Ash Removal Ideas?

[emsflyer84]

Hey all, just curious what y’all do when the asked you clean out from your stoves. Reason I’m asking is that I’ve basically been waiting for them to cool and bringing them down to the back of my property and dumping them. But I’ve created a little ask mountain and I don’t want to keep adding to the mountain. I have a small property with no real “woods” to speak of, so everything is pretty visible. Any other ideas? Thanks!

 

[stoveliker]

Spread them out over the yard or lawn, mix them in the compost pile,.use them for traction when the driveway is icy.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I use an ash vacuum only vacuuming a bit at a time of the cooler ash on side and front of firebox. When ash vacuum gets full over some time, I put those ashes in a dedicated small metal trash can with cover I keep on outside stone patio. Ashes can remain live for a surprisingly long time so I overkill it a bit but easy enough to do it.
I used to find shoveling ash out of stove would be too messy and moved to the ash vacuum. The Powersmith ash vac works well.

 

[bigealta]

Toss high in the air to spread it out over the lawn. But not to much. Same with garden beds. It basically can replace lime. For us in the North east that's good.

 

[begreen]

Toss high in the air to spread it out over the lawn. But not to much. Same with garden beds. It basically can replace lime. For us in the North east that's good.

Lilacs and lavender like ashes, rhodies, blueberries, and camellias do not.

 

[kennyp2339]

Bag them up and throw them out, why make a project out of it if you dont have the space

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Bag them up and throw them out, why make a project out of it if you dont have the space

Good call. Not to sound like a maniac, but definitely the OP should allow a good amount of time to go by before throwing out the ashes in the garbage or otherwise storing them near combustible stuff. I only say this because if someone is asking for advice on Ash removal, I assumed they might not be aware of how long live ashes can survive.

 

[begreen]

Bag them up and throw them out, why make a project out of it if you dont have the space

Just make sure that the ashes are cold and there are no hidden hot embers in them. The embers can remain hot for a week when buried in ashes. There has been more than one fire caused by putting ashes in the trash too soon.

 

[ericm979]

Spread them out over the yard or lawn, mix them in the compost pile

I spread them out in the lawn and the lawn turned brown in those spots. I've dumped them in the compost pile when I'm positive the ashes cold and the compost is wet. But you can only put so much in the the compost or it will change the pH too much.

 

[stoveliker]

Too much on the lawn then.
I never have had it turn brown.
But my lawn has a lot of acidity from the oak leaves

 

[begreen]

Could ash from some species like walnut could have that effect?

 

[stoveliker]

Unlikely,.given that the toxicity is an organic molecule, which will be affected (oxidized at least) when wood is burnt.

 

[GG Woody]

I did once throw a couple of *cool* shovel fulls back on our burn pile, maybe 6 hours later our burn pile had turned into full on flame... Guess they were not *cool* I'm now more careful, I wouldn't have thought that was possible...

 

[begreen]

I did once throw a couple of *cool* shovel fulls back on our burn pile, maybe 6 hours later our burn pile had turned into full on flame... Guess they were not *cool* I'm now more careful, I wouldn't have thought that was possible...

That set a beautiful big old house on fire in CT a few years back. The owner thought the same thing.

 

[stoveliker]

My solution to avoid temptation to be too quick, is to have a large metal trashcan with lid. (Same size as those landscaping companies have in their trailers.)

I dump my metal bucket of ashes in there every time I empty my stove. It's big enough for 3 cords of ashes and I burn less every winter. Then when I'm done, I spread it out over the lawn and mix it in the compost pile. And that's maybe a month or two after my last fire; I clean the stove and take the last ashes out when I'm absolutely sure I won't burn anymore (May or so).


This way I handle the ashes long after everything is cool and I only once make a mess of myself (spreading them on the lawn).

 

[30WCF]

Go to the local park, pier, beach, mountain overlook… stand upwind of folks and toss them into the wind and shout your farewells.

 

[Highbeam]

Put the cold ash in the trash. Landfill it.

 

[Mustard Tiger]

Once cooled I just pour them outside in my burn pile.

 

[begreen]

Go to the local park, pier, beach, mountain overlook… stand upwind of folks and toss them into the wind and shout your farewells.

Might be challenging to explain how grandpa's ashes filled up a 30 gallon can.

 

[bigealta]

Might be challenging to explain how grandpa's ashes filled up a 30 gallon can.

He was a big dude.

 

[begreen]

He was a big dude.

That amount of ash would be more like the whole congregation.

 

[BillBurns]

I put my ashes into a Dutch Oven, pretty big. Then I set it outside on cement to cool off. Then, Thrash time. Works for me thats all I know.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

I like to mix mine into a slurry with some water and pour it around some freshly planted trees on the property or areas of the pasture that seem to need some love. Small stove though so not a ton of ash.

 

[Hanson]

My ashes go from metal can beside stove, usually week or two, then into an ash pile in my yard. I mix the ash pile with rotten apples from ground under an apple tree. It sits for a couple of years in pile then gets used in the yard. It can be put over the lawn, I put it over the lawn in late fall just before snow hits. You can also mix it with soil in the garden or flower beds, as with any compost.

 

[stoveliker]

I wouldn't have the ashes in my home while outside the stove. If they are warm or hot they often still offgas carbon monoxide (that would go up the flue if in the stove).