Crane 88 Shaker Question

Hello all! I'll be firing up my 88 next week and I'm looking for tips or tricks for dealing with the ash tray and shaker. I have a pair of stove gloves but they're very bulking when trying to grab the handle of the shaker grate. Is there anything (tool) I can use to make it easier to grab the handle? Also, any trick to grabbing the ash try with a hot stove? Appreciate any help.

Dear CraneGirl,

In my opinion, you can lose the ash box. In my few seasons with an 88, get yourself a stout fireplace shovel (not a cheap pressed steel one), and a small 5-gallon galvanized tr(ash) can to scoop ash into. When you shake down the bed, shovel the ash into the can you've cocked the lid on, and gently dump ash in. Lay the ash and clinkers off the shovel instead of dumping from on high and it'll keep the ash down. Better, a cocked lid will help keep the ash down as well. Catching the business end of a (shop) vacuum hose between lid and rim as you shovel ash into the can will keep ash out of the room even more effectively. Do Not vacuum up hot cinders, just use the vac to pull in fly ash, and clean up any cool bits you may lose onto the hearth between ash door and bucket. When the bucket fills every few days do with it what you will (dispose of properly).

agree with coal king, the 88 ashpan is simply not enough to handle the depth of ash in the coal bed.

Thanks for backing me up Doug. To answer the 2nd part of the question, the shaker 'tool' can be held with bare hands. Pull the shaker out with the egg-tooth on the tool inserted in the shaker's hole, and shift the shaker in and out a few times. Then use it to rotate the entire grate to shake the ash down, then shift the shaker in and out again. Stop when you see the orange of hot coals glowing through the grate, and a few dropping into the ash-box. While you scoop the hot ash into the can, with the ash door open you'll wake the bed up, and you can bank a few shovels of coal on top of the bed when you see some flames coming off it.