Those who burn all day, when do you shovel ash?

[Hubjeep]

On day three of burning here, never had to re-light (or turn thermostats on). How do I shovel coals though since there are always hot ones in there? Just take some that are not so red (leaving glowing ones to light fire) and put them in a metal pail to take outside (maybe in the AM when there are only one or two bits of logs remaining)?

Thanks,
John

 

[stacked]

We burn round the clock & we just do the ashes just whenever it seems to need done, letting the fire burn down & then rakes all the hot coals that you can get to one side waisting as little as possible, shovel out all the ashes into a metal ash can & we set it by the front door. Then start again with building the fire.

I've only done it a couple times, but the morning is best for me b/c the fire is burnt way down already & there's less "waiting" around for things to die down. The house is already a tad cooler & I have to get a bigger fire going anyway, so may as well get the ashes out of there while things are already pretty chill in there.

 

[velvetfoot]

I just got this thing in the mail: http://www.koalkeeper.com/

Supposedly you push the stuff to one side and use it to filter out the ash, move the coals to the other side, empty the ash and then use the coals to start a new fire.

I'll let you know how it works. Somebody here turned me onto this, but I'm not sure now who it was.

I imagine best to wait til there are more ashes than coals.

 

[derbygreg]

I try to get them in the AM before I reload the stove. Been burning since Jan 10th. With my new stove, I just empty the ash pan, with my old stove I bought this and it works excellent

(broken link removed)

 

[swestall]

I got one of those too, and called the 1-800 nmumber to get the one with the longer handle!
I'm looking forward to see how it works, as getting coals separated is a real pain in the ash....

 

[velvetfoot]

Yeah I called the 800 number for the 24"'er too. It's still in the box.
I shake the normal shovel, some coals pop out, but it's hit or miss. I hate thowing away the good stuff. I don't get big concentrations of fluffy ash-there are more in front but also distributed. Maybe this shovel will help.

 

[Cazimere]

I do mine in the morning before I reload. Scrape the hot stuff to one side. Shovel the ash then do the other side.
I got tired of singeing my knuckles, so I extended my handle with an old shower curtain rod and some self tapping screws : )

 

[woodconvert]

Grates in the stove with an ash pan make it a non issue :coolsmile:

Caz, your stove looks like mine with wood surrounding it!. I've been drying a lot of wood that way lately.

 

[gpcollen1]

I try and do mine every morning when the stove is at its coolest - or when I get home from work if the wife has not reloaded yet. If once a day is too much for you you can just do it when the ashes become an issue in the stove.

I have a small ash can with a lid. You can dump a few scoops of ash in there everyday with minimal spillage and keep the lid on between scoops.

 

[velvetfoot]

There is still plenty of dust, even with the cover, but I've found that if the stove is warm and there's still a draft, a good bunch of the dust will drift back into the stove.

 

[Henz]

I actually watch the weather and pick the warmest day to let my stove cool down, today actually. Tongith when I get home I will empty all the ash, then use my vac to vac out the stove and secondary burn tubes and then re-light. About once every other week I will do this and in between I simply remove as much ash as possible in the morning.

 

[BurningIsLove]

Grates & removable ash pan on mine, so it's simple. In the morning when its down to small amount of coals, I push around the coals & ash letting the remainder of the ash fall through. Need to empty the ash pan every few days.

My last stove didnt have that system, so just pushed the good coals to the side and ash to the other, not shooting for perfection or anything. Then about once a week I had to let it burn out entirely and give it a good vacuum w/ the shop vac. I still do that today w/ my ash-pan style stove, but only have to do it once every few weeks vs. weekly.

 

[ecfinn]

I just got this thing in the mail: http://www.koalkeeper.com/

Supposedly you push the stuff to one side and use it to filter out the ash, move the coals to the other side, empty the ash and then use the coals to start a new fire.

I'll let you know how it works. Somebody here turned me onto this, but I'm not sure now who it was.

I imagine best to wait til there are more ashes than coals.

I'm in the process of perfecting my redneck version of that. I bought a $0.99 shovel at Lowes during their 50% off closeout and I'm in the process of drilling holes in it to sift the ash. My problem so far is that I've got so much more ash than what fits in a shovel-full that a lot falls over the sides when I have to shake it back and forth. This shaking also creates more ash in the air and it can (though not always) come out into the room and make even more of a mess. It seems to work better when there is less ash in the stove. Once I've been burning for 4+ days without emptying the ash it doesn't work so well. But I also need to get some more holes drilled so I'm still tweaking.

Eric

 

[ecfinn]

nm

 

[mayhem]

I let mine die down or even out every week or so...basically when the ash gets as high as the bottom of the side door opening I know its time to empty it out. That equates to about 4" or a full 3 gallon bucket.

Problem for me is I cannot for the life of me find a covered metal ash can locally...guess I'll have to order one online soon. I've been using a sturdy plastic bucket...the kind you use to feed livestock...its worked well so far, but its only a matter of time before I grab a hot ember and melt a hole in it.

Grates in the stove with an ash pan make it a non issue

Not necessarily. My Morso 3610 has integrated ash pans, but their placement is just awful and they're too small to be of real practical use in my opinion. You have to open the front doors to get at them, which dumps a whole load of ashes off the front log rest...its a vacuum job no matter waht I do. I opt to try to avoind cleaning out the pans whenever possible in my stove and just shovel out what I can in the stove body. My old Dutchwest Federal had a separate lower front door with a single huge ash pan that would hold about a month's worth of ash and you could safely empty it out when the stove was actively running since you didnt have to open any main doors and teh draft through the grate would keep anything from falling through while you had the pan out.

 

[eba1225]

I do the process that Velvet called out earlier. Move a large percentage of the hot/red coalt to one side, clear out the ash there, then move the hot coals to the other side and enpty the ash feom the final side. It is a hot process but works real well for me.

 

[crazy_dan]

I shovel mine every morning just kick the glowing stuff to one side shovel ash kick glowing stuff to other side shovel ash then I always get some glowing stuff in the coal hod I use as an ash can so I spread the coals around toss in some Small stuff then I take my coal hod full of ash and little coals and dump it in the burning barrel outside. usually when I get back in the small stuff is caught and then I fill er up with more wood.

 

[Dunadan]

I keep my ash can in the garage (on the concrete slab floor away from anything flammable) so there's no way I'm going to scoop a bit everyday. I do mine about once every week to 2 weeks. I actually get a better longer burn once the ashes start to build up, but I get tired of pushing coals to one side and spreading ash around, then pushing them to the other and doing the same. I usually do mine on a weekend morning, after I've slept in and waited a bit longer than normal to refill the stove. It's a little cooler and I can clean the door glass at the same time.

 

[annette]

Problem for me is I cannot for the life of me find a covered metal ash can locally...guess I’ll have to order one online soon. I’ve been using a sturdy plastic bucket...the kind you use to feed livestock...its worked well so far, but its only a matter of time before I grab a hot ember and melt a hole in it.

Have you looked for the tiny (~10 gallon) galvanized garbage pails? Those come with a wire handle that locks the lid on. Right now I'm using an old popcorn tin for ash.

 

[Cazimere]

I got mine at HD. I built a little 16x16 table with a stepping stone top
for it to sit on : )

 

[jtb51b]

I'm new to this, but I empty my ash pan every day. I have a very cheap old recirculator (that I wouldn't trade for a brand new gas furnace!) and its very easy to do. I pull my coals towards the front which makes it easier to only pull the ash pan out a bit and shovel into a bucket. I use a stockpot that my wife hated from day one (too thin) but for me it works well-- it has a lid and I sit in on the concrete beside the stove. Seems to cool down to room temp within a couple of hours and is never really that hot I empty is when its completely cooled.. I put my ashes in the garden, not sure if it helps anything but I remember my granfather always did that and always had a great garden.


Jason

 

[stacked]

Problem for me is I cannot for the life of me find a covered metal ash can locally...guess I’ll have to order one online soon. I’ve been using a sturdy plastic bucket...the kind you use to feed livestock...its worked well so far, but its only a matter of time before I grab a hot ember and melt a hole in it.

We have something similar to this. I saw them at Lowe's last night in black & silver for around $15-20 I think?

 

[ansehnlich1]

I'm haulin' ash daily at about 4pm or so, let the stove burn down in afternoon when sun is high and temps are warmest. Oslo has a nice ash pan! Take 'em outside and dump 'em in a big galvanized trash can with lid......dump that can once a week on my pile of topsoil.

 

[buckeye]

I clean mine out when I get home from work, no one is here during the day and by the time I get home the only thing left are coals and ash. I push the coals to one side then scoop out the ash and then to the other. I like the idea of he shovel with the holes in it though. I think I will look for one of those. I have a stock pan I bought at walmart for about $8 that I scoop into. The lid fits well enough that I dont get much dust. I take it out to the patio and leave it sit. Dump it before the next unloading.

 

[rickw]

I'm having a hard time understanding daily cleanings. I mean is the stove getting hot enough to reduce coals properly? I burn 24/7 and don't need to clean out for 2 weeks (this with a really small 1.6 cu ft firebox). It works better with some ash in the bottom of the firebox anyway...
For a bucket try a medium-sized metal trash can (10 gallons or so). Leave it on the hearth for a few hours after cleaning out (to cool), don't have to empty it but every couple of months.
regards, rick