When you get a delivery of the wrong type of coal...

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DonKom
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Baseburners & Antiques: McClary No. 114 base burner w/ oven

Post by DonKom » Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 2:17 pm

Ugh.

My coal delivery arrived recently, from one of the only suppliers in our region (three hours away!). I ordered two skids, each containing 40lb bags of coal - 60 per skid. Nut-size is what my baseburner uses, and I just assumed they shipped the right stuff. After tearing apart one skid that wouldn't fit in my garage, moving half of it into the house, I realized the mistake: they shipped me bags of stove-size coal. Thankfully that was just one skid - the other was the right size!

Long story short, I spent my day today removing the wrong coal from my house (up flights of stairs - fun!), loading the new coal into place from a trailer and the wrong bags back onto the trailer with the help of the retailer. Additional benefit of a coal stove has just been discovered: it can, on occasion, offer an exceptional work-out.

Now set for the season, plus extra (possibly two!).
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 6:14 pm

Stove coal as in the size of baseball? Stove usually carries premium price over nut. I would of pointed out mistake and asked for discount. If they were bringing it that far I'm surprised they didn't offer you discount. That's what I would of done even if it were down the street.

Save it for the days you will be running stove hard, throw some nut or ash over the top if it's getting too hot.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 6:39 pm

Hmmmm, baseballs??
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KingCoal
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Post by KingCoal » Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 6:51 pm

FF, I’ve seen some Lehigh stove around here that was much larger than what that poster suggests. Basically fist size :o


 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 7:19 pm

freetown fred wrote:
Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 6:39 pm
Hmmmm, baseballs??
The official size is up to 2 and 7/16ths, a baseball is 3 inches. That said I have seen "stove" much larger than three inches. I think the next size up is "egg" but as far as I know that is very large as in 6+ inches. I never seen it but my Uncle said when they were delivering it he would have to stack by hand in bin.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 7:38 pm

I guess some can't, but I look at my coal before it gets delivered & again when it gets here.

 
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coaledsweat
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 8:16 pm

Richard S. wrote:
Thu. Nov. 05, 2020 7:19 pm
The official size is up to 2 and 7/16ths, a baseball is 3 inches. That said I have seen "stove" much larger than three inches. I think the next size up is "egg" but as far as I know that is very large as in 6+ inches. I never seen it but my Uncle said when they were delivering it he would have to stack by hand in bin.
I had some stove that had one piece that was like a carton of cigarettes!

 
hank2
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Post by hank2 » Fri. Nov. 06, 2020 12:29 am

FWIW, the Blaschak bulk, ordered as nut, that I have gotten delivered the past 3 years had a lot of stove sized in it. The load I got in early Sept. this year is the largest sizing yet. Probably 10% egg, 60% stove and the rest nut and a little pea. It causes feeding problems from the hopper and is generally a PIA. I don't mind some range, but it's gotten silly. Of course it's a blend, decent coal otherwise. Low ash, white ash. It may be coal yard hijinks.

More than a few years past, I had gotten multiple pallet loads of bagged Reading and bagged Gale ( both supposed to be nut) that was all upper end stove sized. I've used bagged Blaschak off and on for a number of years, but not lately. That was always sized correctly for nut. Several years of bulk Lehigh and DiRenzo nut was always sized right and very clean.


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Nov. 06, 2020 8:28 am

BLASCHAK bulk has been sized well (NUT) for 10+ yrs. from POSO coal---Hmmmm, interesting H.

 
DonKom
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Baseburners & Antiques: McClary No. 114 base burner w/ oven

Post by DonKom » Fri. Nov. 06, 2020 11:17 am

The cost of Nut and Stove are the same here, in bulk $9 a bag. Now, that's Canadian dollars which would be roughly USD$6.91 per bag. It's not cheap, but the cost based on the type is the same.

I can mix some stove in with nut-sized coal once the stove is up and running, but it's not ideal. I ended up keeping a bag of stove just to experiment with a little - but I find that the Blaschak Nut is pretty evenly sized. Maybe a 5% variance beyond what I'd expect and a marginal amount of dust that just gets thrown in on top.

 
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Keepaeyeonit
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Post by Keepaeyeonit » Fri. Nov. 06, 2020 8:58 pm

You can try to mix the coal as that's what I do, I just picked up a pallet of Blaschak stove and 2700# bulk nut. I have a larger fire pot but my stove loves the mix. I have gotten some large pieces of stove at times but really hasn't been a problem.

 
DonKom
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Baseburners & Antiques: McClary No. 114 base burner w/ oven

Post by DonKom » Sat. Nov. 07, 2020 9:33 am

Yeah, once she's up and running I have experimented with adding stove-sized pieces into the mix and it doesn't do badly, but on their own it wouldn't be ideal and I don't want to spend my time mixing the coal to use up not varieties in equal quantity. Just easier to stick with one size and occasionally experiment with others. :)

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Sun. Nov. 08, 2020 7:08 am

A lot of customers I had would get range which is mixture of pea nut but you would just fill half the truck with nut on the bottom and pea on top. It would mix pretty thoroughly during delivery. If you are getting bulk loose delivery you can always ask them about it if you were interested. Nearly anyone I recommended it to always stuck with it.

Another customer I had used to get 4 ton of nut I'd put on one side of the bin. He'd get one ton of rice I'd chute to the other side of the bin. Not sure how effective that is but he said he'd throw shovel of it on at night or windy days. Probably be something to consider if you have difficulty controlling the burn if for example it's very windy area.

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