Coal Size?

What in your opinions sizes are these two pieces of coal?. This is the inconsistencies im finding with Reading bagged. "Entire bags of each, sometimes a mix. Some times a lot bigger than that bigger piece in the pic. What size would you call each of these?

ahhh...pea-nut on a serious note the bag Reading 'nut I was burning was on average small and full of fines.

The bigger one would be on the larger side of nut, anything bigger and you start getting into stove size pieces which usually has a premium price. The smaller one is pea. You are going to find pea in the nut but it shouldn't be excessive. If it's more like a 50/50 mix it would be "range" which is pea and nut mixed. Fairly popular when I was delivering after people tried it.

What size is it supposed to be?

I have just finished bringing 1 ton of bagged Reading into my basement. Have purchased 4 ton. Have not started burning coal yet; as wood parlor stove does ok in shoulder seasons upstairs. However after handling 50 bags I am suspect of a lot of fines. I am on schedule to fire up the Harman on Saturday. Will keep you posted.
Jim

Its supposed to be nut. I get whole bags of each, sometimes 50/50 and quite a few almost twice as big as that bigger piece in the pic the entire bag! Fines too but not as bad as last year.

So I'm guessing Reading isn't the preferred choice, in a hopper fed stove? I don't imagine it would be an issue in a BB.

michaelanthony wrote:ahhh...pea-nut on a serious note the bag Reading 'nut I was burning was on average small and full of fines.

LMAO!! You may have invented a new size coal!

joeq wrote:So I'm guessing Reading isn't the preferred choice, in a hopper fed stove? I don't imagine it would be an issue in a BB.

It ok, just hard to get a consistent feel for the stove/fire due to all the size variations. Rich is right, the 50/50 mix bags burn quite nice!

Stoker6268 wrote: Rich is right, the 50/50 mix bags burn quite nice!

Some people find the nut has too much draft and the pea not enough...

Some dealers don't offer it and many customers aren't aware you can do that. I'd just estimate and fill the box half an half. It would mix nicely as it went out of the truck. Both were the same price so it really didn't matter if you had a little more or less of one.

one on left is nut, right a large pea. I burn bulk nut, and size ranges from small stove to large pea in any given load. it all burns fine in the Harman SF260 hand fed boiler. what I don't care for are smaller sub pea size. it chokes airflow too much, but it does burn. I will probably get a ton of stove size so if we have another sub 0* spell, like last winter, I can run boileras hot as possible for recovery lag. the larger are small for stove size, the medium ones are good size nut, the smaller ones are larger pes, but too many of them in a mix I don't like, chokes air flow down too much especially when its extremely cold(10* or lower). it all burns well in 20* or so and up. Yet it all does burn in my hand fed unit.

michaelanthony wrote:ahhh...pea-nut .............

Good one , MA ! Both in sizes of coal and laughter !

Paul