ASH cleanup - anyone have suggestions?

[scfa99]

Ok first want to thank everyone for their help and advice over the last 6 mos. ELK special thanks for setting me straight on the floor vent which has since been re-dry walled. Not worth the risk.

I've been up and running with my Quad 7100 for about 3 weeks. The one thing that I've been struggling with is ash and coals building up to the point that they start to overflow. It seems every couple of days i need to remove all of them. Only problem is it takes days for them to cool down and its also hard to do when there is a fire. So for those of you with out ash pans, what techniques do you follow in order to keep up and get rid of ash. also where do you dispose of it. thanks

SCFA

 

[begreen]

We have a nice, stout little stove shovel that we scoop ashes out into small (about 2 ft. tall) galvanized metal can. This sits outside the door, next to the garbage can ready for the next load.

 

[Mike Wilson]

Like BeGreen, I have a metal pail arrangement. Its rectangular, made by Pilgrim Hearth, and has feet and a lid. Every 5-7 days I scoop out most (not all) of my ash with my little shovel, and put it into the pail. That goes outside by the garage door where it won't cause any trouble. After a week or so I take it to the dumps (no garbage pickup out here in the boonies).

- Mike

 

[BrotherBart]

When things are in the hot coal stage early in the morning I move the bigger ones to one side with the stove shovel and then scoop out the ashes. Run the shovel in against the bottom, lift up and shake any coals on top onto your other coals. Withdraw the ashes that are left in the shovel and ease them into your bucket. Have the doors wide open so the stove draft sucks the dust back into the stove. Best to have one of the double bottom ash buckets made for the purpose. They have gotten darned expensive at about fifty bucks apiece these days.

And be sure the bucket is sitting on something fireproof while you are doing this because that bucket is going to get real hot, real fast.

When you cover the bucket and take the ashes outside never sit them on anything but concrete. I have heard stories all of my life about people burning their house down by sitting hot ash cans on combustible surfaces. Darned if one of my employees mother didn't do exactly that four years ago. Let them sit until the next time to clean the stove. Then toss the old ashes on the garden. They are just wood mulch with a few things missing.

 

[Todd]

I never use my ash pan. Its too small and messy. About every 3 days or so I empty the ash into a steel bucket with a small shovel and place it outside on my concrete porch. Like Brother Bart I scoop the big coals to one side, then shovel the ash. I don't like to have alot of ash in the bottom of my stove. It seems to burn better with less ash.

I am thinking of buying one of those coal keeper shovels that Lehmans sells. Anyone use one of those?

 

[Greg Ray]

I have a 55gal steel drum with a lid on it and I dump all my ashes in it until it cools off 2 or 3 weeks and dump the drum in the trash pit. I also live in the sticks! I keep the drum about 50 Yards from the house and it sets on concrete. Do not want to start any grass fires with a burn ban going on in our county here in Tx. Its really dry around here!! Greg

 

[bruce56bb]

when the ashes start to buildup (3 or 4 days), i sort the coals from the ashes the best that i can in the stove. then i put them in a steel bucket outside the house on concrete. then the next time i need to empty the ashes(3 or 4 days), i dump the ashes which have now cooled off and start over.

 

[hh3f]

I do what others do by scraping the coals to the side then using a fireplace shovel and scoop about a gallon of ash into a small metal bucket. When this is full or Ive taken out enough (leaving about an inch of ash on the bottom) I place the small bucket into a larger bucket with a locking lid then take it outside. Then I open it and throw some snow or some water on the ash and close it back up and let it sit a day or so then dump in my garden. The cans were cheap I picked them both up at the dump in the metal pile. Love going to the dump.

 

[DavidV]

I love the ash pan on my stove. I can go a day or two between emptying the ashes. I just rake them back and forth and sift them down into the ash pan. ashes in the pan, coals remain in the stove. I don't have dust on anything in the house or a smell of smoke. I take the ash pan outside and dump it into my burn barrel. barrell will hold a winters worth of ashes easily. I might dump them into a hefty bag everey other month and let that sit near the barrell for a couplee weeks just to make sure all the cinders are out, then I take it to the dump andd toss er in. easy.

 

[Martin Strand III]

Folks:


The pricnciples are:

1. Remove ash - To see how one fussy bugger does it with no mess, no fuss and no burnt fingers, look here: (broken link removed to http://www.woodheat.org/tips/ashfetish.htm)

2. Rake coals, if present, forward so they get the best air to restart the fire.

3. Repack the stove with wood behind the coals.

-------------------

4. Store hot ash in covered metal container - double bottom, non-galvanized (gives noxious vapor when hot)

5. Spread cold wood ash in garden, on driveway ice for winter traction or dispose in outdoor hole or waste pickup.

Aye,
Marty

Grandma used to say, "Nothing warms you quite like hot ash."
Also, "Ash me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."
Once in a while, "Get that dirty ash out of here!"

 

[Todd]

Hey, now that's the ticket! Where can I buy one of those ash traps?

 

[quads]

Old Smokey's firebox is big enough that I only have to clean the ashes out about once a month. I keep a month's worth of wood by my front door. When that's gone, I let the fire go out in the morning, sweep the chimney a little, remove some ashes (usually only a pail full or less per month), fire her back up, and haul more wood up from the pile. There is usually always enough snow on the ground that I don't have to worry about hot coals. I spread them out on the gardens or in the driveway if it's real slippery.

 

[michael]

The one thing that I've been struggling with is ash and coals building up to the point that they start to overflow. It seems every couple of days i need to remove all of them. Only problem is it takes days for them to cool down and its also hard to do when there is a fire. So for those of you with out ash pans, what techniques do you follow in order to keep up and get rid of ash. also where do you dispose of it. thanks

SCFA

My procedure, which I perform every few days, is to scoop out the ashes with a metal stove shovel into a metal bucket, and then set them outside on the concrete patio a few feet from the house. After the bucket gets too full to add more ashes, I dump them on our garden.

I do a "total clean" on the stove about once a week or whenever we have company over ( I have more pride in my stove, my home made hearth pad and it's installation than I do my truck. I wait until the stove has been completely out (and cold) for a number of hours. Scoop out the ashes. Then vacuum out the stove with a 6 gallon shop vac. I then clean the glass with Windex and paper towels. Rarely do I need ashes to get the soot off the glass, but I keep it handy if I need it. My stove glass stays pretty clean and clears right up if you get her in the 500* range.

Metal stove buckets with locking lids are available at Lowes stores in the trash can storage bin isle. I think I paid about $12. If you use a shop vac to vacuum out your stove, make sure there are no hot coals still live! I use a hepa filter in the vacuum to keep fine dust from blowing out the back. The hepa filters are also available at Lowes alongside the Shop Vac sweepers.

 

[Roospike]

The one thing that I've been struggling with is ash and coals building up to the point that they start to overflow. It seems every couple of days i need to remove all of them. Only problem is it takes days for them to cool down and its also hard to do when there is a fire. So for those of you with out ash pans, what techniques do you follow in order to keep up and get rid of ash. also where do you dispose of it. thanks

SCFA

I do a "total clean" on the stove about once a week or whenever we have company over .

Well when company comes over i go out to the shop . there is not enough room to hide in my stove when company come over .. Ha . Anyway , letting the stove go all the way to cold is not an option for burners that heat ther house with wood 24/7 . I would have to let my P.E. summit set for 24 hours to let all the hot coals go out , and even unsure at 24 if that would be enough time. Myself went with the ash pan clean out option on my stove , still have to move the coal around to the sides and or the back to run it down the hole. Before loading wood on a refuel i do take the little ash from the front and let it go down the hole to the ash pan so cleanout does not have to be so often . So when it get in the ash pan out the door to a 5 gal steel tub , sits for a few days and then into the 55 gal drum in the garden. In the spring the 55 gal drum get dumped in the garden.

 

[Roospike]

The one thing that I've been struggling with is ash and coals building up to the point that they start to overflow. It seems every couple of days i need to remove all of them. Only problem is it takes days for them to cool down and its also hard to do when there is a fire. So for those of you with out ash pans, what techniques do you follow in order to keep up and get rid of ash. also where do you dispose of it. thanks

SCFA

I do a "total clean" on the stove about once a week or whenever we have company over .

Well when company comes over i go out to the shop . there is not enough room to hide in my stove when company comes over .. Ha . Anyway , letting the stove go all the way to cold is not an option for burners that heat ther house with wood 24/7 . I would have to let my P.E. summit set for 24 hours to let all the hot coals go out , and even unsure at 24 if that would be enough time. Myself went with the ash pan clean out option on my stove , still have to move the coal around to the sides and or the back to run it down the hole. Before loading wood on a refuel i do take the little ash from the front and let it go down the hole to the ash pan so cleanout does not have to be so often . So when it get in the ash pan out the door to a 5 gal steel tub , sits for a few days and then into the 55 gal drum in the garden. In the spring the 55 gal drum get dumped in the garden.