Capacity of a Gravity (Grain) Wagon to hold 6 tons of pea?

What size of Gravity Wagon (as measured in bushels) would be required to hold 6 tons of anthracite pea?

Is a Gravity Wagon an effective means of coal storage? Would the discharge chute be usable to dispense pea into 5 gallon plastic pails?

In my testing, one cubic foot of pea coal is 62 pounds.
Doing the math, 12,000/62 = 194 cubic feet. The conversion factor to covert to bushells is multiply by .8036. Therefore you need 155 bushel capacity in the wagon.

The discharge chutes on my brother's wagons is about 2' wide, which is wider than a bucket. So you may need to add some sheet metal to narrow the discharge into a bucket. I've heard of others who have done it with no problem.

Thanks for the replies Pine Grove Coal User!

It just dawned upon me that capacity in volume may not be the only consideration. Weight capacity will probably also play a significant roll, and I would assume that coal is much more dense than something like corn or soybeans. The bottom line is that 6 toms of coal may crush the axles, suspension, and tires of a gravity wagon that would otherwise be large enough to hold 6 tons of coal in the wagon section.

lsayre wrote: Weight capacity will probably also play a significant roll, and I would assume that coal is much more dense than something like corn or soybeans.

Shell corn is pretty dense as well...depending on moisture of course. Regardless, you can find gravity wagons with different running gear capacities. A friend of mine has one rated for 8 tons, and he keeps a season's supply of pea coal in it for his S130.

BTW: The weight of pea is approx. 53.18 lbs per cubic foot.

watkinsdr wrote:BTW: The weight of pea is approx. 53.18 lbs per cubic foot.

Where does this number come from?
When I designed my bin I used 50 pounds per cubic foot. Then when I went to fill it I was able to put about two more tons into it than what the calculations said.
That is when I started doing my own testing. Everything I did came up with between 61 and 62 pounds per cubic foot.
This was with coal from Harmony and Little Buck mines.

lsayre wrote:Thanks for the replies Pine Grove Coal User!

It just dawned upon me that capacity in volume may not be the only consideration. Weight capacity will probably also play a significant roll, and I would assume that coal is much more dense than something like corn or soybeans. The bottom line is that 6 toms of coal may crush the axles, suspension, and tires of a gravity wagon that would otherwise be large enough to hold 6 tons of coal in the wagon section.

Unless the gravity wagon running gear is rusted through, it will have no problem handling 6 tons of coal.

It's been my experience that rusty seams on the box will give way before even the lightest of running gears. Dry rot tires are the first concern and rusty seams the second.