Firewood Gathering With A Power Trac

[SpringHollow]

Hi Moss,

Yours is looking really good - looks like you did a nicer job than most did!!!

I have been keeping my eye out for used car ports - i think they would be nice to store wood in.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

I think once this pile is built, I will put some sort of loose cover on top of it to keep the rain out. Most of that wood was cut and sectioned this spring, I just split it in the last week, but it is already pretty dry. I will have to start using it around mid November. I'm not sure I'll have enough wood to finish it to the top. I don't want to top it with green wood. I think I will start a 7 footer with the greener wood that I will pull from our property in the fall and see how it dries during winter.

Anyhow, it looks neat and takes up little space. My neighbors say it is pleasing to the eye, which means they were tired of seeing my old stacked wood behind the garage!

 

[MossRoad]

Hi Moss,

Yours is looking really good - looks like you did a nicer job than most did!!!

I have been keeping my eye out for used car ports - i think they would be nice to store wood in.

Ken

Just some 4X4 posts with some light weight stringers and some corrugated metal roofing would work well, too. Do you get much snowfall?

 

[SpringHollow]

My largest 24 hour snowfall was 7 feet but normally a large storm is 18 - 24". It is pretty typical for me to get a couple of inches a day with an occasional 6"-10" snowfall. Then once or twice a month, a larger storm. So the roof needs to be reasonably substantial. When i moved here, there was a metal shed but it collapsed from the snow (not even the 7'). The normal carports are not strong enough here - I design my roofs for a 60lb/sqft snow load at a minimum.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

My largest 24 hour snowfall was 7 feet but normally a large storm is 18 - 24". It is pretty typical for me to get a couple of inches a day with an occasional 6"-10" snowfall. Then once or twice a month, a larger storm. So the roof needs to be reasonably substantial. When i moved here, there was a metal shed but it collapsed from the snow (not even the 7'). The normal carports are not strong enough here - I design my roofs for a 60lb/sqft snow load at a minimum.

Ken

Ah, good old lake snow! I forgot about your location.

 

[catsco]

Not quite as attractive as the neat piles, but since I have the room and a lot of scaffolding I don't need during the winter, I set up two 6' high scaffold ends with the "X" brace on one side, and my homemade "planks" (2 x 4 w/OSB surface) on top to make a compact 6' tall x 8' wide x 5' deep stack that I can find in the really big snows. Occasionally we get 6' overnight.

To keep on the thread of Firewood Gathering, I've been cutting dead trees off our 7 acres for several years. The challenge is that the most of the property is a 2:1 slope, so I've used the PT-425 to cut and maintain small access roads, just barely wide enough for the tractor. Then I use bucket forks to carry the 4' or so rounds up the roads and numerous hairpins to where I further cut and split for our use, or sell as is for others to cut and split.

The nearly 180 degree turns are too sharp and steep to tow my log trailer or even drag larger pieces. This type of work is the reason I bought the PT in the first place.

It's amazing how much wood a lot like this in Colorado has. The only forest management has been forest fires over 100 years ago.

 

[SpringHollow]

Pallet racks also can work quite well for making tall stable piles of wood.

Ken

 

[wasabi]

if you have the room....

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, I've seen that tree art. You need the room AND the time!

 

[andymax]

Hello Everyone !

I have built 2 holtz Hausens already with some interesting results. Both were built on 8" cinder blocks to keep them off the ground. 8' diameters each, approx 5' high. #1 built Nov '08, broke down May '09, The "ring" wood very dry, vertically stacked wood "damp" #2 built Apr'09, broke down Jul'09, same result. I was thinking.... has anyone built one w/o the center wood???? I think this would speed up air flow, or maybe just stack some pallet wood in the center to prevent it from possible collapse????. I agree that the amt. of wood in a circular H.H. is great, just that all the center wood doesn't really get dry. I'm from NW WI . Any others out there with similar results or suggestions?????