Blaschak Coal

Fred, Now that's what nut size is supposed to look like. The Blaschack I got the past 3 years was not like that. It looked like a mix of nut and pea coal. It wasn;t just bulk either, it was in the bagged stuff too. Maybe they got the message and it's back to good. That must be this years coal I'd bet. You never know up here if your getting the latest stuff or it's whatever's been in the yard not that it makes any difference besides being sized right.

looks good Fred! looks just like the less than six tons now thats in our coal bin

Poconoeagle wrote:looks good Fred! looks just like the less than six tons now thats in our coal bin

Nice! I have just under 6 tons of stove/nut mix in the bin but two of it is that smaller nut. I wish now that I had got all 6 stove. If the nut had been like you and Fred's load, It would have been a perfect mix. Mine seems to have allot of pea sized in it. It'll burn, no worries about that. Next year i think I'll just have a look at the nut size first before I order.

SteveZee wrote:Mine seems to have allot of pea sized in it. It'll burn, no worries about that.

You Glenwood guys are always saying the stoves are infinitely adjustable and can burn anything...so get to it.

Rob R. wrote:

SteveZee wrote:Mine seems to have allot of pea sized in it. It'll burn, no worries about that.

You Glenwood guys are always saying the stoves are infinitely adjustable and can burn anything...so get to it.

No worries B, It's going into stoves. I just need something to bitch about.

Here is what Steve Zee and I are bitching about, I used the lighter so you can compare with Fred's pictures. Yes it burns ok but my settings are all differant this year. Yesterday I did my 12hr and turned the stove down some to a setting that should have kept the stove at 225* and went hunting but when my wife got home at 4pm the CO detector was going off and the readout said 274, so she turned the stove up opened all the doors and windows and turned on the fans and left for an hour. Guess I'll need to be a little more careful this winter till this so called nut is gone. I will go down and check Poso's pile next year before I order.

fastcat wrote:Here is what Steve Zee and I are bitching about, I used the lighter so you can compare with Fred's pictures. Yes it burns ok but my settings are all differant this year. Yesterday I did my 12hr and turned the stove down some to a setting that should have kept the stove at 225* and went hunting but when my wife got home at 4pm the CO detector was going off and the readout said 274, so she turned the stove up opened all the doors and windows and turned on the fans and left for an hour. Guess I'll need to be a little more careful this winter till this so called nut is gone. I will go down and check Poso's pile next year before I order.

Hey im still very green behind the ears but i would say you more than a coal size problem if your hitten those high CO readings. I would do some snoopin on your stove/chimney.

No everything is fine, yesterdays temp was 51 in the afternoon and no breeze at all so the stove just smothered it self down to 100* and lost the draft by the time she got home. Ran fine once she turned the air up and last night 27* outside and is running fine today 52* outside with a little more air going in. Stove temp has been 250 all day so far.

This thread is no longer real fresh but I'll add my experience with Blaschak bagged nut here in Berks county, Pa.
Been buying it from a hardware store near Fleetwood, Pa., for about the last 5 -6 years.
The bagged nut until Fall, 2011 was a lot closer to pea size with a few larger pieces and some barley sized and fines. Very wet. White to pink ash.
Worked ok in a Warm Morning 500 and before that, a small very old cannon heater. Now have a Ds 1400. The fines and small sizing occasionally gave me some trouble. Usually paid about $5.50 a bag in heating season and $ 4.50 in Spring to Summer. 40 lb. bags.
The Blaschak nut I started getting in early Fall of 2011 was a lot different, A lot of stove size and nut mixed. Still fairly low ash. Seemed a little lower heat ouput to me. $ 6.00 a bag, in bulk, $ 7.00 in small quantities.
This year ( starting late summer) I was sold obviously old stock with stained and dirty bags and water running out of all the bags. Likely stored outside and was the older undersized stuff. Next 2 pickup loads this year were the newer stuff. Burns well. The Stove/nut mix with a little bit of smaller stuff seems about right.
I have a source of bagged Reading that I have tried a couple time. I know they had some complaints and bought a lot of it 2 or 3 years ago. The nut runs mostly stove size with plenty of fines and very wet. They sell 50 lb. bags for $6.25. Likely have a quantity discount.
That Reading coal is white/low ash but doesn't have the heat output of the Blashak.
Hope to have some sort of coal bin or storage set up next year and start bulk deliveries.
Been lurking here for a couple years and thank all for a great sorce of coal burning informaton and wisdom.
hank2

I burned blaschak all last year and was very happy with it. My mom's boyfriend family has a small coal distribution business and they sell reading. He talked me into givin it a try. I just got rid of the last "try" so i was a little leary. Anywho, my draft knob is just cracked open and im burnin 16 hrs + with a 72 degree house at an average outside temp of 29-30. I like blaschak but i was struggling to keep 72 for 14 hrs. Now this is bulk not bagged doubt thier is much difference. Had almost no fines in the reading, it was last season with blaschak so i cant tell you if i had alot of fines or not. I dont think i did but its questionable.

Whatever's working real well at the time is the best damn coal made.

SteveZee wrote:Fred, Now that's what nut size is supposed to look like. The Blaschack I got the past 3 years was not like that. It looked like a mix of nut and pea coal. It wasn;t just bulk either, it was in the bagged stuff too. Maybe they got the message and it's back to good. That must be this years coal I'd bet. You never know up here if your getting the latest stuff or it's whatever's been in the yard not that it makes any difference besides being sized right.

I just unloaded a ton of Blaschak nut loaded on Sat at the breaker. It hasn't changed. 50% Nut, 50% Pea

Well now I know I'm not crazy anyhow.

get it hauled loose and let the water drain out of it.

I checked some of my pallets of coal stored outside (U.P. of Michigan) and under tarps. None of the bags on top seemed to be frozen. Then again, I have about 300 bags of nut and stove coal stored in my ginormous basement where my furnace is, so I figure I've got a couple of years to worry about THOSE bags freezing because of moisture content!