Coal Bin Size

Greetings:
I'm a new guy here and have a question. My son and I want to build an outside coal bin large enough to hold about 20 tons. This bin won't be for selling coal but for our own use. How large will this need to be? We plan on having a truck deliver to this site.

Thanks

This will give you a good idea, about how big you need.
About 10x10x8÷40=20
About 12x12x6÷40=21.6
Just to give you an idea of size.



Regards, Ray

Hello Jumper, welcome to the forum. Merry Christmas!

Beware the very significant side-loads on the walls. Coal is pretty slippery, and doesn't 'stack' very well. Take a look at the photos of other's bins here:

http://nepacrossroads.com/viewtopic.php?t=441

Another note: shoveling coal from a pile is hard work, especially if you are shovling into a pile of coal. The coal deflects the shovel very easily. [at least stove and nut size does]. But shoveling coal up off of a hard surface like concrete or plywood is pretty easy. The shovel slides under the chunks of coal. So plan on a floor for your bin. Or design in a chute to dump coal into buckets or a wheel-barrow.

Greg L

Hi. i built mine into the side of a bank. Its 12x12x8.5 plus the height of the trusses the steel roof is on. 15 screws and the steel comes off for loading the bin with my back hoe. you might want to build it to hold 23 ton. that would be max for a tri ax load of coal. here in pa i think max payload is 48000 pounds 24 ton. usually truck drivers like to keep between 21 and 23 ton. my load of coal was close to 22 ton. i built 2 side ports for free flowing loading of buckets. plus a dutch door to pull coal down to the ports later . has worked out great so far. have fun.

Thanks a million guys. This site is great. I'll have a concrete floor in this and we are trying to get some precast concrete for the sides and back.
We are both tired of paying oil companys for heat and would rather put our money in the hands of the coal miners in P.A. or other states.

God Bless America

Hi Jumperjoe, I just noticed you are from Cleveland.. If you are going to be storing Anthracite, the dimensions given above are pretty close. If you are going to store Bituminous, you will need a little more space.

Take a look at my concrete coal bin. The coal on the left is Anthracite, on the right is Bituminous. Both sides are holding 4.5 tons. The Bituminous is not as dense as Anthracite so takes up more space per ton.

My precast concrete blocks cost $25 each. Weigh about 3000# each. A good loader will lift them. They come from concrete Redi-Mix companies, they make them out of excess/waste/returned concrete. Almost 'free' money for the concrete company.

Take care. Greg L