Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[newkiotiguy]

I like my woodshed, but that's just me. I split, toss it into the trailer then stack it in the shed.

Then unstack, stack in trailer, unstack and stack in house. That sounds horrible to me lol. I put one tote in my garage at a time. Cats stay in there to take care of any mice that come inside with the wood. I've got a lot of hobbies but stacking wood isn't one of them.

 

[ning]

I think non touch after splitting other than fueling wood burning device, is the most practical and efficient way for using this type of fuel. The problem arises on the space needed for tote storage.
Ideally in my mind, it should be an indoor storage.
So to store twelve, what’s the smallest shed needed if stacking double and accounting for maneuverability?

You can find many pictures on this side of various methods people use to cover these. A popular method is to use the original plastic bladder that came in the tote, and either cut one end off and stick it into the cage over the wood, or cut it diagonally in half and have it be a sloped roof. Also there's a tarp or vinyl cover, or a physical roof.

Depending on your timescale to use them and how much rain you get, you don't necessarily need to cover them; I have enough totes and typically a dry enough climate - a decent amount of rain the winter but very warm to hot, dry summers, that what I don't expect to need the current winter doesn't need to be covered in that winter - it'll be dry by the end of summer. Obviously some have much more rain, or fewer totes of wood such that they need to protect them for the current time.

My experience between loose and tight stacked is saving about 1 bin per cord using the standard IBC totes.
Tight stacking the wood seems to result in about 1/3 of a cord per bin. So about 9 bins rather than 12 for storing 3 cords.

That seems about right - tight stack = 1/3cd, loose toss = 1/4cd. Ish.

I think if I went into the firewood business, I'd try to use a value-add system where the wood is delivered in totes and taken to your tote shed rather than dumped on the ground and left. Totes would have a return deposit, obviously; we'd pick them up with the next delivery. I don't think everyone would spring for the tote service, but I'd imagine a decent number would.

 

[Loaderman22]

I think the point of the forum in general is, we all do it differently and what works for me, won't necessarily work for anyone else. It's all about sharing ideas, answering questions, generally just helping everyone else out. I'd love to be retired and cutting and stacking wood all day, but that likely will never happen, got this day job thing hoggin up most of my day, then the drive home. I feel the totes are very effective for storing and moving wood at my house, in my woods, & with my machine. I like my Timberwollf splitter horizontal only, but if a taller huskee vert/horizontal works for you, then no problems here! I don't think I even do my firewood the same every year, keep trying things, tweaking the process, maybe by the time I'm 70, I'll get something figured out!

As for stacking totes, I personally won't try it, I like my plastic roof covers, but admittedly, need some camo paint or something. If the totes are cut to allow good access for wood, then they are compromised structurally, and not sure if they wouldn't spread apart with the extra weight. But if you don't cut them, its harder to get the wood in & out.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Then unstack, stack in trailer, unstack and stack in house. That sounds horrible to me lol. I put one tote in my garage at a time. Cats stay in there to take care of any mice that come inside with the wood. I've got a lot of hobbies but stacking wood isn't one of them.

I agree, waaay too much work for me too!

I split into my half cord boxes,

then line them up in the sun and let the splits dry,

I just move one to the house with my tractor as needed.

SR

 

[BnRidge]

1) I haul logs to the splitting area, buck them to length, and roll to the lift and up on the splitter. The first time I touch any of it is to split and toss on a pile. 10cord pile.
2) Loader fills the trailer. Stack to air dry.
3,4) In august I bring in 5 trailer loads to fill the garage and lean-to just outside the back door. Takes about 1hr for a trailer load. 1/2day I'm done. Beer awaits.
5) We have an inside stove, so fill the cart with a weeks worth and bring it in next to the stove.

Those few extra steps has benefits for us - the family enjoys the radiant heat from the inside stove, the cat likes it too. In winter a room with a view and the warmth of the stove, we spend a lot time there. I purposely left a small mouse hole for mice to get in the garage since on frosty nights they would just chew open another anyway, and the cat spends time in the garage - so no mice problem. And I would have no room to store a tote in the garage. I would need to transport totes 2 miles from air dry lot to the house with a fully loaded tractor whereas the trailer can handle almost a cord at road speed.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Jstpssng said:
I like my woodshed, but that's just me. I split, toss it into the trailer then stack it in the shed.

Then unstack, stack in trailer, unstack and stack in house. That sounds horrible to me lol. I put one tote in my garage at a time. Cats stay in there to take care of any mice that come inside with the wood. I've got a lot of hobbies but stacking wood isn't one of them.

I like my wood shed too. I've worked up my wood lots of different ways and enjoy it all except stacking. But this is the way I like best because I only stack one time. Bring logs out of the woods, block them up on the trailer., split them, and stack in shed. Bring in basement one cartful at a time.

gg

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^^
Is that two year's supply?

I think if I went into the firewood business, I'd try to use a value-add system where the wood is delivered in totes and taken to your tote shed rather than dumped on the ground and left

Several places here sell it by the tote, where you load the wood into your pickup or trailer and the tote stays on site.
I'm not sure but believe they buy from a supplier who delivers the totes.

 

[newkiotiguy]

I like 4 years of wood minimum. Oak takes 3 years to dry fully and I want an extra years worth incase something happens to me and can't cut for a year. If I were to die my wife has plenty of time to figure out how to get wood before she would be heating with propane.

 

[WinterDeere]

If I were to die my wife has plenty of time to figure out how to get wood before she would be heating with propane.

Same here. But first she'd need to figure out how to operate the barn doors. Then she'd need to figure out how to start and operate a tractor...

 

[Gordon Gould]

^^^^^^
Is that two year's supply?

Several places here sell it by the tote, where you load the wood into your pickup or trailer and the tote stays on site.
I'm not sure but believe they buy from a supplier who delivers the totes.

Yes - I had a year when I wasn't able to do any wood. I tried to burn coal in our wood/coal stove and that was a disaster. We either froze or cooked alive. I had no clue about coal. So I do my best to stay a year ahead.

gg