Should i pay for the coal

An individual i met at a party, during a conversation stated he had rice coal
in his fathers old house about two tons. my Problem is i have to get it
out of his basement and with 5 gallon spackle buckets. approx. 50 of them @ 40lbs each, and
trailer back. my question is what is the coal worth if anything. it kind of like dirt
it's typically free but have to pay for trucking. what do guy's think

If I could do stairs (wheelchair makes it tough, unless you are going down!!) I would give him a $100 a ton, given the work required, but I would look at it as a workout. When I get my coal I will move it from my truck to my house on my lap one bag at a time, 60 times for the first load. I could pay someone, but that would defeat the burning of coal to begin with. Instead I try to look at it as a really hard workout. We'll see how I feel for the second load in a month or so.

John

Offer to take it out for free.
If he says no your out nothing.
But if you have to buy it ,a ton in our area is going for $275 bulk.
Maybe you should offer a little for it and save a lot for a little leg work up and down the stairs 50 times

That's a lot of work but definitely worth it even to pay for it. I don't know what to suggest for value and that depends on what the market value is where you live. If you have a real long haul through the cellar if there is a window present in the bin check to see if it is high enough to slide the bucket through it.

Does he want you to take it? If so free. If not, how much is your time worth? Myself I wouldn't pay much for it.

Last spring I paid 250 for about 4 tons of pea coal here in upstate New York. I lugged it up cellar stairs two five gallon pales at a time and dumped it into my brother and laws dump truck. After about 3 trips up the stairs i called my brother who also burns coal to see if he wanted in on the deal. He declined and I did it all myself. It was a workout. But with coal going for 300 a ton at my dealer it was a no brainer for me. I plan on running my harmon boiler low for hot water purposes and burning the pea coal in either a harman 150 or a gibraltar cfs. That is the third time i have hauled coal out of cellar, twice paying for it. i would and will do it again. You may try offering him a little less for the coal because its not doing him any good and most potential buyers will be scoff at the idea of carrying coal up stairs. The way i look at it the money saved can buy alot of food and Christmas presents for my five kids.

maurizziot wrote:An individual i met at a party, during a conversation stated he had rice coal
in his fathers old house about two tons. my Problem is i have to get it
out of his basement and with 5 gallon spackle buckets. approx. 50 of them @ 40lbs each, and
trailer back. my question is what is the coal worth if anything. it kind of like dirt
it's typically free but have to pay for trucking. what do guy's think

I would go over ther and get a few buckets of it and try it first if it burns good go for it but if it is crap leave it
there for the next guy There is nothing like going threw all of that work been there dunn it more then once
and find out it is crap coal test first then decide And if you are using the shorter 3.5 gal spackle buckets it will be 66.66
buckets for one ton so x two 133.33 buckets you will get 30lbs in them short buckets filled to the top Eat a good breakfast good luck

Good point Coal Berner, if it's crap suggest you'll remove it for a fee.

I paid $100 to the Ecuadorean brothers and they pulled 2 tons out of a cellar and put it on my truck in 40 minutes with 5 gallon pails.

I think that if he wanted to get paid for it, he would have asked what the going rate is per ton and suggested a price. Sounds to me like he just wants to get rid of it. I would offer him something, though. Better yet, ask. Nothing would suck more than to hump it all out and then have the guy present you with a proverbial bill. If he wants nothing, take him a case of beer ... and then drink it while you're loading.

maurizziot wrote:An individual i met at a party, during a conversation stated he had rice coal
in his fathers old house about two tons. my Problem is i have to get it
out of his basement and with 5 gallon spackle buckets. approx. 50 of them @ 40lbs each, and
trailer back. my question is what is the coal worth if anything. it kind of like dirt
it's typically free but have to pay for trucking. what do guy's think

Unless I am doing my math wrong, you are looking at 100 5-gallon buckets @ 40 pounds each to get 2 tons of coal home. A ton is 2000 pounds, and you say he has about 2 tons. Fifty buckets would only be 2000 pounds or 1 ton. The only reason I am focused on this is because I have about 9 tons of coal, and most of it was brought here in 5 gallon buckets. I have 158 5-gallon buckets full of coal in my basement next to my Warm Morning, and that is a little over 3 tons. I think you should try and get the coal for free. Most people in this situation just want the coal out of their home. It is a lot of work, but it feels good. Just take your time!

Ask him! One question and you have the answer. "Is there a price on the coal, or are you giving it away?".

When we first moved to this house 13 years ago the coal bin had approx. a ton of nut coal in it. I paid my friends brother $50 to bucket it out of the basement and clean the bin so I could use it for a storage area. He was happy to get the coal and the $50 was a bonus. I was happy to get it out of here since I didn't need or want it at the time.
Oh....by the way...I just ordered 4 ton of nut to be chuted into that same bin because I'm getting a FP coal insert....irony is a bi!#ch!!!!

Freddy wrote:Ask him! One question and you have the answer. "Is there a price on the coal, or are you giving it away?".

I agree Freddy.....Why beat around the bush?? (try a few buckets first ...It may be junk)

I LIVE IN THE SYRACUSE AREA IS MIDDLETOWN CLOSE? IF IT IS I WILL TAKE IT FOR FREE