GAS CAN ASH CAN ?

soap and water

get it good and dried out set it out side with any vents or filler tubes open and drop a match in. that should burn off any fuel vapors. Then you the soap and water, should be good to go after that. Note to self that is a pretty good idea I might have to keep and eye out for one at some yard sales this spring

i would clean it out with acetone

Why make it harder than it is...an ash bucket with cover can't be more than $20 at your nearest hearth store. Hard to believe there's no ash buckets in mid MI...that's a big wood burning state.

I went to the local building supply place looking for a metal bucket to buy. The guy gave me an empty acetone 5 gallon can with a metal lid. They must use it for cleaning or something. It has a plastic piece on the handle for easier carrying which I removed, and a plastic spigot for pouring which I removed and replaced the hole with a piece of flat metal duct.

Total cost was nothing. Guy said they have them sitting around and normally have to pay for special disposal.

Are you talking about the classic 5-gallon "Jerry Can"? If so, it seems to me that it'll be a real PITA to get the ashes into it through the ~3" spout hole, unless you're thinking about cutting the can apart so you can lift off the whole top of the can. Maybe I'm not picturing accurately what you have in mind. Rick

Yeah Rick...that's just what I was thinking too...and they're also a pita to use even when you use them for what they were made for.

Whatever you decide to use for the ashes For Petes sake put them outside as soon as you empty the stove. They will release lots of CO through the night which is not good.

Hey Rusty, fwiw I found a pressure cooker works very nicely . Second hand for 5 bucks. Fits inside stove to help contain flying ash.

When I was young our neighbor wanted to repair his car's gas tank. They removed it from the car and rinsed it out several times.
Filled it up several times completely with water. Then he took a very long rod with a burning rag on it to test it and it still blew up.
I would not use an old gas can for ash.

My stove has an ash pan and I rarely shovel ash/coals out of it, HOWEVER, when I do, I use one of those blue canning pots, like the one found here....

http://justopia.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/img_1281.jpg

I use something like this http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Refuse-Container-6-Gal/dp/B00002N856/ref=pd_sbs_k_8
Then I put a approx. 2 gal. metal pail inside. I put my ashes in the small pail then put it inside the larger then take it
outside. Then pour some water on the ashes let it soak then dump the contents in my garden. Both cans I found at the dump.

split this said:

I use something like this http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Refuse-Container-6-Gal/dp/B00002N856/ref=pd_sbs_k_8
Then I put a approx. 2 gal. metal pail inside. I put my ashes in the small pail then put it inside the larger then take it
outside. Then pour some water on the ashes let it soak then dump the contents in my garden. Both cans I found at the dump.

Click to expand...

Thats exactly what I use in the 10 gallon size. The hardware store had 2 variations, one was a much heavier gauge then the other so I got 2 of the heavy ones and find that carrying two full cans at the same time is easier then just one due to ballance. The handle keeps the lid from blowing away in the wind and I have them set up 25 feet from the house on those cement patio blocks so they don't freeze into earth.

I did use the larger 30 gallon steel cans but they got mighty heavy when full and the handles on each side always ended up breaking off. I have a pit dug way out back for dumping so the smaller cans work great.

Gary

Hearth stove ash buckets aren't too intrusive and will sit nicely out of the way on your hearth pad.



...and just suppose you get a chimney fire...well you can use the convenient bucket of ashes to smother the fire while you wait for the first responders.

Now when this bucket fills up you can dump half of it out into an outside container where they can eventually be use in the driveway for traction or the garden as a fertilizer supplement.

Nice can Savage but the rule we live by here is "Out of the stove and out of the house"! Even after the ashes are removed they can still be producing CO2 gases and heat.

I also find the process of transfering from the ash pan to a can inside the house but outside the stove adds an additional coating of dust inside.

Most of our wood stoves do not employ a seperate ash pan but for those that have one, empty it outdoors!

Gary

Gamalot anything that burns...even a candles on a birthday cake will produce CO.

Next time you dump the coals by the stove door...not the black charcoals in the back...the red ones in the front don't put the top on. The hot coals will not trip the CO detector. For the last 2 years ago were using the Kidde voice 2 alarms in 1.

I suppose there's no harm in being overly cautious but in an emergency I have decided I want the ashes readily available.

My ashes all get dumped through the shaker grate and in to the ash pan. I don't disagree with you at all but getting from my ash pan and in to the ash can inside my home would be a very dangerous and dirty proceedure.

I guess it depends on the type of stove you have and how you have it set up.

I pull the full ash pan out and walk it out the back door to safe dumping grounds.

Gary

OK now I understand where your coming from. When we had our Shenandoah we'd empty the ash pan out side because of dust issues. But we always had ashes in the ash bucket sitting by the hearth in case if a chimney fire. With the new stove you have to stay on top of the ashes daily and remove a couple shovels full. With the Shenandoah we could go 4 maybe 5 days...and there's no way I'd pour them much into a bucket indoors.