From OWB to EFM520 Installed in Truck Box

Well, I can definitely see Reading coal in our near future.

windyhill4.2 wrote:Well, I can definitely see Reading coal in our near future.

As always it is best to try a smaller quantity if you can.

I'm sure you will be pleased with Reading bulk. My local dealer sells it and it is a very good product.

Yes,yes! Reading coal. Less fines and ash. Are you going with rice or buck to reduce the amount of fines?

I'll third the Lehigh product. Works great in my EFM, and has had the least smell to it by far of the various brands I have burned (Blaschak, Direnzo, old Harmony, Lehigh and a mystery brand from a local guy). Direnzo was best IMO, least ash, most heat. The only thing I did not like about it was the ash was very fine and I had a lot more end up in the exhaust stack. Lehigh and old Harmony are neck and neck, a little more red ash, just a touch less heat. Blaschak was terrible in comparison, and the mystery brand even worse.

Franco, we will definitely only be getting smaller quantity of any coal we get right now. We just do not have the $$ right now to be getting a big quantity & that is the main reason why we are looking at our one local coal yard. We can go there & get as much or as little as we want,on the truck or in buckets or bags.They have a strait truck scale right there so we can weigh in & out,the coal is sold by the 100#. This may not be the ideal way money-wise to buy coal but we just can't get a big quantity of $$ together right now. Doing the boiler install along with our shop work has taken a toll on my energy level to the point that recently I was grateful to be able to get 2 hrs of work done in the shop per day. With some adjustments to the "stuff"i take for my kidneys health,my energy level has climbed enough that in the last 2 days I was able to get more work done than all last week.Little work done in the shop means little $$ coming in to pay the bills & add coal to our stockpile . We intend to try to get some nut coal for our Crane b4 Christmas, it would make it easier to buy more coal at once if some customers wouldn't let their finished equipment set here for weeks before paying the bill. This ties up our cash flow as we have already paid for the parts used on their equipment & often we have paid the sales tax to the state also . We would love to just be able to order 4-6 tons of rice for the boiler but we will see how things go.

windyhill4.2 wrote: Doing the boiler install along with our shop work has taken a toll on my energy level to the point that recently I was grateful to be able to get 2 hrs of work done in the shop per day.

You have worked wonders and need some time to recharge. The big money hit is behind you now so that is out of the way. Good to get out of the shop and take a break doing something different picking up a weeks coal for the Crane.
I know what you mean about customers leaving a job with you unpaid. Probably will stay that way with Christmas coming up. Maybe some phone calls pleading need to avoid any hard feeling. If it snows they will pick up the snow blowers quick enough.

This too will pass and I know your faith will see you through.

Windy,

I agree with Franco, The plan you put in place will pay big benifits going forward . Spend some of those now as you recharge the batteries . And maybe let the fingers do the walking a little and call up some of your customers aand ask em to pick up and pay for their stuff. Aint nothing wrong with that, you did the work and youd like to be paid. Most people just wouldnt think of picking up their stuff till the next time they needed it, and hell by that time Id forget where I took it

Its christmas, try and kick back a bit , Itll work out fine. Those that do for themselves don't go without for long....

happy holidays,
waldo

Franco & Waldo, thanks for the flowers & kind words,they are much appreciated .Today is the second Sunday in a row that we did absolutely nothing other than tend our stove & boiler. It feels good to just sit around resting,reading & getting our bones warmed up from the coal stove. The boiler has averaged 165# per day for the past three days,had been at 150# avg,but with colder temps & rare glimpses of sunshine & either breezy or windy we can't complain about coal consumption.So happy we are not still tending the OWB as we were last yr at this time. We could easily have thrown 6-8 wheel barrow loads of firewood into that wood eating monster each day ! Getting used to heating with coal is so much fun & so little work compared to what we had just last yr.

Windy,

Cash flow isn't only hitting you. It hits all of us at this time of the year.

Got a $ 9K repair job in the shop right now. Already bought parts and will be finishing the job hopefully by Tuesday. Customer shows up ast Friday and has the insurance company check with him. He asks what to do wit the check since his name and mine are both on the check. I tell him to sign his name and then I can deposit the check in my account. He asks if I could sign the check and let him deposit it in HIS account and then give me a credit card for the repair bill ?? All this so HE can add to his CC miles. Sure I tell him. But I will have to add $400.00 to the price. He looks dumbfounded. I tell him that I get charged 5% from my CC company and that by law I can pass that charge on to him.

Needless to say, I got the check from him.

Ain't being in business great ???????

Rick

You mean with all the money you make being a business you have to charge for that ? It is amazing how much money we business owners make & with so much money available we shouldn't mind waiting for as long as it takes for them to pay. After all,the customers have bills to pay..... business owners are so rich that they are exempt from bills. credit card miles & bonuses & benefits

So ,
Since we're sharing customer appreciation stories, I've got a beaut. So it's August and I have a rather substantial composite deck to build for a professor. Rush job mind you. has a summer party planned for middle of the month and wants the deck done for that. OK I say and worked eight straight 12 / 16 hr days to get it done.. Got finished up as people were arriving on a sun. I go back on Monday with my bill as we were leaving for vacation later in the week. Guy says," well you know, we professors don't work in the summer could you wait till the end of next month when I get paid again. We are leaving for a trip tomorrow and if I pay you I won't have any spending money"

I
Didn't have to go to jail but I did lose a repeat customer

Still on 5 teeth?

Rob, we are on 5 teeth 5.5 air, set for max 175*,we had 17* this a/m will be filling the hopper in about an hr,we will see how much it took. It has been running fine ,just clicking away.

Added 180# tonite,not surprising as there were quite a few heat calls this a/m. I added up what we have used so far this month =3,320# , avg @ 151#/day. Our local coal yard owner had stopped by a few days ago,he calls the ashes from the Superior red ash,so I guess when we switch to Reading coal we should have more BTU per pound. We did pick up about 180# of Reading rice today that we shoveled into buckets,we also picked up 600# of Reading nut in buckets for the Crane. We paid $11/100# = $220/ton