their own coal. got about20 ton on a pile..love it . it's free.live in wyoming valley , been picking all my life.

My wife's grandfather showed me the mineshaft he used to mine years ago. It was a community mine that several neighbors used. I thought it was neat to see the rail tracks leading into the hillside. Back in a ways you can see it is collapsed. I think he used that up into the '80's. Mined bit coal. It is north of DuBois, PA.