Blaschak coal initial review

I was burning Reading for the last few months, unhappy with the large chunks and general inconsistency I bought some Blaschak to try. I only burned a few hundred pounds so far but here is what I noticed: much more consistent sizes in the bags, less noticeable rock/wood/metal pieces. The ash seems to be about the same based on unscientific measurements, the heat however seems to be less than the Reading. The thing I don't like is the plastic Santa bags, the Reading I bought was bagged by the dealer so it came in twist-tied bags which are cleaner and easier to dump into the bin. So far it's not looking good for Blaschak- less heat yet more money. We'll see after I burn through the full ton.

Can you store bulk coal?? Or want to bag a few tons yourself?? I know it is a hike to the breakers, but you can get some of the best coal around from a breaker that will allow you to bagg on the site, as long as you stay out of the way of the other traffic..

The next coal run I make, I'm going to take my tri-axle trailer, and 7-8 of the one ton 'bulk sacks' available on Ebay. I will be able to move the baggs with my tractor/loader, and store them out of the sun, I think you have a tractor, can you keep a tarp over the bulk sacks to keep the sun from ruining the bag??? Coal at the breaker is $140/ton... The bulk sacks are $10.25 each if you buy 4 at a time...just got my second 4 via fedex yesterday. $41 shipped.

Take care,, Greg L

.

e.alleg
I came to the same conclusion. After reading good view's about Blaschak being a top noch coal, i went and bought 5 bags to try before making the two hour round trip to get 1 ton bulk. I noticed 100* drop in temp within a couple of hours. I had to give it more air just to maintain a fire with alot less heat. After fighting with it for two days i was happy to go back to my old supply.

As Greg suggested, a trip to the breaker is the best way to go. Look at it this way: you'll have to spend some time and $$ on gas (or diesel) to get there and back, plus the hassle of renting a trailer if you don't have one and getting it unloaded quickly so you can get it back in time, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. You'll have to spend about 2 days for the trip and unloading your haul, yes that's a hassle, but it sure is better then an entire heating season fighting with the stove (especially if it's a hand-fired) trying to burn sub-standard coal.

If I had taken all the time/energy/money I spent going to all the coal dealers who are "local" to me trying to get decent coal I could have easily made that trip to Superior last year.

The proof is in the burning. I was thinking that if I had gotten hold of a sample of Superior, say enough to get 2 days burn, I would have switched long ago.

Maybe we converts need to make up a coal sample pack!

LsFarm wrote:Can you store bulk coal?? Or want to bag a few tons yourself?? I know it is a hike to the breakers, but you can get some of the best coal around from a breaker that will allow you to bagg on the site, as long as you stay out of the way of the other traffic..

The next coal run I make, I'm going to take my tri-axle trailer, and 7-8 of the one ton 'bulk sacks' available on Ebay. I will be able to move the baggs with my tractor/loader, and store them out of the sun, I think you have a tractor, can you keep a tarp over the bulk sacks to keep the sun from ruining the bag??? Coal at the breaker is $140/ton... The bulk sacks are $10.25 each if you buy 4 at a time...just got my second 4 via fedex yesterday. $41 shipped.

Take care,, Greg L

.

are these the bags your using?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bulk-Bag-Builders-G ... dZViewItem


iv'e been thinking about getting some of these.
i can haul 10k on my construction trailier but only 6k in my dump trailer.
i'd like to bring back as much as i can and the bags look like a good way to transport it on the construction trailer.

once back i'll use the fork truck and the bottom spout to fill the dump trailer making it easy to put it in the cellar.

we run down twice a year with the sportbikes already, so from now on i'll be bringing back some black gold.

let me know
thanks
jim

Yep, those are the bags I have.. they hold about a ton each.. the material doesn't like suniight, but if kept covered or indoors, they should last a while.

Greg L

so i have been using Blaschak all winter. 100 degree diff is pretty big. i have a chance to get Sherman or Superior for next winter. i'll have to find out which it is.

ken wrote:so i have been using Blaschak all winter. 100 degree diff is pretty big. i have a chance to get Sherman or Superior for next winter. i'll have to find out which it is.

Remember draft and air feed, type of grates, size of coal are all factors that will influence the temp and completion of the burn .
100℉ is a tad more than body temp so one might not notice it much .

But driving all over trying to find THE BEST is part of the fun !

coalstoves wrote:

ken wrote:so i have been using Blaschak all winter. 100 degree diff is pretty big. i have a chance to get Sherman or Superior for next winter. i'll have to find out which it is.

Remember draft and air feed, type of grates, size of coal are all factors that will influence the temp and completion of the burn .
100℉ is a tad more than body temp so one might not notice it much .

But driving all over trying to find THE BEST is part of the fun !

That's pretty lame CS... these people are making back to back comparisons, and are measuring a 100* difference, regardless of air settings.. It sounds like Blaschak simply has fewer BTUs than the other coals they were/are burning. Doesn't make it bad coal... just not high btu. OR worth paying the high price for.

The difference between a 400* stove and a 500* stove is definitely noticable.

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:That's pretty lame CS... these people are making back to back comparisons, and are measuring a 100* difference, regardless of air settings.. It sounds like Blaschak simply has fewer BTUs than the other coals they were/are burning. Doesn't make it bad coal... just not high btu. OR worth paying the high price for.

The difference between a 400* stove and a 500* stove is definitely noticable.

Greg L

I know and two days from now two other guys will say how hot it burns then two more won't like Reading two will and so on and so on, it's that age old coal thing again, but like I said at least were havin fun .

Hella I've been burnin Blaschak all season without a hitch and I'd still like to go and try some from some other place cause I feel I'm missing out on something.
The problem is it takes forever to get rid of a ton of Blaschak and I only got to go fer a ton a coal twice all season.
The worst part is in about 4 weeks I'll be idling the stove down and it looks like theres still about a ½ ton left yet .

So I guess I will just have to wait till next year and see who's still in business and where they are getting coal from.

The guys that claim that the Blaschak burns longer and just as hot must not have a barometric damper. That is the only way I can explain the claims, it doesn't burn as hot so there is less loss up the stack, I noticed the baro hangs more closed because of a lower stack temp. I asked my gf if she noticed any difference in the new coal, no change in the thermostat, and she said it's not as hot. It's obvious standing in front of the boiler with the door open, with Blas. coal you can stand in front of it no problem and look in. With the other coal it will burn your face if you get too close. Like I said it's not bad coal, I just expected more heat due to the higher price. COKE vs Pepsi I guess.

I have gone thru 9 - 50# bags of Blaschak in my keystoker in the past 3 weeks, mostly idling and burning a bit at night, it seems to burn up a little better, less coal cakes and whiter/grey ash, the other stuff I have been burning was much redder/brown in color. Really didn't see much difference in temperatures, about the same. Idle around 130 and burning around 190-200 on the exhaust...just my 2 cents

I burn nut in a hand fired stove, and i went from 500* with 1 3/4 turn on the draft knobe to 400* and 2 turns on the draft knob. That was with out side temp in the 20's. I have a temperature gauge mounted on the side of the stove with a probe that sticks 2" in to the fire box. The ash seemed to be higher the i expected, i didn't figer it out but a guess would be 12% maybe. I may have just got a bad couple of bags, this is just my 2 cent's

Well... I think the key here is the when/where. I've mentioned that I've purchased my coal from Hudson because they always had a decent product. However... on occasion I have taken few loads that didn't meet my standards. But being in business and the phone is ringing off the hook there really isn't much you can do about that. Then on the other hand there were days that the coal coming out of their was hovering around 6% ash and was so glass like you could litterally shatter apiece and get sharp enough shards to sahve with.. I kid you not.

Having said that when you're dealing with these large oprations they are getting there coal from a variety of sources and each source may be producing a good or bad run on any given day. e.g if they are mining in area with big thick seam and its easy to separate the the large chuncks of rocks from the coal they are going to be having a good run. This i turn affects what is being processed on daily basis at the breaker, add into the mix they may or may not have the breaker tuned perfectly for what is going through and in the end all you're doing is playing the slots machines. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. That is probably not the best analogy because if you're dealing with a reputable company "losing" is proabably not quite the correct term, but you're certainly not getting the payout you could of received the day before.

I have been burning Reading nut coal in a hand feed for 2 seasons. I had 5 bags of Kimmel on the bottom and recently got down to them. They were much more consistant in size, smaller in size, and burned much hotter and had fewer clinkers. That prompted my search online that came up with this forum. I have to say that I have learned more here in 2 days then all of the last 5 years. I currently use a MEMCo MW 100 wood/coal boiler made in the 70's. I am looking for it's replacement.