Has anybody trimmed off the end of the ash tray on their Kuuma VF100?

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RockyMtnGriz

Feeling the Heat
Apr 19, 2019
295
SW Montana
Thinking I want to... Was wondering if I'm the only one thinking that.
 
I know someone who talked about doing it on a VF200 (exact same setup) but I never did understand what he was trying to accomplish...seems to work fine as is to me.
My old Yukon ash pan was open ended like that...nothing special about it to me...
 
Well, if it's open ended, the stuff that falls down while the pan is removed doesn't get packed between the pan and the back of the stove when you put the pan back in. So, I guess that would be one small advantage. Though the main reason I'm eyeing mine with a cutoff in mind, is, the open ended pan is a lot easier to tip the ashes into a 5 gal bucket without setting loose a cloud of ash dust. Having the ashes gently slide out of the pan seems better than having to turn the pan over and drop them.

I've only been burning this thing a couple of weeks, so maybe there's an obvious solution that hasn't become obvious to me yet. If so, somebody please enlighten me!
 
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Ah, I see...well, I can tell you that the open ended pan of my old Yukon still made a cloud of dust when dumped out.
I'm only 2 seasons in with a Kuuma myself, 1 with a VF200 and 1 with a VF100, and for me I tend to scoop out the pan and place it gently into the bucket. As for the ashes that pile up at the back of the ash drawer, I just learned to dump the pan sooner so it doesn't fall over the back...but when it has happened I just use my ash shovel to dig it out...I had to flatten out the handle to scoop angle a bit, but it works fine then.
Maybe some long term owners have a better idea... @JRHAWK9 , @STIHLY DAN ...
 
I never gave it a thought as it was never a problem for me. When I empty the pan it's always after I move the coals forward and get them to pass through the grate. So when I remove the pan all the ones which were small enough to fall through have already fell through. Every once in a while I will get one that falls through, but I've never, in the 5 years of owning it, had an issue with a buildup of anything in the rear of the pan.
 
Well, if it's open ended, the stuff that falls down while the pan is removed doesn't get packed between the pan and the back of the stove when you put the pan back in. So, I guess that would be one small advantage. Though the main reason I'm eyeing mine with a cutoff in mind, is, the open ended pan is a lot easier to tip the ashes into a 5 gal bucket without setting loose a cloud of ash dust. Having the ashes gently slide out of the pan seems better than having to turn the pan over and drop them.

I've only been burning this thing a couple of weeks, so maybe there's an obvious solution that hasn't become obvious to me yet. If so, somebody please enlighten me!

I don't have a Kuuma, but do have an ash pan (box?). I take most of the ash out of my boiler with a scoop. But what does end up in the ash pan, I take that out with a scoop too when it needs it. It never gets completely clean-like empty that way - I just scoop out what I easily can & leave the rest there for the next time when I'm not getting half decently full scoops anymore.
 
Never been a problem for me.. get a metal trash can and dump the ashes outside.
 
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Old thread now, but I finally got around to cutting the end of that ash drawer off, and I wish I had gotten to it sooner. I find it so easy now to gently slide the ashes out into a 5 gal bucket with almost no dust generation. Every other method I tried added to that grey layer that tends to build up in the furnace room. I guess everybody has their preference.