What are you guys using for your ashes when you empty your stoves ? The ash drawer in my last stove had an attached lid, but it was kind of a clumbsy setup and I rarely used it. Had a store bought can with a lid for a while....until one of the kids knocked it over one day before I could get it outside....what a mess. The lady of the house was not a happy camper that day. Thats when I started using an old 50 cal ammo can. Theyre all metal, except the seal, but thats never been a problem even if there were hot coals in it. They're completely air tight. Theyre extremely well built. The lid locks down well enough that you can drive a truck into them and they wont pop open. Theres an extremely well made handle on top thats not hard attached to the lid...ie: doesnt get hot. The sides are flat and they either butt up against or slide right under the front lip of the stove so theres virtually no spillage from passing an ash shovel over the floor because you never really pass over the floor. The draft from the stove takes care of most of the fine dust particles. Its almost like somebody designed them as a perfect purpose built ash can for stove owners. So...what are y'all using to empty your stoves ?
I use a stainless steel salad/mixing bowl or a giant stainless dog dish and an ash shovel. Like you, I put it on the lip so the fines get pulled up the chimney with the draft. I then put the bowl on the screened porch (tile floor) to continue to smolder and cool off. Then I sift my ashes to remove the char and larger particles before spreading the ash in the garden or woods. The char and ashes end up in the landfill.
I use a Behrens, 6 Gal. Galvanized Steel Round Trash Can with Locking Lid I use the big shovel , scoop up the ashes and go straight out the back door and dump into the bucket , no ash flying around inside while dumping into the bucket. If there is snow on the ground I just throw the shovel full in the woods
My stove has an ash dump and pan so I carry full ash pan into garage and transfer ashes into 5 gallon metal buckets. Very clean process this way. Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk
I let them cool off several days in the can, then dump them in the firepit out back. Twice a winter, I clean out the firepit and put the ashes on the creekbank.......nature does the rest.
Dump the ashes on the road. I live right on a 90 degree corner and the ashes are spread out just like the sanding truck does when it comes around. Aids greatly in providing traction for the drivers that choose not to slow down enough.... (two times maybe three times a winter)
From stove to metal bucket that sits in the Weber grill for at least a week. Then into curbside trash. I leave the ash pan full.
I use an Ash Dragon. A bit pricey...but worth it. Ash goes into old stainles steel ShopVac barrel on the patio. Made a sheet metal lid for it. I used to use the shovel/ bucket, but too much ash into the house on the way out the door. Ash Dragon does not trail any air born ash when it is hot. Works very well.
Back in the 60's, if you burnt wood within the city limits, there was no where to get rid of the ashes. They had to be thrown out with the weekly pickup of trash. You can imagine there were more than a few fires in the garbage trucks before they got to the dumps. Ended up requiring all ashes to be placed in paper bags or they would not be collected.
One thing to keep in mind is the source of your wood and it's potential to have foreign substances in the ash. Just like vegetables that contain lead due to being grown right next to a house that had lead paint peeling off for years, ash can contain lead from years of leaded gasoline use in states that had heavy traffic. Visited a wood fired power plant in the early 90's in MA that got their chips from as far as ME and NJ. They found that the ash from chips from ME had a couple parts per million of lead while the ash from chips from NJ had hundreds of parts per million of lead. They had been selling the ash to mix with chicken manure for fertilizer. When they discovered the lead content of the ash they ended up having to pay a couple hundred bucks a ton to landfill it. Some plants are even used to help remove lead from garden soils around a house. Grow em, let em soak up the lead, then pull em and throw them in the trash... it's amazing what we know now compared to just 50 years ago... Here's one article that addresses heavy metals. I'm sure more are out there. Bulletin #2279, Using Wood Ash on Your Farm | Cooperative Extension Publications | University of Maine "Other nutrients are present in wood ash in much smaller amounts. Some of these nutrients, like boron, copper, molybdenum, sulfur, and zinc, are needed in trace amounts by plants. Wood ash may also contain heavy metals. These metals are of concern because they may cause health problems for humans, livestock or wildlife. Both micronutrient and heavy metal concentration in wood ash are usually measured in parts per million (ppm). In other words, the number of pounds contained in every million pounds (or 500 tons) of ash."
Me too. Fill it up put the lid on and let it sit outside for a week. Then it gets dumped on the veggie garden
I use a scoop as well, and let the ash stay there until the next cleanout, in 2+ weeks or so. Then it goes into metal can with plastic bag liner. Eventually bag goes in trash, unless my wife wants to use some in her gardens. Hearth Helpers
I use a cover metal pail. I set it outside on the ground. Never on or near anything that can burn. Days later, I dump it on the ground where the dogs won't get into it.
Same deal here only since some of the wood I burn has nails so gonna practice the magnet arm and sifter.
I put mine in a lidded metal can, the black ones you get in Tractor Supply and such; I have a stainless steel mesh sifter, a vegetable tray made for the barbecue sitting inside. I sift the powder down, put the coals back in the stove, and when the bucket is full of powder I put some in the compost bins, some around some roses, but most of it goes out in the road. Sometimes someone will come by after I have just dumped them, and they will slow down when they see the dust cloud behind them, thinking it came from their car--helps keep the speed limit down, too. Heh heh.
I sprinkle it on my breakfast cereal Ok - that is a lie. Ash pan gets dumped into a large metal trash can sitting on concrete outside. Usually empty that a few times a year into trash after it’s cooled down.
toss everything into an old tractor rim/burn ring just outside the stove. Couple times a winter that's shoveled onto the truck and hauled to the woods where it spread/ tossed off.
