Good Coal Guy in Vernon

Taked to Bob Phelps today, owner of Phelps of Vernon, came in with a couple 6 gallon plastic pailfulls of rice to test, he did'nt want any money for it, I must have had 100 lbs. Even offered me a shovel and a place to wash my hands.

He gave me a good review of the Penna suppliers, the problems he's had getting coal with no or a little bit of fines. Even with the places he's worked with on a yearly basis, there is variation, He likes coal from the Mammoth vein. Even the good guys nowadays are blending the Mammoth 6% with 14% ash coal to get an acceptable 8-9 % ash content. He noted you can't sell coal in CT with a ash content (by weight) of more than 12%.

Last year when I was doing hand fed he delivered 3 tons to my home, he did'nt know I paid at the store and he said I could come in later to pay, that is trust and he said he's rarely stiffed.

It's good to have these local guys around, told him if his coal works similar to the CSM -Monson bagged coal (really nice stuff he'll get a order 3-4 tons rice next year. Right now I'm pretty shocked at the amount of fines in the Blashak compared to his and CSM's. I'm currently sifting the Blashak with a large collander.

Thats it from here, just want to plug a local guy that still carries coal.

I can't imagine having the time to sift through coal to get the fines out of it. Believe me I've done it with my son and although we both had a good time with each other there are certainly much more important things in life for all of us.

Glad to hear you found someone who you could not only trust but they trust your word as well. There aren't many of us left in this world unfortunately.

I've been buying my coal from Phelps for a while now and I've been pleased with their service.

I use bagged Blashak nut or pea because I have no other way to store it. I only get about 4 tablespoons of dust per bag. Thats pretty good considering the way their thrown around.
I think they stop washing it when it gets below freezing. I usually have all I need for the season before that happens.
I have never used anything smaller than pea so that may make a difference. I don't think its that big of a problem for a hand fired stove. I throw the dust in too.
Its nice to have a good supplier.

Easy Ray, hear ya on lack of fines in nut/pea.I'm doing rice here this year with more fines that you indicated per 40 # bag. The shifting thing is temporary, can't keep it up, though permit me to offer that with no fines the glass and inside stay a lot cleaner longer, I'm thinking (in a stoker) that the fines burn really fast and create a lot of sparking, this spark turns into ash that eventually coats the sides with ash, not a big deal when the stove is clean though this year I saw a stoker that was run several weeks/months and the inside was coated with 3/16 to 1/4" ash coat. This is not optimal for heat transfer but not a killa.

Prior to doing the Blashak I was doing several bags of CSM and boy was that nice coal, high flame, a reliable source on here said Blaschak is running like 11,500BTU's per lb compared to optimal coal which is ~13K/lb.

Bottom line,just nice to have coal availiable, I wonder what crafty things will come from Wash in the next several years, will coal need to be like what the publix is doing with Ammo?

Hummm, 24' dia above ground pool x 4 ft high, a good place for coal???????

Bottom line,just nice to have coal availiable, I wonder what crafty things will come from Wash in the next several years, will coal need to be like what the publix is doing with Ammo?

Hummm, 24' dia above ground pool x 4 ft high, a good place for coal???????[/quote]





Maybe....I don't go to the range anymore. I can't afford to spend that kind of money on ammo anymore. I guess they accomplished what they wanted. (At least in my situation.)

Coal is bad to those people. An above ground pool won't be good enough. You'll probably have to bury it out of sight.

This is not the same country I grew up in.

I'm glad I'm my age, read "The Zombie Handbook".

BTW, stopped doing the fines separation weeks ago, it seems the recent bags of Blascak burns bluer, less fines, even if they had fines, toooooo much to do.......

Hi, any idea of price per ton for Phelps & CSM? Bagged, loose?

Thanks

Phelps, loose, 245 a ton delivered local, two tons min, that was 2 weeks ago after christmas when I stopped by to talk to him about his rice.By the 50 # bag, think it is 8.50, a lot more expensive.

CSM, no idea.

If your talking CSM in MA they are $270/ton, I hear.