Bucket Load of Firewood; Weight.??

[JDGreenGrass]

I've been doing the firewood chore for the past couple of weeks now. Load after load in the bucket.

I know this is somewhat vague but, how much does a load of firewood weigh.?? 54" bucket on an SMC loader.

I ask because my tractor only has a lift capacity of #800. And, the front axle on these 770's have been known to break. I do use the ballast box which weighs roughly #700.

A load must be #500+ I would think. Or, am I approaching it's max.??

I know, I know....Your Mileage May Vary. YMMV....

 

[kco]

I've attached a .pdf scanned from an old book, "Firewood and Your Chainsaw".

 

[JDGreenGrass]

I've attached a .pdf scanned from an old book, "Firewood and Your Chainsaw".

Excellent link right there.

I just approximated a load of Beech which is typical for this region....#810.

That's if my math was right.??:confused2:

 

[KennyG]

Remember that the density (lb/cubic ft) is based on solid wood. Split wood stacked in your bucket will only be half to 2/3 of that density. My guess is that the average load in a 54" bucket will only be 300 to 400 lbs.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Remember that the density (lb/cubic ft) is based on solid wood. Split wood stacked in your bucket will only be half to 2/3 of that density. My guess is that the average load in a 54" bucket will only be 300 to 400 lbs.

Good point right there, though I do stack it quite tight in the loader and not as tight in the pile....leaving it "airy" to season nicely.

So, in the bucket I would say 2/3+ which brings the weight down to a reasonable load for the small capacity of my tractor and loader.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Wood weighs less than water.

Figure 8 pounds to the gallon for water, multiplied by however many gallons of water it takes to fill your bucket and you'll have an idea of how much a level (struck) bucket load of wood weighs maximum.

Buckets usually come rated by volume, not gallons though. Looking at several CUT FEL bucket capacities and I see them averaging about 1 cubic yard of struck (level) material. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet.

1 cubic yard = 201.974026 US gallons * 8 pounds per gallon = 1615.792208 pounds

If you have an 800 pound capacity FEL, it will handle a level bucket load of Cedar, Spruce or Willow (38%, 45% and 42% the weight of the same volume of water.)
You can do a heaping load of balsa wood because balsa is only 17% the weight of that much water.
Apple runs about 66%, Ash 67%, so not quite a full load.
Oak and Pine are highly variable; depends on how dry the wood is. They can range from 37 to 66% for Pine (a heaping load to not quite full); and Oak ranges from 59 to as much as 93% (not quite full to at most a quarter full) the weight of the same volume of water.

 

[belah]

Depends on whether it's "Green" or Dry firewood as Green, newly cut wood would weigh much more than dry wood b/c of the moisture content. Other factors would be the length of the wood, the type of wood(as some wood is more dense than others) etc...
Factors to consider if you are afraid of breaking an axle or something else would be the terrain you are traveling over. Is it smooth or rough? Rocky or covered with limbs etc..
All things considered, there are a lot of variables to factor in besides just the weight.

 

[magicheater]

How you stack it factors in also. I figure I can get almost a face cord in my 5' bucket.

 

[tcreeley]

I use my TC30 with a 5' bucket to move firewood. I stack wood in the bucket so that the last row just catches the top of the bucket and won't slide off when I lift it. My wood is 18-20 ", some split and a year old. It has been rained on but no where as heavy as green wood. I always thought of green wood as double the weight and 1/2 the heat of dry wood. I tell myself that 8 bucket loads stacks into a 4x4x8 ft cord. If in doubt - do less- afterall (!) it is only time you are saving by pushing things! - cherry, maple, oak, birch

 

[Gordon Gould]

I would figure about a tenth of a cord if they are 16" sticks. (4.5'X2'X1.33')
Green beech is about 5000# per cord so you have no more than 500#. The 300# to 400# guess by KennyG is probably just about right.