Firewood bins ?

TCove · May 19, 2020, 12:37:33 AM

I'm have an outdoor boiler, under a lean-to.
I also have a skid-stear.

I have a 16' trailer with high sides, that a local mill fills with cut-offs, from their pallet and railroad tie operation. I'd like to unload the trailer, and toss the firewood into some kinda set of "bins" I can then lift with my skid stear, and place and perhaps stack, under my lean-to.

Can I make such bins out of wood? Will they just get destroyed from the rough handling of firewood? Would I be better off making steel bins? Anyone else doing something similar?

I'm just looking for a way to move my firewood around, to get it closer to my stove, and the winter grows long, rather than eating my way into a huge pile....

Ljohnsaw · May 19, 2020, 01:02:51 AM

Get a bunch of IBC totes. Steel cage with a large plastic jug. Can remove the jug or just cut it into an appropriate storage shape for you. If you watch CraigsList, they can be had for free, especially the dirty ones (paint, oil, etc.) that won't bother your firewood.

TCove · May 19, 2020, 01:47:24 AM

IBC tote, eh?
Hmmmmm.....ok, I'll keep my eye open for those....

thecfarm · May 19, 2020, 05:23:27 AM

This was just a few days ago.

1/2 Cord Firewood Pallet Racks. Easily transported w Skidsteer in Firewood and Wood Heating

Nathan4104 · May 19, 2020, 08:54:27 AM

i very crudely, screwed 3 pallets together, on top of another pallet making a 3 sided box. The bottom was a good hardwood one, sides were the in between quality ones..... I know it won't last forever, but it was free and only took 5 minutes and a handful of 3" or 4" deck screws. I have it filled with cutoffs, and stacked the larger ones in the front to hold the rest in. i've moved it around with the tractor. The IBC totes work great too. On another forum, a member removes the plastic tank, cuts them in 1/2 (diagonally) and that becomes the 'roof' and it's a 2 for one obviously so there's an extra for the pallet totes!

ksu_chainsaw · May 19, 2020, 10:31:35 AM

I use IBC totes to move firewood around here. They hold 1/4-1/3 cord, depending on length and how much you mound up the crate. These are 11 crates of red elm that I have been fighting for a couple months.

samandothers · May 19, 2020, 10:48:33 AM

Happy birthday KSU!

trapper · May 19, 2020, 11:29:00 AM

do they have a door or how do you fill and then get the wood out?

ksu_chainsaw · May 20, 2020, 05:39:13 PM

Quote from: trapper on May 19, 2020, 11:29:00 AM
do they have a door or how do you fill and then get the wood out?

They are about 4' tall, so I usually just reach over to move wood around. Sometimes when I'm starting to fill one up, I will have to jump in and stack the wood. When it's almost empty, I just tip it on its side and grab the remaining few pieces. Empty they are about 60 lbs

TCove · May 21, 2020, 01:43:10 AM

...and you're 39.
I'm 62, so I'm not "jumping" in and out of any IBC totes....lol.

Tipping them on their side, should be easy enough, however.

Stuart Caruk · May 21, 2020, 03:35:56 AM

We use the 330 gallon IBC totes. I buy them from a rock pit for $25 / ea in lots of 10. That's what fits my trailer...

I bring them home, my wife removes the top metal barsm lifts the plastic liner up with a chain and the forklift, then cuts the tops off
with a chainsaw and sets them back down. I screw the plastic to the tubing with sheet metal screws. We have about 40 of these that we use
everywhere. Used to be when a tree fell, it would get handled half a dozen times. Now She takes a tote to the tree. I blow it into chunks with a saw,
splitting it if needed. She picks up the pieces and tosses them in the bucket.

There are always a couple totes near the chop saw, and it seems we fill 2 or 3 a week with cut off chunks. They move easy with a skidsteer or forklift. The wood dries with the plastic liner, and you don't drop small chunks everywhere.

We have a low cut one for our dogs swimming pool. It's easy to drain to clean with the lower valve.

Unclefish · May 21, 2020, 05:56:49 AM

On the IBC tote just cut out on 1 side, 2 panels down over to leaving 1 on each side helps with leaning into and stacking in tote.

TCove · May 24, 2020, 04:32:25 PM

Quote from: Stuart Caruk on May 21, 2020, 03:35:56 AMmy wife removes the top metal barsm lifts the plastic liner up with a chain and the forklift, then cuts the tops off

Are you saying you leave the plastic liner inside the bin, after she cuts off the top of the liner?

TCove · May 24, 2020, 04:41:11 PM

Is there really much physical difference in the 275 gal size, and the 330?

The 330's are $65 in my area, vs the 275's which are $25 or $30.

OH logger · May 24, 2020, 08:45:14 PM

I think the 330s are about 10" taller if I remember right

mike_belben · May 27, 2020, 04:45:07 PM

I welded up 3 sided pallet racking and nail it to a pallet. Not climbing over a tote cage.

stavebuyer · May 28, 2020, 04:01:19 AM

Most practical way to handle firewood is a concrete pad and a few of the big pre-cast blocks used as a backstop to push against. Pick up the wood with a rock or grapple bucket. Even a closed bucket with teeth will work.

OH logger · May 28, 2020, 08:09:56 PM

Quote from: stavebuyer on May 28, 2020, 04:01:19 AM
Most practical way to handle firewood is a concrete pad and a few of the big pre-cast blocks used as a backstop to push against. Pick up the wood with a rock or grapple bucket. Even a closed bucket with teeth will work.

This is what I do too. Started on stone. Still sucked. Cement good

mike_belben · May 30, 2020, 08:59:48 AM

I agree.

:sigh:

Someday!

doc henderson · May 30, 2020, 09:44:30 AM

we hold the tree over the bins when cutting. load and unload from trailer. dump one at a time to split then back in. can move whole bins up to the house to burn in the wood stove.

these are not indestructible, so you need a grown up operating the forks. they will corrode over time and are easily crushed.

doc henderson · May 30, 2020, 09:48:37 AM

we split and they drop in by conveyor, season in the crate and are easily moved with track loader and forks. I also make lids from the plastic. rubber strap with S hooks to keep them on. Well in Kansas it at least keeps them out of the neighbors yard!

mike_belben · May 31, 2020, 10:12:15 AM

When heaping over with wet oak i cant move this one, and it takes 3 full panels. I only made one.

Bending L's with a torch i can make these with just two panels and a rebar spreader across the top front. They fit half a rick and like them better. I move them up to the house in winter.

jmur1 · May 31, 2020, 02:00:01 PM

I made this stand for my 22" long stock. Filled both sides it is very close to a bush cord. When wet it is too heavy to lift (without holding the top with a strap) for my backhoe. Then one day I blew a front tire!. Only used for dry wood now! Live and learn.

jmur1

TCove · June 01, 2020, 02:06:56 AM

Quote from: stavebuyer on May 28, 2020, 04:01:19 AM
Most practical way to handle firewood is a concrete pad and a few of the big pre-cast blocks used as a backstop to push against. Pick up the wood with a rock or grapple bucket. Even a closed bucket with teeth will work.

Ya know, that does make a lot of sense, and I could then just scoop, and pour near my stove. What are these "pre-cast" blocks you speak of that are large?

TCove · June 01, 2020, 02:21:34 AM

Quote from: mike_belben on May 31, 2020, 10:12:15 AM
When heaping over with wet oak i cant move this one, and it takes 3 full panels. I only made one.

Hey Mike, I really like what you've got going on here.
That's pallet racking shelving.
I've actually got about 25 of those shelves sitting outside right now
I can easily figure out a way to connect them to the pallet, but it seems for strength, the key is to connect the shelving at the corners. How are you doing that?