Dustless Ash Scoop

After figuring out how to best use this ash scoop, it works great. Better than 99.9% of the dust problem created by shoveling is eliminated. It's easy to use & usually after 24 hours of constant burning of 80% cottonwood with some ash, oak & hackberry mixed in, only two scoops are needed to prepare the wood stove for more burning. I push it in along the floor to the back of the stove once or twice. Then when it seems full, tilt the 'dragon's mouth' up and tap gently with the heel of the tool on the floor inside the stove to get the ash to slide into the beast's stomach. Close the dragon's mouth. Blow off any fine ash on top of the dragon's back if required while pulling it out making sure you do that while it's still inside the firebox. Carry it outside it & dump into your ash bucket. Piece of cake!

**** UPDATE **** UPDATE **** I have expressed my quibbling issues, previously, with the Ash Dragon. After offer 4 years I must say I really like it (comparative size to my stoves smallish firebox, not withstanding). I would buy it again. I tried adding video but couldn't upload. **** END UPDATE **** END UPDATE **** I purchased this almost 2 years ago. It is an EXCELLENT idea, but for my purposes does not work as well as I would like. I have an Rainier Avalon wood stove. The problem with the Ash Dragon ash scoop (one could spin it so the problem is with the stove) is that the sides firebox of the Rainier wood stove are almost EXACTLY the same size as the length of the ash scoop. The middle of the firebox has a rectangular "bump" (for lack of a better descriptor). This will not allow the scoop to sit squarely on the floor of the firebox. This, in turn does not allow for easy scooping of the ash. It does, however, fit on either side of the "bump", but just barely. Because of the tight fit, scooping the ash is not as easy as I like. The other issue I have is with the "thumb Lever" to open the lid. It is made of soft metal. When I open the lid it tends to bend downward, causing the lid of the scoop to not open wide enough. This in turn catches ash on the lid, which, invariably, causes a small mess. Overall I like the product. I can scop ash, close the lid (mindful of the ash on its front edge) and take it outside to dump into the ash can. It is better than trying to carefully put the ash into can while it is sitting next to the stove. No natter how carefully one tries to put the ash onto the can, with the little stove shovel, there is always an ash puff (or cloud, depending on ones luck). If you have a firebox that is deeper than the length of the Ash Dragon, I think you will find it works better. This is an excellent method for ash removal, just not excellent for all wood stoves.

It costs too much. PROS: I can keep my wood stove running 24/7 if I move the coals to the right side and the ash to the left side. CONS: Requires a VERY strong hand. The device is quite heavy, and the ash makes it even heavier. I have very strong hands. Good luck if YOU don't. All six sides are filthy, and ash is falling off everywhere as you extract the device. I use a small cookie sheet held under the device as it comes out of the stove. Requires two people to operate. You have the Ash Dragon in one hand and a cookie sheet in the other hand. Then your friend has to open the door so you can get outside. Unless there is NO wind outside, as you pass through the doorway, all kinds of ash dust blows back into the house. Description states "Simple, clean, efficient". The clean part can only be referring to the moment when you cut open the box right after UPS delivers the Ash Dragon. After that, nothing is ever clean again. My hand is black after each use because the Ash Dragon, plus the Handle, plus my hand, are larger than the height of my open wood stove. I suppose you could buy a box of latex gloves here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QF5YEA/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1 That is only 9 cents per day! Comes dissassembled. For eighty bucks, it should be pre-assembled. Yeah it would need a slightly larger box. Lower the price by fifty bucks, and I wouldn't mind doing the assembly.

The price of this item might cause one to take pause, as it did me, but after installing and using a new wood burning fireplace insert for just a few weeks, realized in short order that routine cleaning created a BIG dusty mess. Poked around the internet for better alternatives than the stove shovel/lidded canner bucket option, and discovered this. The smaller size fits quite well in our wood stove/insert, which doesn't have a huge firebox. Sturdy steel, made in U.S.A., minimal assembly required. (user installs handle with two screws) Works better than I expected, after a short learning curve. But then again, the whole wood stove thing is new to me, so we've been quickly learning the finer points of home heating with firewood. Living in an all-electric house, winter utility bills really suck during the coldest part of the year. Using this device has kept the fireplace area and nearby furniture much cleaner... only a very small fraction of the previous ash/dust that used to billow out of the shovel/bucket method now escapes while cleaning out the stove. Fewer particles and less dust to muck up the electronics, and I am NOT the world's best housekeeper. Don't let the cost deter you, this really WORKS, once you get the hang of using it.

Took a risk and bought this. My husband loves it when I make purchases such as this as he gets to determine whether my clever idea works or not. It did! He raves about it to others and I feel we should get some kind of payment from Ash Dragon as I'm sure we've sold it to a number of friends. Hate ash floating around your house? It's not going to magically remove every speck, but it'll definitely help keep them to a minimum!

It was smaller than what I expected but works great!