Getting Bagged Coal Into Basement?

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jim_ohio
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Post by jim_ohio » Tue. Nov. 18, 2014 9:53 pm

Hi Everyone,

I am new to burning coal this year and with this recent cold snap finally switched from burning wood to coal. For those of you who use bagged antracite coal, what is your method for getting it into the house/basement? I have access to the basement both from the house and also through a stairwell in the attached garage. THe first few days I did how I normally bring in wood- put an unopened bag into a laundry basket with a rope tied to it and glided it down the stairs from the garage into the basement (safer and easier than carrying it down the stairs). Transfering the coal from bags to scuttles in the basement created a lot of coal dust flying through the air. The last couple of days I just tranferred it from the bag to the scuttles outside of the house and then carried the scuttles down into the basement (a little bit more labor intensive but cleaner than the first method). Any advice/comments would be appreciated! I suppose I could just shovel it from the bags into the stove without using scuttles although I would get coal dust all over my hands/arm from trying to shovel directly out of the bag. Would love to be able to get bulk delivered and not have to deal with bags, but in NW ohio that doesn't seem like its an option at this point. Thanks!

-Jim

 
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McGiever
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Post by McGiever » Tue. Nov. 18, 2014 9:59 pm

Hi Jim,
Welcome to the coal board.

I am assuming nut size going into a hand fired stove...am I close?

 
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Post by franco b » Tue. Nov. 18, 2014 10:07 pm

I would try having a shop vac running at the lip of the scuttle whether in the garage or basement. simple to try and I think it will make all the difference. I don't like things like wetting the coal. You could try it with someone holding the nozzle as you pour and if it works well devise something to hold the nozzle. The draft of the stove will easily pull coal dust and that is much weaker than the vac.

 
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rstrawsburg
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Post by rstrawsburg » Tue. Nov. 18, 2014 10:17 pm

How many stairs? Can you build a simple shoot the size of a bag and let them slide from the top of the stairs to the floor below? At 40 pounds each they shouldn't crash too hard at the bottom.

-Ron


 
jim_ohio
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Post by jim_ohio » Tue. Nov. 18, 2014 10:41 pm

Hand fired coal/wood burning furnace (Frank's Heat brand... looks to be 30ish years old.) There are about 10 stairs. The laundry basket with the rope tied to it actually works quite well in getting the unopened bags down- glides right down. I have knot tied in the rope so that when it gets to the last step the knot reaches my glove and slows it down. However, when pouring the coal into the scuttles in the basement the pull of air from the coal furnace pulls the fines up into the air. I do have a shop vac so maybe I will give that idea a shot and see how it goes... I could just see myself slipping down the steps with snowy shoes/boots with scuttles of coal in each hand and it ending badly so I am trying to devise a way that I can get coal into the basement from the garage without having coal dust/fines getting distributed around the house.

 
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davidmcbeth3
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Post by davidmcbeth3 » Tue. Nov. 18, 2014 11:02 pm

No method is going to be a good time...hire some of those dudes on a corner

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 6:16 am

It's a long range plan, but people have been known to give birth ...if it's a son you're all set.... if it's a daughter encourage Tom-boy behavior .... and then wait 12 years. During the 9-10-11 years let them watch you so they can see how fun it is! Ohhh, pretty soon you can sit back and bask in the warm glow with no effort at all.

I kind of like the sluice way idea.... make a 18" wide runway out of plywood and slide down half a dozen bags one after the other.

Usually coal from a bag is damp and has very little dust. What kind of coal are you using? I guess...if it is dry and dusty, the Vac idea isn't a bad one, but make sure you have a GOOD vac filter or you will just be blowing unseen dust all around.

 
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Post by WNYRob » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 1:06 pm

Similar as above. I have an 8' basement w/ interior stair case. I screw a piece of wall paneling to the stairs, 2 screws at the top, and slide the bags down. I can usually get a little over a third of a pallet slid down before I have to move them to their final resting place as they start backing up the ramp. Three trips down the stairs sure beats one every bag!!


 
titleist1
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Post by titleist1 » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 1:16 pm

+1 on the shop vac idea.

This is what I did in the house to control any dust that came up from the dry coal while loading (in my case a stoker hopper) until converting to the coal vac. I still use this method in the workshop where I am putting buckets of rice coal into the hopper. A drywall dust bag in the shop vac works for me.

 
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Post by jim_ohio » Wed. Nov. 19, 2014 11:21 pm

Thanks for the ideas everyone! Found some shop vac filter bags for drywall dust/ash on clearance tonight and picked some up. Worked great! I think this will solve my ash problem too... Previously I was carrying the ash drawer up the stairs, taking it outside, and then dumping it outside to avoid the big plume of smoke spreading through the house. Should be a lot easier to just dump it in the ash bucket next to the stove with the shop vac going.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Nov. 20, 2014 7:31 am

I set up the kids old slide from the swingset in the BILCO stairway. A board across the bottom step is where the slide ends. Then I put a four wheel handtruck at the end of the slide with a board that captures it by the outside edge of the foundation. Slide five or six bags down and load it up. The slide is one of those yellow plastic ones and isn't flat but has a wave/hump to it which helps slow them.
I used to stand the bags up on the top step and push them over. They would go down the stairs like a Slinky but then you have to pick them up again. Lot easier with the slid deal. :)

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