Convenient Ash Pan

[yooper2]

Hi, I'm new to the forum & am glad I found it!

I've been happily using a Vermont Castings Aspen for 10 years now, but am looking for a stove that handles longer wood & is higher for easier loading.

My question today concerns ash drawers. In particular, I'm looking for a good sized ash drawer that is very convenient to use. I see a number of models that have a clean-out plug that has to be fished out and which leaves only a small opening to pass the ashes through. Pacific Energies has an externally controlled "flap" that appears to make this much more convenient. Are there other brands that have creative solutions to this problem?

My VC Aspen has a shallow ash drawer which simply resides below the grate & is easy to load. A trowel pushing the coals around works fine. However, the ash drawer doesn't hold much & is quite hot to handle.

Ideas?

 

[Boiler74]

Woodstock Progress Hybrid

 

[Rickb]

Well I finally installed mine on my sirocco and its fantastic. It is a plug style tho, with a big pan... I don't mind it. Plus when i put the plug in I know its sealed. All the other systems out there seem like they all fail eventually causing over-fires.

 

[Slow1]

I would stay away from the "pull a plug" stoves if you are looking to burn 24/7. I can't imagine trying to push ash through a small target with a hot bed of coals, not to mention getting the plug in/out with good seals.

For any stove, check around here for specific comments on the quality of the ash drawer - many folks simply let it fill with ash and shove, a sure sign to me that they have a poor design.

I had an ash drawer in my first stove (VC Encore NC), I liked the idea but it was much too small to really be practical. With the PH now I love it - I get at least 5 days (and generally a week) even when burning hard 24/7 on cold weeks. The design is simple, there is a grate on bottom of stove that ashes can fall through and it doesn't take much time at all to do it.

 

[Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar]

I've grown to like my ash pan. Just open the grate, rake the coals back and forth a couple times, ash falls through, and your done.

 

[webby3650]

I've had many of the new stoves and the"pull the plug" stoves are the best I've used to date. I would highly reccomend it! I don't care for the grate style because when you pull the pan out to dump it, all the ash thats still in the firebox falls into the hole. Preventing the pan from going back in without cleaning out the bottom first. I like having control over when the ash gets dumped.

 

[Boiler74]

I've had many of the new stoves and the"pull the plug" stoves are the best I've used to date. I would highly reccomend it! I don't care for the grate style because when you pull the pan out to dump it, all the ash thats still in the firebox falls into the hole. Preventing the pan from going back in without cleaning out the bottom first. I like having control over when the ash gets dumped.

That can happen with the Progress ash pan, but if you rake the remaining coals and ash to the front back and sides, it's minimal. The pan also has handles on each end, so if ash does fall through when the pan is removed that same ash will be scraped back into the hollow created by the handle when the pan is reinserted. It would take a lot of ash to make the pan not slid back in.

 

[Flamestead]

I don't know your Aspen, so can't compare and contrast, but as Boiler74 notes, the PH meets the long wood and great ash pan requirements. The PH has a 22" side-load box (I use 20" wood, but have put in the odd 24" on an angle). After 14 cords through it, I have no complaints about the ease of the ash pan, and it holds a lot of ash.

 

[Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar]

My grate opens and closes so the ash that's left in the firebox stays in the firebox until the grate is opened again. Also, the back side of my ash pan is completely open so any ash that falls out when pulling out the pan get scooped right back up when you slide the pan in.

 

[webby3650]

My grate opens and closes so the ash that's left in the firebox stays in the firebox until the grate is opened again. Also, the back side of my ash pan is completely open so any ash that falls out when pulling out the pan get scooped right back up when you slide the pan in.

So what model of Hearthstone do you have? I like their design too!

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Pyro, sounds like the same design as m Hearthstone Shelburne. I did that once there's ash in the stove you can't slide the grate to the side because the "track" is full of ash.

Do you burn 24/7 or are you able to clean between each individual fire? Do you know a magic trick to sliding the grate? Since week two of burning I just filled the pan (with the shovel) for insulation and never looked at it again.