Loader L3800 for firewood

   / L3800 for firewood #1  

bunkydad

Bronze Member
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
56
Location
Kingston, New York
Tractor
Kubota L3560 and Mx5400
I read a lot of posts about the different ways people move firewood around. Based on those, I built a pallet style carrier out of some 2x6 material to try it out. The carrier is 5' wide by 4' deep by 4' tall. It may sound like a ridiculous question but am I asking too much from my tractor to move that much firewood with the front forks?

I have rear pallet forks but I was only able to load the carrier about 2/3 of the way (rear forks). It wouldn't lift it beyond that level. The front forks were only able to lift a little less than a half full carrier. The firewood is cut 16" long and is mostly oak and maple.

I have a 6' box blade on the rear for now and I plan on building a 1000 lb rear ballast from some of the ideas on the forum. Loaded R4s.

I love the tractor so I may be asking too much from it.

Thank you in advance
 
   / L3800 for firewood #2  
I read a lot of posts about the different ways people move firewood around. Based on those, I built a pallet style carrier out of some 2x6 material to try it out. The carrier is 5' wide by 4' deep by 4' tall. It may sound like a ridiculous question but am I asking too much from my tractor to move that much firewood with the front forks?

I have rear pallet forks but I was only able to load the carrier about 2/3 of the way (rear forks). It wouldn't lift it beyond that level. The front forks were only able to lift a little less than a half full carrier. The firewood is cut 16" long and is mostly oak and maple.

I have a 6' box blade on the rear for now and I plan on building a 1000 lb rear ballast from some of the ideas on the forum. Loaded R4s.

I love the tractor so I may be asking too much from it.

Thank you in advance

Well lets see. Oak (green) weighs about 62 to 63 lbs per cubic foot. So 5 x 4 x4 would be 80 cubic foot times 62 lbs would be 4960 lbs, plus your carrier might weight 200 lbs? so a little over 5000 lbs?.. your rear lift is rated at 1998 lbs, and your front at 1100 lbs.. so I am guessing that yep you are expecting a bit too much.. Now in your stacking you are no where near solid wood, and it may be dried wood you are trying to lift, but still. You are not going to lift that carrier full of wood either on the front or the back of your L3800. The dried oak weighs between 42 and 47, depending on species. The Maple will be somewhat lighter, but still.. ain't going to happen.
 
   / L3800 for firewood #3  
Soft maple dried, the lightest of the maples would be 33 lbs. per cubic foot . so 80 cubic foot x 33 lbs. would be 2640 plus 200 for the carrier so a bit over 2800 lbs..? and with lots of air in the stacking process.. Closer, but still not going to lift one full on the rear, and less than half full on the front.
 
   / L3800 for firewood
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Thank you. I guess I'll have to figure out a different way to move the wood. ;)
 
   / L3800 for firewood #5  
Thank you. I guess I'll have to figure out a different way to move the wood. ;)

Well, either make more trips, or get a sturdy trailer you can pull.:)
 
   / L3800 for firewood #6  
Cut you present pallet in half & construct 2 half size pallets?
 
   / L3800 for firewood
  • Thread Starter
#7  
That'll be my next move. I like the idea of using the front forks to move the wood since I will have a snowblower mounted on the rear for most of the winter. I may have to make more trips but I still think it's easier than using the wagon I build a few years ago. Pulling, backing up and positioning is a little tight at the back of the house.

I have to do more searching on the forums...the answers are always here.

Thanks
 
   / L3800 for firewood #8  
I just fill the front bucket when moving wood from my main woodpiles up to the porch during winter months. Generally 1-2 trips will fill my rack on the porch on a weekly basis. If I skip a week or we're burning a lot, it might be 3-4 trips. Used to be at least twice as many trips when I had a smaller tractor, so bucket size makes a real difference.
 
   / L3800 for firewood #9  
One of these days in all my spare time I'll figure out the picture thing, but for now I'll just have to try and explain it. I use the rack idea too because I move my wood across town from the farm to my house in town. A was given some used angle iron a couple years ago so half are wood and half are steel. They are 4' x 4' x 16". I use a homemade set of brush forks that I use for handling all my tree length wood with a removable four foot high back of old crusher screen. I stack the wood in them when I split it and then load them on the one ton to bring them home ten at a time. They fit in a notch in the railing on the back porch two steps from the back door. I only handle the wood to split it and stack it in the racks then don't touch it till it come in the the little holder in the house. The racks took a weekend or two to build but now that I'm setup is great because I'm gone two weeks at a time during the winter so I stack two racks in the notch and my wife is good till my weekend off.
 
   / L3800 for firewood #10  
I just fill the front bucket when moving wood from my main woodpiles up to the porch during winter months. Generally 1-2 trips will fill my rack on the porch on a weekly basis. If I skip a week or we're burning a lot, it might be 3-4 trips. Used to be at least twice as many trips when I had a smaller tractor, so bucket size makes a real difference.


Yeah, do the same thing. I bought an oversized (like twice the size of the one that came with the tractor) 'light materials' bucket (quik-connect) that I use for firewood, sawdust, mulch, etc., and we move it in a bucket at a time, and stack in the basement. From there, it loads on a 'dumb waiter' deal I built in beside the chimney when I built the house, and gets lifted up to the first floor next to the stove.
 
 
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