Firewood on pallets

[sirbuildalot]

I am looking at making several custom pallets with the intention to store my firewood on them and make it easier to move the wood around with less handling. I have plenty of space, and my tractor (Kioti NX 4510, should be able to handle 1/2 cord pallets (4x4x4). I will make enough to do 8 full cords, so 16 pallets total.

For those that have done this, did you make the pallets out of PT lumber?, Did you use regular pallets? Did you make them with roofs? Are they stackable. How do you like them?

My worry with regular pallets is they will rot after a year or two. Using pressure treated will cost more up front, but they will last much longer, that or maybe I can find plastic pallets.

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks guys!!!

 

[gotrek]

Used motor oil... oil your pallets they'll last a lot longer. And its cheap(free)

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

 

[Jhenderson]

Just watch Craig's list for free pallets. 4x4 are quite common. I usually get 1/2 dozen or so replacements every year. The junk hits the fire pit.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

You sure the tractor can lift (and safely handle) that much weight? I looked up the specs, can't find the loader info, but the tractor is listed at about 3500lbs.
I suppose depends on the wood, but I would figure in the area of 2000-2500lbs wood and pallet setup.

I just ask because my skid steer, which weighs about 9000lbs is only rated to lift 2500lbs. Sure if can lift more (about double that) but it takes some skill to be able to move it around without tipping it.

A regular pallet will last many years on the ground. Shoot, I have some in my yard I stuck under junk almost 10 years ago and they are still usable.

 

[cantoo]

sirbuildalot, your Kioti might be able to lift 1/2 cord dry but I doubt it will lift it wet. I burn my splits in my OWB, 54" deep firebox so I can make them as long as I want. I have a Kubota L35 TLB and I can lift one of my wet crates but can't move anywhere with it. My crates are 32" deep, 48" wide and 48" high and made with approx. $25 of 2x4 and 2x6 spruce. I set them on spruce 2x6 to keep them from freezing to the ground and to keep the crates lasting longer. I stack them 2 high and when wet my tractor will barely lift it that high. I tried 48" and it was a no go. I cover the top with roof paper just to keep rain and snow off the wood.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

You sure the tractor can lift (and safely handle) that much weight? I looked up the specs, can't find the loader info, but the tractor is listed at about 3500lbs.
I suppose depends on the wood, but I would figure in the area of 2000-2500lbs wood and pallet setup.

I just ask because my skid steer, which weighs about 9000lbs is only rated to lift 2500lbs. Sure if can lift more (about double that) but it takes some skill to be able to move it around without tipping it.

A regular pallet will last many years on the ground. Shoot, I have some in my yard I stuck under junk almost 10 years ago and they are still usable.

I agree, those weight figures are measured at pin, not 4 foot out.

 

[sirbuildalot]

The tractor is 5500 lbs with the loader on. 4000 without. There is 500 lbs of beet juice in each rear tire and the 3 point weight box filled with stone is about 700 lbs, So a little over 7000 lbs total. The loader lift capacity is 2800 lbs to full height. 3 point lift capacity at 24" back is 3200 lbs. I could make the pallets smaller, or get 3 point forks. Maybe 40" x 40" pallets, as I cut my wood to 20" long. I'm envisioning a setup just like cantoo's. That looks slick. Thanks guys!

 

[sirbuildalot]

When I bought the tractor I asked the dealerships owners son how much of a pallet the machine could handle, and he seemed to think about 2000 lbs

 

[Deleted member 117362]

sirbuildalot, your Kioti might be able to lift 1/2 cord dry but I doubt it will lift it wet. I burn my splits in my OWB, 54" deep firebox so I can make them as long as I want. I have a Kubota L35 TLB and I can lift one of my wet crates but can't move anywhere with it. My crates are 32" deep, 48" wide and 48" high and made with approx. $25 of 2x4 and 2x6 spruce. I set them on spruce 2x6 to keep them from freezing to the ground and to keep the crates lasting longer. I stack them 2 high and when wet my tractor will barely lift it that high. I tried 48" and it was a no go. I cover the top with roof paper just to keep rain and snow off the wood.
View attachment 603398 View attachment 603399 View attachment 603401 View attachment 603402

That Sir, is nice and neat.

 

[NSMaple1]

Been thru a few pallet configurations. Agree with above on the tractor - a half cord would be pretty marginal with yours I think, especially green.

If you just be sure & get them well off the ground, ordinary pallets or pallets made out of regular lumber will last a long time. I have ones here made out of rough sawn 4x4, they are about 30" wide & 7' long with a 4x4 skid under, a foot from each end. I set them on concrete blocks (can get them for cheap in the boneyard at the local concrete place), two under each skid. Gives close to a foot of airspace underneath. I also have some cobbled out of regular 42x48 pallets - I set those on top of plastic pallets I found somebody selling. Also cobbled some out of plastic pallets - no rot there. To make sure, you could slap some Pentox on the bottom parts. But building all out of PT lumber will be pretty pricey - and even if you did you should still get them up off the ground.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Around here the sawmills make pallets using cottonwood most of the time. They usually have piles of scrap cotton wood that you can haul away for practically nothing -- about 20 cents a board foot or $40 a pickup truckload. Your table saw and nails do the rest for custom sizing.

 

[cantoo]

My crates started out as hardwood brick skids and then the company switched to softwood. I switched over to all spruce because I can get crooked stuff from work, just have to pull a bunch of nails or cut up scrap trusses to get the 2x4"s. I use a 2x6 in the middle on the sides and on the bottom so that I can also use them for 16" long splits as well as my 32" ones. I also nailed the bottoms on from the bottom so that I could rip them off and replace them without damaging the rest of the crate. Some of mine are 4 years old and show no signs of rot. They are sitting on a sacrificial 2x6 that it sitting on gravel. As you can see I put them under the eave of my barn so they get watered pretty often but it seems to have little effect on them. I also use them for poplar splits but those get put inside my barn after sitting out all summer because the poplar just keeps sucking up water.
sirbuildalot, I suggest you do some testing before you build a bunch of 1/2 cord skids.
I've never tried beet juice. I haul my tractor with a light trailer so I run Helium in my rears.

 

[Wood Doctor]

LOML runs nitrogen on all four wheels of her limited edition '91 Celica GTS. However, I must admit that it will not lift the back end off the ground.

 

[Waltzie]

I have a Kioti CK 35 and with the backhoe on it could lift a pallet with 5 1/2' sides stacked. That was its limit, the front tires had to do the driving.

I screwed around with several different wood pallet versions, and used plastic pallets on the last versions. Then I switched to IBC tote cages. Work soooooo much better.

 

[dave_dj1]

I store a lot of my wood on 1/2 pallets that I can move with my little forklift tractor. I just bought a full size Ford 3000 and have forks on the back of that to move the wood, it's much faster with the big tractor.
I try not to let the pallets sit directly on the ground, I bought some pt landscape 4x4's to set them on. I can get all the Oak pallets I want for free, they seem to last a long while.
I cut all my wood at 24" so the 1/2 pallets work well. Now that I have the tractor I would like to make some more that are the same width and depth but instead of being only around 32" tall I would like to do them 4' tall, the big tractor can handle that. I think I have 24 or 26 1/2 pallets, I have some temporary roofing for them I'll put on pretty soon. I only made a couple of stackable pallets, it's all my little forklift can do to stack them. I am stacking the wood under the deck this year instead of putting the pallets under it, I will be able to stack much more wood under there.

 

[TeeMan]

I store my firewood on plastic pallets. If you don't have access to them, use wood pallets that you can usually get for free off craigslist and just make sure they are sitting on some type of cement block or scrap bricks. Should get some good years out of them easily.

 

[sirbuildalot]

I just picked up enough pallets to do 8 full cords. 24 pallets total. After talking with you guys I have decided to play it safe and do 1/3rd cord pallets, which should be fairly easy for the tractor to handle. Even factoring wet wood, they should weigh 1500#-2000# at the absolute most.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I just picked up enough pallets to do 8 full cords. 24 pallets total. After talking with you guys I have decided to play it safe and do 1/3rd cord pallets, which should be fairly easy for the tractor to handle. Even factoring wet wood, they should weigh 1500#-2000# at the absolute most.

Green (wet) wood might weigh 1500 lb on these at most with 18" logs, even oak, hickory, or locust. You should be fine. I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Two would add up to a truckload for a delivery, so it would be easy to count your inventory level.

 

[Uzi]

I palletize all the wood we sell works great and saves lots of handling and labor. We just fill the pallets directly off the splitter and move them where they need to go until they are dried or sold. I use 48"x40" pallets as they are pretty standard and easy to get. We make 4' sides with 1x4's and put a little shrink wrap on the sides to keep logs from shaking out during transport. I sell them as 1/3 cord it's probably closer to a 1/2 especially if heaped in the middle. But it keeps everyone happy when they get what the paid for plus a little extra.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Your tractor may be ok lifting 1/2 a cord.

My Dad has a Kioti, not sure the model, I think it's got a 30hp diesel. It's 4x4, cab, all that. Not a huge machine, but not tiny either.

When he first got it, he tried to lift a pallet of mulch, which was sold as being 2000lbs and the tractor wouldn't do it.

He called the dealer, because it was supposed to be rated to 2000lbs.

Well... they figure that weight right at the attach plate and only x high (I forget).

Ie... "perfect world" numbers.

I ran a small John Deere doing my yard years ago (forget the model, about 25-35hp area). It wouldn't move in 2wd with a bucket full of topsoil. Had a large landscape rake on the 3 pt too. Pretty much was just on the front tires.