Removal of Ashes...Please Help1

Dear Sir,

I have a coal stoker in my basement to heat my home. The stoker has an auger that feeds coal from a 55 gallon barrel of coal into the stoker. After the coal is burned, ashes drop into an ash can ( a metal bushel basket )
I am trying to solve the problem of physically carrying the ashes up a flight of basement stairs to the outside.(They're very heavy and very messy)

I thought of a vacuum system..( I used a big shop vac.)but, that didn't work b/c of the filter...it would get so clogged that it would stop. Dust everywhere!
Would you -could you recommed a vacuum that could handle vacuuming up a bushel basket of ashes? I thought you may use something like this in your business.
There has to be a way to travel them outside w/o carrying them. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great! Thank you so much! Margie

Short of anything that would be quite expensive no nothing comes to mind. Any neighbor hood kids in the area? Pay them a a few dollars a week to take care of your urncae. That's the best I can offer.

Hi,
In our area of North East PA there are many saw mills that have blowers that move sawdust through duct work. They have designed outside overhead 'sheds' to collect the sawdust for later emptying into a truck. It may be more expensive that you are looking for, but it seems like a system similar to that could work for you. I'm also not sure if the coal ashes would be more heavy than the sawdust, but I would think the blowers could handle it. I know they also design smaller systems for home wood working shops. Perhaps something like that could work. Here is one such system. http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/saw_dust_co ... tion.shtml
Just a thought.
Troy

Although that may work it's still not a very good solution. The ashes can be as fine as talcum powdeer and as margie found out quickly clog the filter.