Shop Time w/T.W. Friends

No doubt, it hurt.

To purchase an equal amount of BTU using fuel oil would be about $2300 so hard as it is to accept it is still a less expensive way to heat.
The old stove doesn't require electricity to operate either, always a plus living out here.

 

Does your coal bin need a lid to prevent rain/snow from soaking the coal?

-J

 

Coal won't absorb water so it can get wet, small sizes of coal can freeze into a solid block though.
The large "stove" size coal I use freezing isn't really a problem.

I have used a tarp in the past - a total P-I-T-A.
The last bin had a lean too roof (built of scrap wood and a tarp) that worked very well, same plan for this one.

 

Lol. I joke about "safety 3rd" but truthfully, if you are doing anything remotely dangerous, you gotta put it first. I hate pain.

 

Coal stove will never know that chunk is wet or frozen.

 

My kids always say I say safety 3rd, they know to be safe though. I recently got a table saw and my son tells me to use the push rod that came with it

 

I use the stick when it gets tight on the fence side for sure. My table saw is named "Death Saw 9000." They are numbered according to danger level. Table saw is most dangerous.

 

Table saws are no joke.

I use a Microjig GRR- Ripper.

 

I was talking to our heating plant guys a few months ago and they said a load of coal came in wet. I asked how much difference it made and they said it was huge because they have to constantly keep checking the boilers as wet coal won't be thrown as far so they need to adjust the throw then it dries out and starts throwing too far so they have to adjust back down. Sounds like it's a never ending dance to keep it balanced.

But maybe that's only a boiler thing and a stove doesn't care.

Regardless, it sounds better than when we've had rail cars of coal delivered and they're on fire.

 

It's not so much as a fire, but more along the lines of preheating the coal.

Spoiler

-J

 

Speaking of wood, we just stopped at a restaurant in the mountains in Costa Rica. Someone likes carving, this is just some of it. I like the lights.

 

Does that have to be covered?

 

My old stove is filled by the pail, if the coal is wet or snow covered it steams a bit out the chimney right after filling and you probably lose a tiny bit of efficiency, not enough to notice.

However -- if someone helps and brings in a snow covered pail of coal in advance the snow will melt leaving liquid water unseen in the bottom of the pail.

One gallon of water produces about 223 cubic feet of steam for reference.
Dumping a quart of water directly into the roughly 1000 degree fire instantly makes steam - a crap ton of steam - that instantly rises to the largest opening available - the open feed door.

This massive cloud pulls all the loose ash along with it as it billows out the feed door - that the person filling the stove (that would be me) is standing in front of holding the pail.

 

Sorry, no pictures - the audio track wasn't family friendly either...

It went something like: !!!

 

protect your Weiner!

 

I learned something at Cole's baseball game last night (12U). A coach can not push a kid toward a base.

We had 2 on base, one of our kids hit a ground ball, he got to first, he's always so excited when he gets a hit. One of the other kids scored, the other was headed home. I was at the edge of the dugout watching the kid on 1st. He was excited he got on, coach was congratulating him and the ball came home to try and get the out, it was overthrown and when the ball went by the catcher, the coach on 1st gently pushed the kid toward 2nd and told him to run.

When the kid got to 2nd, home plate umpire yelled "dead ball, he's out at 2nd the coach pushed him".

The kid couldn't figure out what happened. After the inning our head coach went to the umpire and explained to him the kid on 1st was born deaf and has implants in his head with hearing aids attached. He can't hear good to begin with and when you put a helmet on him, he has an even harder time is why the coach pushed him toward 2nd.

The umpire said he wasn't going to call it as he didn't see it but the coaches and parents on the other team were yelling about it.

I understand why the rule is there, but that poor kid couldn't figure out how he got a hit with 2 rbi's and got out.

 

Well, finally a topic I am well versed on. It is unfortunate that it happened but I would just use it as a teaching moment. In sports and sometimes in life you may have the best intentions but you still do something wrong. I would encourage the coach to let the player know that it was not the player's fault as he did nothing wrong but the coach broke a rule that the coach was not familiar with. Then reinforce what procedure you will use with the player in the future so that the player can receive guidance from the coach without a rule being broken.

Edit: When I have coached I have always encouraged my players to worry about the things that they can control, and not worry about the things that they can't control. I have tried to teach players that learning to react in a positive way in sports to bad things that happen is a skill that needs to be developed as much as hitting, base-running and fielding.

 

Our normal coach wasn't there when the game started so I ask another guy to go to 1st as our head coach was already on 3rd.

We talked to the kid about it and the coach told him he didn't know, we definitely learned from it.

 

Baseball is also one of the toughest sports to coach. It is a sport that often has low activity or no activity and then suddenly all the pressure is focused on one person and one play. Players can play an entire game and not field a ball once. There are multiple positions requiring specific skill sets that other positions do not need to learn. There are many specific rules that are obscure, until they happen. And there are more requirements for positioning on the field for the players not directly involved in the play than any other sport with more variables then you can reasonable teach to a youth player.