Coal Prices in New Hampshire

whistlenut wrote:The logistics can be an issue, and the 'Rock of Ages' trucks do not do contract hauling. Your idea is great, and some of us have pursued it already, but it is like the pellet distribution issue.....everyone wants a piece of the pie, and coal suppliers don't want the 'Drama' that goes with it. It is the financial waste-stream that makes it tough. Someone has to bite the bullet and step up, and that is a huge commitment.

By the way, Swensen Granite is the 'Go To company' for all the permanent markers.
Look at their website: http://www.swensongranite.com They are great folks and are a class act.

Do you have someone in mind that needs a 'special weight' to keep them down?

granie is not the subject at hand.good advertising more tho
any way sending low boys to poa would not be a problem.
the problem is the demand.
i finneshed my market research and there is basicly no market up this way,every one burns ether wood,oil,gas
hardware startes carry a few pallets a season and sell for 7.98 a 40lb bag.
on granite
there is a granit mine 1/2 mile from me
and several in vt
that market is also dead do to the economy

Bowlan: Thanks for the words of wisdom, and the local 'Granite Works' in Sunapee is my cousin, Bill Stocker.

whistlenut wrote:Bowlan: Thanks for the words of wisdom, and the local 'Granite Works' in Sunapee is my cousin, Bill Stocker.

thats amazing
it is a small world isent it.
yes they are walking distence from me.
i am on edgemont rd sunapee just up the road from granite works.
they are working today down there even tho its 26 degrees.
to cold for me.

All I can say is, if there was a decent amount of money to be
made deaing in coal, there would be as many coal outlets as there are
Dunkin' Donuts....

You can try to estimate all you want about how to go about it
and make/save some money, but the truth is, you are going to
mark up your coal about 40-45 bucks a ton.

(I might add, I am talking about bagged, not bulk..
bulk is jut about out of the question in my area)

You need a forklift to unload the truck.
You need a yard big enough to handle a tractor trailer,
and room enough to manuver your forklift around.
You need to be able to tie up around seven grand for a while.
You need to answer your phone at all hours.
You are goin to have to deliver, which means a decent truck and trailer.
You have to break down the pallets, and stack them into 1 ton units,
because they don't come that way...
And everyone wants to buy it by the ton...
and a lot of people wait until the weather sucks to order..

I work with a guy that sells coal.
I don't know why he does it, honestly.
What a pain in the neck.

Dan

Chuck_Steak wrote:All I can say is, if there was a decent amount of money to be
made deaing in coal, there would be as many coal outlets as there are
Dunkin' Donuts....

You can try to estimate all you want about how to go about it
and make/save some money, but the truth is, you are going to
mark up your coal about 40-45 bucks a ton.

(I might add, I am talking about bagged, not bulk..
bulk is jut about out of the question in my area)

You need a forklift to unload the truck.
You need a yard big enough to handle a tractor trailer,
and room enough to manuver your forklift around.
You need to be able to tie up around seven grand for a while.
You need to answer your phone at all hours.
You are goin to have to deliver, which means a decent truck and trailer.
You have to break down the pallets, and stack them into 1 ton units,
because they don't come that way...
And everyone wants to buy it by the ton...
and a lot of people wait until the weather sucks to order..

I work with a guy that sells coal.
I don't know why he does it, honestly.
What a pain in the neck.

Dan

yes I agree with you.
the reson no body is selling coal up here is because no body burns it.
i mentioned that before in my message.
there is no demand in nothern,n.h.high enough to warrant a business start-up
and buying coal at 130 a ton doesnt leave enough room for mark-up
by the time trucking was added in it would be cheaper to buy bagged coal at the hardware store.
it would have to be had around 45 to 50 a ton because any money could be made up here in northern,n,h.it would have to be had low enough to under cut hardware store coal then people would have to be eduacated about the money that would be saved by burning coal versed hardwood,oil,gas.
teaching people to change to coal is like teaching them to burn hydrogen using water as a fuel.
the reson for my postings was research. that is now completed and the demand in northern new hampshire does is not high enough for any one to deal with coal for profit.
large rough chunks of coal do have a demand in landscaping.
the problem with that is obtaining the large 3 yard chunks and larger is hard to do unless you own the coal and minned it your self.
other wise it would take months of leg work to locate huge chunks.
trucking would be figured in to a retail price of over 1000 each but the economy has crashed the landscap market also.
carving coal is another posability but no body is doing it and those who do expect more money for their work then the market will barr.
thank evey one for their input. my research is now complete.

Yanche wrote: Then buy enough of the large bulk bags that can be offloaded with a forklift or jib crane.

Yep, the super-bags are available on eBay. I think they go for $30-$40 each. Having used them for lead waste disposal work, they seem kinda perishable in that they can be abraded easily and speared with forklift tines. I think the metal caged polyethylene fluid totes would work better. They are available from food processors and airports among other places. Logan airport (Boston) can go through hundreds of them a year. De-icing fluids are shipped in the 300 gallon square tanks. The top of the tank would be cut away or slit on three corners. The metal frame has fork pockets in both directions. I bought four for $200. Probably get a better deal if I bought 50-100 units.

If a flat or box trailer trucker had two complete sets, they could be revolving. They are stackable too but a 53' trailer would probably go into overload territory if they were stacked when full. But they take minimal space in storage. I think capacity for each would be about 1500 lbs but haven't done the math. The breaker could fill the totes at their convenience and the trucker's turn-around time would be greatly reduced. It would be favorable for a retailer as he could specify the coal size for each tote.

Oh well, something has to be done to reduce shipping costs. They are going to rise faster than coal costs in the future.

bowlan wrote: the reson no body is selling coal up here is because no body burns it.

...then people would have to be eduacated about the money that would be saved by burning coal versed hardwood,oil,gas.
teaching people to change to coal is like teaching them to burn hydrogen using water as a fuel.

Actually right now,
it is cheaper to burn wood here..
However, if you could convince people how much 'easier' it is, the cost differential would be cancelled out..
I burned wood for 30 years, and even though I still get some for free,
I spring for coal... soooo much better..

But back to the cost for just a second, my friend sells bagged coal and pellets.
He'll probably do 150 ton of coal this season.
He has a brand new one ton diesel truck, and new trailer, and a forklift that
he has had for a couple of years.
The guys that deliver from PA deliver whatever time they get there.
It could be 3 in the am.
So you go out, unload 20 tons of coal, get it all stacked.
You wait for a customer call.
You go out, break down the skids, and make one ton pallets.
Load them on the truck, and trailer, then load the forklift on.
Drive to the customer's house, and who knows what kind of drive they have,
unload the forkift, unload the truck, load the forklift back on, and drive home.
then unload the forklift...
You get 25-45 bucks for delivery, and you make 40 bucks a ton on the product..
And now.. diesel is 3.19 a gallon.
I go with him quite a bit, I help him if he needs a hand with a tough drop.
It just makes me smile when I hear some people talk about 'sharing' a load,
or buying some and then selling what they don't need.
Man, I'm tellin' ya.... buy it from a dealer! Let him take care of the headaches
for a couple hundred bucks...
If you deal with some of these companies, you need to prepay for the coal, 5-6 grand
and then you have to find a trucker.. another grand..
A lot of work to save a hundred bucks or so for a heating season...

Dan

Well stated. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Split loads are a real PITA unless you are equipped to do so. I buy bulk, and the drivers know I have unlimited hot water to wash down the truck if necessary, heated relaxing and bathrooms. They can show up at any time they like; the money has already been handled in PA.
You tie up 6 or 7K per load, and hope you can market it. The 'unlimited questions' of source drive you nuts, especially after they all think UAE is the only place in the world to buy coal. At 300 a ton, that should be equivalent to 1.50/gal oil ......so stop bitching.

.

bowlan wrote:pressed coal bricks

a manufacture in china is now manufacturing a cross break coal brick

the coal brick was the size of standard building material bricks but they make them using powered coal.

the machine was a converted charcoal briquettes press.

Charcoal briquettes are charcoal dust compactly massed by a binder of either cassava flour, corn or potato starch.

the coal dust was mixed with the binder and water added until the material would stay together when pressed between the fingers.

then they do it the same way they make bricks,they fill the brick holes then press it.

its air cured in 24 hours.

easily stacked and easier to ship.

i assume the reson for doing this was to come up with a way to recycle the dust that would build up during the coal production process.wast not want not.

the machine they use can be seen on this web site
http://www.briquettepress.com/coal-ball-machine.html
coal ball press

I'm down here in New Jersey and everybody thinks they are going to get great coal for 150.00 a ton 135 mi from the breaker and delivered to them for 10-15$ a ton. I deal only bagged Kimmel's and have had people go to someone else to save 10.00 and can't get a straight answer where the coal comes from. Diesel fuel is 3.20 a gal , Heating oil is 3.11 a gal. The local dealer needs to make a living. If he can't make it some big outfit will control all the sales of coal and stick to you just like big oil and gas are doing now. Keeping the money for heating here in the USA is a great idea god knows pa needs it, but so does you local dealer. Sorry for the rank. Merry Christmas!

I had 22 tons delivered to my house in Moultonborough, NH from Sherman coal $147.00 ton and $42.00 ton for trucking.
This was July 2009.
The winter of 2008-2009 I was paying $350.00 ton from Dutile coal in Laconia, NH.

I had to call my dealer here in NYS just to find out what was going on price wise--still $230.00 a ton blaschak nut--bulk

Fair price....with taxes, etc.

Ya I can get bagged kimmels for 289 and blaschack bagged for 299 a ton up here. I think I am going to drive down to PA monday and get a van load.