firewood on pallets

[nativewolf]

Hi guys, we're looking at putting a few hundred cords of hickory on pallets in a few weeks.  Anyone have luck wrapping in pallet wrap?  Mesh?  etc.  

Just looking for the best way to keep it steady and get it dry.

[47sawdust]

I built these for personal use. 10 cord a year not 100.They work well.Each pallet holds about 1/3 cord.That is the safe

 

 

 lifting capacity of my tractor.

[rjwoelk]

 

 
We do ours in 53 cubic ft bags the conveour drops it in and they have 4 loops to pick up . They have venting strips . You need to take the manual labour out of firewood to make it pay.

[Hilltop366]

I made a couple of pallets similar to 47sawdust to try, works good but you still have to stack the wood, so was thinking of trying some type of page wire fastened around a pallet so I can just throw the wood in .  The biggest difference being cost as I was able to use scrap lumber and free  used lobster trap rope but will probably have to buy the page wire. Small scale here also just for my own use.

[mike_belben]

Youre gonna be running these off a processor and conveyor right?  

Those bags are nice. Do they tend to mold up in wet environments?  How much do they cost?

I have made a few of these 3 sided hoppers for loading my kiln, from pallet racking.  They were a pain to build but i use them alot. 




Id like to try making some baskets from 10/10 concrete mesh panels.  My fear is theyll bust open and damage someones truck when im trying to unload.

This is my stack area for the next few years atleast.  Had a bunch of 7ft pallets so theres pieces of slab at the ends to get it to 8ft.  If i didnt already have the fenceposts id use 1.5" EMT conduit and let them stand 5ft above grade then tie poly rope across every pole at 4ft above the pallet.  This gives you a height guage for the pile and prevents the poles from spreading apart.  A crummy end stack has folded a post over on me twice.  Mine are too short for roping.  Flimsy posts.




You cant put more than two rows together or the middle wont dry, need atleast a foot of space for wind.  I also got mold when i tried a big cube of 4 rows butted to each other.  

Winter is rainy here so i have to tarp towards heating season.  This works great.. Skip the straps and cords pictured here, just drywall screw the tarp to the sticks and flip them ontop for sunny days, knock down for rain.

[mike_belben]

If any of you guys are cutting tops, a roller rack and log deck makes for a much happier back and a lot less kickback hazard.  I cut from the bottom up on the push side of the chain so that the powerheads weight is doing most of the labor.  Sawdust blows away from me and drops land in wheelbarrow.  

The pivot is just a hole in the bar with a peg through it.  

[rjwoelk]

Mike yes I have a processor and it just drops into the bags, no they do not mold, as long as you have them out in the breeze. They are vented.  Cost is around that 12 to 15 depending on how many you buy. We just bought 500 with our name and ph number printed on them.

[nativewolf]

 
We do ours in 53 cubic ft bags the conveour drops it in and they have 4 loops to pick up . They have venting strips . You need to take the manual labour out of firewood to make it pay.

Old thread but hoping RJ is monitoring.  How do you move and sell those?  Three bags to a cord?  That's $40/cord in bags? Does a skidsteer pick those up ? How do you deliver at your clients?
Very strongly agree on taking the labor out.  

[rjwoelk]

With birch you are around that 1100 to 1200 lbs depending on moisture, we have a set of forks for the 3020 65 hp, and made some slide on L shaped pipe . Hook up the 4 loops load the truck and back out the loops just slide off the pipe. We charge the customer $ 15 per bag, when they return the bag they get $10 back. So if we can use the bag 3 times we have paid for the bag.

[rjwoelk]

One bag is approx to a short box level full , the bags are 53 cubic ft each. And yes they are approx 3 bags to a cord, we dont sell by the cord, we sell by the bag, we find most folks feel they are getting more wood then they have in the past from others , so they are happy we are happy. Around here the truck load is150 to 200 depending on the wood. We are 175, but will be going up next year. Trucking had just up their price by 30 a cord.

[mike_belben]

Are you delivering or just setting them in customers truck?

[rjwoelk]

We do not do delivery, most folks have a pick up or trailer, or some one they know.  Delivering I feel I would not make any money and probably lose money, some still deliver but you need to take like 2 or 3 cord.
Then there is the comercial plates insurance busness licence,  no thanks cheeper for them to come and get it.

[glassman_48]

nativewolf,
I have been experimenting with bags similar to the dino bags that were used to hold beans, they are not vented, I get them for about 8 bucks each.  They do not dry wood well, so I only try to put dead wood in them and sell them quickly each summer for people not wanting to spend $100.00 dollars on firewood bundles that are maybe up for a long weekend or on vacation for a week.  If they don't have a pickup or trailer, we let them load as much as they can in their vehicle, then come back and get the rest as they need it for the week, with no guarantees on theft.  So far, no problems with that either.