New Coal Chute Door?

Looking into putting my boiler in the basement and have not had much luck finding a coal chute that I can put in the wall to access my bin. Anyone have any leads?

Here is a door on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-Coal-Chute-Door-/222202493080?hash=item33bc4cf898:g:XF4AAOSwubRXOPbY

Is there anyone out there making new doors? I am adding a new addition with a 9' basement and want everything to look good/new. I guess there is not enough of us burning coal for someone to sell enough to justify building them?

I used a 12"x12" stainless steel chimney clean out door.

In the basement!! Whose crazy idea was that?

Olllotj wrote:In the basement!! Whose crazy idea was that?

Hey I listen! Just could not do it last year during season. I am building a living room addition to the house 20x20 with a 9' basement. That will be my "boiler room"! I will be able to have 3 zones instead of a single loop trying to do everything plus as just about every member here told me last winter, all that heat off the boiler will be in the house! Really looking forward to heating this season, headed to PA to pick up 10 ton of bulk next Friday! Just need to come up with something to get this stuff in that basement.

Hey Welcome back Swyman!!!! You pulled the trigger on that addition and the the bulk purchase. Good for you. Where did you plan on storing 10 tons of coal? A coal chute door is a possibility but you may want to consider just putting in a window where you want to dump the coal in at. I had a house with an 8 ton bunker (just a room in the basement) that had a window. Nice part was it looked like it was supposed to be there and during the summer I could open it and get good air flow.

May want to consider just putting in a window.

blrman07 wrote:Hey Welcome back Swyman!!!! You pulled the trigger on that addition and the the bulk purchase. Good for you. Where did you plan on storing 10 tons of coal? A coal chute door is a possibility but you may want to consider just putting in a window where you want to dump the coal in at. I had a house with an 8 ton bunker (just a room in the basement) that had a window. Nice part was it looked like it was supposed to be there and during the summer I could open it and get good air flow.

May want to consider just putting in a window.

Hey Larry, hope all is well! Waiting on bid to come back so I can go to the bank and then it's on! Very excited to be able to do this the most efficient way. The basement will be 20'x20'x9' so I should have plenty to work with. Planning on doing a 10' long x 8' wide x 6' high so if my math is correct I should have enough storage for around 12 ton? A window will probably be my best option, not having much luck with a chute. Thought about fabricating something up but a window should be the simplest. Headed to Tamaqua Friday to pick up whatever 10 225 gallon IBC totes will yield, should be a little over 10 ton. Should be the ultimate test for my pickup! Hope you're willing to give some setup advice when the time comes, will be like a new installation!
Talk to ya soon, Shane

Here is a pic of the coal chute I made for my basement window, it works very well.

Rich

coalvet, I like it. I will need something a little longer. Not sure exactly the way I'm going to do it yet because I'm picking the coal up in IBC totes. If the stuff is really wet I may just dump all the totes out on the cement under my lean to so it can dry out. Then I would use my Bobcat and carry it over to the basement and dump it bucket by bucket and it's 80" wide. Even thought about making a screw conveyor that would go through the window as a means of conveying it in? I was going to make a sliding door on the bottom of each tote but have run out of time so I'm just going to have to wing it this season. Also may make a divider in the storage bin because I am going to get 5 totes of rice and 5 totes of buck. Want to try the buck and see how it works?

do you have forks for your bobcat? maybe you can pick up the totes one by one, secure them to the shield of the forks with a strap, and dump the tote into the chute? instead of making a door on the bottom of the tote..

then instead of making the chute wide enough for the 80" bucket, it would only have to be wide enough for the top of the tote, so 4' wide roughly?

idk how the yard is setup where you are putting the addition, is the ground sloped away from the foundation? could you instead put in a walk in basement? so that you can put say a french door in or small garage door? so that you can actually just drive the bobcat up to the door with the IBC tote and put the tote inside next to the boiler? and make up a auger system to feed the hopper?

idk what your landscape is or your budget and this might be way out in left field, but would be the easiest setup I would think, that way also it will be easy to install the boiler also.

Handling the coal in IBC's is going to be a lot of work unless you put some sort of door on them and can move them around with a skidsteer. You seem to be a creative fellow, so let us know what you come up with.

hotblast1357 wrote:do you have forks for your bobcat? maybe you can pick up the totes one by one, secure them to the shield of the forks with a strap, and dump the tote into the chute? instead of making a door on the bottom of the tote..

then instead of making the chute wide enough for the 80" bucket, it would only have to be wide enough for the top of the tote, so 4' wide roughly?

This is a good idea, if you can do it. You want to move the coal as little as possible. The more times the coal is moved, the more fines are created.

I wouldn't dump it out in the lean-to to dry, you will want it nice and wet when you dump it into the basement. 10 tons of dry coal going into your new basement will make a big black coal dust cloud.

You will love having the boiler and all the coal in the basement. Then all you will need is an auger or a coal vac setup to fill the hopper and you will be on easy street!

-Don

Things took a dramatic turn today, got the official quote from the builder......$42,050 which didn't include rough/finish electric, carpet, or interior trim. My budget is/was $25k and could stretch $30k but needless to say I am beside myself. I am going to have to get a couple more quotes but this is devastating. Nothing fancy, 20x20 with a basement (3 walls). Said basement ( 9'poured wall) was $9k, okay can live with that but single story, no fancy ceilings??? GRRRRRRR