So I was very happy with my Lehigh coal, but I had to explore other options since my dump truck blew a head gasket and is only running on 6 cyls.
The closest breaker I can get to from Tower City without going over a mountain is RR Coal in Lykens. I had not bought from them since late 2014 when I got a load of pea size coal, which at the time, the scalehouse operator said was from Jeddo....
Last saturday I arrived at RR just before 7am with the 'ole GMC dump. I talked to the lady in the scalehouse, and it turns out that Kimmel's coal and packaging bought out the RR breaker operation. She said their coal us coming out of Branchdale.
They loaded just shy of 2 tons on my truck. Later in the day I loaded it into my coal bin.
This is my first year using a barometric damper on the kozy-king. I used pea coal to get by with an intensely drafting interior chimney for the past 2 seasons, but this year I used a baro to let me use the nut coal recommended by DS Machine.
I soon found that this coal's burning characteristics are far different than the Lehigh I have been burning to date this season!
I had one heck of a time keeping the fire in check during the warm spell we had recently. This coal needs WAY less air than Lehigh. I ended up adjusting the baro danper so that it runs wide open nearly all the time. I also dialed back the idle air control on the stove's blower motor. After playing with it for a few days, I think I have it figured out, but it concerns me that might not be able to damp back the fire during the shoulder seasons.
So basically here is the rundown -
Needs WAY less air than Lehigh
More volatile content
Dark red ash coal
Seems to be less ash overall than lehigh
More fines than lehigh, but less dust
Still waiting to see how it compares with clinkers to lehigh.
I am still trying to decide if I should get another load, or wait until my engine is fixed, and make another run to Tamaqua!
Here are a few pics of the coal:
Note the Murphy's Stoudt for comparison size
Kimmel's Bulk - Old RR Coal in Lykens, PA
- Rob R.
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- Location: Chazy, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
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I have gotten TT loads from Kimmels and had similar results. Easy to light, and easy to keep a low fire if you have good air control. As expected, coal from the Western part of the field has more volatile content...and lots of btus.
I really liked their rice coal in my EFM, but the Keystoker guys hated the clinkers.
I really liked their rice coal in my EFM, but the Keystoker guys hated the clinkers.
Now that the weather has turned colder, this coal seems to be holding its own, its keeping the house nice and toasty. It didn't make many klinkers when burning low, but I picked something about the size of 2 softballs out of it today.