Coal Bin Pictures and Designs
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- Member
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- 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
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...
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
- Member
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- 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
Good write up Lou, if I ever need to build a bin in the future I would definitely do something similar.
- 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
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!!!
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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- 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
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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- 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
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.
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- 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
Looks a really tidy setup
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
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
Sure. Go ahead and post it in the classifies with your location and asking price.bobf wrote: ↑Sun. Feb. 26, 2023 2:27 pmHi,
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
For Sale Coal Boilers, Furnaces, Stoves & Heating Related Items
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- New Member
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- Joined: Fri. Oct. 13, 2023 4:33 pm
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
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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- Lightning
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 14669
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
- Location: Olean, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
- Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite
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.
- Lightning
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- Location: Olean, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
- Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite
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.
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- 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
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...
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...
- Seagrave1963
- Member
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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
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.