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My Lumber storage story

Started by Jim_Rogers, February 08, 2011, 06:25:44 PM

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Jim_Rogers

Lumber storage story.

A while ago, a friend from Ohio asked me how did I deal with moving lumber around my sawmill yard. And how did I deal with storing lumber.

Well, I don't have a very big sawmill yard, and when we started out with the sawmill business, back in 1994, all we had was the sawmill and a pile of logs. But we did have some heavy equipment as well. We, and when I say we, my brother who was out of work from a computer company was working with me at the time, had a backhoe, a dump truck, a flat bed trailer, and a log hauling truck.

When we started sawing lumber, we would just stack it up and put some stickers between the layers of lumber.

Then someone would drop in and ask: "do you have (20) 1x6's in that pile? I need some for my project." We have to un-stack the pile separating out all the 1x6's and see if we had 20. Well that got really old very fast.

We needed to figure out a better way to store the lumber all flat and stacked up on stickers properly.

One of the first extra things we got was a set of forks for the front bucket of the backhoe:



I think I paid around $650 for these and then hired a welder to come over and weld the hooks onto the top edge of the bucket. I think he charged me $100 for the job.

After that we could easily move lumber and logs around the yard as we needed to.

One of the first things we did was saw out some timbers to make up some lumber drying foundation frames.

We would make them like this:



These frames were made to match the lengths of the lumber to be stored on them.
The above frame is 16' long with cross blocks every 2' on center.

So we had five drying frame foundations. One for each length of lumber from 8' to 16'. That is an 8' frame, a 10' frame, a 12' frame, a 14' frame and a 16' frame. This would allow us to stack our lumber on the frame, with it being level from front to back and left to right so that the fork lift on the front of the backhoe could easily drive up to the stack and move lumber on and off the stack.

The next problem was keeping all the sizes of the lumber separated so that it could be easily counted and easily handled when the customer arrived to get some lumber.

From reading a book on drying lumber we knew that each layer of lumber needed to be separated from the layer above it and below it with some stickers. And to keep lumber flat and straight that all these stickers had to be aligned vertically over the support blocks, so we had to come up with a method of moving lumber easily and quickly.

One of the things that was most irritating to me was when you picked up a bundle of lumber and carried it off to set it down out of the way, you'd have to get down off the forklift and place blocks under the pile to keep it up off the ground/mud/snow. And enough clearance to be able to move the forklift out from under it, easily. Getting on and off, chasing down blocks from the block pile, again, got old real fast. So I decided we'd make up some lumber "pallets" to store the lumber on.

Here is a drawing of an 8' lumber pallet:



As you can see the 2x4x4's that I stand up on edges and then place the 1x4 boards on top of them. I use a nail gun and nail these boards to the 2x4's and that helps make it stiff. After I have nailed the boards onto the 2x4's I then place the stickers on top and nail them on as well. The drawing shows 1 ½" wide oak stickers as I use oak for all high grade lumber. But lately I've just been using regular 2" wide pine stickers for everything.
When I nail the boards on, I nail them near the edge of the board. When I nail the stickers on, I nail them at the center of the board. This makes two nails into the 2x4 and that make it so the pallet is stiff and won't shift or pivot on the nail.

The 2x4's and the stickers are placed 2' on center.

Next comes stacking the lumber on the pallet.

I decided that when I stack 1x12's on the pallet that I would use only three per layer and that would make it so that there was plenty of air space between the boards.
I decided that when I stacked 1x10's on the pallet that I would place only four per layer.
I decided that with 1x8's I'd do five per layer. And with 1x6's seven per layer, and finally with 1x4's I'd put 11 per layer.

Do this you would get a stack of lumber that could/would look like this:



As you can see this makes a very nice and neat stack and it only takes up one "footprint" in my yard.

Sometimes, I add pallets of 2x4's and 2x6's on top of the 1x4's should I have some on hand.

After doing this for a while, I decided to make up a lumber stack cover. I made only one so far for my 16' stack:



I wish now I had more. They really help keep the snow off your lumber stacks.

So, here's how it goes. Someone drives in and says: "have you got (20) 1x6's in that pile?" I can easily look at the pile, see that I have five rows with seven per row equally 35 pieces in the pile. And I can say, "yes, I do." Next I get the forklift going and lift off the pallet of 1x4's and I can set it down anywhere as the pallet has blocks on it and I don't have to get off the seat to find blocks and set them up. Then return to the stack, lift off the pallet of 1x6's, lower it down to the back of his truck and slide off 20 pieces, removing my stickers as we unbundle the pile.
After the guy leaves, I just set the pallet of 1x6's back on the stack and put the pallet of 1x4's back on top. Very easy and very simple.

The only thing you have to watch out for is keeping your lumber pile aligned vertically so that all the stickers are over your support blocks. And that you don't make your pallet heavier then the load capacity of your forklift (don't ask me how I know this).

I hope you have found this story helpful.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

VT-Woodchuck


jdtuttle

Great story, as soon as it thaws out I'm going to start building some drying frames.
jim
Have a great day

Tullivor

Thanks for being so descriptive Jim!  That is a great method.  I think I will use that plan to stack my lumber ae well

wesdor

This is the exact problem I've been trying to solve. 

Thanks for providing great ideas AND pictures

Ohio_Bill

Great system Jim.  Thanks so much for taking the time to share it.  It will solve several problems for me and will allow use of my new to me old fork lift being delivered this Weekend.


Bill
USAF Veteran  C141 Loadmaster
LT 40 HDD42-RA   , Allis Chalmers I 500 Forklift , Allis Chalmers 840 Loader , International 4300 , Zetor 6245 Tractor – Loader ,Bob Cat 763 , Riehl Steel Edger

Magicman

Now, that's a neat looking rig Bill.   ;)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

OlJarhead

This is great!

I nailed up our first 60+ board feet to the front of our shed (I was impatient) and our next 100 board feet was stacked and stickered (using OSB because that is what I had handy) on the loft floor of the cabin....now however, we have the LT10 and I plan to mill a LOT more lumber and have been wondering about setting up something like this.

I'll steal yours ;)  Figure I can just mill the lumber for the drying racks and then start milling lumber to stack on them :)
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

redbeard

What a informative story! Excellent way to move bunks of lumber around, the first row of drying sticks is always hit or miss on them lining up with dunage for me, with your idea of lumber pallets with the fixed row of drying sticks nailed down is the cats pajamas. 
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

Brucer

I use a similar system, but not quite as elaborate. Mine has been evolving over several years.

At first it was for piling my timber-framing customer's side lumber, so I was using his employees to build the piles. What a pain that was. I couldn't seem to get across the idea that by building standard piles -- same number of boards per row, same number of rows per pile -- that all we needed to do to fill an order was to count piles.

Quote
I decided that when I stack 1x12's on the pallet that I would use only three per layer and that would make it so that there was plenty of air space between the boards.
I decided that when I stacked 1x10's on the pallet that I would place only four per layer.
I decided that with 1x8's I'd do five per layer. And with 1x6's seven per layer, and finally with 1x4's I'd put 11 per layer.

I use the same system. I used to tell the "helpers" that the way to figure out how many boards in a row was to figure out how many would fit in a 4' wide pile, then subtract 1. That gives exactly the same number as you use.

After keeping records of 3 years of sales, I determined that there was very little call for 16' boards, so we eliminated that length and cut any 16' boards into to 8 footers. By the time I started doing it all myself, I figured out that hardly anyone wanted 14 foot boards, and I hardly ever cut 14' timbers. So I did away with the 14' lengths as well. That's really made storage simpler.

Because I produce so much side lumber -- and because it can sit for a year or more before it's sold -- making individual racks doesn't work for me. What I've done instead is to make several sets of storage bunks, all with standard spacing that matches the sticker spacing. Then I can just park a pile (or partial pile) on an unoccupied set of bunks.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

redbeard

seems like 8'-10'-12' lengths are the best sellers here also. I will also make up cants and stack e'm accordingly  8" 10" 12'
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

Jim_Rogers

Thanks for all your comments.

And yes, of course, adjust to what works for you....

When I know I'm going to produce a lot of side lumber, from sawing timbers or whatever, I carry the pallets over to the mill and leave them on the ground next to the mill and carry the lumber off the mill and place it right onto the pallet stack. This saves sorting and stacking later on.....

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

KyTreeFarmer

Great storage plan. Was wondering if you could put multiple species on pallets like that in the same big stack? Right now I have several smaller stacks I would like to put together.
KTF
Woodmizer LT15G
Belsaw from Sears & Roebucks
8N Ford
87 Kubota 2550 W/FEL

flibob

Bill,   What is the title of those tractor fork lifts.  I have been looking for one.  If I were to google.  What is the nomenclature?
The ranch is so big and I'm such a little cowboy

ljmathias

Great story and pictures, Jim; thanks.

Don't know how others do it, but I rarely get just one kind of tree to cut, so I always end up with oak, pine, poplar.... kinda mixed together.  I'm doing good to keep the same thicknesses in a row, and I've even had different thickness in adjacent rows- 4/4 in one row, dimension lumber in the next... just don't have enough room and stacks to keep everything nice and clean: think about having 3-4 different lengths (8, 10, 12'), two or three different thicknesses (although with hardwood, this may not be such a problem as most of what is done with oak and cherry, for example, can be done with 4/4 rough sawn lumber) and three-four different species.  That works out to be...  ??? ??? well, lots of stacks to find room for and keep covered.

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

Jim_Rogers

Quote from: flibob on February 09, 2011, 10:39:56 AM
Bill,   What is the title of those tractor fork lifts.  I have been looking for one.  If I were to google.  What is the nomenclature?

Here is the label off the forks:



unfortunately you can't read it.

However, when I got up real close to it I could see Guest industries on the bottom of the label. And they are in CT according to a google search.

I couldn't get their webpage to load, but it does say in the google search that they make forks.....

And there are all different kinds of forks. I don't know what the name of this type is. But they just hang from the top bar and rest against your cutting edge.

To attach you just curl your bucket to full dump and drive the hooks up under the bar and roll the bucket back and they attach without getting off the seat.

There was a hole for attaching a chain with a bolt to the back bottom of the fork to come around up behind the bucket to drop into a key hole in the top of the fork for making it so that they would not swing when you dump. That way you could point the forks down more then the position they "hang" in when you roll your bucket to dump. I never did set mine up this way, as you'd have to have good strong chains and get off every time you hook up to secure them to the top of the forks.

Hope this helps...
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

ScottAR

Typically, the name of the very tidy Allis lift in the pic above is a rough terrain forklift.  Also seen em called construction forklift.

Great pics and great thread.
Scott
"There is much that I need to do, even more that I want to do, and even less that I can do."
[Magicman]


backwoods sawyer

I like your lumber storage system 8) Something that can evolve right along with the milling process :P Wood that is properly handled just retains its value better then poorly handled wood ::) How much land dose your lumberyard take up? I am very limited on space at both sawmill locations for lumber storage smiley_lit_bulb 
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

Brucer

I only have one species to deal with :).

My first year on my own, I tried mixing different widths in my piles. I'd do my best to keep each row all the same width but that wasn't always possible. The theory was that I would unstack them when they were dry, and sort and rough grade them then.

That turned out to be a real pain. Before the piles were sorted, I'd often have a customer wanting an entire lift (or 2 or 3) of one size. The customer was happy to take a stickered pile (even when I asked for a deposit on the stickers). But because the piles were mixed, I'd have to drop everything and unpile everything.

Last year I decided to keep everything in its own pile and that worked out much better. When I sold a whole pile I'd warn people they might get some poorer pieces in the mix, but I'd give them 10% extra to cover it. I'd also knock 10% off the sticker count to allow for wear and tear. That made everyone happy.

You pretty much have to figure out what works best for your own operation. I earn more by selling my lumber at a reduced price and spending more time cutting timbers.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Ironwood

I am hopiing in the next several year to have these reassembled, I just need $15,000 in concrete. I could have had the concrete beneath them too, but getting it levelled would have been difficult  :D When you do the math as to what these racks will hold, you REALLY need a mass down low. I may split the 120' length to 60' and bridge across w/ flat roof trusses to make it more stable AND eventually roof it, for a BIG breezeway for truck, trailer, forklift storage.

Ironwood


>:(





There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

oakiemac

Jim, nice write up. What program did you use to make those pretty pictures?
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

Sawmill_Nick

That is the same basic system as I use for stacking my lumber, it's worked well for me over the last couple of years.  I never thought about the "pallets" in between the different types of wood.  We've always used Oak 2x3's in order to get the forks in and I know what you mean about always having to find blocks.  I think I'll build some pallets instead.  I built a cover very similiar to yours except I added 4 mil plastic to the top and this helps to keep the water from the pile when the snow on top melts.  Great pictures!

clww

A  great, informative post, Jim! ;)
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

Jim_Rogers

Quote from: oakiemac on February 10, 2011, 07:06:25 PM
What program did you use to make those pretty pictures?

That's my timber frame design program, that I use to design timber frame buildings.

It is very easy to copy a piece from one place to the next to make aligned stack pictures.....
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Ironwood

Here are a few others, not mine just ones I have seen. Worth mentioning, some Lowes stores sre configuring their stores and some of the cantilever racks may be scrapped. Seems like there was a sub contractor in our store locally. He was trashing all kinds of steel racking. I know the dumpster co. owner but never went to his yard to actually see what they got rid of.

PS , dont just dumpster dive there are cameras and they may consider it stealing (from someone, either store, sub , or dumpster co.)

Ironwood








There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Slabs

I have a little "personal-sized"  drying shed/rack.





It holds about 2500 bd. ft. of one-by.  Just makins for the "retirement toys" woodshop.
Slabs  : Offloader, slab and sawdust Mexican, mill mechanic and electrician, general flunky.  Woodshop, metal woorking shop and electronics shop.

bandmiller2

Why is it everyone always wants the lumber on the bottom of the pile.Good idea Jim, and the tallish stacks seem to dry better.Handling and storing lumber is hard work anything that makes it easier is welcome. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Meadows Miller

Gday

Great thread and pics/drawings Jim  ;) ;D ;D ;D 8) Ironwood your gonna be sawing for a fair while to fill those racks of yours Mate  :)  ;)  :D :D

With Me Im only selling stuff that sells easy and is on order these days Im trying not to hold anything in stock apart from what I will be using myself  ;)

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

Banjo picker

Very nice looking systems you guys have there....but I am with Chris...I don't cut it till someone wants to pay for it...I have a few logs that I will loose because of that ,but if I cut 1 bys they wanted  2 bys ....If I got 10's they want 12's ....I  don't even cut the trees untill I get an order...When I retire from the state job I may do things different...and store some lumber...Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Ironwood

I could fill those racks with what is palletized and tarped here, NO kidding.

Cant wait.

Ironwood
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Meadows Miller


You have been a busy bloke then Mate  :o :) ;) :D ;D 8) 8) I burnt about 5000bft of stuff that was too far gone when we shifted in October :( :'( that I had been saying for years Ill do something with that one of these days  ;) i just went through it picked out the good ones and made another pile of stuff that is Ill keep that and use it  packs  :) :)  :) ;) :D :D

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

Jim_Rogers

When I cut stock I usually cut to fill an order.

It happens that you also make other stuff on the way to filling that order and you need to have some place to store it so it stays flat and true.

And yes they always want to buy the stuff on the bottom. I do put stuff down there on purpose so that some one will come along and buy it.... :D
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Banjo picker

Thats a good idea about putting what you need to move on the bottom.. ;)...I just recently moved the last bundle of side lumber from when I was cutting ties full time..I had a bundle of mixed stuff I am drying for myself...walnut, maple, some persimmon that Fish farmer gave me down on the bottom of the stacks and I believe every body that came to look at it asked about that bundle....Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Brucer

Quote from: bandmiller2 on February 12, 2011, 08:15:02 PM
Why is it everyone always wants the lumber on the bottom of the pile.

Frank, I'm really surprised you haven't figured it out. The customer wants the driest wood, which is the oldest off the mill. Most people build their piles by putting the oldest stuff on the bottom.

Now if you were smart, you'd pile the oldest wood on top of the pile and put the newer stuff underneath it. :D :D :D

Quote from: Banjo picker on February 13, 2011, 07:31:48 AM
... I am with Chris...I don't cut it till someone wants to pay for it.

Unfortunately people want to buy timbers from me without taking the side lumber as well. Actually, I suppose they would take the side lumber if I gave it away. I prefer to stack it and wait until someone wants to build a fence or side a house --- or put a "funky" floor in the pub at the local ski hill.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Banjo picker

I guess I was in the same boat when I was selling cross ties...and didn't know it... ;)  Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

tyb525

Case in point: yesterday a father and son came by and got all excited seeing all the lumber I had. They lived just a couple miles away and just found me. They want 4/4 walnut to make a coffee table.....I had two boards I could get to...the rest of my walnut is at the bottom of a 6' stack ::). They could've asked for any other species and it would've been fine :D Luckily they only needed those two boards at that time.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

OlJarhead

Quote from: Slabs on February 11, 2011, 07:38:51 PM
I have a little "personal-sized"  drying shed/rack.





It holds about 2500 bd. ft. of one-by.  Just makins for the "retirement toys" woodshop.

Wouldn't mind seeing a bigger pic of this :)  and some specs...seems just want I was trying to conceive for my own needs :)
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

Ironwood

That personal sized one would be nice as a steel frame, so it could be moved by a forklift.

Ironwood
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Randy88

Jim great idea, maybe as a suggestion, nail tin to the top of the cover rack that way it'll last for decades, we've always used loose tin sheets and put cement blocks on them to hold down the tin for piles stacked outdoors.   Yours is a much better design for handling lumber, I've gone to piling them only about 2-3 feet high and then put in 3x3's so we can pick the top layer off to get access to the bottom layers but your is a lot better yet.   I've thought for years of sorting by species, thickness and also length but it gets to be a lot of piles, with your system that would be a lot simplier.

One final qustion, what do you do when you end up with one or two odd boards, that you don't have enough to make a row out of?   Nobody ever needs an exact amount of lumber to take up enough for even rows, thats the biggest problem we have is we end up with a dozen boards of multiple lengths and they match nothing for a lumber pile and what to do with them, just curious how others handle this problem.

Jim_Rogers

Quote from: Randy88 on February 16, 2011, 07:52:54 AM
One final question, what do you do when you end up with one or two odd boards, that you don't have enough to make a row out of?   Nobody ever needs an exact amount of lumber to take up enough for even rows, thats the biggest problem we have is we end up with a dozen boards of multiple lengths and they match nothing for a lumber pile and what to do with them, just curious how others handle this problem.

When I don't have enough boards to fill a row, I put in one or more spacer boards. Usually I use some 1x4's as they are the most likely to be not sold, and I usually have some of them available all the time.

So if I had only one 1x12 left over, I'd put a 1x4 on one edge of the row, one in the middle of the row, and have the one 1x12 on the other edge of that top row. That way when I set the 1x10 pallet down on top of the 1x12 pallet I have a good flat base that will support the 1x10's and all pallets above correctly.




Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Piston

Thanks for another great write up Jim, I'm also going to copy your design, I just need to find enough level area to stack it all now! 
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

Jim_Rogers

Some of my yard is not level, and this can be a problem for a forklift set up such as mine.
That is I have no way to tilt the forks left or right, which most forklifts don't have.

When I have a frame set up and I drive up to it with a pallet or regular bundle of lumber, and the machine is off so that one end of the bundle or pallet touches before the other end does, I usually adjust the frame. I do this by adding whatever is needed to make it match the pallet/bundle I'm holding. Such as adding another 1x4, 2x4, 3x4 or 4x4 to one end and something in the middle as well. So that when the pallet/bundle is set down by the forklift the forks won't get catch up and not slide out easy.

This can make for some sloping piles in your yard, but that just helps them shed the rainwater, easier.

Basically, you have to do what you have to do to make setting down the pallet and picking it up again easier.

With these types of forks, that hang from the top edge of the bucket, and rest against your bucket's cutting edge, as the cutting edge wears away the fork tips get out of alignment.

This can also cause problems trying to lift a pallet or bundle.

What I've had to do is to put spacer blocks of hardwood between the fork and the cutting edge on one side. These spacer blocks are held on by a bungee strap and they can be slid up or down. Up when you don't need them, down when you do.

Just something more to consider and how to deal with it.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Brucer

Quote from: Jim_Rogers on February 19, 2011, 12:31:27 PM
Some of my yard is not level, and this can be a problem for a forklift set up such as mine.
That is I have no way to tilt the forks left or right, which most forklifts don't have.

I build and store my piles on "permanent" bunks made from 6x6's. These are positioned so they will always fall directly under stickers.

When we're setting up a new set of bunks, we use a 12' length of 4x4 which has the standard sticker positions marked on it. We pick the 4x4 up with the loader (centered on the forks) and position it at the front of the new bunk location. We slip a 6x6 under the lowest end, then lower the forks until the 4x4 just rests on that bunk. The other 6x6 bunks are shimmed to touch the bottom of the 4x4. That way every lumber bundle we add to the pile is parallel to the forks.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Glen Stutz

Still a good write up.  Nice drawings, what software did you use?.

Glen Stutz

Never mind the question, I see where you answered that before.

Sixacresand

Quote from: Glen Stutz on February 24, 2016, 12:20:34 PM
Still a good write up.  Nice drawings, what software did you use?.
Yep, I read it again, too.  Good thread.   I sticker mine on movable pallets or racks also. 
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

YellowHammer

I'm also a big fan of skids or pallets for moving and storing lumber.  With the addition of a forklift (or two), and moving lots of wood, its just the only way to play.  However, the higher the stack of wood, and faster you drive the forklift, and if you don't take the time to strap the load, then sometimes things can happen....like this spilled load of mine last week... :D It was actually pretty cool watching it go, but I'd just as soon not have it happen again.

 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Andries

Ouch, that'll take a while to sort out.
On the other hand . . . C'mon YellowHammer - do the Las Vegas card dealer trick and push the forks under there to stack'em back up!
Extra points - if the stickers make it into the pile too . . . . ;D
LT40G25
Ford 545D loader
Stihl chainsaws

Peter Drouin

Good one YH, did you have some ice on the forks?  :D :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

red

Just look at the pitch of the roof on that Green Outhouse . . Heavy Snow Load Area
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

elk42

 YH
Did you restack from top down or bottom up.
Machinist Retired, Lt15 WM 25 HP, Stihl 044, Stihl 311, Kubota M2900w/FEL, KUBOTA L4800 w/FEL,
Lincoln Ranger 10,000, stihl 034,

xlogger

that's got to make you just want to cry >:( >:(
Timberking 2000, Turbo slabber Mill, 584 Case, Bobcat 773, solar kiln, Nyle L-53 DH kiln

fishfighter

Quote from: Jim_Rogers on February 09, 2011, 12:10:17 PM
Quote from: flibob on February 09, 2011, 10:39:56 AM
Bill,   What is the title of those tractor fork lifts.  I have been looking for one.  If I were to google.  What is the nomenclature?

Here is the label off the forks:



unfortunately you can't read it.

However, when I got up real close to it I could see Guest industries on the bottom of the label. And they are in CT according to a google search.

I couldn't get their webpage to load, but it does say in the google search that they make forks.....

And there are all different kinds of forks. I don't know what the name of this type is. But they just hang from the top bar and rest against your cutting edge.

To attach you just curl your bucket to full dump and drive the hooks up under the bar and roll the bucket back and they attach without getting off the seat.

There was a hole for attaching a chain with a bolt to the back bottom of the fork to come around up behind the bucket to drop into a key hole in the top of the fork for making it so that they would not swing when you dump. That way you could point the forks down more then the position they "hang" in when you roll your bucket to dump. I never did set mine up this way, as you'd have to have good strong chains and get off every time you hook up to secure them to the top of the forks.

Hope this helps...

Jim, can you get a close up picture on how the forks hook up? I have a few ideas, but it looks like your set up is already proving. ;D

Thanks for the write up. I'm sure a bunch of us will use it.

Jim_Rogers

I may have pictures in my gallery. If not I'll take one.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

YellowHammer

I hope everybody got a good chuckle out of my card trick, I laughed at it myself  :D arg-smiley, after I let out enough bad language to knock squirrels from trees and get the neighborhood dogs barking.  I mean, what else can you do?  It was the first time I've done this and I was pretty spectacular, almost enough to try it again and get a video...maybe not...
Picking it up was pretty easy, I went and got the big tractor loader and scooped the whole mess up and dead stacked it on a pallet to get it planed.

Maybe I should blame it on the snow, except there wasn't any...

   
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

fishfighter

Quote from: Jim_Rogers on February 25, 2016, 08:00:41 AM
I may have pictures in my gallery. If not I'll take one.

Jim Rogers

Found it. That is how I planning to install mine. Thanks.

4x4American

I have been building pallets and doing this for my side lumber.  Works good.  Only things I've been doing different is that on the pallets that are longer than 8' I support the bottom with 3 2x4's spanning the length, and then I nail stickers to the bottom across ways so that the 2x4's aren't laying flat on the good lumber below.  And for the roof I couldn't see using good boards, and I've done it before like that on a firewood shed and didn't have luck with water dripping through.  So I just used slabs.  It gives me enough weight to tame the top row and really I'm more worried about the sun than the rain right now.  I need to build a shed but for now this will do.


Don't pay no mind to the stickering of the maple there.  I had to saw some out for a guy and that was my left over and I didn't have time to sticker it in my inventory stack but it's hot and I didn't wanna dead stack it so I temporarily stickered it there.



Here's it on top of the 10' pile. I think that I have the bases too far apart I didn't mean it to happen like that but I got tunnel vision when I was leveling those cinder blocks and they went from being 6' apart to 7'.  I didn't have the patience to do end ones and middle ones so thats how it ended up.





The other day part of an order I had was 5- 1x12x12 and I haven't gotten around to building any 12' pallets or a foundation yet so I just have it stacked randomly (which is an awful way to sticker lumber).  It was hot and I didn't feel like unstacking and re-stickering...So...I decided I might as well try something easier...so I threaded two straps through.  I felt that if I chokered the stack it would ruin my stickering so I wanted to cradle it.  And my 2 straps were different lengths.  So I hooked the short one and got the second one close and did a timber hitch on the loose end and that held good.  And this actually worked real well.  I am sorta picky about stickering and when I set it back down it was so close to my spec I didn't mess with anything.


Boy, back in my day..

tnaz


Peter Drouin

A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

reswire

Quote from: Ohio_Bill on February 08, 2011, 09:58:10 PM
Great system Jim.  Thanks so much for taking the time to share it.  It will solve several problems for me and will allow use of my new to me old fork lift being delivered this Weekend.




I'd love to have something like that!  I'd like to get a forklift attachment for my tractor, the only problem is the 2000 pound lift capacity.  i've lifted more, but the tractor stability suffers greatly.  Stacking lumber on uneven or muddy ground is a little scary, if not dangerous.   ::)
Norwood LM 30, JD 5205, some Stihl saws, 15 goats, 10 chickens, 1 Chessie and a 2 Weiner dogs...

YellowHammer

Nice lumber, nice stickering and a very nice view.
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

4x4American

I don't wanna break my arm patting myself on the back or anything but I pretty much did all that in 6 minutes  :D :D :D
Boy, back in my day..

Peter Drouin

What took you so long?  :D :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

4x4American

Boy, back in my day..

Ninerpapa

Great advice! Such a practical solution. Thanks for sharing. 

Schweg2

Thanks for taking the time to share!

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