Not found a source here in west central Illinois. Heard an Amish guy by Roseville sells coal. I will have to go hunt him up.

Drifter

howdy all:rolleyes:.....how much do you pay for your fuel, and or how much time do you invest in making, ie, charcoal?

and how much do you use in a day if time permits a day(for hobby), and commercial.

just out of interest if its an interesting enough topic for the forum.

here in brisbane, its costs me, $25-$30 a bag for charcoal.
it costs about $100 for a 44 gal drum of coal if they con you to be a member of somewhere or something i got told.
it costs about $25-$30 to fill a 9kg gas bottle.

i use very little gas in the gassy but when the big ones finnished i will pass it on.
i can use up to nearly a bag doing big steel all day.

I live on a wooded lot with lots of dead fall from hardwood (mostly) and not so hard. I look at it this way; I have to clear and burn it anyway, why not doit in a way that I can reclaim it in the form of charcoal. A couple of burns in a 3 ft. (3w X 3d) pit yields 2 1/2 wheelbarrows full of charcoal. So far so good. I haven't tried welding yet, but that is coming.

Jim L.

Aargh. I just paid $29 per 50 lb sack of blacksmithing coal at Lazzari's in South San Francisco. I have to find a less expensive source.

Coke is

This is really dated but I'll post it anyway for comparison...a friend and I bought 5 tons in 1986 (I gave him a ton and kept the rest) - I am still working off that with maybe 1000 lbs left. However, it's fortunate that I started using propane several years ago as that cut my coal usage considerably. Nobody probably wants to hear that it was $35 a ton at the mine back then. We drove to nearest town (Stigler), stayed the night then went to the mine early the next morning and had the coal bagged by lunch, then showered and drove home. With the gas, food and a night's stay on the 2-day round trip to Oklahoma, we got it back here for about $6 per 100 lbs. The prices people are posting here are pretty scary, hope I don't need any for a while.

We buy that same coal at Stigler now for $100 a ton.

I can buy washed,clean stoker coal (small or regular, small is about 1/2" in diameter) from a local mine for $100 a ton, but thats because Im right dead in the middle of coal country.

the local blacksmith club ordered a semi truck load from a coal mine in Oklahoma, I bought 2 tons for 300.

for those who use coke, or would like to , do you have any oil refineries around you? coke is also a byproduct from refining you might be able to get some from them

Hi, I'm in Lancaster, PA. I am working on a really great price on 1 ton of soft pea coal that a homeowner picked up by accident, At this point they just want it out of their garage. Only problem is I don't have anyway of picking it up.

If anyone in the central PA area is interested in getting involved I would be happy to split the load in exchange for your help getting my share back to my shop.

shoot me a note and we can work something out.

Hi, I'm in Lancaster, PA. I am working on a really great price on 1 ton of soft pea coal that a homeowner picked up by accident, At this point they just want it out of their garage. Only problem is I don't have anyway of picking it up.

If anyone in the central PA area is interested in getting involved I would be happy to split the load in exchange for your help getting my share back to my shop.

shoot me a note and we can work something out.

Picked up the coal, paid $100 for about 1 1/4 ton. It was a bit of an adventure as I used a friends old chevy Sportsvan. My only concern now is that it may not be soft coal at all so I am doing my research.

Aargh. I just paid $29 per 50 lb sack of blacksmithing coal at Lazzari's in South San Francisco. I have to find a less expensive source.

I get my coal from Lazzari, too. I get their "fireplace" coal, which is about $15 per 50 lb bag. Only real problem is that coal comes in bowling ball sized lumps they take a couple of hours to bust up. Other than that, it's ok. I figured it cost me about $0.35/lb for coal versus about $0.85/lb for charcoal. I'm sticking with the coal!

Edited January 16, 201016 yr by chrisfrick

Man, do I feel lucky! It used to be when I bought coal it was $6/80 lbs (in Utah - they sell it for hunters during hunting season for campfires). Then I saw an advertisement in Craigslist - One ton of coal for FREE - YOU HAUL!

I couldn't get down there fast enough with my pickup - luckily I was the first responder! I took me about an hour to shovel (by hand) the coal from a plywood bin into my Pickup but now I have 2000+ lbs of clean coal!

Pays to shop at Craiglist!

*IF* it's good coal. We have a smith out here that picked up several tons of free coal only to find it's best for filling muddy spots in the driveway. Most folks giving away coal have no idea on it's worthiness for smithing I have found and you need to check it out *before* going to the trouble of moving it.

Great Lakes Coal, here in Green Bay has marble-size Bituminus coal. They said it was good for blacksmith use. I picked up 200 pounds for $20 a couple weeks ago.
I'm kinda new at this - but it seems to be pretty good coal - it cokes up nice and I haven't found any clinker after two afternoon sessions at the forge.

Jeff

I've got some stuff here, hard but relitively clean, doesn't stick too well when it cokes, and makes a little extra clinker. Heating grade coal, but does fine in the forge. I can consistantly weld with it.

Two pick-up loads for free. "you load it, you can have it". Me and a buddy split the labor and got the whole pile. The two pick-up loads is my half.

Can't beat that price, unless you can find somebody that will deliver free coal.

Finally got around to calling the supplier in St George UT. They don't bag, no biggie I got a truck, and plenty of 55 gallon drums. 100# for $6, $120 a ton. I will have to pick some up this coming week after I get off work, and give it a try.

If some of you guys in CA's central valley, or the bay area want some let me know. I am still making some trips up to Fairfield to get my stuff moved. Running up that way my 3500 Dodge, and 10K trailer are empty, but they could be hauling coal B)

Here in Quebec, Canada I use anthracite which is around 10$ CAD for a 40 lbs bag.(I get free 40 lbs bags if they have some holes in it sometimes...they say that they wont sell it like this so take it free:D)
I can get 100 lbs of bagged blacksmith coal for around 25$ CAD.
Charcoal is 20$ CAD for an 8kg bag.

G'Day, I get my coke from a coke works about an hours drive from home. They currently sell it for AU $255 plus GST (10% tax) per tonne, you can get a truck load, a ute load or even by the bag (fill your own). My ute was playing up last time so I took the family 4x4 and got about 250kgs for about $75

Ian Ross

Wrote this post 8 months ago, picked up some coke last week and it is now $440 a tonne :(

I get my coal from Aubuchons hardware for 9$ per 50lb bag. Its good coal and creates a nice clean fire. The last time i was there the guy told me i could get broken bags at a discount when i come back.

I recently got connected with some Amish folk in the area. I buy 50lb bags from them for $7 a bag. There is also an Amish metal shop not far that sells for $200 a ton.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, I get large lump coal from a feed store for $100 per front-end load. I can't weigh it, but I assume each load is approximately 700#. I normally get two scoops in the pickup.* Some of the large lumps can be broken with a tamper, but I can surround the fire with the large pieces, and they fractionize when hot. They form usable coke as they fractionize.

*A "ute" if you're in Australia.

I get my lump charcoal from walmart 3 20# bags for $20. looking for an cheaper supply