storing coal in 55gal barrels.....anyone..help

i need a place to keep my rice coal instead of building a bin i was thinking of using 55gal barrels. they are weather proof and i would be able to move em around if i needed to. plus it would make it earser for me to go get the coal as well....my question is how many 55 gal barrels do yall think it would take to hold 1 ton of rice coal.....?????

About 5, tht will leave a little roome in each one but not much.

I would suggest storing it in plastic woven poly bags. I was going to post with some pictures when I finish my current project doing this. It works quite well and the size I am using (19" x 36") hold 65 to 70 pounds a bag which is easy to move.

I takes me about one hour to fill the bags for a ton. I have filled quite a few at this point and they stack really well. For me, one ton stacked to 6 Feet high takes up 2Ft x 4FT of floor space.

The bags should run you about $.50 each and I use the 8" plastic ties from Home Depot to tie them shut. The woven poly bags are extremely strong, I have not had one break or split at all yet.

That way you can stack them inside where you have room and it doesn't leave a mess when you move them. Sunlight would destroy them over time though.

Good luck!

55 gallon barrels would be awfuly heavy. If you had a good way of moving them around I think its a good idea. The only thing would be getting to the bottom of the barrels. Bags are also a good idea. When I bought coal I used the woven poly bags. I think 1 bag was 70 and the other was 80 pounds. They are very tough.

i like the idea of the bags better than the barrels.....thanks......now where can i get these bags?....

I have a few customers that use barrels, for me it's actually quite easy to fill as the chute is high enough on the back of the truck. Just tip it up and dump it in.

As far as getting to the bottom that could be a problem but you could flip it over on it's side once you get it half empty. They aren't hard to move, you just tilt them a little and roll it on the bottom edge to where you want.

The bag method sounds, expensive and like a lot or work.

I would suggest you use plastic 55 gallon drums since these will never rust out. You can use a folding army shovel to reach the bottom until it gets low enough to be tipped over. Our local barrel dealer charges about 6 bucks for one. I salvaged all of mine out of the river. They are used for boat docks and I get the ones that float away.

Just my 2 cents on this topic. I would suggest if you are using barrels, to drill holes in the bottom to allow the water to drain out. I assume you will be storing these outside, you don't want the water to lay in there and freeze up on you.

I use to use metal 55 gallon drums. They hold exactly 11 - 5 gallon buckets. And I'm talking good full buckets. The barrells will weigh 440 pounds. I never had any problems. When it starts to get hard to reach , just tip the barrell over on it's side. Also never had a barrell rust through. I now use a gravity wagon. It's hard to beat the gravity wagon.

I cleaned out someone's cellar coal bin this Fall and I'm storing it in those blue 55-gallon plastic barrels. I think it will work out just fine. They are under my porch to keep the bulk of the snow off and they are also covered with some sheets of corrugated metal to keep the water out so the coal doesn't freeze.

well i am still stoveless so there is no storing coal for me yet. the deal i had going for me fell thru. and i really dont have the money for brand new...but when it comes time i am going to use the barrels that is what will work best for me.....