Emptying the Ash Pan...Tricks/Tips?

I took a pc of 18 inch spiral duct, which fits over a 10 gallon trash can perfectly, and put a cap on it with a hole for the shop vac hose in the center. I left the bottom open so I can easily lift the whole apparatus over the pail when it gets full or when I put it over a new pail. I then cut a hole in the side of the spiral at the same elevation as the top of a 5 or 10 gallon bucket so I can use all the different size buckets I have available for ashes. Then I turn the shop vac on and use my coal shovel to carefully shovel the ashes out of the ash pan and into the bucket. All of the fly ash is sucked up the hose. Make sure you use the drywall dust bags in the shop vac, they work great. I moved the apparatus out in front of the boiler so I could take a picture for everyone. It really wrks better than I thought it would!

My way may of emptying the ash may only work with a Harman VF3000.

I did it all last season and it works very well.

here's the link with lots of pictures.
Unique Way to Remove Ashes From a VF3000 Boiler

from joethecoalman

I buy 3mil large commercial trash bags from lowes or home depot. take ash pan outside. slip trash bag down over top. gather up excess bag and flip over. let set couple minutes. lift up ash pan with trash bag still over. eliminates 90% of dust.

My KA-6 I use a 30 gal garbage bag with the draw string. Slip it over the top, turn the pan upside down and lift the pan out of the bag. don't let it go back down or you will push the dust out of the sides of the bag. Be aware of the wind too.

I have dirt trails in my woods, that are slowly looking much better thanks to a nice layer of hardened coal ash.

Yep,your trails & my driveway

freetown fred wrote:Yep,your trails & my driveway

Kinda wished I hadn't paved my driveway about 6 years ago.
The way I figure it, I'll be walking about 100' into my woods every time I dump ashes, before I retire and go south.
Guess I'll need to come up with a plan B before too long.

And that's the second big advantage--although--it's at least 100' to the end of my drive--sooooo,we're all doin outstanding the only goin south I see in the future will consist of somebody sprinkling MY ashes on the south side of the driveway Have a Merry Christmas oakback

For my Hitzer ash pan that is like a shovel with the open end I made what I call a rollup. It lays down on a leg so it is tilted I open the door slide the ashpan in close the door and roll it up right, finish the tending of the stove and by that time the flyash has settled I open the door take out the ashpan close the door and put the ashpan in the stove, little to no flyash flying and no spilled ash on the floor. It holds 3 to 4 days worth of ash then I dump it out in my pile. Thought about making a few and trying to sell them to other Hitzer owners with the shovel type pan. I did the dumping into a garbage can last year and was not going to do it again.

Dumping into an open top container while you stand over the container is something you will do only once.~!@#$%^&*()_+~@!#

Thats why we have gravel driveways, and allways check wind direction first

Since I have to carry the ashpan through the house I made a cover I can hold up to the stove and slide the pan right into,take it into the garage to dump.

Me too... rather Freddy made me a lid for my ash pan last year and this year he followed up with a new ash pan. The lid really makes a difference in keeping the amount of ashes down while I walk the full pan out of the house. Having a second ash pan means I no longer have to work with a hot ash pan. I shake the stove, let the flyash settle and then pull the full pan out of the stove, cover it with the lid and set it to the back of the hearth. Then I put the empty pan in the stove. I'll empty the full one the next day when the ashes are cold. Not having to deal with the ashpan more then once a day - What a concept!

lowfog01 wrote:Me too... rather Freddy made me a lid for my ash pan last year and this year he followed up with a new ash pan. The lid really makes a difference in keeping the amount of ashes down while I walk the full pan out of the house. Having a second ash pan means I no longer have to work with a hot ash pan. I shake the stove, let the flyash settle and then pull the full pan out of the stove, cover it with the lid and set it to the back of the hearth. Then I put the empty pan in the stove. I'll empty the full one the next day when the ashes are cold. Not having to deal with the ashpan more then once a day - What a concept!

Just curious why do you remove the pan after shaking? Why not do it before and not deal with hot ashes? On another note though the lids do help. I got a lid for my pan on the DS and I've noticed I'm gonna say a 98% drop in dust in the house. It is amazing that just covering the pan to walk it outside makes such a differance.

Have a great day, Eric