arkie Posted August 29, 2020 Share Posted August 29, 2020 The last coal I bought was about 10 months ago at a strip mine in Oklahoma for approx. $70/ton, bituminous. That has been the price for about the last 3 years. I don't know what the current price is. Our blacksmith organization (BOA in Arkansas in the forum list) sells to members for $8/50# bag, non-members $10/50# bag, you bag it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 How good is it Arkie? I might have to pick up some when I get out that way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 The coal is good to fair. The last batch made quite a bit of clinker, but the price is right. They sell it as bulk, but some folks just load some trash cans, others shovel into a small trailer, others have the loader load up to 5 tons on a tandem trailer. They weigh you going in, and then out for a net weight. I'll send you a PM with all the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Thanks! Shorter drive than Quad-State... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluerooster Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 It's $30 for a 50 pound bag at the farrier supply. Only place local to get any. But at least it's sometimes clean and not too much clinker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 $225/ton in Vinita, Oklahoma. Mines are closed. They now buy coal from mines in Utah. If they happen to have some they haven’t bagged, you can buy it less than a ton at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 D, do you call Sandy at the mine phone number or Phoenix in Vinita? Have you bought and used any of the Utah coal? Is the clinker as bad as the last batch I got from Vinita a little over a year ago...that stuff is horrible for clinker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 I should have noted her name as well as the name of the business. I believe she said something about equipment when she answered. I haven’t gone up yet. The club still has a little of the last load left, but will be needing more soon. I believe Byron told me we use 28 tons per year. My problem is I do not have a truck which will safely haul a ton. My dad’s trucks are out of the question. His motor would blow up and I would never hear the end of it. I’ve hauled a half ton or so in my little Ranger, but a ton would surely have my front wheels off the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 The company you are trying to remember...was it Brakefield Equipment? They were the operator/co-owner/??? of the Vinita mine. The mining company is Phoenix Mining. Jim Brakefield is the guy who I was told was the "owner" but maybe not. I met Jim at the mine one trip and he seemed to be a right nice guy. Very accommodating in giving info on the coal analysis, depth, thickness, etc. The lady who ran the scales and coal sales at the mine crusher was Sandy, a really friendly, hard working lady amongst a bunch of coal miners and truckers. I hope she didn't lose her job. As for the miners, that's a bad deal for them too, if the mines are permanently closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Production in Oklahoma had been falling for the past few years. The bulk of sales has been to coal-fired power plants. Those have largely been replaced by natural gas power plants. I was born in Sallisaw. I went quail hunting with one of my uncles there a few times. The area he hunted most was a reclaimed strip mine. It wasn’t nearly the eyesore people seem to believe it would be. They actually put it back better than it had been before they removed the coal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 I'm seriously considering changing over to 100% charcoal. Anyone know of a charcoal mfg. in northern Arkansas or SW Missouri who will sell bulk charcoal to a guy in a pick'em up truck without a tax ID or business license? I think Steve and I discussed this in another thread, but I'll give it one for the Giffer here on this thread. I could join Saltgrass in OK to get coal, but the meetings are too far to go for me and I don't feel right at all joining the group just to buy coal off of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 If you google coal Fort Smith AR there are 7 suppliers listed there. I haven't contacted any of them because for now I'm set for a while. Farrell Cooper Mining Co. looks promising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 Ok, thanks Randy. I found Farrell-Cooper Mining a couple of days ago, but haven't contacted them yet. Any idea what BOA's coal situation is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 No we haven't heard a thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 6 hours ago, arkie said: <snip> I could join Saltgrass in OK to get coal <snip> You must be hungry. Saltgrass is a chain of steak houses. Saltfork is the word you were looking for. The meetings may be far for you, but the NE Region’s coal pile may be even farther. I am not sure where the coal pile is located in the NE Region, but the SE Region’s pile is in Norman. Basically dead center of the state. I have been wanting to try propane. This is giving me even more reason to make the switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 11 hours ago, arkie said: I'm seriously considering changing over to 100% charcoal. Anyone know of a charcoal mfg. in northern Arkansas or SW Missouri who will sell bulk charcoal to a guy in a pick'em up truck without a tax ID or business license? Even through the restaurant supplier that the hotels I work at use it was still pretty expensive. I think it still worked out to about 40 cents per pound and you had to buy 840 pounds to get that rate. Making it is the way to go in my opinion. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 DHarris, .....yes, I am craving a big steak. I humbly stand corrected...Saltfork it is. Or is that saltpork....now I'm hungry for bacon....you guys are driving me batty!!!! Yeah, I checked the Saltfork website and the coal location(s) is/are still a one day round trip to the closest pile. ************** pnut......gee, I didn't realize the commercial stuff was around 40 cents a pound. I think they get theirs in 20 or 40 pound bags if I read correctly somewhere. I jus' wanna back my old Taco up to the loading dock and fill 'er up with bulk. Charcoal is lighter than coal of course, so a pound of char is quite a bit more volume (that of course burns down faster....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 6 hours ago, arkie said: stuff was around 40 cents a pound. I think they get theirs in 20 or 40 pound bags The price I stated was for 44 twenty pound bags. I've seen cheap bulk charcoal for sale from overseas distributors on Alibaba for good prices but the shipping etc would make it just as or more expensive than buying domestically. I found a place called Custom Wood Products online that sells wholesale but they wanted name, email, phone number etc before you they would quote a price. It's bagged too though. If you decide to check it out I'd be curious to know what their prices look like. Truthfully I doubt they'd be much cheaper than 40 or 50 cents per pound but you never know. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 I went buy and purchased two 33 gallon drums of coal from the SE SCABA pile in Norman this afternoon. 15 cents a pound. $69.30 in total. The pile is not much of a pile anymore. Ball park. How much would it cost to have 25 - 28 tons shipped from Vinita to Norman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 I think the cost would be astronomical. Max would be about 56,000# requiring a minimum of a tandem axle dump truck and driver....we tried that approach for our BOA (Blacksmith Organization of Arkansas) coal supply for each chapter, like Saltfork does...I wish I had saved the amount, since one of our members had called a trucking company for an estimate and it was killed immediately. For a group as large as Saltfork, they could use a gravel transport, what we call "gravel buckets". I imagine Saltfork is scrambling around trying to find a reasonably price alternative, but it ain't gonna be pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Cumberland Elkhorn coal and coke in Louisville has plenty of bituminous coal but the price has gone up. I just checked it's $500/ton. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 And a year or so ago, I was buying my coal for $70/ton.... now, it's outrageous. Coal is getting harder to find, the supply and demand curve is flourishing, but that borders on price gouging. If the coal companies keep raising the prices too much, the curve will dictate that people just won't pay that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 I’m not so sure it would be gouging. With less demand, their fixed costs have to be spread out over less coal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 I got my hands spanked here for addressing price gouging....ain't going there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 On 4/2/2021 at 9:43 PM, arkie said: And a year or so ago, I was buying my coal for $70/ton... Cumberland Elkhorn has never had that low of a price in the time I've been keeping track of such things. I remember a couple years ago it was $260/ton but this isn't a mine just a distribution point so maybe that has something to do with it. It's still doubled in price over the last 2-3 years so that's a significant increase. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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