Let's Talk Stacking!!!

[Holmes]

I have wrapped some of my pallets with 2' chicken wire or 3' fence wire.  The chicken wire will move around but the load does not fall off the pallet.  :christmas:   :new_year:

[Ivan49]

I don't remember where I saw it but someone wqas using that orange snowfence to put around there pallets. Then when it was empty they would take the fence off and roll it until the next time.

[forest]

Space is important for sure.

I palletize right off the splitter. Then stack two high for a couple years drying, before moving the pallets into the house (attached garage and use about a pallet every 5 days).

What a wonderful method for moving your wood. It removes a lot of handling. How Long have you been using your system?

[beenthere]

Thanks
Have been doing this for roughly 15 years now. Soon as the last kid left for college, was when I figured out there would have to be a better way for one person.

[albirk]

funny when the kids are all gone what a person will change

[JuniperBoss]

Doctorb, that quote you said earlier was hilarious. :D :D :D

[John Mc]

How do you guys keep your pallets of firewood stable enough so you can move them from one place to another? 

I've seen someone use that orange plastic snow fence material (or something similar). He wrapped it around and stapled to the edge of his pallet to make a box or basket of sorts, with the top open.  If I recall, he stood an old 2x4 up in one corner to help hold the box walls up. The 2x4 served double duty, since it was also what he fastened the ends of the snow fence to.  He did not stack the wood at all. He just tossed split pieces in right off the splitter.  A bit less efficient for use of space, since tossed in takes more room than neatly stacked, but saved time over stacking neatly.

When I ran into him, he was experimenting with bringing the pallets into the woods with him. He would either process the trees where they dropped, or skid them trailside first, if that was more convenient. This really minimized the handling for him: Drop it, buck on site, spit and throw the ends into the box.

He'd bring up several pallets into the woods with him, but could only carry out one at a time. The rest would sit either on a landing, or wherever they were filled, and he'd pick them up next time he was in the area with his tractor.  He did find they dried more quickly if he brought them out of the woods to a location where they were more exposed to sun and wind.

[Al_Smith]

My bud the tree trimmer doesn't stack his firewood .Just throws it in a big heap .Of course it becomes homes for chipmonks ,an occasional ground hog and a multitude of stray cats not to mention a hoast of mice .

Well it seems a little orphaned female kitten with a lot of PR skills has found her way into the house it seems here of late .Obviously graduating from the wood pile to the living room so to speak .Smart cat .

[Stephen1]

SHRINK WRAP :D We had a roll of shrinkwrap left over from moving, it worked like a charm, use it all the time now. 1 roll lasts about 3-4 years. We put the skid on the forks beside the splitter, as it comes off the splitter it goes on the skid 2-3 rows wide depends on the size of the free skid.
Then while it is in the air we go around the skid and the wood leaving the ends free and clear, the wood is now protected from most of the rain by the shrinkwrap, and prevents it from falling off while moving the skid, the wind can travel thru the wood to dry it. In the winter I will cover with steel or plywood, to keep the snow off,

[John Mc]

So in order to leave the ends open & clear, I assume you are wrapping under the pallet and over the top, rather than around the sides?

[Al_Smith]

They shrink wrap those little 5 dollar bundles of slab wood  with shrink wrap they sell at  gas stations .Wow who knew they would buy a hand full of firewood let alone pay for water in a bottle ?
Now they have little jugs of saw gas for about 20 bucks a gallon ,geeze .Oh I just can't wait to see what might come up with next .

[thecfarm]

How about fast food,burger king and Mc Donalds that cost about $5-7 each!!!! For a few more dollars I can get a much better meal for $10. I'm talking about at lunch time and maybe a special meal price at night. I can go into a fast food place and eat about $7 of that garbage and look for more.

[Al_Smith]

Yes it's fast allright which is about all that can be said for it .

Okay get this .So they start out say 30 years ago with a great big burger for maybe 49 cents .Then over the course of years they slowly shrink it down and the price goes up .Then a great revelation  they come up with this super size which is exactly the same size it started out as except it costs 3 and half bucks now .

Maybe that's where they got the bright idea for green slab wood in a shrink wrap with a little handle for 5 bucks .Strange world we live in .I wonder if some wizard of a sawmill operator might be making more money for those cute little bundles of wood as sawing lumber .PT Barnum lives on .

[woodandtractors]

In our local supermarket,$5.99 buys you a .75cubic foot wrapped bundle of kiln-dried hardwood. That's roughly $8 a cubic foot,or $1024 per 128 cu.ft. cord! They seem to sell quite a bit of it,too.
Mike

[shinnlinger]

Here is my version of the pallet stackers, a pallet with some scrap wood and tin screwed on top.  I can fill them as I split and move them around as needed (field in summer where I split, up by house in fall)

I am thinking of making some hay wagon type trailers with a roof on old truck frames that will essentially become woodsheds on wheels.

[Al_Smith]

Lots of neat ideas .By bud the trimmer came across these collapsable pallets with fold up sides they use for shipping bulk products .Slightly damaged but usable ,freebies .

I have two of them and they hold about a face cord more or less .Mine I made a tin roof of some scrap standing seam roofing and just store kindling in them .

His he loads with firewood and uses a skidloader to move to his back porch .Handy as a pocket on a shirt .

Now speaking of little bundles for 5 bucks he has an idea .

What if a guy got maybe 20-30 of them,deliver to some of his customers he sells wood to who only buy a face at a time. Next order he delivers another crate and retrieves the first .Charge a little deposit on the crates so he gets them back maybe ,refundable of course .45-50 bucks a face cord ,nice neat and tidy .

[thecfarm]

Would have to have a way to unload them at the buyers house. Like a pallet jack.Just to go more,what about wheels under the crate? with a tilt trailer-ramps to unload the wood? I think customers would like to be able to roll the wood into thier garage or move it around themsleves.We used them plastic ones at work. But they got sent somwheres to be melted down and reused.

[Al_Smith]

He has a long trailer and a skid loader so moving them would not be a problem .

If he loaded them right I'd guess he could carry 8 containers double stacked plus the loader .I think that trailer has a 20 foot deck .It's longer than mine a 16 foot deck a lot heavier too I might add .

[Ivan49]

Would have to have a way to unload them at the buyers house. Like a pallet jack.Just to go more,what about wheels under the crate? with a tilt trailer-ramps to unload the wood? I think customers would like to be able to roll the wood into thier garage or move it around themsleves.We used them plastic ones at work. But they got sent somwheres to be melted down and reused.

I had a few plastic pallets at one time and they lasted the first year ok but when it got cold the second year they broke it a dozen pieces

[Al_Smith]

I suppose it depends on the material they are made of .They seem to hold up relatively well at work .They must be pretty tough because they hold engine blocks and cylinder heads .

I have no idea what might have been shipped in those ones my bud and I  have .I'd imagine they got damaged from careless high lift drivers beating on them like maniacs .

[shinnlinger]

I thought the same as you Al.  Weld up a pallet sized cage with a cover on it and powder coat it green so it is not too unsightly and deliver with a knuckleboom or log truck right by a customers door and swap out as needed.  Might be another feature for a firewood service