Other Options for Getting Coal

I was hoping that my brother would have been able to drive one of his many dump trucks he uses for his paving company out to one of the breakers and pick up 5-6 tons of coal with me. I finally saw him over the weekend when I asked him he told me that he no longer has any of his trucks registered to cross state lines. So now I'm starting to think about other ways to get the coal to my house. I have a 4.7L Dodge Dakota that I can use, but I'm not certain at the moment what the weight limit is with/without a trailer (truck is at home and I just now remembered to look inside the door frame). I started looking through the posts here for dealers in NJ and it seems that most, if not all, sell Reading Anthracite, and it seems that most of the people that have used it do not like it. I checked out the Penn Keystone option of buying the rice in bags, but I don't have access to a loading dock, forklift, etc.

I'm thinking that I might have to make several trips out to the breakers with my truck over the next few months so I can stockpile enough coal for the next year. It would probably still be cheaper than getting it delivered.

Any other ideas you guys can toss my way?

It really depends on how far away from the breaker you live. I'll dare to say that if the breaker is more than 100 miles one way from your house then there won't be any savings picking it up with a light pickup/trailer. If you have to rent a truck then there are no savings. Probably the best route is to hire a trucker and have him bring you a full load, I found that buying from my local coal dealer wasn't any more expensive and a lot easier.

Hollyfeld wrote:Any other ideas you guys can toss my way?

PM coalberner, he has the cure.

Dakota is listed on Dodges site as 1750 payload, towing capacity is listed at 3250 so you don't have a lot to work with there. Rougly speaking with a trailer 2 tons each trip, 3 if you wanted to push it. A lot of people will overload them a little not that I'm recommending it.

Have you considered renting a truck from U-Haul? Save you lot of time and in the long run probably money considering the cost of fuel.

I found that buying from my local coal dealer wasn't any more expensive and a lot easier.

That is the gist of it, I found it humorous when people would come to the breaker with their trucks to get a ton or two then take it home. Other than the time and expense its also a lot of work. All to save $20 on one ton locally. Really depends on the situation, if your a farmer for example and just going to dump it on the ground and have a truck it would be worth it.

google search in my area found trucking co bought 22 ton with trucking cost per ton at $159.00 alot cheaper than $230.00 ton saved 70 a ton will have enough coal for about next six years

It depends whether you can buy it at the mine reasonable. The dealers in York, PA want $200/ton plus $60 delivery for stove coal. If you can get it for half that at the mine, and have a truck that can haul 2 1/2tons, it would be worth it if you can find it within 100 miles.
There's a lot of good advice here about testing coal before investing in 20 tons. I bought a load of stoker coal at a mine once and it made more clinkers that coal input seemingly. It was nearly worthless.

I know a dealer that will deliver to Byram for around $170 a ton, 3 ton minimum. The only problem is the coal isn't that good, I suspect it's through Centralia Coal which is a broker, probably is strip mined/refuse. All the people at the yard would tell me is it's from "Out near Tamaqua".

Getting decent coal is a problem here in New Jersey.

Your best bet is to rent a trailer from U-Haul:

http://www.uhaul.com/guide/index.aspx?equipment=o ... railer-5x9

You can carry 2 ton in it with no problem (this is more then the data U-Haul provides-I am not recommending this-it happened to me by accident, they put in more coal then I asked for .)

Rental is $29.95 per day. I rent one at a U-Haul dealer in Newton, there's also one in Blairstown.

Then go to Superior Coal Preparation in Hegins, PA., $140/ton. Prices are going up to $150/ton August 1st.

PM Coal Berner, he can help you out. Let me know if you are going, I may join you.

John

Renting a Pick up truck from U haul is not that cheap you will have to pay 59 cents a mile Plus gas and rental fee and they
only rent 1/2 ton trucks you will not get much more in it then you will with the truck you already have use your truck and rent one of there trailers Your Dakota is rated for 1750 Payload The F 150 on U haul is Rated 1530 Payload the Payload on
smaller Pick up's will be listed more because the trucks GVW is less so the payload will be listed as more as for me I fill
my truck up until the springs are level or the rear bumper is ready to hit the ground Just make sure your tires are in good shape & are filled to the max air Rating

http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/EquipmentDetail ... uck-pickup

daveh17322 wrote:There's a lot of good advice here about testing coal before investing in 20 tons. I bought a load of stoker coal at a mine once and it made more clinkers that coal input seemingly. It was nearly worthless.

Excellent advice Dave! (& make sure your test runs for about a week b4 you commit to a big delivery. (I tried 2 bags of unnamed coal last winter that burned fine. When I bought a ton of the crap however, it regularly jammed my stove & forced me to shut down & relight a number of times. The problem took a few days to really foul the stove. The "crap" turned out to be Reading Coal.

Richard S. wrote:Dakota is listed on Dodges site as 1750 payload, towing capacity is listed at 3250 so you don't have a lot to work with there.

So you can get 1 ton in the trailer and 1/2 ton in the truck. If you want to we can take my gashog E-250 and get 2 ton in the trailer (if you don't mind paying for the gas $$$ ).

Devil5052 wrote: make sure your test runs for about a week b4 you commit to a big delivery.

If you get Superior you don't have to worry about testing the coal first.

Wood'nCoal wrote:

Richard S. wrote:Dakota is listed on Dodges site as 1750 payload, towing capacity is listed at 3250 so you don't have a lot to work with there.

So you can get 1 ton in the trailer and 1/2 ton in the truck. If you want to we can take my gashog E-250 and get 2 ton in the trailer (if you don't mind paying for the gas $$$ ).

That's certainly cheaper than renting the truck from Uhaul. It must also be cheaper than have a trailer hitch installed on my truck. I was going to pay for the diesel for my brothers dump truck, so I would have no problem at all paying for your gas. I would even toss in a case of Yuengling! (not in the tank, of course )