Chicken-Wire Ash Removal Trick? Thoughts?

[ckdeuce]

Just looking for some thoughts on this.

Why not line the bottom of our firebox floor with a single layer of chicken-wire or something close to it. When it comes time to remove the ash, use your poker (fire poker that is) to lift the wire up from the front leaving the back laying on the bottom, give it a little shake and then scoop out the ash that has fallen below. You could then lay it back down, rake the hot coals that stayed on top forward and fire her back up...... I have not tried this, just thought I would make myself look like a fool by letting you all tear my idea to shreads before I try. Would the wire hold up to the heat? Prob not.... Back to the drawing board...

 

[Hurricane]

I agree with your answer to your question

 

[savageactor7]

I dunno, if you're a 24/7 burner that coal bed is too hot to be that close for that long...and what are you gaining? A few extra coals that stay in the box are nothing...besides they still put our warmth in your sealed ash bucket. It's good to always be thinking about a better way to do things though...increased efficiency is always good.

 

[Slow1]

Interesting thought. I think your thought about it not holding up to the heat may be an issue, but if it is flush to the bottom of the stove it may not get quite as hot as you may think, especially if you keep a bit of ash down there and bury it in the ash somehow.

Choice of material will be important - choosing something that has the right size holes will of course make a difference. Large enough to make it easy for ash to fall, small enough to keep desired coals. How to get hold of it to lift may be interesting. I suppose leave a loop on it on one edge or the other to allow easy lifting while you shovel. Perhaps figure a way to prop it up as you work.

Hmm... would I do this? maybe. I have only emptied ashes 3 or 4 times this year and frankly it has been very easy for me to just push the coals back out of the way and shovel away so I wonder if having to lift and hold/prop something out of the way would simply be more work than it is worth. I expect once we're burning full time 24/7 in January we'll be cleaning out weekly and may have more hot coals at the time, but even then I wonder if such a contraption will end up being more effort than simply pushing/piling the coals out of the way.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Would the wire hold up to the heat? Prob not.... Back to the drawing board...

Wire would fall apart fairly quickly.

 

[BrotherBart]

Thanks. I just sent in the Patent application just in case.

 

[ckdeuce]

Thanks. I just sent in the Patent application just in case.

Let me know if it works out.... All I ask is that you keep "Chicken-Wire" in the official title of the product.

 

[ckdeuce]

Honestly though. If a stove maker would make a grate that had a lever attached to it on the outside of the stove.... Pull the lever, and the grate lifts up off of the floor of the stove lifting the larger coals with it... Scoop and lower the lever. What do I know....

 

[pen]

Why not just make a fork and line it w/ the chicken wire?

Something like




---------------------------------------
|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
------------------------------------XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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Pull everything forward in the stove, shove the hot coals to the back after sifting, remove the ash up front, re-rake.

pen

 

[Jags]

I have not tried this, just thought I would make myself look like a fool by letting you all tear my idea to shreads before I try.

That'll teach ya. :lol:

 

[THEMAN]

Someone has already done this and mentioned it in this post https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/46325/P45/ I have to agree the chicken wire will not hold up. The expanded metal however I believe will especially since its what holds my Cat combuster in place. I was thinking of adopting this idea but have not had too much of a problem with separating coals from ash. I've been burning Tamarack and assorted pine, so coals, what are they? %-P

On a side note, woowoo I broke the century mark with this post.

 

[LLigetfa]

Chicken wire would disintegrate in no time. My mother would throw cans in the stove and all we would find in the ashes was the rims.

Get an oven or BBQ rack that you can slide under the ashes. Most expanded metal I've seen have holes that are too small.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Thanks. I just sent in the Patent application just in case.

See prior art: three posts up. Patent denied.

 

[quads]

Or, an even simpler way, push the hot coals out of the way with your ash shovel, then shovel the ashes out using same ash shovel? I admit that it's not very high tech, but it could work.

 

[pen]

Or, an even simpler way, push the hot coals out of the way with your ash shovel, then shovel the ashes out using same ash shovel? I admit that it's not very high tech, but it could work.

Wayyyyy to simple. Just don't think that is going to be possible

and.... if it is possible, it is just plain not acceptable

:lol:

pen

 

[logger]

The chickens in my Jotul feel cooped-up enough as it is. This would really piss them off.

 

[Cutter]

I did as PEN mentioned and made a long handled shovel out of some heavy mesh. I just scoop up a load, sift the ash off to one side and put the coals back in to place. I made the handle out of soft wood and thought that it would be a temporary item but it is on it's forth year and I haven't had to douse it in water yet.

 

[oconnor]

If you are really bent on keeping the coals, scoop the work into a can with a tight lid, shake it in a circular mixing fashion. The ash will settle to the bottom, and the larger, less dense coals will rise to the top. Then scoop 'em out into the stove and restart the fire.

You will have just saved about 1/2 pound of coals.

Or you could figure out how to get an extra 1/2 pound of wood x max 30 buckets of ash/year.

 

[THEMAN]

If you are really bent on keeping the coals, scoop the work into a can with a tight lid, shake it in a circular mixing fashion. The ash will settle to the bottom, and the larger, less dense coals will rise to the top. Then scoop 'em out into the stove and restart the fire.

You will have just saved about 1/2 pound of coals.

Or you could figure out how to get an extra 1/2 pound of wood x max 30 buckets of ash/year.

Wouldn't the coals be MORE dense than the ash?

 

[oconnor]

If you are really bent on keeping the coals, scoop the work into a can with a tight lid, shake it in a circular mixing fashion. The ash will settle to the bottom, and the larger, less dense coals will rise to the top. Then scoop 'em out into the stove and restart the fire.

You will have just saved about 1/2 pound of coals.

Or you could figure out how to get an extra 1/2 pound of wood x max 30 buckets of ash/year.

Wouldn't the coals be MORE dense than the ash?

My logic goes like this - crush coals and they take up less space. Regardless, they rise to the top of the bucket when I swirl them around.

 

[Valhalla]

Drill some holes in an ash shovel.
The coals are lifted and saved from the ash
below.

 

[THEMAN]

Why not just fill the ash bucket with ash and coals from the stove then after they have cooled and you are going to throw them away put the wire mesh of your choice over the garbage can or garden or wherever you intend to dispose of the ash and catch the cool coals. Now you have a hole stash of coals that you did not throw away and can now put back into the stove. Easy, simple, done.

 

[Valhalla]

So maybe to keep the coals in the stove, the ash
in the bucket and the heat in the room. I also like
an ash rake with holes.

Whatever works for the wood burner!

Win-win-win

 

[gyrfalcon]

Why not just fill the ash bucket with ash and coals from the stove then after they have cooled and you are going to throw them away put the wire mesh of your choice over the garbage can or garden or wherever you intend to dispose of the ash and catch the cool coals. Now you have a hole stash of coals that you did not throw away and can now put back into the stove. Easy, simple, done.

Glad to hear you say that because I've thought about doing it. Now I may get serious about trying it.

For those of us with small fireboxes, there just isn't enough room to sift the coals from the ash inside the stove. I'm still grappling with too much less than perfectly seasoned wood, so coaling continues to be a pain in the neck for me, particulary overnight. I hate putting hot coals into the bucket with the ash, especially in the snowless fall we've had so far, which makes dumping it dicey, but I hate more discarding anything with a BTU in it.

 

[JayD]

I dump mine into a metal trash can with lid. Then in spring or summer sift out the ash and save the coals and use them in your BBQ. Awsome Q