new Kimmel/Blaschak opinions?

Now that we are through another season, I was wondering if there
are any new opinions from those that have used both?
Reason is, it's time to start thinking of buying for next year.
We used Kimmel nut this year. Had no complaints,
but never used the Blaschak. My dealer said he can get it,
But doesn't want to get a trailer load if it isn't as good.

(BTW... what is the proper pronunciation of Blaschak? blass chack or what )

Thanks all. Dan

Blay-shack--we've only used blaschak & are pleased to tears I'm an old Harley guy & firmly believe--if it ain't broke--don't fix it---what's the price comparison??not much if any I would think

wow im dumb

i always thought it was black shack

Whoops,silly me

Kimmel has my vote for the last 15 years. It is my opinion like @@@holes everyone has one. I do know they are a processor not having active mines.

brckwlt wrote:wow im dumb

i always thought it was black shack

I wondered how it was pronounced as well....I had guessed it was pronounced blăshack.

Well, I know a guy who still speaks polish so I'll get the definitive version from him.

My opinion is well known. In general, I think Blaschack in bags has more water than most and the plastic bags make this much worse. The coal itself has more fines than most I've seen which seem to help it burn better but when combined with the extra water can be a real pain. A few years ago, Blaschack was also full of rocks from a small size to about the size of a baseball. This problem appears to have been fixed as I have not seen any rocks this year with the 4 tons or so I've burned.

Kimmel coal has been good to me. I like the 50 lb sacks because it ultimately means less trips to the pile for more. It has burned well for me and there were very few rocks and foreign material compared to the Blaschack I've used in the past. The woven bags drain better and dry out better than the plastic ones which mean a lot less water to deal with. The woven bags can be a pain to open until you get the hang of pulling out the stitches. Once you do, it's easier than the plastic bags.

Since Blaschak quality has improved it is more a matter of personal taste and how well your stove/furnace deals with water. If you can buy in bulk then I would probably buy Blaschak over Kimmel. When I was using pea coal in bulk I was very satisfied with the Blaschak.

wlape,what the he!!.You don't like it--you bought 4 ton--has rocks--musta fixed that--bags have to much water--maybe not---good Lord,I thought I was having a conversation w/ the wife but in all seriousness--I use bulk & have a pretty good consistency size wise--I'm not an expert but I think I've gotten a real clean burn all season,no clinkers,I know that it's lightly oiled,so minimal dust--like you said it's about preference & I suspect availability through whoever I'm getting it from.My guy is in Homer,NY--pretty uppity area so I think my guy wants to stay in business w/ minimal complaints---I forgot to reband one of my 1 ton Bucksbee Mears coal bins on wed when I got my 3 ton--sooooo,today I spent a bit of time rebanding & shoveling the coal back in---oh yea,they'll spread Talk to you later buddy--this NY weather is keeping us guessin---I still think it's Blay--shack---but I'm waitin for the fat lady to sing

Thanks for the replies so far, Keep them coming people.

As mentioned, myself, and the others that I know, all use Kimmels.
Happy enough with it, as mentioned.
The 50 pounders mean less trips (but more rest breaks!)
and the bags do dry out pretty nice.
(I don't tear them I cut them with a utility knife, wlape3.
Then the ash goes into them, and off with the trash pickup.)
The kimmel bags, we found, don't last long outside.
They deteriorate pretty fast.
Supposedly the Blaschak have better UV protection.

One of the things that my dealer liked about Blaschak, was the 40 pounders,
as some of his customers just have a more difficult time with the 50's...
Especially trying to feed a hopper with rice.
He feels Kimmels may get on board with the 40's, but have to get rid of their thousands of
50# bags first..

Cost wasn't too much different. Thanks.. keep the comments coming if you have them.

freetown fred wrote:wlape,what the he!!.You don't like it--you bought 4 ton--has rocks--musta fixed that--bags have to much water--maybe not---good Lord,I thought I was having a conversation w/ the wife but in all seriousness--I use bulk & have a pretty good consistency size wise--I'm not an expert but I think I've gotten a real clean burn all season,no clinkers,I know that it's lightly oiled,so minimal dust--like you said it's about preference & I suspect availability through whoever I'm getting it from.My guy is in Homer,NY--pretty uppity area so I think my guy wants to stay in business w/ minimal complaints---I forgot to reband one of my 1 ton Bucksbee Mears coal bins on wed when I got my 3 ton--sooooo,today I spent a bit of time rebanding & shoveling the coal back in---oh yea,they'll spread Talk to you later buddy--this NY weather is keeping us guessin---I still think it's Blay--shack---but I'm waitin for the fat lady to sing

Just wanted to be fair Fred. It has improved as far as the rocks go. I haven't seen any this year. The only reason why I went back to Blaschak is several dealers told me they had solved the rock problem and that does appear to be the case. It still has way too much water in it for me and does not dry out well despite all the different methods I have tried. This is the last year I will buy Blaschak in bags. I have no problems buying it in bulk though but it is a lot harder to find bulk suppliers here in eastern NY than it was in PA.

I'm new to heating with coal but have used the bagged Kimmel and the Blaschak, as well as dry bulk coal. Good luck with the Kimmel, for the most part, fairly dry...the Blaschak was noted to be very wet, good for dust control but bad for my stoker...the ash comes off the shoot as a tootsie roll all the way to my ashpan. I breaks off rather easily with my poker but it does hinder the free movement of my coal stoker to rid itself of ash...I need to attend to it more often that I do with dry coal. But I also noticed that the dry dry coal has much more fly ash and I must sweep down my passes in my conversion boiler more often, as it doesn't tend to drop to the ashpan as the wetter coals do. I'm still trying to figure my best option too. So good luck to you!

Bottomline,and I hate to be repititious,but,the stoves like a good woman--find out what makes her happy & stick w/ it I got 8 bags off Poso coal(blaschak) & didn't have a problem with it being wet--I'm doing a hand fired Hitzer 50-93--maybe that's the difference

Yeah, hand fired is much more forgiving than a stoker. If you are around enough to tend to it it will take care of you better than a stoker in the long run.

I have had an entirely different experience with both brands.

I too, was burning Kimmels for years ... was the first coal I had ever burnt, so had nothing to compare it to. The first year I found giant mud balls, rocks, trash -- you name it .. it was in there, with a little coal thrown in for good measure. As the years went on, the trash & rocks seemed to decrease. On the 4th & final season, they were rock free. Just sticks & wood, here & there. But this last year, it seemed the quality of the coal went down the crapper. I burned 5.25 tons that year & ran out 1.5 months before the warm weather! Then my supplier raised the price by over $25/ton this last season, so I decided to shop around. Glad I did!!

I found another supplier that had Blaschak ... and was able to deliver it for cheaper than I could pick up the Kimmels. I bought 4.8 tons (4 pallets of 40lb. bags). The first week of burning it was immediately clear that this was better coal. Burned longer, hotter & with a tenth the ash of Kimmels. I was getting 24 hour burns for the first time! I couldn't believe it. The first day I shook down after 12 hours like I used to do, & it seemed like the coal was still ripping hot ... so the next day I let it go ... & 24 hours later it was still hot as hell!

SO here we are at the end of the season. I had not one tenth the ash in my pipe & baffle plate than I had with Kimmels. Cleanout this year was a piece of cake! Not only that, but I still have close to a ton left!!

Not sure if I just happened upon a crappy batch of Kimmels ... or an off-the-charts, kick ass good Blaschak - - all I know is Blaschak will be here next season!

I have been happy with Kimmel nut until this year. I had to send most of a pallet back to the dealer. It had so many fines in the bags that they seriously interfered with air flow through the coal. Made it difficult to load new coal on top of the fire because it choked off the air so severely. I suffered through sixteen bags before I gave up and sent back the other thirty-four. Other pallets were OK, though most Kimmel that I have burned in the last three years had too many fines for my taste.

I found a different supplier for the coming year, who is offering Blaschak for less money than I have been paying for Kimmel. I have been happy with the couple pallets of Blaschak I have used, so I'm ordering that for next Winter.

I pronounce it blash-ack with accent on the first syllable. Nobody contradicts me because they aren't sure either. Also, I appear to be getting older rather than younger, and the 40 pound bags are a little easier to hoist than the 50s.