Coalgun S500 Project

A vent or two would be good to help in drying the coal.

We have 16- 6" x 6" posts under the 10' x 10 ' floor. We will also have a 2" x 12" Approx. every 20" under the 1.5" hardwood flooring. Seems to me it should hold. I think these posts are rated approx. 1.5 ton a-piece with bracing. We plan to back fill the bottom, but not counting on it to hold up the floor, as it might settle quite a bit. Also I really do not want the dirt against the joists to keep the moisture away from the floor.

How big does a 45 degree chute does need to be to have coal flow. This will be at the bottom of the bin to the auger. Not planning on a door here, just a small chute, 4" tall x 10" wide??
Thinking of using stainless steel to make this chute from the bin through the container side to the auger. The size that comes to my mind ..... 1.5" long x 4" tall x 10" wide.

Would you run this chute @ a 45 degree angle too?

The only door we are planning on putting in the bin is one in the peek of the roof.

Thanks!
Joseph

Joseph Leid wrote:We have 16- 6" x 6" posts under the 10' x 10 ' floor. We will also have a 2" x 12" Approx. every 20" under the 1.5" hardwood flooring. Seems to me it should hold. I think these posts are rated approx. 1.5 ton a-piece with bracing. We plan to back fill the bottom, but not counting on it to hold up the floor, as it might settle quite a bit. Also I really do not want the dirt against the joists to keep the moisture away from the floor.

How big does a 45 degree chute does need to be to have coal flow. This will be at the bottom of the bin to the auger. Not planning on a door here, just a small chute, 4" tall x 10" wide??
Thinking of using stainless steel to make this chute from the bin through the container side to the auger. The size that comes to my mind ..... 1.5" long x 4" tall x 10" wide.

Would you run this chute @ a 45 degree angle too?

The only door we are planning on putting in the bin is one in the peak of the roof.

Thanks!
Joseph

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Now that that is a little clearer;

1st. you have to have a gate to close the chute otherwise you will have the entire load dumping in the container so you need to have a metal gate fabricated with a long arm to raise and lower it the gate frame is simply dimensional lumber that will let it slide up and down to close off the flow of coal.

2nd. hard pea coal can tolerate a 30 to 45 degree dumping angle.
a thirty degree bin bottom and chute will allow you better control
of the coal flow. IF you do not install a gate to control the flow the
coal wil not stop flowing until it either empties or can no longer fill
the container.

3rd. you need to seal off the lower corners of the bin by installing
short beveled pieces of tongue and groove board a couple of feet
long in each corner making a triangle in the corners to allow the
coal to pass and flow to the chute you will loose some volume
but the ability to let the coal flow without being stuck in the corners
is easier to do when building the bin.

You could put a piece of PVC pipe in each corner and anchor it in
place with pipe strap to fill the corners and keep the coal from
settling in the corners.

You should at least use threaded rod ansd lots of nut and washers
to hold ALL the posts together more closely to hold the floor of the
bin square..

JL, are you figuring to have the auger feeding from the hole coming thru the container wall ? a dog house for the auger to stick into & the coal gravity feeding into the dog house ? If that is what you're planning I do believe you will need a bigger hole than the 4x10 as that will probably not flow at high enough rate. You should put an adjustable gate between the bin & doghouse so you can control how big the pile is that the auger end pulls from. You will not have to worry about filling the container from the bin gravity flowing itself empty into the container thru the 4x10 hole you proposed,that ain't going to happen,but a gate would help to completely stop the flow if you need to work on the auger .Of course if the hole is only 4x10 I doubt you would have to worry at all about coal flowing more than a foot or so into the container,it's not water. If coal flowed that good we wouldn't need high lifts to make deliveries. Can you make a sketch of your proposal ?

Yes i'll get a sketch drawn up here soon.

Here are the plans we are pursuing....
Joseph

Looks like that should work fine, I'm assuming that the bin will gravity feed into the container where the auger will pick up the coal from the dog house inside the container ? At least your sideways pic is on a pdf where I can rotate it rather than my body

Here are a few pics of our progress today. We put on the floor as well as the walls. Talk about challenging quarters and slopes to work with! Sure glad i'm not a roofer!
We are not planning to put in more floor to make 100% of the coal come out, A few reasons, coal is cheaper than the materials / time. Also if we ever ran out of coal accidentally, we would have a small reserve that could be shoveled out of the corners into the chute.
We are also planning to use a few cables to make sure the walls will not bulge too much.

Can't wait till it is up and running! Will be my baby that i'll be watching and playing with. Hoping to see coal in here soon! We will also be putting the roof on soon if weather permits, etc....
_143727.jpg[/attachment] Thanks for all your help and encouragement along the way!
Joseph

JL, nice looking bin,lots of progress on your project,lots more then my wife & I get done piddling along every evening & some on Sundays.That bin should hold coal very nicely & no shoveling ,keep plugging,cold weather is getting here.We had 40* this a/m & could have used heat in the house & the shop.

Good evening,
Another day of some progress. Hoping to get this done before winter sets in.
We are hoping to put the tin on this week yet, as well as the cables inside.
Do you'all have built in ladders in your bins? Seems like a pretty secure cell to me if no ladder was there. The overhang above the door will get vented sofit. Is that sufficient for ventilation?
Anything we're missing?
Joseph

Make sure the bottom is not water tight so it can shed water out the bottom. Are you going to use the thump test for coal level in the bin ? If you had something like hammer mill screen to put in some small holes on a protected side of the bin you would then have peep holes for the coal level.Looking good & looks like pretty good progress on your project.

Looks great. You are making progress quickly.

I have a vent at the peak on each side of my bin to allow air to move across the top of the coal. I didn't have any condensation on the underside of the roof the times I looked last year so it seemed to work. As WH mentions the flooring should allow for drainage.

Wow that things is built better than my house!!!!

If you put the cable(s) in the bin you will not be able to tension the lower cables
when the coal is loaded in it. WHICH IS THE TIME YOU NEED TO TENSION THEM!!!!!

Just be sure to put threaded rod nuts and washers through the beams and the
planks under the bin and tension them before you load the coal in there.

You have to remember that what you have created is a silo that will creat huge
pressures per square foot pushing out and down against the walls and base.

I AM NOT trying to spend your money, but having been involved in silo and bin work
for 20 years at my old mining job has provided me with a lifetime of experience
where poor design/implementation destroyed property and killed people.

If you use four threaded rods per side and nuts and washers and four threaded rods
in the planks under the slope of the bin you will have few problems and you will have
no need to enter the bin ever.

blrman07 wrote:Wow that things is built better than my house!!!!

Yea, wish my house was built this nice too!
Joseph