Ash Disposal

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joeq
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Post by joeq » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 6:59 pm

I'm sure most have their own methods of getting rid of this grey matter, and over the few years I've been involved with these stoves, my method seems to continually evolve.

It was recommended to me by a member/members on this site years ago, to just dump the ash into the bags the anthracite is purchased in, and throw it into the local trash. It's been working fine, rather than looking for outside landscaping areas in need of fill. Because I reside on a small residential lot, I don't have the options others do, with multiple acers of wooded lots.

My gripe lately isn't just the need to remove the ash pan daily, but also the way I've been disposing the ashes have been a bit problematic.

1st the hot coals in the pan need to cool down a bit before it can be poured into a plastic anthracite bag. It helps having 2 ash pans, and one of my originals has been rotting out, so I built another, per the design that Scott posted on a thread a while back. (By the way, where is Scott?)
Anyway, I have a square metal container, with handles and a spout, that is "just a bit" bigger than the open mouth of a 40 lb bag. The ashes tend to fall away on the outer sides of the bag, making a mess on the ground. So I recruited a worn out hod with a rusty bottom, in need of repairs, to pour the ashes into the bag. (After they've cooled down)

So my process now is to dump the hot ashes into the square holding container as the week-days pass. Once it's close to full, or I have ambition sooner, outside I'll dump the filthy rotten dusty dirty ashes into the anthy bag.
So in the photos below, I go from left to right.

Start off filling the square container with the hot coals from the ash pan.
Once full, dump ashes from container into coal hod.
Then pour cold ashes into bag. Much cleaner and easier.
ash cleaning 001.JPG
.JPG | 411.1KB | ash cleaning 001.JPG


I know I've made more of this than it is, but I'm on Christmas vacation, and have some time. :)

And here is my rotted out hod, with a piece of tin on the bottom, to hold "most" of what ever goes in it.
ash cleaning 002.JPG
.JPG | 493.6KB | ash cleaning 002.JPG
"Some-day" I'll seal it up....some-how. Haven't decided yet. Cheers.


 
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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 7:08 pm

Man, we have it easy in coal country... I just put our ash buckets at the curb every Friday and the township picks them up. I think they are mixed with salt and used on the roads when it snows...

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 7:12 pm

I've been filling depressions in my driveway with it.

 
Fox
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Post by Fox » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 8:04 pm

Lightning wrote:
Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 7:12 pm
I've been filling depressions in my driveway with it.
I do the same.
I keep a wheelbarrow outside the basement door, and when it's full I take er for a walk down the driveway.

 
waytomany?s
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Post by waytomany?s » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 8:33 pm

If cold ashes are going in the hod, just use some caulk that is almost garbage or leftover. It'll seal it up.

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 9:05 pm

waytomany?s wrote:
Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 8:33 pm
If cold ashes are going in the hod, just use some caulk that is almost garbage or leftover. It'll seal it up.
good idea. Thanks.
nepacoal wrote:
Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 7:08 pm

Man, we have it easy in coal country... I just put our ash buckets at the curb every Friday and the township picks them up. I think they are mixed with salt and used on the roads when it snows...
You are extremely lucky. (Your taxes hard at work)
Fox wrote:
Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 8:04 pm


I do the same.
I keep a wheelbarrow outside the basement door, and when it's full I take er for a walk down the driveway.
With all the ashes we get rid of, your drive-way would look like the brooklyn bridge, if that's where you dumped all of it. :D

 
Fox
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Post by Fox » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 9:15 pm

There's driveways, and then there's driveways friend. 😁
My driveway is a quarter mile of dirt road up the side of a mountain. I've dumped coal ash on it for 5 years now and always wished I had more.
Since I got my stoker now I do have more haha
I can see your very valid point ! Good luck with your disposal!


 
Pacowy
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Post by Pacowy » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 9:43 pm

As of a few years ago, my town accepted it at the transfer station for blending in their composting operation. I also used it as driveway filler, and in a pavement patch mix.

Mike

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 10:15 pm

Mike, are you saying coal ash is beneficial to my compost bin? I threw some in my garden many years ago, and my buddy who's been at it longer than me, said it wasn't. I haven't had it confirmed yet.

 
LouNY
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Post by LouNY » Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 10:27 pm

I also spread it in my driveway, either from the tractor bucket or out of the sander.

 
ColdHouse
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Post by ColdHouse » Tue. Dec. 28, 2021 6:07 am

This year I stopped emptying the ash pan when the ashes were hot. I wait until before my next shake. The ashes are cool and I don't need gloves to handle the tray. Could you use your rotted pan by eliminating the bottom. Use it as a funnel into your disposal bag.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Tue. Dec. 28, 2021 6:58 am

joeq wrote:
Mon. Dec. 27, 2021 10:15 pm
Mike, are you saying coal ash is beneficial to my compost bin? I threw some in my garden many years ago, and my buddy who's been at it longer than me, said it wasn't. I haven't had it confirmed yet.
Your buddy hasn't looked. Likely just going by the media's negative reports in their war on coal.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs ... 611300104X

Do a web search and there's more on using coal ash for soil improvement.

My best lawn is the middle and edges of my once gravel driveway where I've been dumping coal ash each winter for more than a dozen years. And it turned the gravel into a better driveway.

Paul

 
Jerrybro
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Post by Jerrybro » Tue. Dec. 28, 2021 7:55 am

I use 2 metal garbage cans and 2 ash trays. I always remove the full tray before shaking, then swap in an empty tray. After shaking I take the full tray I removed to an empty can and drop the whole thing in upside down and quickly cover the can. 12 hours later I take the cooled, empty tray out of the can and repeat the process. When the can is half full I switch to the 2nd can. When the canned ashes have cooled down I load them into the empty coal bags and leave them for the trash pickup.

This gives me a way to safely dispose of cooled ashes and a way to manage ash dust in the house.

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Tue. Dec. 28, 2021 9:19 am

ColdHouse wrote:
Tue. Dec. 28, 2021 6:07 am
Could you use your rotted pan by eliminating the bottom. Use it as a funnel into your disposal bag.
Now there's an idea. I'ld have-ta fabricate a holding jig for the hod, and a way to suspend the bag from the bottom of it. If so, then I can dump my hot ashes into my square metal container, and because the top of the hod is wide enuff, once the container is full, I could just dump it into an M/T bag, thru the hod, once cooled. I'll check out the size of the bag opening against the bottom of the hod. Thanks for the idea. :yes:

 
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joeq
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Post by joeq » Tue. Dec. 28, 2021 9:22 am

Sunny Boy wrote:
Tue. Dec. 28, 2021 6:58 am
Your buddy hasn't looked. Likely just going by the media's negative reports in their war on coal.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs ... 611300104X

Do a web search and there's more on using coal ash for soil improvement.

My best lawn is the middle and edges of my once gravel driveway where I've been dumping coal ash each winter for more than a dozen years. And it turned the gravel into a better driveway.

Paul
So Paul, what about the clinkers, (which I usually have quite a few).? Do they break down over time? My coal ash looks nothing like wood ash, where it ends up as powder. It's usually pretty clumpy.


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