best way to clean ashes out of stove?

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Do you let it burn out and then clean out? Or clean out with some red coals still in it? We had are first real cold spell 9 at night 25 during the day and I hate the thought of letting it go out to clean it, it's gonna get cold in the house.
 
I clean out if needs it in the morning when I wake up. Usually every 3-5 days dependinMost I rake to the side, clean other side, rake coals back to side I just cleaned.....

Pretty much sums it up. I dont let it go all the way out. I usually do it first thing in the morning put the ashes in a bucket and take it outside and dump into my outdoor fire pit. Once you start burning you will get a sense of when your stove needs cleaned out.
 
Pretty much sums it up. I dont let it go all the way out. I usually do it first thing in the morning put the ashes in a bucket and take it outside and dump into my outdoor fire pit. Once you start burning you will get a sense of when your stove needs cleaned out.
agreed.
 
I rake the ashes dthrough the grates occasionally through the day, when the ash pan is full I take out on the lawn (weed patch really) and sling it to spread the ashes. 40 years of ashes from 6=7 cord/yr been spread that way and I see no difference either for good or bad.

Harry K
 
Once it gets cold, my fire never goes completely out until it's warm enough that I don't need it any more. I do it pretty much how tla said. We usually have a day or two at some point in the middle of the season where it gets warm enough that I can shut it down to check the flue & clean it, but other than that it goes 24/7.
 
I don't have a ash pan or grate. Just have to shovel it out. When i clean it when its hot most of the stuff in the room ends up looking like there's nuclear fall out on it. Fine dust everywhere
 
...have to shovel it out. When it's hot most of the stuff in the room ends up looking like there's nuclear fall out on it.
Get yourself a spray bottle (like an empty Windex bottle) and mist the ashes as you shovel... you'll eliminate near all of of that fly-ash.
*
 
When i clean it when its hot most of the stuff in the room ends up looking like there's nuclear fall out on it. Fine dust everywhere
DSCN1439.JPG
 
I have a small rake and an ash shovel. Every morning I use the rake to push the coals to the back of the stove. Then I take out a couple shovels of ash. Then I rake the coals to the front and build another fire.

I don't worry about cleaning it out until the end of the season. It seems like it will hold a bed of coals longer with a bit of ash in the bottom.

As far as moving the ash out of the stove without it going all over the room, I use an ash bucket with a lid. I quickly and smoothly move the shovel from the stove to the bucket and quickly open and close the lid on the bucket. This seems to keep the flying ash to a minimum.

image.jpg
 
If I go slow and don't let the ash fall down but gently let it slide down my shovel as I move the shovel along the ashes in the bucket I get little to no dust. And where does one find a cheap but effective ash rake? looks useful....
 
I don't worry about ashes making a mess in the house. the mess is all outside. thanks to the owb. :eek::happybanana::cheers:
 
And where does one find a cheap but effective ash rake? looks useful....
I stole the idea from somebody else on one of these wood burners sites. I made two coal rakes by cutting an old garden rake in half then welding a 30" long piece of 1/2" rebar into a notch I made on the "spine" of each rake to attach the handle to. Works great
 
After about every week or so of non stop burning my boiler needs to be cleaned out. I don't fill it the night before and the backup heat kicks on in the night to cover the difference. In the morning I knock the coals to one side and shovel the rest into a metal can. Then I leave the can sitting out in the driveway for a few days to make sure there's nothing live before disposing of the ashes.
 
Shop vac. The trick is to get that stuff sucked up and taken out to the plastic trash can before the shop vac burns up. It's really good for getting the heart rate going as well. I've lost a few shop vacs that way, but my heart is good and strong, although the blood pressure is a bit high.

Oh, and I was just kidding about the plastic trash can. I usually throw them in my neighbor's leaf pile.
 
Don't leave ashes in a 5 gallon plastic bucket too long if had a recent fire the bucket may ignite.
 
I clean my stove out when it's full, maybe every 4-6 weeks of burning or so. It will hold about 5 gallons of ash. I usually do it when it's full to the door edge which is maybe 5 or 6" deep. (I've never measured)

I just wait till its warm out, so 20s-30s and let the nat gas boiler go for a day or two. Cold ash doesn't float around as much.

Shop stove, same idea, normally clean it once or twice a season, but it easily holds a cubic yard of ash.
 

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