delivering in bags

[OH logger]

about a month ago a guy asked me if I wanted a bunch of seed bags. they are the same size as a pallet and about 4.5 feet tall. I told him no and then started thinkin later about haulin wood to people and putting it right in there garage for them so there was no mess or stacking for the customer. also the minimum I deliver now is 1.5 cord so this would fit the bill for the holiday and "once in a while" burners. so I called him back and took them for free. there is an almost unlimited supply of them around my area(free). I think I will fill them off the conveyor behind my cleaner with dry wood. my biggest hang up (I think) is how to deliver them and unload them. I am thinkin haul them on a trailer behind my pickup and somehow pallet jack them off the trailer. they make air drop tailers that are kinda salty but would work good. I'm thinkin back right up to their garage door and take the pallet off the back of the trailer and into their garage. I would want to get as many bags on the trailer as possible. its gonna be tight to get 2 bags wide on a fender trailer because of the width, but a deckover trailer is tall and that means steep ramps and runaway bags lol. moritz sells a trailer now with a power tail they call it with a 18 degree slope on the ramp. the reason I like that over and air drop is that I could use it for a lot off stuff and not just haulin wood bags. the air drop trailers aren't super heavy haulers. I'm gonna fill a  bag for the first time today and see how it works. my whole plan might change once I see a full one. It could be tipsy or whatever. I'm not even sure if they will sell but If they do I want to be able to gear up for it fast in the fall. I think  m gonna advertise these late summer and If they sell good ill gear up then deliver. I kinda think they might sell good to older people or the occasional burners like I said. I'm thinkin it will be all city people which is good because they usually have paved/concrete drives. that is much easier with a pallet jack. they sell rough terrain pallet jacks but that's whole other can of worms. if they don't sell great I can haul them on the trailer I have and put the bobcat on the back and unload with that. but I think a bobcat in a garage is askin for trouble (runnin somethin over or backin into things). I have a pallet jack that I could bring along too but that's more stuff to keep track of/unload.  also doin it this way I can only haul 6 bags at a  time.
does anyone else deliver and do what I'm thinkin and if so how do you get them in the garage?? thanks

[Pclem]

I always thought a little walk behind skidsteer like a bobcat mt55 or mt85 would be slick for that. Drive across lawns, through gates, and in garages.

[thecfarm]

A great idea. All the mess would be in the bag. Pallet,charge a deposit on each,well the bag too,but the bag is free,but don't tell them that.

[r.man]

A friend bought a years supply of wood on pallets in mesh perimeters stapled to the pallets. Looked like it had been dropped in from a processor. This wood was delivered with a rubber tracked skid steer that supposedly could drive over a lawn without damaging the sod..... I think that would be true, even loaded, if the operator used long enough turns. Delivery was good but the wood was small stove size and hadnt been screened well if at all. If he had been a casual burner he would have been happy and the pallet could have been manouvered with a pallet truck. Wood in bags needs to be separated from most of the small crap that comes off a processor since it isn't getting left behind in the delivery pick up or on the ground of the yard. 

[rjwoelk]

If your wood is not dry and goes into a bag that is not vented  you will have mold growing.
We do ours in vented bags. Pick up with the forks on the loader onto their truck and my job is done.
Pm for more info.

[chubby]

This is how we bring it home. Right out of the processor and into the vented bag to dry for the summer. The bags last several years. 

[OH logger]

well the wood will be dry and cleaned goin in the bag.  I filled a bag sunday and it bulges out pretty good but the bags are plenty strong. I see now that that only kind of trailer that I can get 2 pallets wide will be a deckover. also get a bunch of bags on to get the most done quickly. so I'm now thinkin like a lift gate on the back of the trailer to lower the bag to the ground then wheel it in their garage or a crane on the back corner to lower the bag to the ground. but the crane idea isn't as handy cause I  think I would need to put a piece of 3/4" plywood on the bottom of the inside of the bag otherwise when I lift em the bottoms will round out and wont set nice when I put em back on the pallet. (that was Autocars idea by the way ;)) a lift gate on the back could get pretty heavy on the rear of the trailer though. any thoughts??

[OH logger]

by the way chubby what kinda bags are those? they look good and what are the dimensions of em?

[barbender]

Yes, Chubby where do you get those bags?

[Pclem]

Me too! I've used the dino bags, but sure like how much more vented those are. Also, how do you pick up the bags with the grapple?

[chubby]

Yes, Chubby where do you get those bags?

I don't know if I'm allowed to plug the website but it's grapplepros.com in the accessories section. Order bundles of 50 and the price is much lower than on the website.

[OH logger]

I'm still kickin the idea around.  I think I'm just gonna deliver them with my equipment trailer with the bobcat on the back and off load em with that. pallet jack em in their garage if I cant get in with bobcat. 6 at a time, if they sell that is :-\.  my brother brought up a good point the opther day though. he said how may people really have room enough for a pallet of wood in their garage? that's a good question. drive through town sometime and people have there garage door open and its so full of stuff already they don't even have room for their car let alone firewood.  time will tell. my son is only 9 but I'm already findin work for him ;D. when he can drive (legally) he could load up the dump truck and deliver to the people that want the small amounts stacked and do just that. take care of several customers at a crack while hes in the city