moving a pallet of green firewood

   / moving a pallet of green firewood #1  

roman

Silver Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
163
Location
W Central New Hampshire
Tractor
MF 30(sold) Ford 1520(sold) Ford 1720(sold) Kioti CK4010SE HST Cab
I am considering moving my firewood with 28 hp tractor and slip-on bucket forks(haven't bought them yet).
We stack wood on each side of the pallet with the middle open for drying. The pallets are actually three together so I dont need to make stacked wood ends. One pallet on the bottom-one on each end- screwed together with big grade stakes. They are rugged.
I hope to split the wood and stack on the pallet where the tree falls. Move the pallets to my drying area for a year, then move the pallets of dry wood to under my deck. Take inside as needed...
I figure this will save a portion of my lifespan in handling firewood.

How much will the pallet of green wood (hardwood, no oak) weigh? I am guessing around 1000-1500 lb.
The wood is 16" long and stacked on each side- not in the middle.

Thanks!
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #3  
You will lose a lot of lifting capacity by using slip-on/clamp-on forks. The load will be approximately two more feet in front of your bucket pins and a 4' pallet will increase it a bit more. It will work like a breaker bar on your tractor's frame. More rear ballast will be needed as well.

The only way to know for sure if you can do what is planned is to actually try it.
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #4  
It seems to me that a dedicated set of pallet forks would be a good investment for your intentions. I use the slip on type of forks attached to my bucket for random purposes and they work quite nicely. But if I had to move 1000-1500 lb pallets very often, I'd buy a set of dedicated forks to gain lift capacity and visibility. Cheers, Mike
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #5  
I handle my firewood the way you are describing except that I use 4 pallets per rack (i.e. bottom, sides and one waterproofed on top for cover). I try to use the big pallets (40 X 48) when possible, don't leave any gaps in stacking and estimate about 1/3 cord per rack. I have SSQA forks and think thats the best way to go. A little more money up front to purchase but just as fast to put on and it can lift a lot more than clamp on forks and is closer to the tractor to manuever.
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #6  
Wyere do you guys get palets? Thinking of doing the same, but i was goingvto use a 3pt carry all with forks to move it (closer to the tractor and more stabil)
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #7  
Briefly thought about buying pallets new (local manufacturer) to get uniform size, specs, etc. but they wanted $17 apiece. There are plenty of stores and shops that will give them away free if you have a truck to haul them off (watch for overflowing loading docks). Also look on Craigslist under the free section. Good idea on the 3pt, I have a BH on most of the time so ballast isn't a problem and I've been able to lift them OK w/ my front forks. What part of Mass. are you from?
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #8  
Thanks! I'll have to look around. I'm in Metrowest just out of Boston.
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #9  
I split my firewood directly into firewood bags on a skid and then move them with my pallet forks to dry. Using bags makes them stackable and able to hold about 1 cord of wood. When I first tried this in the spring, by Kioti CK30 with SSQA pallet forks was unable to lift a full pallet. Shortly after, I traded for a DK45 with 2.5X more lift capacity and now I can lift and stack a full face cord at a time with ease.

With clamp on forks, you'll loose an incredible amount of lift capacity. I don't know how much your tractor can lift, but if it's similar in lift capacity to my 30hp CK30, I'm going to guess that you'll be limited to 1/2 face cord at a time, maybe even a little less. A light set of forks would be your best bet.
 
   / moving a pallet of green firewood #10  
I dont think your tractor will lift it, if you stack it up full height of side pallets. I stacked up some pine on 42" square pallets and was only able to go about 24 to 30 inches high. This was with a NH tc 29 with quick attach forks, not bucket forks. No harm in trying though, just stack accordinly to what you can lift. Sure beats loading and unloading 2 or 3 times
 
 
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