Getting the mistakes out of the way

It never seems to fail that when I shut down in the spring I seem to do a mind wipe regarding stove handling and such.

Lit off the stoker for the cool days last week. Momma likes to stay warm don't cha know. One afternoon I added about a 1/2 bucket of rice to the hopper and decided to take out the ashes. We have the stove in the dining room with a light tan carpet in this new to us house. Momma has told me that if I mess up this carpet with stove ash or coal dirt she will mess me up!!!

Since the stove was only a hair above idle I didn't expect the ash pan to be hot. I couldn't find my gloves right away so I decided to grab two dish rags from the laundry hamper to pull and dump the ash pan. They were going to be washed anyway so what would a little dust on them hurt right?

Opened the ash door, no problem. Folded the dish rags three times, no problem. Grabbed the ash pan and pulled it out, slight problem. It felt a little warm but not bad. Closed the ash door and commenced carrying the ash pan carefully through the dining room and then through the kitchen to the back porch door. Opened the kitchen door stepped to the porch and then a severe burning pain commenced in my fingers. The edge of the ash pan handle was in contact with skin because the dishrags were very thin and I juggled and then dropped the ash pan. The kitchen door was still open and as I watched in horror a HUGE ash cloud went through the kitchen door headed for the living room and dining room. I tried to close the kitchen door but the ash pan I dropped was in the way. I kicked it out of the way spilling the remainder of the ash on the porch and slammed the door shut. I ran in and got the other door closed trapping the dust in the kitchen.

Do you realize how many things in your kitchen have exposed horizontal surfaces?

Next time no matter what I will search out the gloves and remember....

Any short cut you take with a coal burning appliance will always result in unintended consequences.

Something we all need to pay attention to!!!!!!

Having a second pan also helps, so you don't have to carry hot ashes out.

I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but I laughed my ass off reading about it.

I feel your pain, 3 yrs ago I foolishly made a mistake too. Wife and me finish painting entire first floor of the house. She told me to be extra careful cleaning out the corn stove since it was in living room. Couple days later it was time to clean stove, so out comes the shop vac. Removed the ash pan with no issues and took outside, not a speck of ash to be seen. Smiling with a grin I grab the brush and turn on shop vac to clean exhaust and pan area. Several mins later the room started to get dark like the sun went behind the clouds. To my surprise the vac bag tore inside, and the ash was coming out like a dust storm in the desert. OMG what now, clean it or start packing my bags. Well had to call her at work to explain and all I heard was ..... Weeks later I was still finding black soot... To make a long story short coal stove is in my work shop..