firewood storage

r.man · September 28, 2013, 07:15:15 PM

I am constantly impressed with the different ways people solve problems. This video shows a very innovative way to somewhat ease the day to day work spent loading a wood boiler.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CZfnxwJBwc

JohnG28 · October 04, 2013, 07:56:31 AM

That's quite a sharp little idea.

sam-tip · October 04, 2013, 09:52:05 AM

I like it. Good work. I would be afraid of burning the roof down. I have flames and back drafts coming out of my boiler door. Well sealed gasser. I want a roof but think I should go with metal.

jackel440 · October 07, 2013, 08:54:26 PM

This is a great idea,I was considering something along the same lines.I had planned to use my skidsteer also.I also thought abount some kind of conveyor system to bring the stacks forward too.

DeerMeadowFarm · October 31, 2013, 01:35:07 PM

I am in the early planning stages of a similar set-up. I have 30' of C-channel trailer frame welded 7' apart. I plan to make racks that'll hold 1 cord. I need to come up with an inexpensive roller/wheel device to use at the 4 corners of each rack. I plan to pull mine forward using a 120V winch

Philbert · October 31, 2013, 03:42:30 PM

Nice system. Looks well made.

But if he's got the skid steer loader, he could just use forks and palletized / caged firewood to bring stuff up to the point of use. That way he could select wood to burn (e.g. species or age), rather than having to follow a sequence, store wood farther away (fire comment above), etc.

The winch idea is pretty cool too, if you can get a good deal on track and rollers.

Philbert

thecfarm · October 31, 2013, 03:55:43 PM

I thought about 2 trailers.Load up 2 trailers, use one and having one all loaded and ready to go. Than when one is empty,pull it out and re load it.Most of us don't have a skid steer to push with. :( My trailers will hold about a ½ cord to ¾. I have used it a few times. I take it out in the woods and load it up and then leave it by the OWB.

jamesconley1962 · October 31, 2013, 09:29:18 PM

Quote from: thecfarm on October 31, 2013, 03:55:43 PM
I thought about 2 trailers.Load up 2 trailers, use one and having one all loaded and ready to go. Than when one is empty,pull it out and re load it.Most of us don't have a skid steer to push with. :( My trailers will hold about a ½ cord to ¾. I have used it a few times. I take it out in the woods and load it up and then leave it by the OWB.

That's what I do and it works good.

sam-tip · November 03, 2013, 08:47:53 AM

If you added walls or an insulated tarp you could blow heat through it and dry your wood in days. Fresh wood on one end and dry on the other.

Yatt · November 05, 2013, 07:22:58 AM

Very innovative.

AnthonyW · November 05, 2013, 08:03:15 AM

I too would not have the roof that close to the boiler.

I would also use wheels on the railroad tracks, perhaps old wheelbarrow rims with no tires on them.

DeerMeadowFarm · December 04, 2013, 11:40:57 AM

Well over the long holiday weekend I picked up the sections of trailer. Man, that was a wide, scary load to bring home!

Anyway; here I am unloading them.

DeerMeadowFarm · December 10, 2013, 01:40:34 PM

Here is the thought/plan. The width between rails is approx. 7'. I am thinking of making pallets 8' wide by 2' deep and stacking 4' high. This will giive me 1/2 cord per pallet. This way I can pick up one pallet with the forks on my loader and another on forks on the 3-point allowing me to move 1 cord out of the woods at a time.

I'll need 4 wheels per pallet though which is going to add up quick! I'm thinking of some simple metal rollers like they use on dumpster roll-offs but smaller. Maybe make some out of 2" pipe with "washers" welded on both ends and using a 1/2" grade 8 bolt for an axle? Attach to the pallets using angle....?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

thecfarm · December 10, 2013, 02:03:31 PM

8 feet wide coming out of my woods road would be a problem. Too many rocks and too many trees I want to keep.
I suppose these will have sides all the way around? Just asking because the wood might try to fall off coming out of the woods. On my trailer I just about have to bind it down when coming out of the woods. My woods are rough.

DeerMeadowFarm · December 10, 2013, 02:19:27 PM

I'm figuring some side posts with ratchet strap along the top for transport. My tractor's bucket is 6' wide; what's another foot on each side?

The wood lot I bought was logged maybe 40 years ago (guestimate) and there are main trails from the skidder that wouldn't take a ton of work to clean up....

Maybe I make the pallet part 4' x 4' each but my frame that goes on the rails is 4' x 8'! Still taking the same amount of wood out each time, but I'll be narrower and I'll need less wheels!

stavebuyer · December 10, 2013, 03:22:00 PM

Some sawmills use well casing or other heavy metal pipe to stack lumber on instead of lumber carts. On clean concrete one man can push a 6000# pack of lumber on the pipes.

North River Energy · December 10, 2013, 04:56:41 PM

Maybe do a test shove of a loaded rack, using UHMWPE (sandwich board) in place of wheels?

I'd be tempted to buy a box store splitter, strip off the running gear, bolt the works to the floor at the far end of the track, and use that to shove the racks toward the boiler.