Tips for Ash Handling

Right now I dump my ash pan into a metal garbage can. This is my first year with a stove. The ash is very powdery. When I dump it onto the can dust goes everywhere. Is there any tips for dumping ash so it's not so messy? Also, will most garbage men take the ash or do I have to bag it so it isn't so messy when they dump it into the truck?

Thanks in advance

I dump my ash into a metal trash can also, and put the lid on quickly. I also wear a dust mask. Coal ash has some nasty stuff in it and should not be inhaled. I dump it in my path in the woods behind my home as a paving material. Once it gets rained on, there no more dust.

I also use a metal garbage can, mine stays in my basement until it is full. What I found to be very helpfull is, I use my shop vac with a fine dust filter, just hold the hose at the top of the garbage can when you pour the ashes in, all the dust gets sucked up and does not go every where.

I bag my ashes out side to be polite to the garbage men, they breath enough crap already.

BK

I dump my ashes in the woods. About a buckets worth per day. I always let it sit for a few hours beforehand so as to ensure that all coal is extinguished and cool.

I have two ash pans. Every 2 to three days I just swap em out. Then I just dump them into a pile on the side of my garage. A quick flip onto the pile seems to keep the dust down. I spread some of them on my stone driveway for extra traction in the snow. Then once spring hits I load em into my tractor cart and haul em into the woods.

I never dump or transfer the ashes inside the house. I also have 2 pans and carefully remove the full one, replace it with the empty one, let the full one cool, then take it outside to fill a spot where someone removed soil years ago.
The house is dusty enough w/o me adding to it. I also dampen my coal in the bin to help keep the black coal dust down also.

stokerstove wrote:The house is dusty enough w/o me adding to it.

My wife's one and only complaint about the stove is that it DOES create dust. I never physically remove the large ash collection tray from the stove.......I use the ole' cheap fake brass shovel to scoop the ash out and put it in a spare coal bucket. With how warm it's been outside, I get a bucket of ash every day-and-a-half to two days.

I can’t take the tray out because there's a lot of fine powder ash that fills the void between the sides of the tray and the inside walls of the stove......I pull the tray out and it’s tough to get back in. No to mention that the tray is FREAKIN' hot!

yeah since the humidity is so low around the stove it is like a giant swifter, creates a static charge and calls all the dust bunnies!

I just use the welders gloves to handle the tray and dump it in a metal garbage can once per day. Then I vacuum the whole area with the shop vac first inside the bottom of the stove and then all around it after I close the door.

Seems to work, I have had minimal dust in the kitchen where the stove is.

I have 3 metal trash barrels outside...and dump ashes in them..never in the house...the dust is like talcum powder..and will cling to any static surface like a TV screen...or settle on surfaces in time....

I have a gravel driveway and use the ash on there..in time it packs like cement...also makes a great traction aid in icy condition on the drive way...

I too have 2 ash pans to just do a swap out....welders gloves are your best friend to handle hot ash pans...

Al

I also never empty in the house. Before I remove the ash pan from my Mark III I place a sheet of metal on top of it to minimize any ash from blowing off as I carry it out of the house. Works very well and have not residue of dust in the house.

I save my coal boiler ash in a pile outside my garage. In spring, I spread it in an area where I'm making a place to dump coal. I spread dry portland cement and use a rototiller to make what's called soil cement. In this case a combination of ashes, existing soil and the portland cement. Makes a weak but adequate concrete. No water is need for soil cement. It just uses mosture drawn from the soil to harden. Also can be used as a sub-base for real concrete.

Yanche

i swap out two ash pans and store in a 100lb plastic barrel with a screw on lid. stand up wind and pour them in and put lid on fast. save for snow and ice on stone driveway or fill in ruts.