Tractor / Skidsteer loading split firewood?H

[MNBobcat]

Hi Guys,

I have a JD 3020 diesel tractor with about an 8 foot wide bucket. I also have a skidsteer with a bucket and a root grapple attachment.

I've been trying to figure out a good way to load firewood that is already split and sitting in a pile. Driving the tractor into the wood pile will result in some wood in the bucket but doesn't work very well.

The grapple on the bobcat tends to end up with one piece of firewood getting wedged and holding the teeth open and the other wood falls out of the grapple.

Using the skidsteer to push the wood into the tractor bucket seems to work the best.

Just wondering if anyone has come up with an attachment or some kind of process (other than hand loading) that makes picking up split wood from a pile easier?

 

[brandoro]

Lots of members on here stack/store their firewood on pallets then just pick up the whole pallet and carry it to point of use. Some make a frame out of more pallets or lumber and fasten plastic to the top to keep rain and snow off. Others use large metal baskets that can also be moved with forks.
There was a thread not long ago about that, I think it was called 'firewood processing'

 

[MNBobcat]

Hi brandoro,

Thanks for the reply. I think pallets are definitely the way to go. They are actually my plan for next season. This year I was too busy installing the stove and the best I could do is pile the wood. What I would like to do is use one of my implements to carry the wood to the wood shed where the stove is located and dump the wood in the shed. Not pretty, but will get me by this year.

 

[brandoro]

For time being then it might be just as easy to hand load the wood into the bucket and move it that way. You can move quite a bit of wood reasonably quickly that way. That's how I move wood when I don't have the carry all on the tractor, two trips with the FEL will almost fill the rack in the shop, one trip with the carry all is more than enough but not a problem to have some wood on the carry all anyway as it adds a bit more weight for traction. Both have to be hand loaded so no difference there just the carry all can do it with one trip.

 

[BigE_]

It really depends on how far you are moving the wood. Only 20-30 feet? Sure, just load the bucket with the skidsteer.

Myself, since I'm moving the wood anywhere from 300-500 ft, it's faster for me to stack the wood in the bucket. I can probably get 2-3x the amount of wood in the bucket if I stack it (and yes, this can be an art form). I haul it over to the dry area under the deck where I store my wood (next to the back door and the inside stove). I dump it there and go back for more.

I used to actually stack the wood under the deck, but I finally decided that was pointless - all it accomplished was not having to move wood as often, taking 2x as long, and hurting my back from bending over under the deck.

Now that winter is upon us, I can't drive my tractor on my lawn anymore, so I use the little trailer on my lawn "tractor". It's about 5 loads to a cord, so not bad. The guy at American Tire looked at me funny when I got my rear wheels on my lawn tractor filled with beet juice, though! (I didn't have enough traction when the clay gets wet in the winter).

 

[Oldchuck]

After much screwing around trying to easily load the bucket I have so far been stumped. Hand loading remains the best way. Still considering the problem though.

 

[MNBobcat]

After much screwing around trying to easily load the bucket I have so far been stumped. Hand loading remains the best way. Still considering the problem though.

It is a stumper (pardon the pun) for sure.

I'll bet there is something clever we haven't thought of though.

 

[Steveguy]

I use a tine attatchment on my bucket to help get under the wood pile and carry more wood.
I may not get a real full load each time, but I'm not handling by hand. If I made another one, I would put tines a little closer together. I also built a full firewood bucket for skidsteer for my nephew that works quite well. The whole bottom is tines so dirt falls through.

 

[Dirtnut]

I built one to works good loading logs or wood chunks.

 

[tawilson]

I have a Vreten stone fork that works great for firewood too.