Load 350 lb at a Time? No Problem

I admire vermontday's supersack system for efficient handling of bulk coal. Facing some technical obstacles for that system, I decided to try out a more conventional method using 55 gallon drums. The drums are arrayed at two bulk delivery points and flood-loaded. Most of the coal lands in the drums, and with a little shoveling and hoeing the rest gets there soon enough. The fun part is the electric/hydraulic stacker outfitted with a dumper that unloads the drums unto the feed bin. It went into service yesterday and works great. Not as elegant as the supersacks, but way better than the wheelbarrow method we were using.

Mike

Nice job !!!!






Rick

Thanks. There were some engineering challenges that made it interesting - like getting that stacker into the basement - but we're just happy that it works.

Mike

Pacowy wrote:Thanks. There were some engineering challenges that made it interesting - like getting that stacker into the basement - but we're just happy that it works.

Mike

Oh then definitely well done !!!! I thought this was in a garage ...................



Rick

Love it! *smile*

Nice job.

Where did you get the wood barrel?

Craigslist. It's about 4' high and 4' in diameter - holds about 1.25 tons.

Mike

Very cool! Post a video if you can of the drum dumper in action. What are you doing to hold down the dust when dumping the drums? Also if I'm not mistaken, a 55 gallon drum holds much closer to 400#.

coalkirk wrote: What are you doing to hold down the dust when dumping the drums?

I think the 24" baro on that Mills boiler probably takes care of most of it.

I'm not filling the drums all the way to the top - provides a little bit of control over where the coal lands, at least until I get a little more practice with the dumper.

I've dumped a couple of drums of dry coal, and I think it makes less dust than the wheelbarrow did. With the dumper I can get the lip of the drum near the coal in the center of the barrel, which seems to help. With the drums, it's also easy to sprinkle a little water on the next drum in line (i.e., rather than hose the front of the coal pile) if needed to make sure that the next load is damp when dumped.

Rob is correct, however, that I don't really worry much about dust because of the draft. As long as the window in the boiler room is open a crack, there is a prevailing wind from "behind" the dumper to the baro. Rob is joking, of course, about the 24" baro. It's only 18". But there are 2 of them (the granddaddy of the Mills boiler sits next to it), so Rob is pretty close on the square inches.

Mike

I've seen your basement, and I would have loved to see you get that machine down there

The obstacles:
- unit weighs over 900 lb
- unit is designed to remain upright no matter what
- unit is bigger in all dimensions than width of any door opening to basement
- condensate line resting on floor obstructs rolling

The procedure:
- 2 pieces of plywood to protect and form a "slide" on bulkhead stairs
- auto wrecker lowers it down slide
- remove door and portion of jamb at base of stairs (portion already held in by 6 lag bolts - somebody moved something big through it before)
- protect exposed condensate line with 4x4's
- using a strap and a guy with a strong back, lift the ends of the legs onto the 4x4's
- work it forward across the 4x4's, providing a ramp up and down for the steering wheel in the center
- say prayers of thanks that nothing bad happened

I couldn't believe it, but once the wrecker was done, it only took two of us about 10 minutes to put it in position.

Mike