Bagged or Bulk?

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keegs
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Post by keegs » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 11:16 am

My stove uses nut coal. I'd like to take advantage of the lower prices for buying bulk. Storing coal seems pretty straight forward and the cost of materials to make a bin or for buying some barrels (already have four empty drums in the garrage) and a hand truck could be recouped pretty quickly with the savings.

Wondering about the downsides of using bulk coal if there are any....e.g. is the quality the same as bagged? Are there more "fines" and clinkers with bulk?

Your thoughts and experiences please? Thanks.

CK

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 11:37 am

My limited experience with bagged is....
They are a pain.....
To store...
Fines, too many..
Coal stays wet..
Empty bags...
Like empty oil containers....
Lots of UN-needed garbage.
I buy a 55 gallon drum of 10w30 oil for my shop as it is the most commonly used oil for small engines...
The 55 gal drum can become a scrap metal receptacle in future yrs.
5w30, i still buy in plastic qt. containers which when empty add to the garbage dilemma.

Coal....
I buy it bulk....

The nut coal, i use about 2 tons/yr, i store in buckets ..
The rice, i use 20 - 22 tons/yr. & store it in a bin & a pile on the ground.

Did i mention that i hate bags ??

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 11:57 am

You are no more likely to have issues with fines or debris with bulk coal. If you have a way of storing/handling bulk and can save some $, go for it.

 
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keegs
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Post by keegs » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 12:43 pm

Thanks Gents...


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 2:38 pm

If there is a downside of bulk it's that the fines and smaller pieces of the load end up in a higher concentration directly underneath the coal chute door. Where as with bagged, you can more directly make use of the fines and smaller pieces per each bag. Whether that's a plus or minus, I'm not sure.

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 2:56 pm

My short bagged nut coal experience was that bagged coal has lots of fines, but i realize that not all folks find it the same... depends on who bags the coal .

I hate fines.....
I will sift it out anytime i get the chance to do so..
If i pay $235/ton for coal,that is just $.12/pound, if i throw 1 # of fines away for every 100# of coal, I will throw away $2.50 out of that ton of coal.

Throwing fines on a fire just makes the fines sizzle,burn up immediately , & now there are ashes in the top layers of coal to mess up the whole bed of burning coals. Ain't no wonder some folks have so many issues with clinkers.

Now you know how i really feel about bagged coal & coal fines. :)

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 3:34 pm

I'm telling ya what though David, blanketing a fire with fines during low slow burns works great to keep the fire healthy thru warm days. Here's my first couple weeks, I'll add a 5 pound blanket at each tending.

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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 4:41 pm

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 3:34 pm
I'm telling ya what though David, blanketing a fire with fines during low slow burns works great to keep the fire healthy thru warm days. Here's my first couple weeks, I'll add a 5 pound blanket at each tending.
How much are you willing to pay for fines ? :what:
I could save all mine for you :P
Not sure what shipping would be. :)

When i want my hand fed to slow down, i just do ash removal in the pm tending instead of both am & pm. :)


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 4:49 pm

Thanks for the offer :lol: but I have plenty of my own. I'm just thrilled I found a use for them ;)

 
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Post by hotblast1357 » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 4:57 pm

We save 105 dollars per ton buying bulk from the mine, it's a NO brainer for us obviously!

If u got the room and money, buying a tractor trailer load is the best deal you can get directly from the mine.

If you have a machine like mine, the eshland 260, who cares about fines?? Lmao the beast eats whatever I put in the hopper, including leaves and pine cones that fall into the coal bin.


I'll take your guys fines if u want to send them up, it's all BTU's!

 
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keegs
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Post by keegs » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 5:57 pm

There's a bulk supplier nearby that sells Blaschak for $270. per ton. Compared to the price of their bagged, it's about a $40. saving p/t. They'll fill the drums I have. They offer delivery for an additional $20 but they have a minimum on bulk delivery of 3 ton. I don't have a coal bin. I'm still looking but I'm not sure there's another bulk coal supplier in the area. There's not many in the state it seems.

 
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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Dec. 08, 2017 6:27 pm

Give Matt a couple days, he can try & fix that! :)

 
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Post by ASea » Sat. Dec. 09, 2017 2:01 pm

I like bagged coal for now, it's more convenient for me albeit more expensive in the long run. I buy several bags at a time. If I had a bin bulk delivery would save time and money

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