Smartash shovel

[jross]

We have an Avalon wood stove that does not have an ash pan. I usually let the fire die down and sift the ashes through 1/4 mesh rabbit wire sifter I made. Then I have to rebuild the fire. I saw this when searching for an ash rake http://smartashshovel.com/. It looks like what one needs when there is no ash pan. Anyone have one?

[Alice In TX/MO]

I sent the link to hubby. I bet he can build one. It's a great idea!

[jhambley]

I sent them an email earlier in the week asking how this might work in my BlazeKing wood stove. Here's his reply:

"The shovel is designed to take the fine ash out of fire box when the ashes are only several inches below the opening. If the ashes accumulate 5 inches or more below the opening the fine ash will fall out when you lift the shovel out. Length of handle should not be a problem if your firebox is only a few inches lower than the opening. I am not familiar with that type of stove."

I'll order one and test it out.

[jhambley]

It's ordered...I'll let you know how it works out.

[simi-steading]

That's cool.. I don't need one for my wood stove because it has a tray, but that would be really nice for the fireplace if I have it burning a few days.

Let us know... what a cool idea..

[Jennifer L.]

I just shovel mine out with a regular ash shovel when the fire gets down to coals. Who cares if you get a few coals?

You slide the shovel in through the coals, scraping the bottom of the stove as you go, and when you lift the shovel you waggle it from side to side to get the big coals off the top. You are left with pure ash and a few small coals. And of course the fire is hot so the ash that you stir up goes up the chimney instead of into the house. The ashes sit in the pail and the coals die out and when the pail is full you wait 24 hours before dumping the pail in a safe area in the garden.

[simi-steading]

The problem with sending a lot of ash up your chimney is, it gets caught up in the creosote and helps even more build up even faster..

[jhambley]

The biggest trouble with ash shovels...they are all made in China. All seem to bend where the handle meets the shovel head after some use. This one does seem to be a nice sturdy one. They sent me an email that it shipped out today so I'll report back after I get a chance to try it out.

[Rustaholic]

Our ash shovel I believe was part of an old fireplace set I was given many years ago. I do not know how durable it is because we have only used it 30 years. I will let ya know when I figure it out. Really it looks like it did the first time I used it. It was already scratched up. It probably has more on it now but it just looks used.

[Plendlful]

We got a KoalKeeper from Lehman's, and it works well, but the handle is too short. It looks like a metal cat box sifter. We have an ash pan on our King stove, so we can sift it over the opening. If we didn't have that we'd just do one half of the stove at a time, and scoop out the ash when we finished that half.
If this product works well, it would be worth keeping in mind for the next time we upgrade our stove.

[jross]

Got the SmartAsh shovel today. Even though it is 50 outside, built a fire in the stove to break up the little clinkers and tried the SmartAsh shovel. It works as advertised, but will have to decide after a serious wood burn when the temps drop this weekend. I think if it is used every day or at least every other day it will make things easier by not having to let the stove cool down. It is well made in the USA.

[jhambley]

I received my SmartAsh shovel last week and I would say it works as advertised. Sturdy made, with a handle that is plenty long for my BlazeKing Princess wood stove. When I dump the ashes into my ash bucket, I don't have enough draft to pull the ashes up the chimney like shown in his video. As jross stated in his review, you would have to use this every day or so to keep up with the ashes as it would take a long time to clean up a very deep ash build up.