Careful with your ashes

[greythorn3]

so what is the point of dumping it on the driveway? does it melt ice or give traction???

 

[quads]

so what is the point of dumping it on the driveway? does it melt ice or give traction???

Both. Traction because of the grit, and it melts the ice faster because it's darker and absorbs more sunlight heat.

 

[crazy_dan]

Not sure if ash turns toxic in mass quantity?

It turns into lye if enough moisture is present (and enough ash).

that is what we do we leach our ashes to get lye for soap making. I do not think it saves any money but it does make 1 more thing I have control over. I find it fun.

 

[firefighterjake]

so what is the point of dumping it on the driveway? does it melt ice or give traction???

As Quads said . . . it does both. The traction you gain alone is amazing. Last year my 4Runner was spinning the tires when I was trying to pull out my trailer due to a lot of ice build up. Just tossed some of the ash down in front of the tire and presto -- instant traction. As Quads mentioned the dark, gray ash also tends to help create snow and ice melt.

 

[Bubbavh]

so what is the point of dumping it on the driveway? does it melt ice or give traction???

As Quads said . . . it does both. The traction you gain alone is amazing. Last year my 4Runner was spinning the tires when I was trying to pull out my trailer due to a lot of ice build up. Just tossed some of the ash down in front of the tire and presto -- instant traction. As Quads mentioned the dark, gray ash also tends to help create snow and ice melt.

+2
I dump my ash in a 50 gal drum that I use for a brush burning. When the snow comes it gets emptied on the driveway. Works great!
Just drill a couple of water drain holes in the bottom.

 

[gpcollen1]

Solution - Dump your ash bucket into a large metal garbage can and do not empty into the compost until spring time.

 

[mikepinto65]

Solution - Dump your ash bucket into a large metal garbage can and do not empty into the compost until spring time.

Thats a good call, i might just have to use this one myself

 

[tiber]

Good point and timely, too - as everyone gets back into full burning mode.

This actually brings up an interesting thought....a while ago, we had a delivery of activated charcoal headed to the local water treatment plant spill and spontaneously combust. Very fine carbon can actually do this - it's not uncommon at all for open pit coal mines out west do be digging away when all the sudden a patch of coal starts to burn simply on exposure to air. (don't seem to hear of this much in the east. I don't know if it is due to just having denser coal which may not be as prone to spontaneous combustion - or because they spray so much to keep the dust down the coal is already wet.)

ARRRRRRGGGGH. http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm

In fact it was so big, the movie Silent Hill used the pictures of the town as material for their town. TALK ABOUT A CHIMNEY FIRE, HUH GUYS?