Like most of the folks who have posted, I've got a routine that flexes according to the temps and the wood I'm burning.
In colder weather when I'm burning hotter, longer, I seem to get less ash, and might go three days before I need to scoop.
When it gets up to zero-ish and I'm cruising or running banked fires at night, I usually clean daily. I'm thinking that cleaning out the ashes on the bigger stoves might be more of a nuisance than the routine I go through, because I consider it practically painless: a couple of minutes of putzin' will get me a clean stove ready to lay a fire, or a bed of coals ready to fire off for another burn or to lay an overnight banked fire.
I have an odd-looking assortment of hearth tools:
an old retired turkey roasting pan;
a rubbermaid dust pan;
a wallpaper-paste brush;
a spatula and fork from a barbeque grill set.
Even if it would be easier to just scoop out ash and coal and lay a fire from scratch (or zap it with the propane torch), I get an atavistic pleasure out of starting the next fire from the coals of the last; I feel like part of a long line of people who've kept the flame going, held back the dark another night.
I slide ash and coal to one side (left for me, since my door has hinges on the right) and use the wallpaper-paste brush (long, stiff bristles with a little flex to them) to clear the corners and the long groove in the back of the stove (Heritage). Then slide just the coals to the right, and reach in with the Rubbermaid dust pan (and no, these tools haven't melted or burned yet--much) and scoop ash into the turkey roaster. The long oval pan fits right inside the firebox, so I slide it partway in and dump the ashes into it while it's in deep enough that any ash in suspension is caught up in the draft and exits the stove through the pipe.
I either use the dustpan to flick the coals over (if I don't have a lot) or I use the barbeque spatula (broad working end holds a lot of coal, and long handle keeps my arm out of the heat) to move the coals. I reach in on the left side then with the wallpaper-paste brush and clean out the corners and groove in the back, and scoop w/dustpan into roaster. The whole procedure takes less time to do than to tell. I often give the window a quick wipe daily because I like having the glass so clear that it looks like an open fire.
Turkey roaster is carried outside to a shelf where any coals can harmlessly burn themselves out, or I dump it in galvanized metal garbage can then, depending upon whether I've put shoes on or not to carry it out, and leave it out there until needed again.
If I have coals left, I kick up a clear-its-throat fire, or I pull them to the front of the stove, cover with a broad split, and arrange a dense array of 3-4-5 splits behind and above that so that I'll have an overnight or all-day-while-I'm-at-work fire.
I'm burning cottonwood and aspen, can't be helped, well-seasoned, and am getting quite a bit of ash. It's keeping my house warm this winter, so I'm not complaining.
NATE379 said:
So the guys that are cleaning out the stove every couple days, how much ash are you pulling out??
When I clean mine out I have about 1/2 a 5 gal pail full. (yes metal pail) I haven't messed with many manufactured stoves, so the Princess is small to me, but judging by the posts on here do your stoves just not hold ash??
I'm not sure I'd even bother burning wood if I had to mess with ash every couple days to be honest.
I'm probably pulling out a quart or two of ash when I clean daily. I see what you mean; if I had to scoop 2-3 gallons daily, that would get old. Nope, my little `parlor stove' doesn't hold a lot of ash. It's all trade-offs and weighing and balancing needs. I knew I didn't want a BK in my living room. Didn't want a barrel stove in there, either, even though they hold some serious ash.
I probably spend about as much time daily cleaning out the stove as I do feeding the dog, and just as with that, I get more out of it than I put into it.
Speaking of which, it's time to go see how well my fire held overnight. Y'all have a great day.