Need to empty the ash pan

[WellSeasoned]

Last night and today and tonight I need to run the stove at full tilt. I have at least a4"coal bed and a full ash pan. I need to keep feeding the stove to keep the house up to temp every 5 hrs or so.
I have an ash pan door, so can it be emptied at this point? The minute it will take to empty it, I'm sure some coals will fall through the grate and into the ash area.

Any tips or suggestions? Thx

 

[mikepinto65]

I wouldnt empty it, but thats just me. The best thing to do IMO is let the coals die down to 1-2" between reloads. Once they are not overflowing, push the coal forward (or back) and scoop the ashes from the firebox to free up space. If you are dead set on removing them from the ash pan, simply close the ash door when you take the pan out, discard ashes, have your shovel ready, open the door and push in and down down from left to right (with shovel) finding any coal that may jam the pan.

 

[Shari]

First: I pull out the ash pan and the close the ash door, take the ash pan outside & dump it into my covered galvanized 13 gallon garbage can which is sitting on a burn-proof surface (sidewalk).

Second: I set the ash pan just under the stove, open the ash door and use my small raker to get inside the ash pan area and rake out any wayward coals/ash that fell into the ash collection area and rake directly into the ash pan. Once the ash pan area is clear I reinsert the ash pan, close the ash door and proceed with running the stove in cycles.

Please note: On the above outlined process I remove the ash pan BEFORE I disturb anything inside the stove thereby (hopefully) alleviating any hot coals dropping into the ash pan. I still treat my ashes as if there were hot coals mixed in with the ashes because, more than likely, there are hot coals. I just don't purposely add hot coals to my ash pan.

 

[pyper]

I empty mine while it's burning all the time. Mine kind of heaps up on top, and then there's a lip that levels the ash off and into the bottom of the stove.

So pretty much every time, there's a pile of stuff that I have to shovel back into the pan after I empty it.

 

[WellSeasoned]

Thx.got it empty w/o any problems. Nothing even fell through the grate.

 

[jdinspector]

I empty mine while it's burning all the time. Mine kind of heaps up on top, and then there's a lip that levels the ash off and into the bottom of the stove.

So pretty much every time, there's a pile of stuff that I have to shovel back into the pan after I empty it.

Me too on my old stove. No problem.

 

[firefighterjake]

I typically empty my ash pan in the morning after a long overnight fire . . . things are usually a bit cooler then.

That said . . .

1. Open ash pan door and remove ash pan.
2. Close ash pan door.
3. Dump ashes in ash can outside.
4. Open ash pan door and use shovel to clean up any ash/coals that have fallen into ash pan space.
5. Replace ash pan and close door.

No worries.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

First: I pull out the ash pan and the close the ash door, take the ash pan outside & dump it into my covered galvanized 13 gallon garbage can which is sitting on a burn-proof surface (sidewalk).

Second: I set the ash pan just under the stove, open the ash door and use my small raker to get inside the ash pan area and rake out any wayward coals/ash that fell into the ash collection area and rake directly into the ash pan. Once the ash pan area is clear I reinsert the ash pan, close the ash door and proceed with running the stove in cycles.

Please note: On the above outlined process I remove the ash pan BEFORE I disturb anything inside the stove thereby (hopefully) alleviating any hot coals dropping into the ash pan. I still treat my ashes as if there were hot coals mixed in with the ashes because, more than likely, there are hot coals. I just don't purposely add hot coals to my ash pan.

Excellent Shari. That's pretty much how we did it when we had an ash pan.

 

[Shari]

Excellent Shari. That's pretty much how we did it when we had an ash pan.

hearth.com has been a great teacher!

 

[Excavator]

First: I pull out the ash pan and the close the ash door, take the ash pan outside & dump it into my covered galvanized 13 gallon garbage can which is sitting on a burn-proof surface (sidewalk).

Second: I set the ash pan just under the stove, open the ash door and use my small raker to get inside the ash pan area and rake out any wayward coals/ash that fell into the ash collection area and rake directly into the ash pan. Once the ash pan area is clear I reinsert the ash pan, close the ash door and proceed with running the stove in cycles.

Please note: On the above outlined process I remove the ash pan BEFORE I disturb anything inside the stove thereby (hopefully) alleviating any hot coals dropping into the ash pan. I still treat my ashes as if there were hot coals mixed in with the ashes because, more than likely, there are hot coals. I just don't purposely add hot coals to my ash pan.

Excellent Shari. That's pretty much how we did it when we had an ash pan.

that is what we do too and works fine