Coal Bin Pictures and Designs

 
LouSee
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Posts: 80
Joined: Tue. Jul. 30, 2013 12:07 am
Location: scranton-ish...
Stoker Coal Boiler: '57 EFM DF'd 520
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: LL Independance
Coal Size/Type: Buck & Rice

Post by LouSee » Fri. Feb. 10, 2023 6:20 pm

Well, after Isaac's kind comments, I guess I should post some pics.

For me, the two big problems for coal are dust - as it is for everyone - and since the bin is rather elongated at 16x5, getting coal to the "far end" from the chute (which is the near end as we're looking at it) during a delivery.

To solve the dust, I put in a 12" duct with a 1400 cfm in-line fan that vents out the side of the house - it's like a giant dryer vent. Trusses instead of joists so there was room to fit it all. If you don't open a window, you'll suck the chimney clean though the dampner and overpower the kitchen fan. Tim Allen would approve...

The bin can hold 8-9 ton if you get all "monkey-vein" at it during delivery and rake away from the chute but that gets old real quick. A normal 6T delivery though, will still clog at the chute if you don't climb in and rake down the incoming flow. I got tired of that too, and decided to put a chute inside the bin to redirect the coal to the front.

Now... I can get the first few tons down to the near/low end of the bin and then raise the chute up and the rest of the coal fills up the far/top end.

Building it was pretty straightforward. I used unistrut since it's adult tinkertoys and it allowed me to adjust the placement and make the front-end slidable left-to-right.

Used a harbor freight manual winch thing - removed the handle and double-nutted the driveshaft to use a socket on a cordless drill - to raise and lower the rear of the chute.

The front end is just simple cordage with a nite-ize clamping carabiner. With no coal on it, I can move the chute left and right with a rake handle. I originally thought I’d need to do this but haven’t really needed it during a delivery. But I can slide the chute over to the side/out of the way so that’s a win, I guess.

The chute was an old concrete chute that was pretty chewed up so I re-skinned it with some alum. fascia coil. It moves pretty well as long as you keep an angle on it – I need to remember to adjust the front height before adjusting the rear. I stalled the flow the first time I was using it and needed to climb in the bin and tip the chute over since the cordless drill wasn't be able to lift it.

Let’s see… Light switch controls an outdoor floodlight that's mounted inside above the door and the fan. The stainless liner keeps the coal sliding and sheds the water down to the holes in the concrete. The PVC is just a piece of pipe to vent the underside of the ramp; it's using a roof vent pipe gasket to seal it on the buried end. Auger is solidly fixed with the plywood on the inside and great stuff foamed into place on the outside - you can just see it behind the vac if you look in the corner on one of the pics. I wrapped the tube with some styrofoam wrapping paper stuff before foaming so it's not glued into place. The sheet of flakeboard keeps the dust out of the basement and the cat out of the bin.

Thus endeth the book... :)

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Idlorah
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Posts: 520
Joined: Wed. Nov. 18, 2020 6:31 pm
Location: New Ringgold, PA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Allen 700 stoker
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Gibralter MCC
Coal Size/Type: Buck in the Allen and anything goes in the MCC, Anthracite
Other Heating: None, maybe some wood in the MCC in the shoulder season

Post by Idlorah » Fri. Feb. 10, 2023 6:33 pm

Good write up Lou, if I ever need to build a bin in the future I would definitely do something similar.

 
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British Coal Picker
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Posts: 5
Joined: Tue. Jan. 10, 2023 6:35 pm
Baseburners & Antiques: Dunsley Firefly 16" open fire
Coal Size/Type: Smokeless ovoids

Post by British Coal Picker » Wed. Feb. 22, 2023 7:26 pm

Restored 50+ year old concrete coal bunker.
on looking to relace my hand built units I thought I would look out for the old type concrete bunker like I had 30 years ago. These days with everyone turning their back on fossil fuels bunkers come up every now and then. A week before christmas a double bunker came up for free. The guys mother purchased it 50+ years ago but now not required and was going to the dump if not gone fast. Christmas eve and the team ready for a maul with this lump it was stripped and moved back to ours by lunchtime.
A few weeks later it had been trimmed up to remove a couple if inches depth and 8 inches width. All new brackets made double thickness of original and new sliders made for front doors.
The assembly was easy once I had the 2 back pieces and center divider in place. All built it weighs half a ton and holds a ton of fuel.
The doors on top now modified to fit, yes they are the original galvanised ones which have stood the test of time well.
Not many folk have a bunker like this as most get broke up and dumped as they are not required. Maybe with the restoration work this one will last another 50 years!!!

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Wal
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Posts: 454
Joined: Tue. Jun. 27, 2017 8:53 am
Location: Uk
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Deville 600 , Colombian stove works morning star nu22
Baseburners & Antiques: Red Cross garnet mica baseburner double heater
Coal Size/Type: Nut anthracite / smokeless ovoids
Other Heating: Gas central heating / antique cast iron radiators

Post by Wal » Thu. Feb. 23, 2023 2:45 am

Hi , I live in the uk , and I have a bunker which is almost identical to yours . Bought from new from a company from Yorkshire . Here are my pics .

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woodandcoal
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Posts: 12
Joined: Thu. Mar. 11, 2010 8:11 pm
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vermont Castings Vigilant II
Coal Size/Type: pea and nut
Other Heating: Vermont Castings Resolute

Post by woodandcoal » Sat. Feb. 25, 2023 8:07 am

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Three coal bins next to my garage. They hold a wee bit more than 2000 pounds. I use a Vermont Castings Vigilant II stove. On top of the bins are 3 bags full of coal. I fill the bags and take them in the house to drop into the stove. Stopped using a bucket and a shovel due to amount of dust. I also use small boxes too and use masking tape on them instead of cellophane tape.


 
Wal
Member
Posts: 454
Joined: Tue. Jun. 27, 2017 8:53 am
Location: Uk
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Deville 600 , Colombian stove works morning star nu22
Baseburners & Antiques: Red Cross garnet mica baseburner double heater
Coal Size/Type: Nut anthracite / smokeless ovoids
Other Heating: Gas central heating / antique cast iron radiators

Post by Wal » Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 8:47 am

Looks a really tidy setup 👍

 
bobf
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Hitzer 608

Post by bobf » Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 2:27 pm

Hi,
I have a custom coal bin made by a welding teacher at a local vocational/technical school. I have been using it for about 6 years now but due to unforeseen circumstances I am now looking to sell it. I have photos but not sure if I can even put it out there that I am selling an item on this board. Please let me know if it is acceptable. Thanks! Bob

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Rob R.
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Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 4:33 pm

bobf wrote:
Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 2:27 pm
Hi,
I have a custom coal bin made by a welding teacher at a local vocational/technical school. I have been using it for about 6 years now but due to unforeseen circumstances I am now looking to sell it. I have photos but not sure if I can even put it out there that I am selling an item on this board. Please let me know if it is acceptable. Thanks! Bob
Sure. Go ahead and post it in the classifies with your location and asking price.

For Sale Coal Boilers, Furnaces, Stoves & Heating Related Items

 
TimRush
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Joined: Fri. Oct. 13, 2023 4:33 pm
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska
Coal Size/Type: Rice

Post by TimRush » Fri. Oct. 13, 2023 4:41 pm

Still in the process of building but it's got a 30 degree angle for the floor. It's 12 ft by 4ft ft and pretty tall by my math it should hold a little over 6 tons. I put supports in the middle to keep the walls from pushing out. My uncle has a roofing trailer I'm going to be using to get my coal. So it lifts up about 12 ft and dump up in the air. Anything else you guys think I should do.

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rjn
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Joined: Wed. Aug. 16, 2023 5:08 pm
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 254; previous Hitzer 983, Vigilant Coal
Coal Size/Type: Nut

Post by rjn » Tue. Oct. 17, 2023 6:50 pm

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Here is my coal bin... 4 tons of sherman nut anthracite sitting under 12'x20' deck which has roof underneath.

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Lightning
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Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Fri. Oct. 20, 2023 9:02 am

TimRush wrote:
Fri. Oct. 13, 2023 4:41 pm
Anything else you guys think I should do.
I'd be really concerned about the amount of pressure that will be applied to the bottom corner of that bin. What reinforcements do you have in place so that it won't blow out? Because of that 30 degree slope, 6 tons of coal will be wanting to slide towards that corner when it's full.

 
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Lightning
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Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Fri. Oct. 20, 2023 9:08 am

bobf wrote:
Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 2:27 pm
I have a custom coal bin made by a welding teacher at a local vocational/technical school.
It looks like a modified dumpster. What a fantastic idea for a coal bin! I bet one of those monster sized steel shipping containers would work great too, for big storage.

 
LouSee
Member
Posts: 80
Joined: Tue. Jul. 30, 2013 12:07 am
Location: scranton-ish...
Stoker Coal Boiler: '57 EFM DF'd 520
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: LL Independance
Coal Size/Type: Buck & Rice

Post by LouSee » Sat. Oct. 21, 2023 8:31 pm

i have an ex-dumpster bin to hold rice for the garage. built a little attached shed to the rear of the garage on 6x6 pressure-treated and have it elevated about 5-6 ft. holds a little more than 4 ton. vac it to inside into a 20 gallon plastic container than gravity feeds it through a piece of pvc right into the lesireline hopper.

after the first year, we got awful surface rusting from the wet coal. so, we lined the inside with aluminum sheets and increased the number of water drainage holes at the low end. the dumpster sits a few inches off level to facilitate water drainage into a large rubbermaid brute-type container.

only problem we have now is that Issac doesn't have a scissor-lift on either of his trucks so I have the thinking cap on to figure out how to reload it. The front-end loader will reach but the bucket is wider than the dumpster and maneuvering is tight back there...

 
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Seagrave1963
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Joined: Fri. Sep. 26, 2014 7:12 pm
Location: Eastern Shore of Maryland
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman TLC2000
Coal Size/Type: nut
Other Heating: electric heat pumps, propane fireplace

Post by Seagrave1963 » Sun. Oct. 22, 2023 7:28 am

I thought I had shared these with the group for other folks looking for ideas, but looks like I didn't. Anyways, I used two IBC totes and modified them to top load and feed from the bottom. Each one of them holds 2500 pounds of nut coal and there is surprisingly little coal dust in the garage. The only other mod I intend to do in the future is to build a slanted platform so that the last bit of coal will slide to the bottom opening when the coal level gets low.
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