My Firewood System

[PeterK]

Firewood and groceries are a lot alike in term of handling - if you ever thought about it - from store to mouth. Good thing groceries are not as heavy! I burn 6 cord/year and am constantly looking for a way with less handling.

 

[MossRoad]

I think this is a versatile solution:

Receiver Hitch Crane by Apex - 1, lb Capacity | HMC-1 | Discount Ramps

Ken

I just saw that one the other day.

I've been looking at this type. 2000# capacity.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200672545_200672545

 

[cruz54982]

That's what I mounted on my splitter and replaced the jack with a hyd. ram using a spare hyd. spool from the splitter to run it . ad a pair of tongs and I pick up any round I want with no effort !

 

[MossRoad]

That's what I mounted on my splitter and replaced the jack with a hyd. ram using a spare hyd. spool from the splitter to run it . ad a pair of tongs and I pick up any round I want with no effort !

I don't split rounds that I can't pick up very often. 99% of the trees I'm cutting are telephone pole-sized locust trees. Biggest are only 16" around. Most are 40-50' of usable wood before the branches get under 3". I have about 10,000 of them (that's an actual count by a forester), and I go through about 50 of them a year to make 6 cords. However, once in a while I'll do someone a favor (always regret it), and haul off a large downed tree. I just got one last fall that was just a tad over 36" diameter. Those 16" long x 36" diameter rounds are HEAVY. I tip them up on their side and roll them onto the splitter. I'm guessing they're around 250#. No joy in that task! :laughing: But its kind of a "think I'm young enough to still do it" kind of thing. The next day I usually remember why I shouldn't....

Sometimes I'll use the pallet forks on the tractor to set them on the splitter, but its just faster to do it by hand. But as I mentioned, I prefer the pole-sized locust and they have to be cleared out of our forest anyway, so its a good use of the wood to heat our house.

I'd like the crane on the trailer to load the poles at the property. I'm still debating the crane VS just parbuckling them up the side with ramps and a winch.

 

[airbiscuit]

Your system looks real nice.
We all like to be efficient when putting up wood, but sometimes things don't go that well. Here is a classic (real life) post from the arborist site ...

Ever had a day where you had good intentions, but the whole thing just went to heck in a hand basket anyway? Well, after a days work at our ç™»ther job, there was still plenty of daylight left?o why not pack up and go get some more wood? Only thing is, too late for the help?t was going to be just me and Mrs. Bounty Hunter. Undaunted, we loaded up the big wood trailer and hitched it to the ?7 1-ton Chevy utility truck, and the splitter to Mrs. Bounty Hunterç—´ ?9 Chevy 4 x 4 shortbed.
Up we went to the Los Padres Forest, with 4 saws bouncing around in the trailer: ms220T, for limb段n and trim段n, ms260 Pro for small to medium wood, ms044 for medium to large, and ms660MAG for large to 電arn that痴 really BIG!
The fire roads through the forest are rough and sometimes steep, but decent. Near the top of the pass we see a group of downed trees that looked good?xcept I had already passed them with the lead truck, and on a fairly steep downhill grade. 的値l just back up I said (First mistake?nless you count going out that afternoon, in general).
I was watching the trailer back up, and didn稚 realize how close the truck itself was to the embankment? vertical ledge of dirt and rock about 2 feet high. I steered the trailer away from the embankment, and the right rear tire of the truck went right into the ledge (mistake number two).
I was greeted by a load Whoosh and HISSING? tire losing air FAST! and plenty of shouting by Mrs. Bounty Hunter.
Flat tire?h nuts?nd this beast wears 36 x 15.5 x 16.5 tires?o room for a spare with the utility body (mistake number three).
But the Bounty Hunter has a backup plan, right? I have tire tools and a tube, plus an on-board compressor?we will fix this right away! I say, as I dig out the recycled ammo boxes that store the tools and tube. Guess what?he tube is gone?t痴 not in the ammo box labeled �ube (mistake number four).
è¿*emember the trip to the Kern river? Didn稚 the Kimberly take a tube? Oh great?ow weæ±*e in a fix. é�‘etç—´ get the trucks down somewhere level, and see what we can do I say, while attempting to seem totally confident (while thinking: weæ±*e screwed?
I look at the tire?he valve stems broken off! 展e Have spares! I happily exclaim, and break out the tools. I exchange the stem, but the big tire is now totally pulled away from the bead of the rim, and needs to be inflated. I try all the tricks?atcheting tie-downs around the tire, both of us pulling and pushing, but that heavy 10-ply just won稚 mount with the wimpy compressor (mistakes five, six and seven).
徹kay?his isn稚 working. We gotta take the tire down to the Flying J truck stop?he mechanics there can mount it
So, we load up the tire and wheel in the ?9?ut I don稚 want to leave the saws, the trailer, and certainly not the splitter. There痴 no one up on these mountains, but who knows? Solution? We loaded the splitter in the trailer with the saws and the rest of the gear, and took off down the mountain.
An hour later, at the Flying J, the mechanic said æ»´aving a bad day? Well itç—´ about to get worse?
å…¸hereç—´ a big cut in the sidewall of the tire?t can稚 be patched (mistake number eight, sort of. This actually fits better in the 展eæ±*e screwed part of mistake number four).
Now its 8:00 at night?hereç—´ nothing open?o where to get a replacement tire, especially one that size. æ»´ow are we going to get that stupid truck off the mountain? I snarl, I thought for sure there was a spare tire and wheel at the ranch (Mistake number nine).
Plus, no one we know has a 1-ton we could swap a wheel, even temporarily, to get the truck back.
Then, like the proverbial light bulb, an idea comes to me?I know where thereç—´ a wreaked truck off the road?een there for months? think itç—´ a one-ton!
Off we speed, and sure enough, one tire on the wreak is seemingly okay?t least it had some air, which was better that what we had. I get it off, and speed back up the mountain.
The bottle jack is too short to jack up the truck (ten mistakes!!????).
We still had the saws, so I fire up the 200T and cut an 8 round about a foot long to act as a jackstand to support the truck while the jack is reset.
Then realize we can稚 put the 斗oaner spare in the back axel?t痴 got a Detroit Locker differential and different size tires would be a PROBLEM (mistake number?hoot! Darn! I'm not counting these mistakes no more!)
So it痴 like 溺usical Chairs switching wheels around to wind up with the spare in the front.
Air it up, and off we go. Down the mountain, itç—´ now almost midnight.
The next day, it was INSULT to INJURY?ur son walks by the trucks, sees the single 8 round lying there, where I tossed it in after finishing with it as a jackstand, and says æ·»ou guys went out for wood and thatç—´ all you got?

MY REPLY was ---
Not bad. I'd say you have done well. Most of us would have also found a way to break the back window on one or both of your trucks!

 

[JimR]

Your system looks real nice.
We all like to be efficient when putting up wood, but sometimes things don't go that well. Here is a classic (real life) post from the arborist site ...

Ever had a day where you had good intentions, but the whole thing just went to heck in a hand basket anyway? Well, after a days work at our ç™»ther job, there was still plenty of daylight left?o why not pack up and go get some more wood? Only thing is, too late for the help?t was going to be just me and Mrs. Bounty Hunter. Undaunted, we loaded up the big wood trailer and hitched it to the ?7 1-ton Chevy utility truck, and the splitter to Mrs. Bounty Hunterç—´ ?9 Chevy 4 x 4 shortbed.
Up we went to the Los Padres Forest, with 4 saws bouncing around in the trailer: ms220T, for limb段n and trim段n, ms260 Pro for small to medium wood, ms044 for medium to large, and ms660MAG for large to 電arn that痴 really BIG!
The fire roads through the forest are rough and sometimes steep, but decent. Near the top of the pass we see a group of downed trees that looked good?xcept I had already passed them with the lead truck, and on a fairly steep downhill grade. 的値l just back up I said (First mistake?nless you count going out that afternoon, in general).
I was watching the trailer back up, and didn稚 realize how close the truck itself was to the embankment? vertical ledge of dirt and rock about 2 feet high. I steered the trailer away from the embankment, and the right rear tire of the truck went right into the ledge (mistake number two).
I was greeted by a load Whoosh and HISSING? tire losing air FAST! and plenty of shouting by Mrs. Bounty Hunter.
Flat tire?h nuts?nd this beast wears 36 x 15.5 x 16.5 tires?o room for a spare with the utility body (mistake number three).
But the Bounty Hunter has a backup plan, right? I have tire tools and a tube, plus an on-board compressor?we will fix this right away! I say, as I dig out the recycled ammo boxes that store the tools and tube. Guess what?he tube is gone?t痴 not in the ammo box labeled �ube (mistake number four).
è¿*emember the trip to the Kern river? Didn稚 the Kimberly take a tube? Oh great?ow weæ±*e in a fix. é�‘etç—´ get the trucks down somewhere level, and see what we can do I say, while attempting to seem totally confident (while thinking: weæ±*e screwed?
I look at the tire?he valve stems broken off! 展e Have spares! I happily exclaim, and break out the tools. I exchange the stem, but the big tire is now totally pulled away from the bead of the rim, and needs to be inflated. I try all the tricks?atcheting tie-downs around the tire, both of us pulling and pushing, but that heavy 10-ply just won稚 mount with the wimpy compressor (mistakes five, six and seven).
徹kay?his isn稚 working. We gotta take the tire down to the Flying J truck stop?he mechanics there can mount it
So, we load up the tire and wheel in the ?9?ut I don稚 want to leave the saws, the trailer, and certainly not the splitter. There痴 no one up on these mountains, but who knows? Solution? We loaded the splitter in the trailer with the saws and the rest of the gear, and took off down the mountain.
An hour later, at the Flying J, the mechanic said æ»´aving a bad day? Well itç—´ about to get worse?
å…¸hereç—´ a big cut in the sidewall of the tire?t can稚 be patched (mistake number eight, sort of. This actually fits better in the 展eæ±*e screwed part of mistake number four).
Now its 8:00 at night?hereç—´ nothing open?o where to get a replacement tire, especially one that size. æ»´ow are we going to get that stupid truck off the mountain? I snarl, I thought for sure there was a spare tire and wheel at the ranch (Mistake number nine).
Plus, no one we know has a 1-ton we could swap a wheel, even temporarily, to get the truck back.
Then, like the proverbial light bulb, an idea comes to me?I know where thereç—´ a wreaked truck off the road?een there for months? think itç—´ a one-ton!
Off we speed, and sure enough, one tire on the wreak is seemingly okay?t least it had some air, which was better that what we had. I get it off, and speed back up the mountain.
The bottle jack is too short to jack up the truck (ten mistakes!!????).
We still had the saws, so I fire up the 200T and cut an 8 round about a foot long to act as a jackstand to support the truck while the jack is reset.
Then realize we can稚 put the 斗oaner spare in the back axel?t痴 got a Detroit Locker differential and different size tires would be a PROBLEM (mistake number?hoot! Darn! I'm not counting these mistakes no more!)
So it痴 like 溺usical Chairs switching wheels around to wind up with the spare in the front.
Air it up, and off we go. Down the mountain, itç—´ now almost midnight.
The next day, it was INSULT to INJURY?ur son walks by the trucks, sees the single 8 round lying there, where I tossed it in after finishing with it as a jackstand, and says æ·»ou guys went out for wood and thatç—´ all you got?

MY REPLY was ---
Not bad. I'd say you have done well. Most of us would have also found a way to break the back window on one or both of your trucks!

Now that is what I call having a bad day.

 

[Paul Thornton]

DaveK, I Iike your system.

 

[mpilihp]

Interesting post and great ideas, I recently bought a tractor able to use quick connect forks implement and looking to start saving a few touches to our wood, we burn 10 cord a year so want to start reducing that. Many years ago I saw a plan/design for building simple but strong long lasting 4x4 wood stacking pallets that could be picked up and carried by forks. Used PT 4x4 and pipes, looked very simple. That way can cut in woods, split and stack it right there and then carry the finished product back to the house.

Thanks

~ Phil

 

[joeyd]

DaveK OR I want to build something similar to your wood boxes but in a more 4' x 4' x 5' Tall size so I can use forks to move them around. My thought is to bring my splitter into the woods with me and get it all done at once right there where the tree falls. I'll cut the tree into log length for my stove, split it and load the pallets. The pallets will be moved to a storage area I have for wood. I'll move the pallets with my tractor to a concrete pad near my back door for burning in the woodstove when I need wood. That will save me a lot of time handling wood or moving wood around like I am doing now. The best part is I think I have enough steel lying around to make 4 - 5 pallets.

I do the same thing but I use these old totes to carry the wood.

 

[arrow]

I'm trying to get my wood for sale to handling it twice by hand. 5 times by hand is the best I can do for my personal wood. The steps would be run through my processor which currently doesn't exist. Stack in my racks which currently don't exists. Move to drying area and unload with forklift. When dry re load with forklift. Drive to either my house or the customers house and unload the rack by hand. If it's my wood I'd have to move it from the garage to the wood stove. I usually stack a small stack in the house and then put that in the stove. If I sold it green I could do it with zero manual handling assuming I didn't stack it at the customers.

I'd suggest you have people come to you. Deliveries are best handled by not handling the wood at all. Split into a pile, know the capacity of your wood hauler (hopefully a dump trailer) and front end load your splits into that. We used to have a 2.5 cord stake body we'd split into on the dreaded "firewood days" as opposed to the "wood mill days" selling it as "unseasoned" which is another time and money saver.

For at home pickup, split your wood into a single line, mark off the cordage, (the pic shows 20' as a cord), and have your customers throw your wood into their truck. When they reach the marker, they have a cord.

 

[arrow]

That's my main pet peeve about firewood.... how many times I end up handling it. YIKES! It gets old.

Cut the tree down.
Haul the tree out of the woods.
Cut the tree into firewood length rounds.
1. Throw the rounds onto the trailer to drive it home.
2. Throw the rounds off the trailer.
3. Pick up the rounds onto the splitter.
4. Throw the splits aside.
5. Stack the splits.
Wait 2 years................................
6. Throw the splits into the cart.
Take the cart to the house.
Dump the splits into the basement.
7. Stack the splits in the basement.
8. Load the splits into the stove.

Anything to help handling them one less time! :laughing:

Nice job on the racks and dolly with chains. :thumbsup:

The biggest tip I can give you Moss for off-homesite wood gathering is for you not to take it home. Hire that job out to a wood hauler. My guy is perfectly content with $165 I give him to load, take stems to my house and unload. In the pic, he is 19 miles from my wood lot and on a Sunday even! Two of these loads cost me $360 that day for approximately 14 cords of wood. I'd be there a month of Sundays attempting this job completely by myself.
So in this case, you've eliminated 1, 2, and 4 if you split right at the rows and stack as you go. If you could build a containment box in the cellar and dump right into this, you could eliminate 7. Who needs to stack already dried wood. In my case, i simply remove 2 stairs in the bulk head, throw a piece of plywood in there, and just dump my wood into the bulk head and cart the wood into the stove.
All of this handling is what has given pellet stoves a good name.
One last thing: don't think to handle wood without a log hook in one hand. You would not believe how things will speed up as you gain propensity with one and makes it so much easier to get rounds to the splitter

 

[arrow]

This is a project I finished some time back, but I'm very happy with it and decided to share.

I built a set of firewood racks out of 1 1/4" tube, so I could haul wood from the shed to the house. They have some old chain welded to the top-piece so I can carry them using the FEL and my chain slots.

View attachment 503841 View attachment 503842



Here's a photo of the racks full of wood being carried by the tractor.

View attachment 503843

Once I get close to the house, I use a little Harbor Freight hand truck to move the wood to my deck. I welded a little chain-slot onto the hand truck to help secure the load.

View attachment 503844 View attachment 503845

Here are three of the racks staged next to the chimney and a sliding glass doorway.

View attachment 503847

I forgot to show the canvas cover I sewed to protect the wood from rain and bird-poo :smiley_aafz:. It's open on the house-side so I don't need to take it off to get wood.

The nice thing is that I now don't need to stack wood in the bucket, then carry it from the bucket to the staging area and stack it yet again.

To me, there is no better way than to containerize or palletize wood for this wood burning game we do.With that said, my attempts with this method was an utter failure and here's why: I burn 5-6 cords per year. I have 3 years worth of wood waiting in the wings (wood processing lot). This would necessitate 16-17 built palettes for one years worth of wood. I would need twice this amount for the two year drying time. When I take the palettes to the wood shed, they take up so much room to manipulate and store, I can't get half of the wood in there when they are palletized. The palettes seem to get beat up very quickly so one is always having to repair and fix the darn things. Lastly, I've discovered I have very little patience making palette containers. It all came down to doing it the old way. That's me and heck, I prefer a gear tractor to HST.

 

[JPinnell]

I use collapsible wire baskets. These would be very similar in size to the IBC Tote Cages. Pallet-ainer is one brand and 7 baskets works out to be a cord. About 1 basket per week is what we burn in an Englander NC13 that keeps 1500sqft toasty. The newer high efficiency stoves are great, but they like DRY DRY DRY wood. That means 3yrs seasoning for red oak which is what is most common here.

We burn just under 3 cords a year in the house, so I now have 60 baskets. I also have some larger baskets for the workshop wood stove, but I "might" burn a cord+ out there on the weekends and that stove is not as picky. I load all the "junk" in the bigger baskets for the shop stove. Unfortunately I'm into the baskets about $25ea which is a HUGE amount of money for a "firewood system" but . . . NO ROT, less handling, and they STACK!! I have some old rusty ones that I know are 30yrs old. I also have some newer that I've acquired. They all look like they will last another 40+yrs. So I'm spending $50/yr for convenience

I drop the tree and cut into 8ft logs. I usually then move these with the Kubota B7800 over to be split. I split and stack right into the baskets and then store/stack these with the tractor. Depending on time of year I usually tarp the baskets for Fall/Winter as accumulated leaves hold the damp. This Spring I'm going to build a 16x20 wood shed, just the roof, and stack the wood baskets 2 high under there. When it is time to burn I haul a couple baskets up to the house and stack on the deck.

 

[Paul Thornton]

What do these baskets look like?

 

[MossRoad]

The biggest tip I can give you Moss for off-homesite wood gathering is for you not to take it home. Hire that job out to a wood hauler. My guy is perfectly content with $165 I give him to load, take stems to my house and unload. In the pic, he is 19 miles from my wood lot and on a Sunday even! Two of these loads cost me $360 that day for approximately 14 cords of wood. I'd be there a month of Sundays attempting this job completely by myself.
So in this case, you've eliminated 1, 2, and 4 if you split right at the rows and stack as you go. If you could build a containment box in the cellar and dump right into this, you could eliminate 7. Who needs to stack already dried wood. In my case, i simply remove 2 stairs in the bulk head, throw a piece of plywood in there, and just dump my wood into the bulk head and cart the wood into the stove.
All of this handling is what has given pellet stoves a good name.
One last thing: don't think to handle wood without a log hook in one hand. You would not believe how things will speed up as you gain propensity with one and makes it so much easier to get rounds to the splitter

Thanks for the tips.

I have to thin the woods of the locust trees anyway, and I hate to see them go to waste. They make great firewood. I do enjoy the time in the woods (most days), and I also like the heat the stove gives off VS the gas furnace.

I just have to figure a way to get the pole-length logs onto the trailer so I can cut them directly at my splitter/wood storage area and I'd be happy. Crane or winch or some combo of both is what its looking like. Anything to cut back on the multiple handling.... other than building a $250,000 house in the woodlot!

I can't remove any steps.... they're concrete.

 

[moriboy]

There are a lot good ideas here. I have also tried many different methods in order to improve my efficiency and reduce handling. Cutting rounds on the ground and then having to lift them into a trailer was a real bummer. What worked good for me was to lift the logs and position them over my trailer using my excavator. I would then just cut and let the rounds drop into the trailer. At that point, I could unload them near the house and split and stack. That was the best I could come up with. But I must admit, my firewood days are all but over....

I now have a pellet stove.

 

[dragoneggs]

Thinking out loud here... What about using the thin plastic wide wrap to wind around tight and secure your split wood on pallets? I don't exactly know how you would stack and wrap but that stuff is disposable and strong for what it is.

 

[JPinnell]

What do these baskets look like?

Wire Containers, Wire Container in Stock - ULINE

They come in all sizes. I like the ones with the half drop front gate. Easier for the kids/wife to help load. If you are scrounging though you have to take what you get. Its important to get them all the same size or at least enough to make a year supply if you plan to stack them. They are hard to come by for less than $50ea around me. Material Handling and Pallet Rack Companies do sell used ones, but at higher prices. I tracked the last 40 down from a local factory closing down. Craigslist is an option too.

Another thing, keep in mind your lift capacity. The baskets I use end up about 700lbs full. The empty baskets themselves weigh 100lbs.

 

[CalG]

Having heated solely with wood for nearing 30 years, I can say that I have lifted way too much of too many trees.

But, I also can say (and feel), I'm in good health, the effort is on my terms and I can stop any time I choose. The work gives me a feeling of satisfaction that does not come when I observe the fuel oil delivery truck that fires the DHW boiler.

AND...

I have no need for a membership to the exercise gym!

I'm careful, but sometimes my back barks at me after a full day. The loader on the tractor is a real boon when working the big stuff.

I can tell you all one thing for certain. Working a load of logs into 4 ft "cordwood" rows and then processing it to 18 inch stove wood is the most F*&^k *$% way to work up firewood there ever can be. I did it this year to verify the load quantity. It's not worth knowing! ;-)

But it's all out there drying for next year...and the year to follow... Heck, the woodshed is still mostly full! ;-)

 

[JimR]

I do the same thing but I use these old totes to carry the wood.

View attachment 505275

That bin looks like it would work very well.