Haluing Dumping Screening Coal

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The Knowledge Bank at The Ohio State University

Ohio Mining Journal

Title: Hauling, Dumping and Screening Coal

Creators: Mitchell, J. L.

Issue Date: 15-Feb-1887

Citation: Ohio Mining Journal, vol. 5, no. 2 (February 15, 1887), 12-14.

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/32470

Appears in Collections:Ohio Mining Journal: Volume 5, no. 2 (February 15, 1887)

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12 THE OHIO MINING JOURNAL.

HAULING, DUMPING AND SCREENING COAL.BY J. L. MITCHELL.

Of the many factors pertainingto the operation of coal mines, theprocess of hauling, dumping andscreening form a very importantpart, and in a brief manner I pro-ceed to notice them in detail.1stIn order to haul coal prop-erly, we must have good track, asnearly straight as possible; but ifcurves cannot be avoided, then letthem be curves instead of angles ;

and all curves in m ain entry andtram-way tracks should not be lessthan forty feet radiue, thu s m akingit possible to use the wire ropemethod of hauling, should it befound consistent and advisable touse same at any tim e; and, judg-ing from th i present outlook, basedupon actual observations, I pre-dict that it is merely a question oftime until the wire rope method

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THE OHTO MltftXG JOURNAL.will predominate from the fact thatby this method all coal mines willbe brought to an equal output;let them be drifts, slopes or shafts,thus enabling all mines to competein the markets as far as handlingcoal at the mines is concerned.At a sufficient distance back oftipple, whatever the capacity ofmine requires, there must also be intrack a sufficient incline to andfrom tipple to better facilitate thehandling of running cars with aslittle manual labor as possible.The autom atic switch must alsobe used to intersect incline men-tioned above.2. We will now take up miningcars for it is as necessary to havegood rolling stock as track to im-improve the m ethod of hau ling coal.To be brief I now assert that in tenyear's experience I have never asyet seen a practical mining car,although some cars have some veryfine mechanical points. Yet somevery importan t points have beenoverlooked in their manufacture.The majority of car-wheels now inuse present a worn-out appearanceas soon as they leave the molds.The great hobby as to car-wheels isnow the self-oiler, this in itselfis quite a point and has made agreat improvement in car-wheels;but manufacturers in perfecting theself-oiler, have lost sight of a veryim portant factor, equally as good asthe oiler, and tha t is the flange ofthe wheel, which on curves is fullyas important if no t more so. Theamount of friction or resistance tobe overcome is materially increasedor decreased as it may be by theproper or improper shape of theflange. And the best wheel I haveseen so far is used by the Mother-well Iron & Steel Works at Logan,

Ohio. Their wheel is self-oiling,with the most proper flange andtread, and as a whole is far supe-rior to any wheel I have seen, andI would advise all parties desiringto improve their rolling stock to tryone or a number of their cars, andif not satisfactory it can be returnedat the expense of the Company.The mining car can also be im-proved by making front end of bodysome wider than the rear, thus giv-ing free egress to the car whiledumping.3. The next thing in order is thetipple or dum ping apparatus . Dur-ing the last ten years I have pu tinto operation in Hocking Valleyand other places, quite a number oftipples known as the Mitchell tip-ple a device of my own conception,which has been giving general sat-isfaction as to speed, simplicity anddurability, and the fact of their be-ing in use now at the largest andbetter improved coal mines in theHocking Valley as well as elsewhere,is a sufficient recommend for them.4. The screen next demands ourattention, and in order to screencoal as the market demands, it be-comes necessary to have the re-quired pitch or elevation. In orderthat the proper elevation be ob-tained, all screens should be adjust-able. We find by experience thatthe different seasons of the yearrequire a different elevation or pitchto the screen.

We find by experience to stopcoal in the chute against a verticaldoor after passing over the screen,breaks the coal more or less, and toallow the coal to pass over thescreen and deposit in the railroadcar without stopping it has a verybad effect on the coal. In order toremove this trouble it's necessary

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14 THE OHIO MINING JOURNAL.to have a sufficient chute or pocketthat can be used as a weight boxshould pocket or tipple scales beused. Should the scales not beused the pocket must be hung onrods and made adjustable to ac-commodate the screens. The bot-tom of pocket for a space of fivefeet should be level, the end ofthe pocketjshould stand at an angleof 27 deg. from a horizontal line inopposite direction from screens.The level part of pocket thatforms the door drops down anddeposits the coal in a body , thuspreventing the breaking considerab ly . The height of chute or hop-per are generally determined bythe location and method for screen-ing the coalfrom twenty four totwenty -eigh t feet. The properway to screen the small coals is toelevate and run through revolvingscreens, which should be so ar-ranged that the coal could be deposited in adjacent bins erectedfor that purpose. These eleva torsshould be of sufficient height tomake such deposits without theaid of additional elevators. Wefind it well to elevate from thirty -six to thirty-eight feet in height inorder to better tacilitate the hand-ling of small coals, known as thenu t, pea and slack. We wouldadvise parties wishing to improve

the screening of small coals, tocall on the Roller Chain Be lt Co.,Columbus, Ohio, f o r elevatingmachinery. We deem it the bestin use, irom the fact it has givengood satisfaction wherever used , ifproperly set up.Hoppers or chutes and railroadtracks should be of sufficient prox-imity to enable all work tobe properly and conveniently con-struc ted , bu t a sufficient distanceapart to prevent confliction.The proper grade or incline ofrailroad track, to facilitate movingcars to and from the chutes easily,is two feet in one hundred . Carscan be handled on more or lessgrade, but not as conveniently.The grade depends largely on thelocation and approach to chutes orhoppers.

In the foregoing I have travers-ed, briefly, nearly the whole sys-tem of handling coal as I now seeit. But I hope in the near futureto introduce a new system of haul-ing coal, in which the wire ropewill figure largely . My opinion isas to the best m ethod ior hau lingcoal from mines and on tramwaysis with a wire rope, when properlyconstructed and located, and adescription of some will be givenhereafter.