Ash - What "did" you do with it .

[Roospike]

Well, we once had a thread about what to do with your ash left over from your wood burning . Well how about #1 what we all actually "did" with the ash . #2 How much did you get from one winter season .7 #3 how much wood. ME: I took a 55 gallon drum and put it in the garden and i also have one 6 gallon metal short fat ash pan that sits about 5 ' out side the back door . I take the ask pan from the stove and dump it into the 6 gallon steel pan , when the ashes cool i take it out to the 55 gallon drum and dump it . We ended up with a full 55 gallon drum of ash ( from the garage wood stove too ) used 4 cords of wood from the house and 2 from the 30X30 shop . At the end of the season we put 1/4 of the 55 gallon drum ash into the garden and took the rest to the wood lot when we went back out to cut wood for the next year .

 

[elkimmeg]

Ash is good to nutralize acid in the garden I did know the vollume for sq ft garden area I'll have to dig it up. I also guess it can be spread on your lawn again how much is the guestion.. roo that's about what get from burning 6 cords

 

[Roospike]

Ash is good to nutralize acid in the garden I did know the vollume for sq ft garden area I'll have to dig it up. I also guess it can be spread on your lawn again how much is the guestion.. roo that's about what get from burning 6 cords

Awe , Common Don ........Play along. How much wood , how much ash & what did you do with the ash .......

 

[Robbie]

I scattered mine in my gravel driveway.

Robbie.

 

[Mike Wilson]

Each week I made a trip out to the woods behind the house and spread that week's ash, about 1 sq.ft. worth, around on the ground. Yes, I let the ashes sit for a week before dumping them, so no fire hazard. Its all gone now, save for a few coals here and there. 3 cords burned for the season, 1 per month.

-- Mike

 

[elkimmeg]

Ash is good to nutralize acid in the garden I did know the vollume for sq ft garden area I'll have to dig it up. I also guess it can be spread on your lawn again how much is the guestion.. roo that's about what get from burning 6 cords

Awe , Common Don ........Play along. How much wood , how much ash & what did you do with the ash .......

what did not make the gardens was put in my loam pile then with the bachhoe I mix it in with the loam

Part of being in the excavation business as well,, is to hoard surplus loam so I have a left over pile

 

[Nokoni]

#1 what we all actually "did" with the ash .
I put some in my garden and some behind my garage which is woods and a big brush pile.

#2 How much did you get from one winter season
Use a small galvanized garbage can, about 8 gal.?, and filled it I'd say about ten times.

#3 how much wood.
about three 1/2 cords, didn't start burning until December 1st when my stove was first put in.

 

[jabush]

I dump my ashes along my property line, usually in an old woodchuck hole. There's plenty of holes.
I use a (I think) 5 gal galvanized metal can with lid, which sits out on the BBQ when hot. If i remember right I scooped out ashes about every 3-5 days, so maybe filled the can 10-12 times.
I'm not sure how much wood I used last year...yes...I am the ultimate procrastinator (just ask my wife). I was the guy out there in January splitting wood that should have been split in Sept. I think it was just under 2 cords, but I will keep closer track this year...maybe.

 

[cbrodsky]

You may want to be careful dumping ash in the woods - forest floors are naturally rather acidic due to decaying leaves/needles and hitting them with a large quantity of ash could adversely impact that balance, damaging things like mountain laurel, wild blueberries, and also impact the growth of your woodlot. Of course diluted enough, it's probably fine, but just be careful if you have an area you really care about protecting.

I still have my ash from last year and haven't decided exactly what to do with it yet but I'm pretty sure I won't dump it in the woods. May spread a little on the lawn if a soil test indicates it would help.

-Colin

 

[Todd]

Most of my ash was dumped on the ice on lake Wissota or my bank leading down to the lake. Some went into my tomato garden. Never counted how much ash. Burned 3 cords last season.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I chunk my ashed over my elevated deck over the snow, the deck is high enough that the ash spreads out in a thin coat. i get about 4 6 gallon pails of ash burning three cords. Since the snow doesnt melt untill spring, and it accumilates all winter i get this stratification of ash layers in the snow, when it does start to melt, i looks like marbled ice cream. So in other words, i dont do any thing to scientific.

 

[Corie]

We spread our coal ash out on the driveway and dirt road in a non-skid application. Isn't much else we could do with all of it, since coal ash contributes the same amount of nutrition as plutonium to a vegetable garden.

As fas as amounts go, we burned about 2.25 tons of coal and since you get about 50% of the coal weight back in ashes, I'd say we lost about 1.125 tons of coal ash in our driveway and road this past year. Pretty impressive when you look now and can barely spot the occasional unburned chunk of coal.


Along the fertilizer lines though, anyway ever try the commercial product they call "Milorganite" (I think the spelling might be wrong). It is made from recycled human waste and is extremely mild, as far as commercial fertilizers go. I believe it's only 6-2-0. I use the stuff on everything and the smell even helps to keep the deer away. A little gross knowing that you're storing bags of recycled poo in your garage, but I love the stuff personally.

 

[saichele]

Damn - over a ton of ash.

I burned about 4, generated about 60 gallons, and dumped all of it in the garden, which is going like crazy.

I wonder if there are other little nasties leaching out of that coal ash.

Steve

 

[BrotherBart]

Along the fertilizer lines though, anyway ever try the commercial product they call "Milorganite" (I think the spelling might be wrong). It is made from recycled human waste and is extremely mild, as far as commercial fertilizers go. I believe it's only 6-2-0. I use the stuff on everything and the smell even helps to keep the deer away. A little gross knowing that you're storing bags of recycled poo in your garage, but I love the stuff personally.

I used to lease trucks to a company that processed cow poop and perfumed it and sold it in stores for fertilizer for flowers. The drivers said they always cracked up when they were in a store and saw somebody pick up and handfull and take a big whiff.

 

[hearthtools]

I burn about 3 tons of pellets.
I Shop vac my stove out every 4 weeks and get about 1/4 of the shop vac can full.
so one midsize shopvac can per year. 5 gallons.

 

[Corie]

hah Rod, your ash quantity for the year is equivalent to two or three days of ours.

 

[hearthtools]

hah Rod, your ash quantity for the year is equivalent to two or three days of ours.

that is the why l love pellet stoves.
I heat my 2k Sq foot house with nothing but my Windsor pellet stove to 72 deg 24 hours a day.
Mild climate. Average winter temp Lows average 30 deg highs average 60 deg
the coldest it gets at my house is about 17 deg a few times a year.

 

[Corie]

We did the pellet stove thing for about 8 years. No complaints, the heat was convenient, stove kept our house toasty. But it's the prices that started killing us. When we first bought the stove, we were paying in the $150 per ton price range. Now we all know where the prices are.

For the same price per ton, we burn 2 tons of coal as opposed to about 4 tons of pellets.

I know mom would like to have the pellet stove back though- All the loading and shaking and emptying of the ashes makes her house dusty.