CapeCoaler wrote:Ya just need to put a slicing gate on the bottom of the tote...
Then set it up like the bag system...
Pull the gate open when full and over the receiver on the floor...
You are just swapping a bag for the tote...
Same system on the bottom...
Put rails on the bottom of the tote for the pallet jack...
Maybe cut a square out on the bottom of the tote and sandwich in a wood or metal slicer...
How are you lowering the totes into the basement?...
I wanted to install a gate in the totes but ran out of time this year before I had to pick up the coal. It would work very well and I should be able to do that next year if I need to.....we'll see how my vacuum transfer works?
I am going to lower the totes into the basement with my Bobcat. I'll just rig off the forks and lower into the hole!
hotblast1357 wrote:Build a bin and get a tractor load delivered to your house. Then you can just build a small bin in the basement that you can auger into the hopper.
23.6 ton of pea 171.50 per ton delivered from Lehigh.
That is another great idea of receiving/storing a load and price delivered almost makes me want to have them haul it but then I wouldn't have any stories to tell! That would last me over 2 years!
Rather worrying about lowering the loaded totes in the basement:
It may be worth it to consider just vacuuming them out with the added pressure gradient created by a pair of electric leaf blowers on the tote side blowing the coal using a dry venturi made from a 2 inch wye and using the suction of a six horsepower shop vac on the suction side along with a dust deputy in front of the shop vac.
if you use a 2 inch PVC pipe with one or two electric leaf blowers attached to the tote end pipe using Y fittings you can use pressure and suction both to fill a tote in the basement without much fuss.
All you would need is a good 2 inch shop vac vacuum hose connected to the third wye which is ahead of the two wyes used for the electric leaf blowers
SO:
1. you have a one or more lengths of flexible shop vac hose
2. a connection to the 2 inch PVC pipe a short solid piece of 2 inch PVC
3. The first wye fitting
a. the first electric leaf blower attached to the wye fitting
b. the second electric leaf blower
4. the PVC pipe run to the basement with unions to make assembly and storage of the pipes easy.
a. through pipe fittings to the steel barrel lid
a1. elbow and connector through lid to second elbow that discharges coal in to a 15 gallon steel barrel.
a2. the second elbow and connector through the steel barrel lid which is connected to a3. second steel elbow that is connected to the dust deputy
a4. The dust deputy
a5. the shop vac
Someone would have to be in the basement to start the shop vac or vacs and then you or someone else would start the leaf blower(s) to help push the coal through the PVC pipe to the steel barrel which is the receiving tank. The same person would stop the shop vacs to let the steel barrel empty out when the suction is gone. the person of the loaded tote end would have to shut the leaf blower(s) off while the steel barrel is emptying out.
A simple flapper and tank connection fitting could be used in the bottom of the steel tank to act as a stopper while the leaf blowers and vacuums are running and when it fills up you simply turn them all off and let the coal fall out and repeat the process till the tote is filled.
You should have a pair of good quality battery cable clamps and a long length of 4 ought copper ground wire to wrap around the PVC pipe and ground the pipe to the tote being unloaded and the nearest ground rod to discharge the static electricity created by the vacuum(s) and leaf blower(s)
This allows you to push and pull the coal at the same time just like the tube systems at a bank that has vacuum tubes to move canisters for deposits and return the canisters to a customer in bank drive in teller lane.
The only thing left to do is build a wooden frame for the steel tank that sits above the tote in the basement.
This allows you to use both high volume positive low pressure gradient PSIG from the leaf blower and a negative pressure gradient HG from the shop vac or vacs to their fullest advantage with high efficiency and less work.
Surely some flashy individual has shared just such a feat on YouTube...not everyone can visualize this description. Here...Hold my Beer and Watch This
lzaharis wrote:Hello Swyman,
Rather worrying about lowering the loaded totes in the basement:
It may be worth it to consider just vacuuming them out with the added pressure gradient created by a pair of electric leaf blowers on the tote side blowing the coal using a dry venturi made from a 2 inch wye and using the suction of a six horsepower shop vac on the suction side along with a dust deputy in front of the shop vac.
if you use a 2 inch PVC pipe with one or two electric leaf blowers attached to the tote end pipe using Y fittings you can use pressure and suction both to fill a tote in the basement without much fuss.
All you would need is a good 2 inch shop vac vacuum hose connected to the third wye which is ahead of the two wyes used for the electric leaf blowers
SO:
1. you have a one or more lengths of flexible shop vac hose
2. a connection to the 2 inch PVC pipe a short solid piece of 2 inch PVC
3. The first wye fitting
a. the first electric leaf blower attached to the wye fitting
b. the second electric leaf blower
4. the PVC pipe run to the basement with unions to make assembly and storage of the pipes easy.
a. through pipe fittings to the steel barrel lid
a1. elbow and connector through lid to second elbow that discharges coal in to a 15 gallon steel barrel.
a2. the second elbow and connector through the steel barrel lid which is connected to a3. second steel elbow that is connected to the dust deputy
a4. The dust deputy
a5. the shop vac
Someone would have to be in the basement to start the shop vac or vacs and then you or someone else would start the leaf blower(s) to help push the coal through the PVC pipe to the steel barrel which is the receiving tank. The same person would stop the shop vacs to let the steel barrel empty out when the suction is gone. the person of the loaded tote end would have to shut the leaf blower(s) off while the steel barrel is emptying out.
A simple flapper and tank connection fitting could be used in the bottom of the steel tank to act as a stopper while the leaf blowers and vacuums are running and when it fills up you simply turn them all off and let the coal fall out and repeat the process till the tote is filled.
You should have a pair of good quality battery cable clamps and a long length of 4 ought copper ground wire to wrap around the PVC pipe and ground the pipe to the tote being unloaded and the nearest ground rod to discharge the static electricity created by the vacuum(s) and leaf blower(s)
This allows you to push and pull the coal at the same time just like the tube systems at a bank that has vacuum tubes to move canisters for deposits and return the canisters to a customer in bank drive in teller lane.
The only thing left to do is build a wooden frame for the steel tank that sits above the tote in the basement.
This allows you to use both high volume positive low pressure gradient PSIG from the leaf blower and a negative pressure gradient HG from the shop vac or vacs to their fullest advantage with high efficiency and less work.
Defiantly some interesting ways of doing it that I didn't think about! I fired up the boiler today and just used a 5 gallon bucket to scoop the coal out of the tote and into the hopper, was incredibly easy and no money spent. Not exactly automated but took me about 2 minutes tops. I know as the tote empties it would be a little more difficult but that's where the vac system could work it's magic. I was hell bent on a 55 gallon drum but while thinking about it a 30 would probably get the job done without taking up as much space. Sure felt good to get a fire gong though!
I use a 3” feed auger with flex pipe to fill 1 ton bags - pour from a trailer into a box with the auger in the bottom and move it about 70’ to fill the bags
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Alaska 140 Dual Paddle Feed
Baseburners & Antiques: Fame Rosemont #20, Home Stove Works #25, Glenwood #6, Happy Thought Oak, Merry Bride #214, Sunnyside, Worlds Argand #114, New Golden Sun , & About 30 others.
Here...Hold my Beer and Watch This 
