Logistics of firewood hauling and splitting?

[Verticaltrx]

Thanks for everyone's pics and vids, they give me some good ideas.

The pics I posted last were at out wood lot at the old farm. It has great mature trees and about 150ac of them, but it is 65mi away so I'm beginning to question the viability of hauling all the wood up here. I've started cutting at another one of our farms that is only two miles from mine. It's got about 60-80ac of woods, but it was clear cut about 15-20yrs ago so the trees aren't great. The things that are big enough for firewood are mostly red maple, some beech, and a few locust and cherry. The access is a bit easier than the old farm though, plenty of good logging roads. I still have about 3 cords to finish cutting before the end of the winter so I'll post some pics as I do.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Thought I'd bring this thread back up since it seems to be of interest to a lot of folks. I've finally come up with a good way to get wood to the landing without making a mess of the trails and dirtying the wood. I had an old derelict portable chicken coop that someone had built on a wagon running gear. I tore the chicken coop off, got it down to the bare running gear and refurbished it into a log wagon. It's not pretty, but I have a total of $15.68 invested in it and it seems to do the job quite well. Later I'll make some little log standards out of metal, but so far the wooden ones are holding fine.





We were averaging about one wagon load like that per hour which I thought was pretty good. I believe one of those loads cut and split would equal a pickup load. This setup works well as we can use the tractor for skidding, loading, hauling and unloading, as well as carry small stuff out on the forks. I have to be careful though, that load of locust was pretty heavy and it was trying to push me down some of the muddy hills.

From here we have to get all this wood (hopefully about 15 wagon loads) back to our other farm which is 60mi away. We'll either haul the logs back or cut/split and haul the wood back, haven't decided yet. Either way we'll use one of our 2-ton dump trucks for the hauling.

I'm sure there are plenty of new ideas out there this year so pics and input is always welcome.

 

[SpringHollow]

I do the same with an 8' hay wagon that I use with stakes for logs or full sides for cut wood. Anything bigger would be too much on the steep hills with muddy trails.

Ken

 

[Green Power]

For $15.68 that isnt a bad setup. :thumbsup:

 

[alanven@att.net]

The idea is to reduce the amount of times you touch the wood. Example: 1) fell the tree, 2) remove slash, 3) cut to 8-10 foot links, 4) fork to staging area, 5) cut to burn length, 6) split and stack into 4x4x2 fruit bin, 7) fork bin to storage area, 8) fork to porch/deck, 9) cart into the house, 10) stoke the fire. That is about as minimal as I can get. Only way to reduce these touches as far as I can see is to cut, split and stack in bin where I drop the tree but that isn't possible in most of my terrain.

 

[Woodsman7254]

Thanks for the app--just stumbled upon this post as I am reading this thread.
Thanks again!
Woodsman

 

[Kodthree]

I've been burning wood for years and still have yet to come up with the best way to get it from the tree into my wood pile. Over the years I've tried innumerable different configurations for hauling and splitting, but still haven't decided whats the best, most efficient way. I burn about 5 cords a year and help my father cut about another 6 cords.

Here's the equipment I use:

-Ford NAA tractor
-Kubota B3200 w/ loader
-'69 F-350, 10' flat bed (2wd)
-'88 F-250 (4wd)
-4x6' trailer
-(coming soon 5x10' trailer)
-tow-behind wood splitter
-logging arch for 3pt hitch (no winch)

I've tried towing the splitter behind my little trailer, but can't haul very much on the trailer. Trucks are limited to where they can go as a lot of the terrain is steep and trails are tight. Also tried skidding the logs out to a landing to buck and split them, but that made a mess of the trails and covered the wood in dirt. Some of the best wood is in the very back of the farm and its about 1/2mi through narrow steep logging roads to get to it, so it takes a while to get much wood out.

So based on this info what would be my best plan of action? What does everyone else use to split and haul out firewood? Pics would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Stage your work. Tractor, trailer, skidding, and cutting equipment go into the woods. Skid MINIMALLY, because dirty wood is hard on equipment...you already knew this. Load the blocks into your trailer and tractor bucket. Our trailer is a Chevy truck bed with stake racks pulled behind the L3130 and the ballast box. Drive the wood back to your splitting/stacking area. Split the wood out of the bucket and trailer and stack immediately instead of letting it hit the ground (or unload into a loose pile, and return for more rounds). This process works very well for us, and allows us to work in segments of work as short as two hours for the felling/bucking/loading/returning portion.
It sounds to me like you are taking too much equipment into the wood lot which will significantly slow everything down. If you separate your processes as I have described, then can you can simply gather rounds as needed in the beginning of your season, and split when needed. Maybe you can cut/haul one weekend followed by a split/stack weekend?

See my Avatar? That's how we USED to do it, and it sucks splitting from the ground back on to the ground to be picked up and moved yet another time. Learning happens.

 

[Woodsman7254]

I use my Massey 1529 now for the last couple of years prior to that I had a great 52 Ford 8N. My hunting shack is on 40 acres and over the yrs this is how I prefer to make wood.
I knock down some trees whenever I feel like it. Sometimes in the fall and winter or just when I am making firewood. Of course blowdowns can make up a good share of it as well. I hate working in the woods with the saw and stumbling around so when I knock down the trees I limb and top them and if necessary cut into 16 to 20 foot lengths. The reason for the lenghts is once sawed up at the wood shed I do not have to carry the pcs far to the splitter.
It is nice to have a bunches of trees cut and limbed in the woods prior as then I can get my highball glass, hop on the tractor and just pull out logs for the afternoon.
On the tractors three point I have a loghog which I purchased from Northern tool. Great little device I did not have with the Ford.
I pull one or two logs at a time up to the wood shed on the mowed lawn where I can later saw them up into firewood. Generally only 2 or four logs at a time or 10 or 12 logs at the shed depending on how ambitious I feel. The side of the woodshed is open and faces south. Even on a 0 degree day it s warm working in the sun against the shed, warm enough I can be in a flannel shirt
Sometimes on one week-end I will pull up the logs and process the next.
Once up next to the wood shed I cut them up (and they are clean becasue I am lifting them up with the loghog as I pull them in.) then I proceed to split with my Troybilt 27 ton splitter with a Honda engine.
Once I get a good jag split by the shed, Remember I am splitting right next to it so I do not even have to move my feet to pile or again I split everything and pile the next week-end. I don't make a lot of work out of it anymore. With the tractor, chainsaw and splitter it is not difficult. Some folks like to golf, I like to make wood. Most of the logs I work with are 12 to 20 inches
It does not take long to make 5 cords if I get after it. I sweat enough in the cool weather so when the hot days of summer come I go fishing.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

I have tried a variety of tractor/trailer combinations to reduce the labour in moving a couple of cords per year from the woods to the floor of my shop, beside the stove.

1. The most efficient is the cutting of dead, dry ironwood, piling it into the 10 cu.' dump box mounted on my Bolens G174, and backing it directly into the shop to the wood pile. This rig also moves dry wood from the outdoor pile into the shop. It needs only 44" of clearance, so I can back the 4WD tractor right up to almost any tree in the woodlot I choose to cut.

2. Next best is loading block wood onto the bed of my new hydraulic dump trailer. The sides fold down on this narrow single axle. If I stand the blocks on end I can lower a side again and transfer them to the splitter bed with minimal lifting. When I had to use the Massey Harris 30 for hauling I found it awkward in the woods. The Kubota B7510 or the Bolens G174 are very handy in tight spaces, though weaker.

3. Moving split wood to the drying pile? Front end loader and snow/gravel bucket with my wife driving the tractor while I load the wood.

4. A Massey 30 and 4X6' trailer is a powerful and durable woodlot performer as long as trails are wide. The Polaris Ranger delivers personnel and saws, but to my mind a UTV is too expensive and fragile for brute work like firewood hauling.

5. My first (and least efficient) rig was a 5X10 single-axle manure spreader with the beaters removed, but with a new oak floor and working apron. It will move a lot of firewood, but it's awkward to load and tricky to unload efficiently unless there's a crew. It's great for planer shavings and topsoil, though.

6. Massey Ferguson 35 with 8000lb skidding winch. When snow conditions are right, I bring logs and large branches to the landing with the skidder, then often lift them with the loader forks to facilitate cutting. The trick's to have no grit on the logs.

 

[arrow]

Basically Matt what you have here is a makeshift "forwarder". You can pile 7 or 8 stems (if it would hold that weight) and off you go. Your tractor would never be able to skid that much so it is a much more efficient method of bringing wood to the landing. The guys I worked for between the father, his brother and two sons, had a 110 years of experience between them at one point and they always brought stems to a landing first no matter what was going to be done with the wood. How they got there depended on the terrain, woods density and distance of turn. Almost always it was with skidders. Grit on logs was worried about as much as a pimple as a hand hatchet cleared the chain path. Plenty of times we could and should have used a forwarder but in no way could this operation afford a "new fangled machine". We did attempt to use a telephone pole dolly once but that was a disaster in these woods. Open and "the woods" mostly didn't correlate here in New England.

 

[rich bx]

I think most of the Fences put up along the Blue ridge Parkway were made of Black Locust, and most of those are still there, in %100 condition.
Also, I heard black locust is second only to red oak for BTU per dried firewood pound.

Another vote for the chains here.

I use 3/8 G70 chain. I like the ability to hook at several different lengths if desired.

I also like the ability to chain as short as possible and rais the 3PH. This adds weight to the rear and also gets the log out of the muck. With the FEL on, it keeps enough weight over the front axle to steer and not flip. Disclaimer: This is very dangerous and you can flip a tractor very easy if you dont know your limitations.

I also like chains because they dont stretch and store energy either. Not as dangerous as cables or straps.


And we have lot of locust around here as well. Back in the day farmers either had a locust grove or a hedge grove used for making fence posts.

There are old fence posts that are still in the ground today that were put up over 50 years ago and still just as solid as the day they were put in. All this new technology and pressure treated stuff cant hold a candle to the old locust posts.

Robinia pseudoacacia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[surveyfire]

On my 30 acre woodlot we fell the trees keeping firewood size limbs intact. Logs are cut to length judging the weight so as not to overload the Kubota L2500 with Tajfun winch. Logs are skidded to a landing that is accessible by pickup truck and 10 dump trailer. Logs are marked to desired length, usually 16 inches, with a Mingo marker. Then logs are then held over the dump trailer with a Kubota KX121-2 excavator with thumb. The guy standing in the trailer cuts the logs to firewood length where they drop into the trailer, stopping after each log to move some of the pieces to stack better.

Once the trailer is full it is taken to the firewood storage area at one of the homes. The dump trailer is lifted enough so the rounds can easily be pulled, aided by a hookaroon, onto a Timberwolf TW-2 log splitter. Split wood is placed on stacks for drying.

Not a method for everyone but it works for 3 fat geezers to heat their houses without minimal handling.

 

[bvanek]

I have been cutting firewood for 40 years on my property. (guess I am old) Have tried just about every method. I Have 12 acres and my woodshed is in the middle of my property. The last ten years I have been bucking and splitting in the woods and bringing the split wood to my woodshed via bucket. This way I can save my back (ain't as good as I once was) by positioning the bucket at a stacking level. Of course having a large bucket saves time.
My wood storage building is a simple covered shed that is long and narrow. It is partitioned down the middle so that there is 6 feet on each side and loadable from both sides. It is 30 feet long and has 3 other partitions every ten feet ( so I have (6) 10' X 6' "wood racks" that I stack my wood in.) I stack loosely and alternate to allow air flow to dry. sometimes, during dry weather i simply dump the bucket outside the rack and let it dry in the sun and wind for a week or so before I stack
This method works for an old guy like me. Easy on the back .......Leave all the branches, wood chips, and punky pieces in the woods......or you can pile it up in a clear space and have a big night time bonfire. Yee Haw

 

[aczlan]

We have a bunch of downed stuff that I burn, so I have been cutting and splitting in the woods, then bringing the split wood to where it gets stacked. Less work on my part if I don't have to handle rounds twice (loading and splitting).
If I could get a decent supply of pallets and a set of 3 point pallet forks, I would make pallet "crates" to store/stack the wood in so that I only had to touch it three times. Once when I cut/split it, once when I unload it into the house and once when I burn it.
Little stuff (under ~3") gets dragged out to the bonfire pile and burned when we have family together.

Aaron Z

 

[Baby Grand]

The pallet system works for me. If you stack it carefully you don't need crates. I haul logs to "central receiving" area where they cure on cross logs for a year. They get cut up, split & stacked on pallets at the same location & moved a short distance to sit in the sun for a few more months until it's time to bring a pallet or two over to the house to load the stove.



Having 3 point forks is key for me as I can lift a lot of weight and the TNT allows me to get the forks into the pallets easily and to shift the load as required by the route I take.

 

[aczlan]

The pallet system works for me. If you stack it carefully you don't need crates. I haul logs to "central receiving" area where they cure on cross logs for a year. They get cut up, split & stacked on pallets at the same location & moved a short distance to sit in the sun for a few more months until it's time to bring a pallet or two over to the house to load the stove.

View attachment 362793

Having 3 point forks is key for me as I can lift a lot of weight and the TNT allows me to get the forks into the pallets easily and to shift the load as required by the route I take.

Getting from the woods to the house is a pretty bumpy ride, so I would probbaly at least need to wrap the piles with shrinkwrap. We have a bunch of metal "no climb" mesh fence, so I might just staple that to the pallet...

Aaron Z

 

[Baby Grand]

Getting from the woods to the house is a pretty bumpy ride, so I would probbaly at least need to wrap the piles with shrinkwrap. We have a bunch of metal "no climb" mesh fence, so I might just staple that to the pallet...

Aaron Z

Now that's thinking! A "corset" made of wire fence and bungees might keep the load held together, too.

 

[Cromberg]

What I'm hearing here is that every personal situation; slope of the terrain, equipment available, accessibility to the fall area, etc. is unique, but I also see common themes. I agree that handling (moving) the wood only once or twice should be the uppermost thought in whatever plan is eventually employed. I really like the idea of creating a "bin" from a palette so that moving the wood can be done by equipment, but that also takes a palette fork or similar rigging, to accomplish. I am personally spoiled, in that I have a thumb on my backhoe and a 4 in 1 front bucket, as well as a 5 x 10 dump trailer. I'm able to cut the tree into 8 foot lengths, pick those up with either thumb or front loader, depending on access, and move the 8's to a flat bucking-splitting area to process and season. After seasoning, I split the rounds and throw into the nearby dump trailer. When I decide where the wood will eventually be stored and accessed for burning, I dump and stack the wood at that locale. The other major advantage I have is that, although my 10 acres is sloped, it is located in an area that was logged heavily back in the 30's and 40's so there's old "skid" roads over much of the property. They're so old that they blend in well with the surrounding environment and don't look like "roads", but still provide me with wonderful access to almost any location on the property. I would suggest that if you think you'll be logging in an area frequently in the future, and you have the equipment to do it, you make a narrow "road" to access that area. I know that's a lot of work, but it sure makes future access a lot easier. One other consideration is to always fall the tree toward an accessible area IF you have a choice. That also makes it easier to move slash piles to burn areas, if you do that kind of thing. I know it's another expense, but my dump trailer, for the money, is the single most useful piece of equipment I own. It can haul dirt, wood and slash and can spread material for road maintenance, etc. I was surprised at how many uses I found for it, once I bought it.

 

[Jim L]

I usually haul my wood with my 57 600 ford tractor. Does what I need for it to do.

 

[Mgrubb47122]

Well, I mainly cut firewood just to keep my little 5 acre lot clear and have a couple ricks to burn in our fireplace each winter. I usually sell any excess. The emerald ash borer has devastated our ash trees, so I have had plenty of extras these last couple of years. It's exercise and an excuse to play in the woods with my tractors for me. I use my trusty-dusty Wheelhorse and homemade box trailer to get in and out of the walking trails. For larger trees, I go in with the cub loboy and the 8' trailer or the old ton dump truck. I also have a carryall with a big metal box I can get a half rick in - whatever I want to play with that day. I like sawing at the site because I don't have a big pile of knots, ends, and sawdust in the barn lot that way. We did cut some logs on our farm this fall and I used the 3010 Deere and loader to lift logs on our 14' flatbed trailer and unload them in the barn lot. We had to get them while the ground was frozen, as it has been quite wet this year. That is more handling, but I had firewood I could get to and sell when everyone was running out this winter. - LuggHandles -