Beats anything I’ve ever held, felt or smelled.

[Bibbyman]

It never fails,  we go to town to get what we think would be a pretty common item and end up not finding it anywhere.

We need a new ash bucket.  It's January 25 – not July!  There is probably a 50,000 populations in the county.  We have a Super Wal-Mart and a number of other stores.  We first went to the new Tractor Supply store that opened a couple of months back.  It's in the old K-Mart building so it's of pretty good size.  They had wood stoves and such.  We should have got a clue when there was lawn mowers lined up on the outside of the store.  Got in there and looked all over where we thought an ash bucket would be but couldn't find one. We finally asked a guy.  He took us to an empty shelf.  "Guess we done sent all that stuff back."  I said, "What is this?  Is Tractor Supply owned and ran by Wal-Mart?". 

We left and went to Westlakes Ace Hardware.  We hunted all over. Where they had their wood stoves were now barbeque grills.  To their credit, we did find ash buckets.  But they were on the tip-top shelf in the back and $20.00 ea!  I wasn't going to pay $20 for an ash bucket.

We next tried Orchelins Farm and Home.  They still had their stoves out and had a 30% discount on all remaining stock of stoves and supplies.  Great!  But they were sold out of ash buckets. 

We went across the street to the new local big box store.  We wondered all over.  They had shoved the stoves to the side and were putting out hammocks.  They had a sort of an ash bucket that was more like a 10 gallon trash can.  It was $50.  We didn't need that.  Ask and got the answer, "What we have left is over there."

I get so frustrated at stores that stock at least one season ahead of when the merchandise is needed.   

But sometimes it works to an advantage.  Yesterday while Mary was grocery shopping in Wal-Mart,  I went over to men's wear and found they had Faded Glory flannel shirts on sale for $7.00.  I also found some thermal boot socks that were marked 6 pair for $5.00.

[submarinesailor]

BB, yesterday when I walked thru SEARS to get to the main part of the Manassas mall, I noticed that they have their swim suits out all ready.  I couldn't believe it because it was 22 with the wind blowing.  It was COLD.  But there they were.

Bruce

[SAW MILLER]

I have the same problem Bibby.I have been using a metal five gallon bucket,which is a rare thing in itself.Today I noticed I could see daylight through the bottom. >:(
   I think I might just make me one out of galvanized sheet metal.

[beenthere]

Bruce
Do ya think they may be getting ready to sell suits to those heading off for spring break...it is just a short time from now.... 8)

I too get frustrated with stores, but on the other hand, I was in the local TrueValue hardware yesterday, and their Christmas lights were on the shelf....hmmmm getting a rush on the season??

[Bibbyman]

We looked at metal buckets while we were in each place.  All were galvanized and I didn't think that was any too cool for an ash bucket.  Plus,  they were also very expensive.  And,  one major feature of an ash bucket is that the bottom is recessed an inch or more – keeping it from directly contacting what you set it on.

Mary shops down at a Mennonite store south of us about once a month.  We'll check there. If I have to pay $20,  I'd rather pay it to them.

Meanwhile, I'll keep looking.  Maybe I'll find one next July.  

[pigman]

I use a  5 gallon plastic oil pail.  If the ashes are hot I have to run real fast and pour out the ashes before the pail melts.  ;D Poor folks gotta do what they gotta do.

[Fla._Deadheader]

I'm thinkin the Bibbsters Stove gonna runneth over by July ???  ;D ;D

[Bibbyman]

I'm thinkin the Bibbsters Stove gonna runneth over by July ???  ;D ;D

We got one but it's got a few small holes in the bottom.  Safety first!

I may check at my folk's house.  They heated with firewood until about 3 years ago when we put in central heat and air conditioning.   The old wood stove is still in place "just in case" but it's not had a fire built in it since then.  They've probably got one they'll never use again.

[ely]

but bibby, it sure is nice when you can run out and get a christmas tree or haloween costume any day of the year. :D

i am fortunate to live near, or near enough to a small town that has that sort of thing all the time. example i just went in to pick up some 3/4 pvc pipe and walked past a whole isle of the old well bucket for getting water out of the well. and i aint talking about a regular water bucket with a big weight tied to one side so it will tip over and fill up when it gets to the water.

[CLL]

Bib, you should have yelled sooner, my aunt just gave a couple away, and they were llike new. I'll see if I can get a hold of one, holler at you if I do.

[Bibbyman]

You know what?  Never underestimate the value of a good nap in the afternoon.  Sometime before of after,  I thought about it and I think I can find a metal gallon paint can lid and pop rivet it over the bottom of the old ash bucket and maybe get 10 more years out of it. 

Now I'll probably have trouble finding a metal gallon paint can lid.  Most paints come in plastic containers now don't they?   

[Tom]

Bibbyman!

Why can't you cut out a piece of tin and put in the bottom of the ash bucket that has the holes?  Some dirt in the bottom might seal them too if they aren't too big. 

If you don't have tin, fold up some Auminum Foil and stick it in there. ;D

Tight Tom

[Bibbyman]

Bibbyman!

Why can't you cut out a piece of tin and put in the bottom of the ash bucket that has the holes?  Some dirt in the bottom might seal them too if they aren't too big. 

If you don't have tin, fold up some Auminum Foil and stick it in there. ;D

Tight Tom

I thought of that but I figue a paint can lid would be just about ready made size.  I should probably put some foil in there until I come up with a fix or replacement.

[Tom]

Well, see there?    If the foil works, and the paint lid works, you won't need a new bucket for a  lot of years. The sides don't wear out too fast.  One of the girls might visit you one of these days and take it home with them when their ash bucket wears out.  :D    .....figuring you won't need it.  :D :D

[brdmkr]

Last weekend, I went to Home Depot looking for a small wood stove.  Asked an HD employee where to find the wood stoves.  He says 'We don't have anymore.  It's a seasonal item.'.  I reply 'yes, and it's winter!'   :D :D :D :D

[DanG]

You could do like my first ex-wife did when we got our first wood stove.  She got real smart and sucked all the ashes out with her brand new $400 Electrolux vacuum cleaner.  I started smelling something and found smoke coming from the hall closet.  It didn't cause any other damage, but the vac was toast...literally! : :D

[Frickman]

You folks have been talking about stores stocking things a season ahead of time, and let me tell you, it irritates me too. Things may change some in the future though. I recently read an article somewhere about how the big retailers can't figure out why we don't buy swimsuits in January or flannel shirts in July. Some of them were talking about actually stocking things in season again and see how that works.

[Corley5]

  I was in Home Depot a few days ago and had to look twice when I saw the garden seed display set up  :  It's over three months til pea planting time here : ;D 
  One December a few years back I needed some 9,000 baler twine to bale up the broken bales in the barn.  TSC didn't have any.  They'd sent it all back to a central stocking depot  >:( :  My New Holland dealer did.  They had to send someone to the old barn out back but they had some 8) 8)
  I used a 5 gallon metal grease bucket for an ash pail when we still had a stove inside.  I started a fire in it to burn out the old grease and the paint off the outside before I used it.  I think grease still comes in steel buckets  ???

[footer]

BB, yesterday when I walked thru SEARS to get to the main part of the Manassas mall, I noticed that they have their swim suits out all ready.  I couldn't believe it because it was 22 with the wind blowing.  It was COLD.  But there they were.

Bruce

22 degrees? Boy I wish it were that warm here!

[footer]

I use a  5 gallon plastic oil pail.  If the ashes are hot I have to run real fast and pour out the ashes before the pail melts.  ;D Poor folks gotta do what they gotta do.

I did that too, until the bottom fell out on the way up the stairs, and the hot coals fell out on to my carpeted stairs

[sawguy21]

So Bib, how much did you spend in gas and time looking for that DanG bucket ??? ;)

[pigman]

I use a  5 gallon plastic oil pail.  If the ashes are hot I have to run real fast and pour out the ashes before the pail melts.  ;D Poor folks gotta do what they gotta do.

I did that too, until the bottom fell out on the way up the stairs, and the hot coals fell out on to my carpeted stairs

I guess you did not run fast enough. ;D

[rbhunter]

Try this to vaccum out the ashes.
http://www.lovelessash.com/cheetah2.html

My wife brought one for me about 15 years ago for my birthday because she did not like all of the ash dust when I cleaned out the stove. I smiled and said thankyou and such while thinking how stupid it was. The first few times I used it I got frustrated because it kept plugging up until if figured out to keep the nozzle down on the bottom bricks.

I love it and it is still going and gets used just about everyday during heating season. It can hold several days worth of ashes. It picks up the ashes and leaves the coals so it makes restarting the fire easy if there are any hot coals left at all, jut throw on some wood and open it up. I actually believe it has cut down on the wood I burn as it only picks up the ashes and tiny pieces of coals and leaves the rest. I can even clean out the stove with a fire going if I use welding gloves.

They are expensive but after 15 years I would get another one. It cuts down on the dust caused by cleaning out the ashes. My mom got one for my dad and he really liked it after he got used to it which really suprised me since he grew up burning wood for heat.

[Bibbyman]

The teen-age son of one of my ex-co-workers took the ashs out of the stove for dad while he was at work.  That shows some good initiative on his part.  But he put them in a cardboard box and set them in the garage.  He got home to the box on fire and the garage full of smoke. He didn't loose the garage or anything but he sure could have!

We were in town anyway.  So we only drove about a mile from the UPS store to the north side of town to Tractor Supply so the extra drive wasn't much. We probably spent at least an hour hitting the stores.

The Loveless ash deal looks interesting.  Like you say,  the initial cost is pretty high.  But after that, how bad does it eat filters?

[thecfarm]

I see the same things in the chains store too.Have to buy it 2 months ahead or when you need it,you can't find it.I have no idea how this all got started.

[Kansas]

Some years ago we decided to install a bathroom at the mill. I went to home depot to get the toilet, sink , etc and asked for a small electric heater that we could recess in the wall. They looked at me like I was crazy-after all, this was in june. They didnt have a single electric heater of any kind available. They claim to cater to people doing home remodeling-wouldnt you think if someone is remodeling a room, they might like to install all the things they need during the remodeling? Makes wiring a lot easier.

[okmulch]

same thing hapened to me yesterday. went to lowes to get a new fire wood grate for the fireplace and just like the rest of you all were gone and the aisle was bare. they were replacing winter items with spring and summer items.

By the way temp here last week average 30 degrees.

[beenthere]

I figure the stores know exactly when the biggest volume of sales happen...and that is when they stock and hope they sell out all of their stocked items. Then they clear the shelves for the future items. It costs a lot of money to keep stock on the shelves....similar to members here that have lumber with its associated investment in time and labor, just waiting for someone to come and buy it.

I expect if I was running a store, and had to plan how much merchandise would sell and when, I'd do about the same.  Maybe keep one ash bucket in case Bibby came looking... ;D ;D ;D

[Reddog]

  I think grease still comes in steel buckets  ???

The last ones we got were plastic. :(


Bibbyman, Go to your local tinner and have him make you one. May cost you a 100 bucks but it will be local made and better quality than you can find any where else.

[DanG]

So BT, you're saying that Home Depot doesn't have what the customer needs because they're brilliant? ???  Now that's an interesting notion. :D :D

Back during the big energy crunch in the '70s, you know the one when gas prices soared to over 50 cents a gallon : , my Dad was working in a box store called Scottie's.  Lots of folks were putting in wood stoves and needed chain saws.  Some marketing genius determined that they should stock 2 saws in that store.  The truck came on Tuesday morning, and the 2 saws would be gone by noon.  The rest of the week, at least 50 people would come in looking for one, but there wouldn't be any until 2 more came the next Tuesday.

As far as stocking lumber?  I can't sell it if I ain't got it.  If I have 90 2x4s on hand and a customer needs 100, he goes to Lowes for the whole bunch.  He ain't gonna wait a half-hour while I dig out a log and cut 10 more, even though it will take him 2 hours to go to Lowes and back. :

[stonebroke]

TSC used to have a pto parts display. Lotsa stuff you could see if it fit and then go buy it and fit your farm mach. . I was told by somebody that worked there that display sold more per foot than anything else in the store. But the problem was it was all in two months. Stuff doesn,t break when you are not using it. So some genius beancounter decided that it wasn,t worth it and they took it out. Real service.

Stonebroke

[SwampDonkey]

The teen-age son of one of my ex-co-workers took the ashs out of the stove for dad while he was at work.  That shows some good initiative on his part.  But he put them in a cardboard box and set them in the garage.  He got home to the box on fire and the garage full of smoke. He didn't loose the garage or anything but he sure could have!

Yeah a neighbor of my grand parents did that twice, the first time wasn't scary enough. Darn near burnt the house down. Flames were going up the wall.


The little hardware store now doesn't stock like they did years ago, and I mean like 50 years or more ago. I often just bypass the local stores because I know the item isn't there. I use a galvanized 3 gallon pale for ashes. I also have a 5 gallon grease bucket (metal) that I've had for years, but it's on the way out. Damp basements make them bottom out. You mention the Mennonite store, we have one here to. Doesn't stock anything more than the other small hardware stores. Can't even by stovepipe or ash pales there either. They run that store like old Mr Wheeler, hardly anything your looking for. Good luck.  :D

[farmerdoug]

A friend of mine used a cardboard box for ashes from a fireplace in the basement that was out for five days.  He forgot to take the ashes out that night.  The next morning while driving to work his mom who lived across the road called to tell him his house was on fire.  After he left for work his wife smelled some smoke and grabbed their baby and went across the house and left for the mother-in law's home.  Both exits are on the opposite side of the house as the master bedroom.  She called the fire department and ran back to the house.  When she looked in the front window the floor was gone.  She was one lucky lady.  Never cut corners like that with fire.

[rbhunter]

I replaced the filter last year for the first time.

Just said something to my wife and she said when it quits working we are getting another one. She cleans the ashes out part of the time also. I am spoiled only empty the can about once every four days. I just suck them up each day and wait until it starts getting full to empty it.

[Bibbyman]

We were shopping in an even bigger Super Wal-Mart about two weeks before Christmas.  I needed some thermal underwear and went back to the sporting goods section to look for the kind I like.  I found them but they were a lot higher in price than I wanted to pay.  I asked the clerk if they had any on sale being close to Christmas.  You never know where they may have a display of something..  Anyway, she said no, not yet but she had just got new close out prices on heavy hunting coats.  Here it was, not even officially winter yet and they were getting rid of the heavy coats.

[beenthere]

rbhunter
Don't think that vacuum would work unless the fire is about out...according to the site at your link. Or isn't that true?   Says, live embers will burn holes in the filter.

So, am I right in thinking you let your fire go out every day, and then vacuum up the cool ashes?   ???

[SwampDonkey]

Why would you think you need to vacuum ashes from the fire chamber? A good old shovel and pale is clean enough, maybe have a little wire whisk handy to gather the tablespoon or so that may drop on the cement floor. The only vacuum I do is the clean out by the flu pipe, there is gray ash that gathers there, but it's inert and no ambers. I don't leave a full ash pale on the floor, I take it out immediately because even a few red ambers in there give off an odor.

[rbhunter]

I usually wait until it is down to red coals but not always. It is usually hot and hard to keep a hand in there with welding gloves on. The coals are red and hot. I have even grabbed burning pieces of wood and moved them over while I vaccum under them. I replaced the first filter after 14 years last year. The nozzle is designed with a smaller hole in the end so it only picks up very small pieces of live coals. I have dumped it out back at night and you can see small red glows from the ashes. I am guessing they have to say that just in case but in my case I have never had a problem with the filter catching fire. I guess if the bucket was really full and there were enough of them they might burn a hole in the filter bet even doing that a few times I have not burned a hole in one. I still find the motor is still going after 15 years as much as I have used it. My wife burned her arm on the stove last week using short gloves while cleaning it out with the vac. Maybe I can take a pic and post next time I clean it hot. It got warm up in the fifties today so I let it go out or I would do it tonight.

[Don P]

Shoveling them out does make a mess when that light ash poofs around. One trick somebody showed me years ago is to light a piece of newspaper and throw it in the cool stove to establish a draft. Then a good bit of that floating ash goes back into the stove.
We have a cute little stainless pail that I don't know what she paid for it. It sits on tile so I'm not too worried about it heatwise.
We used to keep the trashcan full of ashes down by the outhouse, grain scoop inside. There was a note of poetry on the top "if you tinkle add a sprinkle, if you poop add a scoop" worked pretty well for years. The septic started to break out last summer at one point, we've tried to be more concious of water use and it settled back down. I might be cleaning that little house back up this summer  :(.

Hard to believe somebody would be dumb enough to set a cardboard box of ashes in the garage to catch fire. I lit the backyard as a teenager  :-[ .

[SwampDonkey]

My basement is far from manicured. What can you do with a very old basement floor. A little ash dust mixed with the cobwebs just adds to the decor. They all get vacuumed once or twice a year. ;D

[Bibbyman]

A little off the subject but we have hard plastered walls and ceilings with a sand finish.  Spiders just love to make webs.  As much of the rooms are vaulted,  its hard to reach the things to get them down.  Christmas before last we did a major cleanup.  Had son Gabe get the vacuum cleaner out and use the extension to reach all those places that couldn't be reached before.  We went all over the house.  It not only did an excellent job of sucking up the webs,  but I think it set the spider population back a good little bit.

[SwampDonkey]

They mostly come in on the wood. I smooshed a huge one in the wheel barrow last summer, she had a body the size of a gulf ball. I never saw such a huge spider in these parts.

[Corley5]

If you had an outdoor boiler you wouldn't need an ash bucket anymore  ;) ;D

[Bibbyman]

I thought I'd update this topic.  Mary and I delivered an order to Clark, MO. this morning.  There is a large Mennonite population in the area and we always shop at a country store they have down there in a little spot of a town with about 10 houses. They have a lot of stuff for plain country folks there but I'd never seen an ash bucket.   Turned out,  they didn't have any. 

But we went on in to Versailles where they have a large independent farm supply store there.  It's like a supper market for farmers and ranchers.  We asked if they had ash buckets and were directed to their stove area.  There was a whole wall and down another of all kinds of stove accessories like pipe and so forth.  And!  They did have a stock of ash buckets and shovels, etc. - both in black steel and galvanized.  The price was a dollar lower than Westlakes in town but Mary spotted a little hand-written sign that had the prices knocked down to $15 something for the bucket and $4 something for the shovel.

We got a couple of other items and got to the checkout stand.  The prices rang up the higher price.  I made mention of the sign that said the lower price and the lady walked back to the back corner of the large store and came back with the sign.  She gave us the lower price without argument. 

One small, hard fought victory. But I still think the price was way too high for such a simple item.

[Furby]

Found one in my scrap pile today in fair shape and no holes, guess you don't need it now though.