Pellet Ash Disposal

[hoverwheel]

We've been dumping the ash into a metal trashcan outdoors away from the house.

The driveway is dirt except during snow melt and spring, when it is mud. Deep, thick, gooey, rutted mud.

Would it help, make the mud worse or be a toss up if I spread the ash on the muddiest area?

I know some use it for the garden but I'm not a big gardener.

 

[reallyte]

I use it to deice the drive or throw it in the hedrow. If u have a muddy driveway it probably won't help with that.

 

[CygnusX1]

I save mine in a big barrel and spread it on my lawn in the spring with a seed spreader. Lawns love it.

 

[Bioburner]

I spread it on top of snow I want to melt down fast if the sun shines. Rest gets stuck on the garden and mixed with horse manure.

 

[MarkF48]

Collect the ash in urns and put the urns on a shelf and tell folks it's the remains the of people that tried to steal your pellet stash.


..........or just spread it on the lawn.

 

[TimfromMA]

I vacuum out the stove, including the ash pan with an ash vac. About 3 times per year, I dump the vac bucket in the tree line adjacent to my proerty.

 

[wsar10]

Pellet ash depending on the wood type can mess up your soil if you use too much of it, it can be acidic for gardens if used with nothing else (watch your PH). That being said you could use it on your garden or you lawn but like said above spread it out.
The ashes WILL make your mud worse, and it will than stain. When I was a kid we burned wood and dad would always spread the hot ashes (and cold ashes) at the top of our driveway for added traction in the winter, UNTIL "big brother" stuck there nose in our business, in this case it was our local version of DER (department of environmental resources) nowadays they are called DEP.......said we cant do it because it could affect ground water.

I currently dump mine in the woods adjacent to my property but will scoop some of that pile up for my garden when I till it. I dump my vac before each use, this ensures that the ashes from last use inside the vac are cooled. When we had snow banks all winter I would dump in a snow bank and then swish snow around inside the vac canister to clean it some.

 

[bbfarm]

I was going to spread ours on the hay field last year, but my better half decided to dump it in the driveway. It didn't make any difference

 

[vgrund]

I dump mine in the woods adjacent to my house. Easy breezy. I don't recommend using ashes for traction. Once they get went the resulting mush glues to surfaces and can make a mess of walkways in the Spring. Also there is potential to track it indoors which is also not what you want.

 

[bdaoust]

Collect the ash in urns and put the urns on a shelf and tell folks it's the remains the of people that tried to steal your pellet stash.


..........or just spread it on the lawn.

lol

 

[SwineFlue]

it can be acidic

Really? I always thought it was used to increase the pH of acidic soil.

 

[John Fortier]

Low Ph lawn would love it if it is acidic...If you have a lot of moss toss it on..would be cheaper than using lime.

 

[railfanron]

The main component of wood ash is calcium carbonate which is lime. There is some potash in it and some other trace mineral and metals. It woks fine in gardens and on lawns.
Ron

 

[wsar10]

Really? I always thought it was used to increase the pH of acidic soil.

You may be correct, maybe I have it backwards.....
I think some types of woods are acidic and others are not, I still have a month or so before I'm in "garden mode" !!

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

For a number of years we innocently pitched our wood ashes under one of our favorite apple trees. After awhile the apples lost their zest -- the basic chemicals in the ashes had neutralized the acids in the fruit. We stopped dumping our ashes there, and the apples gradually recovered their flavor.

 

[TimfromMA]

Low Ph lawn would love it if it is acidic...If you have a lot of moss toss it on..would be cheaper than using lime.

It would take many seasons worth of ash to get enough to do my entire lawn.

 

[SXIPro]

Don't dump them in your driveway, especially if it's soggy. The crap gets tracked everywhere.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

We clean the stoves into a bucket then toss the contents into the adjacent field/pasture and good to go.

 

[boo boo]

I was told that gardens love the ash tilled in the soil. That is where I have been putting mine all winter. If my tomato's don't grow I will know why

 

[wsar10]

I was told that gardens love the ash tilled in the soil. That is where I have been putting mine all winter. If my tomato's don't grow I will know why

do a PH test on your soil and treat it accordingly,
at our camp we cant grow tomatoes due to all the black walnut trees.....

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I was told that gardens love the ash tilled in the soil. That is where I have been putting mine all winter. If my tomato's don't grow I will know why

You can always neutralize the basic content of the ashes if necessary by adding an acidifier like sulfur to the soil.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

Wait for a strong wind gust blowing towards an unneighborly neighbor. Then toss. A variation would be to wait till they have their clothesline full of wet laundry.