Ashes and plastic buckets.

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I dump our ash pan in a 4ft. length of 18 inch diameter metal culvert standing on it's end. The top is covered by a door off of a clothes dryer. I save them all winter and spred them on the yard and garden in the spring. A valuable resource, IMO.

Is there any kind of ash that shouldn't be used as a soil amendment?
 
I dump our ash pan in a 4ft. length of 18 inch diameter metal culvert standing on it's end. The top is covered by a door off of a clothes dryer. I save them all winter and spred them on the yard and garden in the spring. A valuable resource, IMO.

What doesn't get spread on the road goes on the lawn or garden in March. If you make your own compost, it helps balance the acidity of oak leaves.

I've always heard the ashes from processed charcoal are too fine to use in any concentration. It's alledged to pack too tightly reducing aeration. I quit using the processed crap when I first tried lump hardwood. Less ash, more BTU's & longer burns.
 
Been using an ugly but very practical heavy galvanized bucket to carry my ashes. In the local hardware store last month I saw and purchased an attractive, black, retro looking "Coal Bucket". Paid high dollar for it.

I keep my bucket of ashes in the house to bank the fire with if I need to leave the house. First time I used the new bucket, yes, turned away to fix breakfast, smelled burning paint. Took 2 days to get the burnt paint smell out of the house.

Would you not think they should use heat resistant paint on a "Coal Bucket"?
 
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I use a metal milking pail for our wood stove.

Anybody just mix in some water before dumping? No hiss or steam = no hot coals?


What is the reaction between fuel and Styrofoam and how do you know this.

Dissolves the cup. I found out when trying to use one to syphon a little bit of fuel once. By the time I got 10 feet away my hand was empty but wet with gas.

Philbert
 
Last winter a house less than a 1/4 mile away burned down from a plastic bucket with hot coals in it. It was left in the garage. My metal bucket has a tight lid and gets placed out back the house on a concrete pad away from anything flamable. I empty it before the next cleanout.
 
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What's up with storing potentially hot ash in the garage? Mine always goes from the stove into a steel pail with an airtight lid and it goes straight outside. I don't even think about taking the lid off for a least a week.

Kind of reminds me of the neighborhood knucklehead when I was growing up. He was burning leaves in the driveway and it started to rain. Of course, you can't let the rain douse the burning leaves so he raked the pile into the garage. Burned that sucker right to the ground. The best part? This didn't happen once. Oh, noooo. He actually did it twice. As Bill Engvall would say: "Here's your sign."
 
Pretty much any ashes from Genius' fires should be avoided.

"I have a potty mouth" Steve :msp_rolleyes:

All my ashes go on my garden, except the blueberry patch.

My garden turns out pretty good.



Although, nothing compared to Del's. (but he has a few years on me:D)
 
What's up with storing potentially hot ash in the garage? Mine always goes from the stove into a steel pail with an airtight lid and it goes straight outside. I don't even think about taking the lid off for a least a week.

Been doing it for years. Got a stainless steel ash bin, big bare spot on the concrete floor, always cold during winter, no nearby flammables, no petroleum products, vehicles are parked outside. No, I don't burn leaves in the garage.
 
Glad to hear that. We'd have to make up a sign for you if you did. :msp_wink:

Does that mean you're ok with my storing my ash bin in the garage until it's cool? Or do I need to get a note from my mommy? :msp_tongue:
 
I store my ashes in steel containers in my basement all the time.

I have old milk buckets, and a old heavy 20 gallon steel container that all my ashes to in. Usually I wait to take them to the garden til they are full.

Maybe I want to reconsider?????

This is all in my basement, a Michigan cellar
 
Does that mean you're ok with my storing my ash bin in the garage until it's cool? Or do I need to get a note from my mommy? :msp_tongue:

Whatever you're comfortable with, my friend. Me, I prefer to not tempt fate. Whenever I do, it usually turns out badly. But that's just me.
 
WHY do people store ashes inside?

We've had calls with ashes inside the basement in a cardboard box. What the ####?

I've had a dear friend whose house burned down from someone disposing of ashes into their garage -- she was at work, thank god her husband, two kids, sister, and sister's kids all got out.

My ashes go in a metal bucket. If I don't have time to fire up the garden tractor and trailer and haul them down to the garden, they sit in the gravel driveway away from anything for a while. If they've sat for a week, I've been known to pour them into a 5 gallon bucket (learned the first time my metal bucket is six gallons...) then after I fill up the metal bucket haul both down to the garden.

Years ago we had a dump fire in the area. State park crew had dumped ashes, some where still hot...before it was done we had three pumpers at draft -- somewhere around 4,000 gallons per minute -- and the local National Guard armory was an engineering company that came down with their payloaders to assist that town's DPW.

After that they leave the trash cans full of ashes out for months. Guys hate emptying them because they've been rained on many, many times before dumping now.

BTW -- even if stored inside in a fire proof area, whatever is still burning in that bucket is pumping out Carbon Monoxide.
 
When I empty the stove there's probably not more than a half a cup of coals in the tray. It's cold to the touch within an hour. I have CO and smoke/fire detectors in the garage. My ash barrel is outside and covered. It doesn't get dumped (on site) until spring. Just sayin'.
 
Last winter a house less than a 1/4 mile away burned down from a plastic bucket with hot coals in it. It was left in the garage. My metal bucket has a tight lid and gets placed out back the house on a concrete pad away from anything flamable. I empty it before the next cleanout.

That's an annual event in Spokane, Wa. I can place a sure fire bet that at least one garage or house will catch fire from improper ash storage. this year it has only be one that I heard of.

My ashes go direct from stove to the lawn/garden. No need to save them to apply in the spring.

Harry K
 
I clean the ash out of my OWB once a week and use a old metal bushel basket (Probably a good number of board members don't know what the heck that is) and then from the basket straight to a metal garbage can in my garage. Dump it in secure the lid firmly and can easily be dumped in 3 or 4 days with no hot coals. Normally I will get about 3/4 of a can full in about a month and then I dump it on my trash pit. Use the same precautions as Mac in regards to storage of the container in the garage. I know it has been mentioned a few times already but SERIOUSLY a plastic bucket! Has common sense taken a vacation in this country.
 
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