why is it so hard to find coal???

freetown fred wrote:Trust me, if & when Fred rants, everyone knows. What bashing?? A little touchy this evening aren't we.? Lighten up my friend, it was a generalization on the mood of today concerning coal burning in general.

hey ive been around the net long enough to know that you have to be a little touchy every now and then i was kinda bashing the GUY i was getting coal from only because he keeps switching coal suppliers and some of this stuff looks like it was sub sub bit i burnt some arthritic when i first got my furnace a couple years ago and it didnt do so well, i think the bit does much better (for my situation anyway)

Hell Tnguy, I don't blame you. I'm glad my dealor guy stays real consistent on his coal. I suspect if bit was more available here where I am, I'd probably go to plan "B" in a heart beat. Later my friend.

I am a small time dealer ( about 500 tons a year) so i think i can shed some light on the subject. Do I wish i could sell perfect coal, yes. But unfortunately for me I can't sell what i can't buy and instead sell what i am able to get. My yard is surrounded by coal strip mines , they are all owned by the same company as they have bought out everyone else. They have very nice coal at a few of these pits, but do not sell to the public or me. As it was explained to me by the president of this mining company, they just don't want to mess with the time and paperwork for the small amount of coal I purchase a year. And at the time I worked for the company and they would not sell me coal. Instead I am forced to purchase from small limestone operations that mine coal as an incidental to the stone. But these supplies are somewhat erratic in both availability and quality. And then you are competing with the big coal company that also buys that coal subsidize their production. It ends up that you are a really small fish in a big pond and very few want to mess with you. That's just my 2 cents

Willis that has to be bad on you when they force you to do that. but this guy here flat out told me he buys from whoever is cheapest because i asked him about his coal when i first started buying from him and thats what he told me, now i dont have much of a choice where i am it 200 or more miles to get any real coal dealers, and i use my coal for my main heat source so i depend on it to work for me, im gone for 12-16 hours at a time so i need it to burn when im away, the first load of this crap i put in crowned up and stopped putting out heat just a few hours after i filled it and darn near froze up my house because it went for 14 hours with no heat.... the good coal i was getting i could fill the furnace up full and it will burn for 24 hours before i need to touch it at all, and i love that about it thats why i quit burning free wood because it would go out after x amount of hours,

Where are you going to try next?

Double post, sorry.

Stephen in Soky wrote:Where are you going to try next?

there is a guy over by tellico tn that sells bit coal, he rattled off the speck on the coal he has and it sounded like what i had read on here as good coal so il give him a try and see, he sells by the ton or 1/2 ton so im going to get a half ton and try it out, if its good il go back for more,,