Cutting firewood and getting older....

[Wayne02]

I like using firewood for heat but as I get older it becomes harder and harder work to fall and process the trees. The prices around here for cut/split/dry wood are not that much less than some more traditional heating methods so to be economically feasible I need to process my own firewood, and fortunately we have the timbered property available for the supply.

This subject came home to roost this year when I accepted the fact that my recently turned 18 year old son will be leaving the nest over the next couple of years, and with it a strong back and endless energy that helped me harvest the firewood in years past.

As I look to the future where I'd like to continue to heat with wood as long as my health permits I wonder what labor saving devices/systems I can build to help with this task. I like to follow the path of the wood from tree to fireplace side and minimize handling as much as possible. Right now there is a lot of stacking, trailering, restacking, moving to the woodstoves involved in the process etc.

Trying to minimize the amount of bending, lifting, twisting involved in the process I wonder about a powered conveyance system that would transport the wood from the point where it falls on the ground after being split or when it comes off the splitter into the trailer. (My trailer has 4' tall sides)

Or what about a system that would process the firewood in batches. Maybe a system that used pallet crates which were positioned at the splitting site where split wood that came off the splitter was stacked into this pallet device. Then this "batch" of firewood was fork lifted onto the trailer for transport back to the house at which point the batch was fork lifted from the trailer to the wood shed. And finally a batch gets fork lifted from the wood shed into the garage where it is positioned against the wall that has the wood stove on the other side. A sliding door is present that allows one to open the door and grab pieces of firewood as needed.

With this type of system you are handling the piece of split wood only twice. Once when you stack it in the pallet device, and once when you pull it out of the device and put it into the wood stove.

Anybody else give thought to this subject? Anybody getting on in years and looking for labor/health saving ideas, equipment, and techniques??

Thanks
Wayne

 

[IdahoPanhandle]

Thats why a lot of people go to energy logs, or pellets and pellet stoves.

Convenience.

We sell a LOT of pellets every year where I work. Starting in June, all the way up thru march.

Im the dispatcher for a large retail building supply outfit and we typically sell in excess of 250 tons of pellets a year. Thats more than 14 tractor trailer loads (18 pallets per truck) My trucks deliver more than 95% of those pellets.

We also stock the energy logs.

Either way, a lot of people consider the convenience of picking up the phone, placing an order, and having it delivered on pellets for a small fee with a tractor trailer and forklift as a great option.

 

[flewism]

Wire parts baskets can be had at stamping plant and production machine shop auctions from 10 to 30 dollars each. I know a guy that does something similar to what you described. Almost all of his split wood ends up in these baskets.
He doesn't even stack the wood it the baskets he just lets it tumble in from his conveyor, occasionally he will walk over to the basket and push the wood around with a 2" by 2" or a shovel. then he uses his loader tractor with forks to move the basket and place an empty at the conveyor.
these baskets are stackable, and he has like 8 of this size 4' by 4' by 3'
and 10 of this style 4'by 8' 30"
and 6 of that style etc...
he will move these baskets full of wood into a barn about mid-October and then move one or two at a time to his wood shed by the house, with his loader tractor throughout the winter.
I've known this guy for about 8 years he is an oldtime, fulltime farmer and he only processes his wood in April period. April 1st to April 30 is firewood month period.

 

[avalancher]

I have finally got in the habit of stacking my wood alongside where I pull my trailer, and splitting the wood as it comes off of the trailer. My trailer sits a little above knee highth, and I found that it helps tremendously in having the wood off of the ground when splitting. The large rounds are rolled off of the trailer on to the splitter with a ramp made out of a 2X12, then the pieces get stacked right alongside the splitter. I used to just dump the trailer load when I got home and split when I had the time, but found that as I got older the work of dumping then picking the pieces up again just added that much work.
Now I just move my operation as i go down the rows of wood, and it has helped me considerably. I had considered a powered conveyor, but even then you have to pick everything back up again to stack unless you have someone on the other end to catch the pieces and stack them.
My wife and daughter help me occasionally, but when they stack the piles often get unstable, they still havent mastered the trick of even stacking to maintain a tight row.

 

[wdchuck]

Wayne, welcome to AS.

What you propose, may cost more money in fuel, equipment, maintenance, and so on, than its worth. Figure out the time and money on what you have in mind, then figure what the cost of getting a neighborhood kid to help you, summer/weekend type of thing.

There are many a thread here in the Firewood forum with pictures of members setups, using conveyors, some converted from agricultural use to firewood, homemade attachments for skidsteers and tractors, dump trailers, modified 1-ton p/u trucks, grapple attachments, the list goes on.

If you read back through the last years worth of threads, not all, but by thread titles, you'll see many a setup and get ideas from there.


A dump trailer is definately a time/labor saver, if you can cut/split and toss into a dump trailer where you cut, then that alone will save some handling and time.

Good Luck with this, quite a bit of wisdom floating around here.

 

[Wayne02]

Wire parts baskets can be had at stamping plant and production machine shop auctions from 10 to 30 dollars each.

Yes, I recall those wire baskets from a plant I used to work at, some had casters, some had pegs for legs that allowed stacking, and all had forklift pockets. I seem to recall that some had the ability to fold down half the height of the basket on side to allow easier access for pulling parts out of the bin.

 

[Wayne02]

Wayne, welcome to AS.

What you propose, may cost more money in fuel, equipment, maintenance, and so on, than its worth. Figure out the time and money on what you have in mind, then figure what the cost of getting a neighborhood kid to help you, summer/weekend type of thing.

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes that is very true, I will have to run the numbers on this kind of thing to see if it really makes sense. That is especially true given the increasing cost of steel these days. In our case we are fortunate to have some of the required infrastructure in place like heavy equipment, shop to manufacture conveyors etc.

Unfortunately, in my area it seems to be harder and harder to find kids who will do this kind of work for side money these days.

 

[spike60]

Nice to have you with us Wayne.

I think that it's not so much about the work itself that's involved with wood, but how much of it you do at one time. As you get older, you simply can't go out and cut and split for as many hours as you used to. It's best to stay ahead and not be faced with the daunting task of having to cut the whole years supply starting this time of year, as I see a lot of people doing. I'm not suggesting that you are procrastinating like that, just that if you go out and do an hour or two at a time, you'll never feel worn out.

Anything I bring home in the truck is easy since I can back right up to the woodshed. But I have been thinking a lot lately about transporting when cutting on my own property, which is now no more sophisticated than my wheelbarrow. A 4x4 utility vehicle is an option, or maybe just getting the old Cub 128 running and fix the cart. But I need something since the wood near the back of the property is way too far to move by hand.

I know someone who does your pallet method. If you already have the tractor to put the forks on, then it's something you should look into. He builds the sides up on the pallets about 3 to 4 feet high and then fills them with wood. He moves them with a skid steer and parks them in the garage where the stove is. The wood goes right from the pallet into the stove, so the wood doesn't have to be unloaded and restacked. Of course if your stove is in the living room like mine is then we wouldn't be able to avoid the restacking step.

 

[cjk]

Another option?

Do you have people asking to hunt on your land? You could trade work for the hunting rights. With a couple guys helping you can make a pile of wood in a weekend and you may make some new friends. This is how I got started in wood burning.

OR you could trade wood for work. Whoever helps for the day gets half the wood.

If you want to do it yourself, I think a conveyor from the splitter to a dump trailer or basket would make things easier. A little every day adds up fast and will keep you in shape.

 

[stihl sawing]

Welcome to AS, If you do it at your own pace and quit for the day when you feel like you really need to you can do it for many years. I'm 54 and it keeps me in good shape. it's hard to get back in the groove if i take off and not cut for a while. You just have to work at your own pace and take a break when you need it. If you cut and stack wood all year long you will be in good shape. Just forget about trying to keep up with a 18 year old cause it ain't gonna happen.LOL

 

[CharlieG]

Set a comfortable pace, and you be splitting till you are in your nineties .

 

[TKeller]

Firewood is getting harder at 56

If ageing is really becoming a problem with you then what Charlie G and stihl sawing say is the real answer. No matter what equipment you have it will be alot of work. And with the more hi tech equipment comes more expenses to where it may not be saving you any money. I burn for two reasons to save money and get rid of dead trees off my property. So I have one good saw, split with a maul and have old stove. But at 56 cutting firewood is getting harder and harder. It is frustrating as you see yourself changing but it is all you can do . So keep it simple and take your time and don't hurt yourself. Having a dad, a son, or son-in-law to help can be really enjoyable and create good bonding time. My dad is deceased, no son, and a lazy son-in-law. So I go slower, still enjoy it and save some money.

 

[Zodiac45]

I'm 53 and for me firewood has become my healthy excersize routine. About 5 or 6 years ago I stopped hand splitting and bought an inexpensive 5hp splitter. You get a routine down and and make it happen. I have this years 6 cords split and seasoning since April on pallets and about 1/2 of next years gathered and cut into rounds. For my own 6 cord use I only need go on the sat mornings it's not raining. I will sometimes split/stack an hour or two after supper once or twice a week too. My firewood partner and neighbor is 72 and only has one leg (prostesis sp?) but he's get's it done albeit slower than me.
Around here some guys use potato crates or wreath crates too fill and move by forklift/tractor etc..

 

[CharlieG]

I call it my "chainsaw therapy". It keeps me away from the people who are on my nerves at the time (now I didnt exactly say my wife, did I ). I leave my self time to get things done and for cleanup afterwards. Keeps me busy, and in a safe work environment.

 

[Kansas]

Welcome! I wish there was an easier/cheaper way too I have not found one yet. I heat most of my house with a multi-fuel pellet stove and it works good if corn is cheap, (its not this year) and a fireplace insert.

Pellets are less work than firewood but the stove price/install has to be figured in, I think they will pay theirselfs off no matter what the price of gas is.

I heat my shop with wood/gas and there just is no easy way I have found yet. Fact corn went so high I will end up using less effective wood pellets this season at home but still using wood at work.

Look at it this way-fetching firewood is great excercise you get to use power tools and you are outside IMO it doesnt get any better than that just start early! btw your boy will be back for visits thats a givin and he will be glad to help dad because he will miss all that also!

Kansas

 

[Frank Boyer]

I use fire wood as part of the exercise plan. I need to plan to exercise a lot more! I seldom cut over 2 tanks of fuel and don't split more than a pick up load of wood. My neighbors don't like large rounds, so I get 24" plus rounds a lot. I have a vertical splitter and take my time. Remember to take a nap. Wait till you get into your 60's!!

 

[air19]

Bagging system for firewood

This year I have switched over from stacking my firewood to putting it in bags right next to my splitter. These bags rest on a pallet. The pallet gets moved around by my tractor. I move it once to my outdoor drying shed and a year later it gets moved into the barn. Once in the barn I just use a pallet mover on the cement floor to get it close to my indoor wood boiler.

These bags are very popular in Europe. Here is a YouTube video that will give you a quick idea what I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2WzrsFKuGk

With the bag system and my tractor doing the moving, I figure I have saved at least a couple of handling times. I bought 40 bags from a Japa dealer for about $8/bag and that will probably be my lifetime supply. I made my own bag frame out of wood that I assemble/disassemble on top of each pallet I use.

 

[kevin85]

that is a great idea. that video was especially cool. I wish I had a setup like that....looks like the person in the video was having a ton of fun.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Wayne I have been worrying about that very thing only I have two sons. They are18 and 17 and are at my side almost all the time and not the least bit afraid of a days work. No matter what the chore I am used to doing at most 1/3 of the work, truthfully less than 1/3 I am sure. I have spent much time the last few years trying to work out a workable firewood plan for the days when they are gone. With fuel prices going up it would not be too hard to immortalize a low end firewood processor. Problem is the low grade stuff I usually have to cut would not work. My current thought path (plan 1) is centered around a horizontal conveyor, about 16' long and a long saw buck. Logs would be placed on the saw buck and cut with a hand held chain saw. The conveyor(likely a used farm hay and grain elevator) would be behind the buck where I could simply roll the rounds over on it. A hydraulic motor would advance the conveyor bring the rounds to my waiting splitter. Not like a cut then split operation like a processor but cut the entire log, then split it. I already have a conveyor to load the truck from the splitter. Plan 2 involves a skid steer loader to move things around. My plans also include 3 flare box wagons that could be loaded and parked right beside the stove. At this time in my life it is not the handling of split wood that bothers me it is getting the 10 plus cords into that condition. Somebody else mentioned getting your work to a comfortable height and that will become important at some point for everyone. Its been important for me for 10 years sinceI injured my back. One thing I did last summer that has been an unbelievable aid has been a flat bed truck. I never realized how much extra work there was in lifting wood over the side of a pick up bed untill the first load on the flat bead. A person just has to experience it to believe it so much easier to load, AND unload. Enough rant from em I guess, thanks for bringing up a subject that is close to me.

 

[turnkey4099]

Fact of life. Heating with wood requires work. You can put some big bucks into equipment and cut the amount of work down some but never to zero.

I have heated with wood for over 30 years now, mostly cuting junk wood (Willow) doing a minimum of 6 cord/year. Even while working a full time job I had plenty of time to gather and process it doing most of the splitting manually. Used splitter only for the crotches and knots or when the 'to be split' pile got too big.

I am now 73 and haven't changed the process at all except that my work sessions are now down to 3-4 hours a session. It is great excercise and works every muscle in your body. Much better than paying for a club membership. Just finishing up the current harvest spot with 12-13 cords in the stacks. Got another day or two on the maul to finish it. Should have finished it a couple days ago but I would have had nothing to do while waiting for harvest so I can get into a couple locusts.

Even if a processor were cheap I wouldn't use one. Of course when my body gives up, who knows.

Harry K