Basement Mine Score
I was contacted by a family in Ashland Pa. that does clean outs of houses for a local landlord who has a lot of properties. He buys properties from the sheriff sales and then fixes them and rents them out. When someone moves out of one of his properties, they go and do the clean-out and cleanup and show the place to prospective renters. They know that I burn coal in my stoker and heat all our water and the house with a Bucket A Day. So whenever they find coal in a basement and no coal appliance, they call me and I go and get it. Up till now it has been a couple of buckets of rice or pea coal here and there but yesterday was different.
They told me it was a lot of coal so I took 10 buckets this time. When I walked into the old coal bunker I was looking at about 1/2 ton of stove coal and no coal furnace, boiler, or stove in sight. I could see the old pad where a large furnace had been and the coal loading hatch had been closed up with concrete block. It took two trips and 22 bucket loads up 7 steps, down 6 steps and into my Subaru Forrester. I am sore today from all the trips but we now have enough coal for our Bucket A Day to heat our house and all the hot water we could use and the cost was 10 and change for lunch at McD's and about $10 gas. If I use 35 pounds a bucket on average times 22 buckets comes to 770 pounds of coal for the hauling. That 770 pounds of stove coal broken up should last me at least one month to six weeks in my Bucket a Day. I currently have the oil boiler disconnected and the Bucket a Day is piped in series with the oil boiler and it is currently heating the house.
At the current price I am paying at the old UAE site that would have cost me $65. It cost me $20 to get it so I figure I saved 45 bucks.
Not a huge savings but $45 saved is $45.
They told me it was a lot of coal so I took 10 buckets this time. When I walked into the old coal bunker I was looking at about 1/2 ton of stove coal and no coal furnace, boiler, or stove in sight. I could see the old pad where a large furnace had been and the coal loading hatch had been closed up with concrete block. It took two trips and 22 bucket loads up 7 steps, down 6 steps and into my Subaru Forrester. I am sore today from all the trips but we now have enough coal for our Bucket A Day to heat our house and all the hot water we could use and the cost was 10 and change for lunch at McD's and about $10 gas. If I use 35 pounds a bucket on average times 22 buckets comes to 770 pounds of coal for the hauling. That 770 pounds of stove coal broken up should last me at least one month to six weeks in my Bucket a Day. I currently have the oil boiler disconnected and the Bucket a Day is piped in series with the oil boiler and it is currently heating the house.
At the current price I am paying at the old UAE site that would have cost me $65. It cost me $20 to get it so I figure I saved 45 bucks.
Not a huge savings but $45 saved is $45.
- anthony7812
- Member
- Posts: 5134
- Joined: Sat. Mar. 12, 2011 2:04 pm
- Location: Colley,Pennsylvania
- Stoker Coal Boiler: VanWert VA 400
- Coal Size/Type: Buck/Anthracite
great score!
- Hambden Bob
- Member
- Posts: 8531
- Joined: Mon. Jan. 04, 2010 10:54 am
- Location: Hambden Twp. Geauga County,Ohio
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Harman 1998 Magnum Stoker
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Blower Model Coal Chubby 1982-Serial#0097
- Coal Size/Type: Rice-A-Roni ! / Nut
- Other Heating: Pro-Pain Forced Air
Only a Coaler could appreciate what that Subaru went through! Amazing !
- BigJohn
- Member
- Posts: 66
- Joined: Tue. Dec. 02, 2008 8:37 am
- Location: Mt Carmel PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Leisure Line Pioneer X2
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
If they ever come across a bucket a day they have no use for let me know. I would like to have one to heat the water in the shop.
Thanks
Big John
Thanks
Big John
- stovepipemike
- Member
- Posts: 1225
- Joined: Sun. Jun. 15, 2008 11:53 am
- Location: Morgantown ,Penna
Just thinking about the shovel,lift and carry routine brings thoughts of the immense work it took by men that built the coal industry back in the heyday of coal. Humble appreciation here. Happy for you about the nice score. Mike
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- Member
- Posts: 267
- Joined: Sat. Jun. 25, 2011 7:00 pm
These basement mines are fun. I recently bought a stove and the lady said I had to take the coal. Usually thee is 4-500 pounds in the basement. This load amounted to 10-12 tons of old blue dot coal she had bought back in the 60'S. We borrowed a 4 wheel dump trailer and filled it three times. The cellar was huge and had a ramp so we just used wheel barrels and loaded up. I don't need fuel for about 5 years. Happy days.
- dcrane
- Verified Business Rep.
- Posts: 3128
- Joined: Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 9:28 am
- Location: Easton, Ma.
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404
... up in these parts of the country we'd grab that coal and *censored* the stove!stovehospital wrote:These basement mines are fun. I recently bought a stove and the lady said I had to take the coal. Usually thee is 4-500 pounds in the basement. This load amounted to 10-12 tons of old blue dot coal she had bought back in the 60'S. We borrowed a 4 wheel dump trailer and filled it three times. The cellar was huge and had a ramp so we just used wheel barrels and loaded up. I don't need fuel for about 5 years. Happy days.