100 cord by Christmas (?)

[Sandhill Crane]

Did a pallet count last night. 88 pallets
22 cord down, 78 to go.
It's a start.
Right now I'm splitting precut rounds, with about seven cord left.
From then on it will be working from 8' logs.
Roughly a cord a day.
I'm going to need more pallets, a lot more... and more Cheerio's.

This area above now looks like this, below, last night.
Last fall this area was a little less than an acre of Poplar trees. It has been slow going but at the end of a year it has worked out well, and all is good.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

 

[CaseyForrest]

Lookin good.

How many cords do you have through your SS?

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

The sides don't break off your racks?

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Post #2 top photo you can see 3"x 3" x 1/4" angle bolted on top of the runners. I bought 20' pieces of angle and made the brackets, approximately 880 pieces total. Running the upright past the end of the runner helps as a stop. These below show the angle better. They were the second generation design with angled feet so they would nest together on the truck. Many are beginning to dry rot, which got me looking at alternatives. Rebuilding these was one option, selling green wood, Dino bags, using pallets to stack on, liquid tank frames, using stack racks, and the Posch PackFix. Each had advantages and disadvantages.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I have not kept track of cordage very well. I misspoke earlier saying I have had the SSHD two years. It has been three years already. Guessing, between one hundred twenty and one forty on this machine. That may be a low number. I kind of do it by semi loads of logs and sales but I cleared the lot also and split much of it. An hour meter is on the 'to get' list for the three engines. Later... green wood delivery tomorrow. I'd take a lot more of those calls/emails.

 

[jrider]

Good luck processing and delivering before Christmas.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Sold out of seasoned wood, so don't plan on many deliveries. Today, tomorrow and Tuesday is the last of it.
Open to suggestions. What is the best way to deliver hundreds of cords of this?
The least expensive money wise would be to make individual socks for each pallet, but that leaves hand unloading. I want to get away from that. One step away from that is cut them open at the wood lot and load into conveyor, into dump box. In that case the netting is just for easier handling and seasoning. Jump to larger truck, to carry piggyback forklift. 24' flatbed could only carry three cord on pallets but it would be very simple and easy. (most orders are three cord or less) But I question if people would pay extra, if any, for that. If I had a truck with forklift capacity it could open up a farmers market option as well on Saturday mornings, a 'here is what you get' first hand look see. More for taking orders than immediate sales. I think that is a different kind of buyer, weekend cottage fire pit, evening burn in the fireplace. I would need to adjust the pricing for less than full cord loads.
Tell me if you think I am dreaming...

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Put a crane on your truck.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Like a vocational truck crane, or drywall knuckle-boom?
Internet surfing...
I do have more money in the truck than it is worth for resale since replacing the transmission. That would be the plus side of keeping this truck for awhile. (not much money in these medium duty trucks anyway you look at it, compared to the price of used pickups)
A couple neighbors have chimed in, both business owners. One said a truck will not make you money, but is often a necessity to do the work. Money in equipment is a better investment. The other said it is important to continually upgrade your equipment. The idea is to make money getting the job done, not spend your time working on wore out equipment.

 

[Full Chisel]

Are the pallets half cords? I like your setup.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Like a vocational truck crane, or drywall knuckle-boom?
Internet surfing...
I do have more money in the truck than it is worth for resale since replacing the transmission. That would be the plus side of keeping this truck for awhile. (not much money in these medium duty trucks anyway you look at it, compared to the price of used pickups)
A couple neighbors have chimed in, both business owners. One said a truck will not make you money, but is often a necessity to do the work. Money in equipment is a better investment. The other said it is important to continually upgrade your equipment. The idea is to make money getting the job done, not spend your time working on wore out equipment.

Like a Pal finger knuckle boom, or even an old log loader. You'd need to slide the bed back 4-5 to mount it (or cut it. Put sides on the truck and stack the bundles 2 high.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Are the pallets half cords? I like your setup.

The pallets stack out to 1/4 cord.
The volume of the Posch drum is 1.6 cu. meters, or 56.54672 cu ft. (1 cu. meters = 35.3417 cu. ft.)

Thanks for the comment. The process is always evolving.

 

[row.man]

How about an overhead rail and winch on a trolley like many grave stone delivery trucks have, that way you loose no bed area on the truck.
A pallet jack would be much cheaper and easier than hauling a fork lift around.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I have not kept track of cordage very well. I misspoke earlier saying I have had the SSHD two years. It has been three years already. Guessing, between one hundred twenty and one forty on this machine. That may be a low number. I kind of do it by semi loads of logs and sales but I cleared the lot also and split much of it. An hour meter is on the 'to get' list for the three engines. Later... green wood delivery tomorrow. I'd take a lot more of those calls/emails.

Any regrets in going to a SS over a hydraulic unit? It appears you're pleased.... Is it really as good as all the videos make it out to be?

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Any regrets in going to a SS over a hydraulic unit? It appears you're pleased.... Is it really as good as all the videos make it out to be?

You should not believe a video.
Come try it out and see for yourself. But don't be fooled by your initial response. To be sure you will need to run a full tank of gas through it.
I can dust off the TW-6 and you can run a tank of gas through that too to do a well rounded comparison.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I wont be splitting the amount of wood you do. At most Ill do about 15 per year. And that would be a heavy year.

Ive got to believe based on all the reviews Ive read, and folks such as yourself that choose one over a hydraulic unit to actually process firewood..... Theres got to be something there....

Thanks for the offer... I may take you up on it. I hear resale on them is close to new prices so If I didn't like it....

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I'll buy you breakfast. Your going to need a big one...just because you won't want to stop for lunch, and refueling will not be till 2:00.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Feeling spry.... I like what I see based on what I split...

Order form for the HD with Honda and table submitted.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Monday morning delivery.
Never again this way. One strap was loose and unhooked by the end of my driveway from the load settling. Unloading by hand was extremely slow. By the third pallet the home owner and I pushed the last two off the side of the truck.

I have delivered here before. The kind of drive you back in from the road, tight, tree lined, and concrete. Not something to back a 'big heavy truck' on. I consider mine a light to medium duty at 20,500 gvw. Near the house I backed off the drive several feet towards the stacking area. The side slope of the truck was enough to not be able to dump even if I had one.

My first thought is go to a bigger truck and piggyback lift for any concrete or dirt driveway, and unload in the road.