Ash Management Tips

[BrotherBart]

I have a 20 gallon galvanized can outside that I dump the stuff into. But the important part is where you sit the can for a couple of days or so. More fires happen from sitting the hot bucket on combustible surfaces than from dumping ashes. Well, except for the guy 10 miles south of me that just took them out and tossed them in the woods and got a bill from the county for firefighters fighting a fire that took out over a hundred acres of woods.

 

[firefighterjake]

So I've been reading this thread and others, and absolutely love that there are firefighters posting to these forums for some nice real-world gut checks. But I still have a question about the ash bucket...cause eventually it does need to be dumped somewhere. So after putting hearth.com forum-approved ash container outside in a forum-approved safe place away from any combustible materials, how long do you wait before emptying the ashes somewhere else? I think I read "a couple of days" elsewhere on here...just curious what others have to say.

My own recommendation . . . at least a week.

What I personally do however is wait until my 5 gallon ash pail is about full (usually this takes 2-3 weeks) and right before I dump the "fresh" ashes from my ash pan into the ash pail I dump the ash pail . . . this time of year I dump it on a pile of ash on the backside of the property, but in the winter I'll typically dump it on my gravel driveway for traction and ice melting (not from the hot coals, but rather from the dark ash heating up from the sun.)

The mistake I see too many folks make however is either dumping the hot ash/coals directly outside (often on to dead grass or leafs) . . . or putting the hot ash/coal in a cardboard box, plastic bucket, etc. and leaving that on the wooden deck, porch, garage, etc.

 

[chris-mcpherson]

So after putting hearth.com forum-approved ash container outside in a forum-approved safe place away from any combustible materials, how long do you wait before emptying the ashes somewhere else? I think I read "a couple of days" elsewhere on here...just curious what others have to say.

My personal solution is to dump my small conveniently (but safely) located ash can into my more remotely located 32 gal metal ash can. Then in early spring, I mix it all into my compost pile.
This routine gets done every couple of days when I do a stove clean out.
So essentially, my ashes/coals are either in the stove or an enclosed metal container that is located a distance away from any structure.

 

[chris-mcpherson]

So after putting hearth.com forum-approved ash container outside in a forum-approved safe place away from any combustible materials, how long do you wait before emptying the ashes somewhere else? I think I read "a couple of days" elsewhere on here...just curious what others have to say.

My personal solution is to dump my small conveniently (but safely) located ash can into my more remotely located 32 gal metal ash can. Then in early spring, I mix it all into my compost pile.
This routine gets done every couple of days when I do a stove clean out.
So essentially, my ashes/coals are either in the stove or an enclosed metal container that is located a distance away from any structure.