Ash removal on a Resolute III

In 35 years of use, there were a few seasons where I used but one or two matches in the Resolute: I kept a fire going all season long.

Get a good fireplace shovel. like the "Neverbreak," which is forged from a single piece of steel. Using good, hard, seasoned wood, you'll only have to clean it out once - or maybe twice - a week. I'd flip the biggest embers/coals or remaining log pieces over to one side, stir the ashes and give these smaller ones time to burn out. Then shovel most of the ash into a 5 - 10 gal galvanized trash can with an airtight lid, leaving 1" on the bottom of the stove. Redistribute the coals and load it up again. Place the ash can on a concrete surface away from anything combustible. It'll burn out in a few minutes. I'm still using my original ash pail.

Cheers

Why not just let the fire go out and let the stove cool about every 5 to 7 days and vacuum out with an ash vac?

Well, there is the issue of staying warm of course. Also, Resolutes should never be completely cleaned out. Maybe you know this, but it's really really important to leave at least an inch or 2 of ash to protect the bottom. So vacuuming could be a nono Sheshe. See what I did there?

Clever word play Yes Right about leaving a bed of ash. I just wouldn't vacuum all of it out. I tried the shoveling thing when I first got my Intrepid. So messy./dusty. House smells like smoke. So now I just do the vacuum thing. On another note. I prefer the two doors on the Resolute III, Defiant3 to the drop down door on the Resolute II Is it possible to take the front off the two stoves and put the front with two doors on the Resolute II that I have.

Yes. Note however that the bottom casting on the II has little slots cast in it for the drop door hinges to fit into. So the single door front needs to have that bottom in order to work. If you're just going to toss the old front, then it doesn't matter, but if you think you may use that front again then keep the single door front and bottom together. Look closely you'll see what I mean. The III bottom doesn't have those little slots.

I see what you mean. oh my Might be better to just take the top and back off the II and put them on the III. So how do I do this? I see the vertical rods in each corner and the four nuts on the bottom. If I get the rods out does it fall apart like a house of cards? Thanks Defiant3 Sheshe