How to get rid of the huge bed of coals?

[Soadrocks]

Dear Veterans,

I'm starting to get used to our new Jotul Castine, and figuring out the ins and outs of Woodstoving 101, but I have come across a dilemma that I need help with and I know the experienced can help out.

When burning 24/7, we tend to get a huge buildup of chicken nugget sized hot coals. I have tried pushing them to the front, didn't work. I tried putting them onto one side, but they still take up a lot of FIREBOX space. Is the only option to dump them into an ash pan? I don't know how safe it is to dump hot coal in the our ash bucket, but what do I know.

Any suggestions on how to deal with these chicken nugget sized coals? Do I just wait them out and let them burn out before loading new wood?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[SolarAndWood]

When you tried pulling them to the front, did you open the air up? If you pick a warm day to do it, you both get enough heat out of the stove and don't waste the fuel by tossing it. We use sunny days to burn the coals down all day. When we get home at the end of the day, separate the remaining coals from the ash, dump the ash, pull the coals forward again and you are good to reload. It also helps to reduce buildup if you do a good burn down at the end of each burn cycle before reloading.

 

[Hogwildz]

I rake them into a strip in the center of the stove, front to back, then out a medium size split on each side, and another split spanning over those two splits (all north to south) with all the coals between.
Makes a tunnel and with the air on my insert right there at the front is burns the coals down really well.

 

[LLigetfa]

I push the ashes and coals to the back and then rake the coals forward leaving the ashes behind. That way opening up the air with a small split on top of the coals is all it takes to burn them down quickly. Also, dry wood = less coals.

 

[begreen]

With the shallow box of the Castine, this can be a challenge, especially when you are burning constantly. We had a lot of chunk wood cutoffs and could do what hog suggested. But otherwise it we did as folks are describing, move the coals as best as possible to the front and center, open the air up and burn them down. Stove top temps will be lower for an hour or two while burning down the coals. Another alternative, if you have some softwood, is to put a split or 2 on top of the coal bed to help to burn it down quicker.

As for putting coals in the bucket, it can and has been done, but usually you want to wait for them to have mostly burned down. The bucket must be metal and it will get hot and stay hot for awhile. Move it with gloves on and be careful where you set it down. It can start a porch on fire if the deck is wood. Have some cinder blocks or bricks to set it on to keep it well away from any combustible surface. Hot coals in ash can stay hot for days.

 

[JustWood]

I rake them to the front and crack the door to burn them down.

 

[Corriewf]

I had this problem and a buddy suggested that I am loading it too often. I have tried loading it a little less often and sometimes just putting a couple splits on top of a nice coal bed and that has worked for me. For me just having a couple small splits that will put off some flame will help keep the stove at temp yet give the stove time enough to burn the coals down.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I rake 'em to the front, close the draft control lever, and crack the side door open.

I also will pile 'em to the front, put a thin split on top, leave the side door closed, open the air control all the way, and let 'em burn down that way.

If it's real cold outside and I want to burn WOOD, I won't hesitate to shovel 'em out of there, put 'em in my blue ironstone fryer with lid, and haul 'em outside.

I have a fire ring and I'll set the pot in there, if it's real windy I'll prop the lid with a brick to make sure the hot little b'strds don't get out

You DEFINITELY don't wanna put and ash or coals anywhere they could catch something on fire.

 

[LLigetfa]

No reason why you can't have a serious fire burning in the back while the excess coals are piled high near the door with a couple of thin splits on top as a catalyst and lots of air. The trick is to stay on top of the coals and not wait until the firebox is chock full of coals.

Now, if the coals are from burning wet wood, then the answer is to go find dry wood.

 

[atvdave]

I just rake them to one side and scoop out as much fine ash's as I can with out throwing away the chunks of coal. Then (depending on how many there are) I either pile then in the front, middle , or (If a lot) I spread them out evenly through out my fire box. I then put new wood on top of them to restart my new fire.

Also one thing..... You don't have to have a fire going all the time.... The hot glowing coals will still heat the stove/insert very well. Let it burn down to a point... then reload...

 

[LLigetfa]

Ja, separating the ash from the coal so it can get lots of air is key. I push everything to the back, run my poker through the ashes to bring the coals up to the top and then bring the coals forward. A coal rake can help to separate the ash from the coals.

 

[Valhalla]

Burning 24/7, so I love those red hot coals.

I use an ash rake and a small ash shovel that I
drilled about 15 or so 5/8" holes in.

The ash goes down into the tray, those great hot
coals are ready for some fresh splits. In no time,
the Oslo is back producing 70,000 btu.

Sweet heat!

 

[Corriewf]

Something else I have noticed with getting rid of coals, try to keep a flame going. It might seem silly, but throwing a very small split on a large bed of coals will keep the flame going and suck air through the coals better. Sure the small split will turn into coals but not faster than the existing coals can be burned off.

 

[cycloxer]

I had this problem and a buddy suggested that I am loading it too often.

Agreed. As you start to burn down the load, move the intake lever to full open air to burn down the coals more. Open the door and stir up the coals to separate the ash from the burning coals. You can keep the door open and let the coals burn down for a bit before you reload. The hotter you burn this stove, the fewer coals you will accumulate. The Castine is really not intended as a 24/7 burner with its 1.75 cu. ft. firebox. If you try to run it that way and keep reloading the firebox full, you are going to have to make some compromises and let the coals burn down every now and then or shovel them out.

Once you get your style and technique perfected you can run the stove almost non-stop.

 

[firefighterjake]

With the big brother of the Castine -- the Oslo -- I usually only have this problem if either a) myself or my wife have been adding wood too soon to the coals or b) if it's wicked cold and I'm trying to keep the heat level up so I'm adding wood a bit earlier than normal.

If I get to the point where there are too many coals I'll rake the coals forward towards the air intake, throw a small split or two (usually softwood or a softwood slab) and open the air up . . . usually in less than an hour the coals have gone to ash . . . or at least are diminished enough to make a little more room in the firebox.

 

[Corriewf]

I had this problem and a buddy suggested that I am loading it too often.

Agreed. As you start to burn down the load, move the intake lever to full open air to burn down the coals more. Open the door and stir up the coals to separate the ash from the burning coals. You can keep the door open and let the coals burn down for a bit before you reload. The hotter you burn this stove, the fewer coals you will accumulate. The Castine is really not intended as a 24/7 burner with its 1.75 cu. ft. firebox. If you try to run it that way and keep reloading the firebox full, you are going to have to make some compromises and let the coals burn down every now and then or shovel them out.

Once you get your style and technique perfected you can run the stove almost non-stop.

I have the same size firebox. I used to open the air all the way, but that didn't burn them down much faster and ended up losing too much heat and momentum for the next load. What works best for me is throwing a small ( almost kindling size ) split on just to keep a flame going. The small flames will keep the air flow going underneath the coals, burning them up. Might not be able to keep the stove very hot but you can get the coals burning down faster and keep min heat so your next full load will not have to heat the stove back up all the way.