First Breaker Pickup

 
Bonehead
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Post by Bonehead » Thu. Mar. 06, 2008 10:32 pm

MANY thanks to coalberner for taking the time to relay the wherabouts of a few breakers to a novice! His willingness to help in many ways is second to none! THANK YOU! :D

We made our first pickup at a breaker today! We decided on Superior for this trip. Roger at Superior was very friendly and patient answering my many questions. It was an interesting and educational experience.
I hired a hauler with a tri-axle and had every intention of bringing home 20 ton of nut. However, a tri-axle can't hold 20 ton due to capacity, not weight. As you can see in the photos, Roger squeezed in as much as possible. Full is full! In this case, full = 17.85 tons.


 
Bonehead
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Post by Bonehead » Thu. Mar. 06, 2008 10:39 pm

A few more shots...

17.85 tons
$137.00 /ton

Attachments

Roger.jpg

The main man making it happen!

.JPG | 203.3KB | Roger.jpg
Roger 1.jpg

Make it FULL!

.JPG | 291.7KB | Roger 1.jpg
Drain.jpg

Draining off the excess water.

.JPG | 276.3KB | Drain.jpg
Scale.jpg

Weighing full.

.JPG | 313.5KB | Scale.jpg

 
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jeromemsn
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Post by jeromemsn » Thu. Mar. 06, 2008 11:06 pm

Your going to love that coal. Coalberner also has taken me there and I found it burned very well in my Harman. It burned so good I had to turn back the dial a quarter turn and the burn time was amazing, one load burned for 24 hours then a good shake and reload and didn't touch it again for another 24 hours. I still have about 500lbs left of the last load. I have been shut down since the 1st we were so warm had the front door open on the 29th and the wife said thats enough of that shut her down, lol. Welcome to the forum!

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. Mar. 06, 2008 11:41 pm

Bonehead wrote: However, a tri-axle can't hold 20 ton due to capacity, not weight.
It can. ;) The tri-axles use by the coal comapnies generally have higher sides.

 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 6:14 am

That place looks awfully familiar!

The Superior coal burns great, you'll like it.

 
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Charlie Z
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Post by Charlie Z » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 8:11 am

Bloody 'ell! Leave some for us! (That's a Homer Simpson load!) "Yea honey, we don't have to buy coal for 6 years..."

We've just run out of coal and we're trying to burn wood (which we have a lot of) for the rest of the season. Just so you remember, in direct comparison, wood is really messy, it roars up past redline in about 30 seconds (and drops out just as quickly), you carry it here and drop it there a couple times a week and it won't let me sleep through the night.

Other than that, it's great.

 
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Adamiscold
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Post by Adamiscold » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 8:30 am

Hey Bonehead, thanks for sharing and the pictures. Seems like buying a whole truck load is the way to go in order to get the most bang for your money. Seems weird having coal delivered to your house and paying for the cost of fuel and delivery twice :roll:


 
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Sting
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Post by Sting » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 10:31 am

That recollection made me think-

My father plowed snow in the winter for the gas station owner nearby – some old army heavy truck with half a boiler on the front for a blade. But that fellow also kept an old B Mack tractor with a huge drag winch behind the cab and it was rigged with a pole for heavy recovery in the area.(hence my love for old Mack’s) Father would “borrow” the B and hooked to an old pup dumper, sometimes I was allowed to bounce along down to the C Reiss Coal yards on the banks of the Sheboygan river. From under the seat he produced a small brown bag that looked like it had something shaped like heavy bottle in it - and he would hand it to the guy with two green teeth at the guard shack. The fellow always had a big smile for dad and waved us on. At the loading ramp he would go inside and chat with my "uncle". I scrambled behind that big green steering wheel - found granny gear and pulled the old B under the bin - got the load – and floundered back to the shack. All the “old guys” baby-sat me thru. Father took charge from there and would grind gears till we got home and the load was in his basement bins.

It was grand to have friends in low places.

The coal yard closed in the late 60’s – today its hi end condos overlooking the harbor. But it closed because it was made obsolete by modern fuel distribution methods. The year before the yard closed - I recall watching men totally rebuild dads’ boilers and feed system. Grandma would say – “its good for another 20 years”
The next year the gas company offered to install; at no charge, a 3 inch non-interruptible main line right into the boiler room.

The family never looked back on the unrecoverable ROI of boiler repairs the previous season. The fault tolerance of NG – the clean operation – the offset of all that manual labor was worth far more than the saving burning coal even figuring having to truck it from (then the closest port) Milwaukee

Now today I look back at that and wonder if once again I can burn coal and keep my little 'money pit" warm enough so my significant other will stop serving cold shoulder and hot tong. When I installed the used corn boiler I thought I had the answer 0 ethanol killed me - When I switched to pellets this fall I thought I had the answer - devalued dollar and ethanol will do the same. Now I wonder about if I will relive another mistake with coal if I convert baby boiler to coal or buy a new Harman and do it right. I have always hated chunk wood drama - but thats the other lucid choice - today....

 
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Yanche
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Post by Yanche » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 10:37 am

Does the truck have an aluminum or steel body? Did you get a volume discount? The quoted price from Superior this season was always $140 a ton.

 
Bonehead
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Post by Bonehead » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 9:52 pm

Thanks for the kind words guys. :)

Didn't know that about coal tri-axles! The guy driving the one I hired clued me in to many things about hauling. Down here (Lebanon, Reading, Lancaster) it's all rock and dirt. He said they stick with shorter beds to help prevent overloading (weight). We saw a few of those longer bodies for coal hauling. They would get busted for overweight down here, unless you're hauling grain or corn.

It was an aluminum body.

Nah, I can probably make this a three year supply, maybe four if we continue with mild winters. (I also burn pellets)
I figured it was more economical to make one run and fill the truck. For me in this specific case, I paid $187.50 for the trucking fee. $75/hour man & truck. That makes my my total cost = $147.50 per ton, delivered. (17.85 ton)

Had I bought only what I may use in one year, I would have lost $187.50 two or possibly three more times. The money laid out and tied up (working capital) for the extra tonnage is offset by price increases and lack of hauling charges on subsequent trips. Storage is of no concern, and the product doesn't go bad. Plus, the extra is here if it gets really cold in 2009 or 2010.

Yes, he quoted me $140 per ton as well. They offer a volume discount of $137 per ton. I don't know what the cutoff is for small/large load. Evidently 17 ton+ counts as large load. No further discount for paying cash. No credit cards accepted.

I had a great time and learned a lot. It's beautiful country there too.

 
OILEYMAN8
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Post by OILEYMAN8 » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 9:59 pm

most tri-axels can haul 22 to 23 ton if their g.v.w. is 80,000 lbs . with a aluminum body

 
Bonehead
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Post by Bonehead » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 10:02 pm

Yep, he told me his max was 24 ton.
Also from what he said, getting caught overweight was quite costly. I gathered from his explaination that it is not a very enjoyable experience! :lol:

 
OILEYMAN8
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Post by OILEYMAN8 » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 10:11 pm

yes you do not want to pay the fine for being overweight it can become costly

 
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Razzler
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Post by Razzler » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 10:14 pm

In Pa the G.V.W. on a tri axel is 73,280 most can haul 22 to 24 ton legally. ;)

 
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Sting
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Post by Sting » Fri. Mar. 07, 2008 10:46 pm

Bonehead wrote:Nah, I can probably make this a three year supply, maybe four if we continue with mild winters. (I also burn pellets)
Do you mix pellets and coal??? Or just burn one or the other in the same stoker - depending on weather??


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