Cheap, quick, Firewood Storage and Transport

[jake98]

What a great thread.. nail guns, pallets, wood splitting, wood sheds, tractors, somebody even mentioned flying. It's got it all.

Mark, check your propane tank, looks like it's floating away. Didn't fill it with helium by mistake, did you?

 

[jejeosborne]

Chris

These may be the racks you made mention of. Not to bring back on old thread but these work great for me.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/119615-great-wall-wooda.html

 

[Kenster]

MarkCT, I like that shed. I have a similar one that is completely enclosed with zippered/roll up door in which I keep my 1952 8n, finish mower, lawn tractor and a few other miscellaneous items. I've been thinking about building both a wood shed and a shed for my other implements: bush hog, dirt scoop, boon pole, two bottom plow and probably a 3pt pallet jack and landscape rake in the near future.
With an open shed like yours I could save myself a lot of work and have one unit where I should be able to store everything. It would be great to be able to access all implements and firewood pallets without having to move things around, so being open on all sides would be great. I could set the firewood pallets down the center and the implements along the sides. About what are the dimensions? You could probably get at least six pallets lined up down the middle, lengthwise, couldn't you? I'll have to start looking around.

 

[beenthere]

Kenster
How long will 6 pallets of wood last you?

I stack on pallets (about 1/5 cord to a pallet), and it takes about 25 pallets for a winter. Let it dry (season) for two years minimum, so come summer need 50 pallets of wood in storage.

I set the pallets outside, with some rubber roofing draped over the top. Then in the late fall, move the pallets of dry wood to an area where deep snow won't affect getting to them. Have thought about the shed like MarkCT has for that interim last move of firewood to the house for burning.

 

[Kenster]

Kenster
How long will 6 pallets of wood last you?

Well, we live in east central Texas, about an hour west of Houston. We don't have as many cold days down here. I don't run a fire in the wood stove unless it gets below 40. This week we have several days of lows in the low 20s to upper teens, but that's the coldest it's been in 15 years.
I was thinking of putting six pallets under cover and leaving the rest outside.
I'd move more in under cover as needed before bringing it up to the house for burning.

 

[koopster]

At .4 cord aprox. per pallet (44X44X44 cubes, tightly packed- not to mention the overflow on the top) I burn through 1 every 2 weeks; this being coupled with extra wood I dump down the bulkhead to grab (I take dried oak slabs from the sawmill to get the furnace roaring.) In central Mass. it can get fairly chilly. My oil furnace only kicks on for heating the hot water. I go through about 350 gallons per year verses 200 gallons per month during the heating season.



In the

Kenster
How long will 6 pallets of wood last you?

I stack on pallets (about 1/5 cord to a pallet), and it takes about 25 pallets for a winter. Let it dry (season) for two years minimum, so come summer need 50 pallets of wood in storage.

I set the pallets outside, with some rubber roofing draped over the top. Then in the late fall, move the pallets of dry wood to an area where deep snow won't affect getting to them. Have thought about the shed like MarkCT has for that interim last move of firewood to the house for burning.

 

[mojoinco]

I guess great minds think similar.

I saw an article in Countryside magazine last spring where a guy in the midwest was stacking split wood in 4 piles per pallet and then using shrink wrap to season it.

I adapted it for our environment (pretty dry most of the time) and almost completely pine/fir (a wee bit of aspen). Anyhow, I took some unused pallets and some 51 cent 2x4's from Home Depot and nailed 'hoops' about 8~10 inches from the front edge, then repeated every ~16". So you end up with either 2 or 3 hoops per pallet. Nailed the hoops on the inside of the 2 x 4 runners, then nailed the tops over the uprights. It is working well, where I place the wood as I cut or split it on the pallet, then move it into the garage as needed (my tractor will not fit inside -- but SWMBO has a minsteer that will). One pallet is about 1/4-1/3 cord.

I bought one of those Northern Tools welded 2 x 4 wood rick frame kits (steel you insert the 2 x 4's into), then made a 3rd piece. I inserted it into the middle so I can load it all with wood, then use one side. Then I load it with any wood that was outside. It drys out by the time I have used up the other side. That way I don't worry about covering it.

But with the 'next step' a few of you have gone to (don't move it again off of the pallet until it is time to take into the house), I will have to rethink my process. Maybe rearrange the garage space a bit and have room for two pallets (one dry, one fresh).

By the way, the long 3 hoop pallet isn't working so well, too much effort to load the middle hoop and to unload it. Next year I will be standardizing, and considering the slide in sides modification. No top to the 'hoop' then.

I don't know the issue here, but my wife reread the manual to our Vermont Castings stove recently and it calls for a mix of dry and wet wood (it doesn't define that as green, or simply not completely seasoned). We are experimenting to see the effects. All I can figure is that it could be for three reasons: creates a better mix of combustible gases; slows the burn down a bit (maybe less peak temps); helps control formation of stuff on the flue walls (words are escaping me at this time) to reduce fires in the pipe.

 

[Kenster]

Mojoinco, we have a Vermont Castings stove also. Although we have two, new, large capacity heatpumps, we haven't turned on the heaters in the house for over two years. And we won't this week when the temps are in the low 20s and high teens. The Vermont wood stove heats our 4000 square foot house just fine, keeping it around 68 degrees, which we are quite comfortable with. I usually fire it up after supper, then cram the box full again at bedtime. Sometimes, in the middle of the night I might add some more logs through the top door but even if I don't the stove will still have a surface temperature of 350 or so when we get up in the morning.
And this is a 25 year old stove. I don't know if modern technology has allowed them to improve the efficiency or not, but we love this stove.

 

[koopster]

Mojoinco, don't rethink the garage space....move the old lady's car outside! That is what I do. If she had anything to do with it my motorcycle and other toys wood be covered with snow while her car stayed warm. i use the reasoning that I move the wood inside to make it easier on her when she loads the stove!!!

 

[towmotor]

I've been thinking about a new approach to seasoning/storing firewood, and this "pallet cube" idea has me intrigued.

I could wheel the cube right up to where I'm splitting, then wheel it to where the sun is shining the hottest in summer, and then right up to the basement door for burning.

The kids would love it so much that they might even get me a birthday present!