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.