Pics of your set up for handling up to 20 cord

[jasult]

Not to worry, I beleive that in middle of winter this is best thing for idle equipment. It takes just a few days with 2 men and all these bins are full.
I would rather excersize my equipment a few days in winter rather than just let it sit doin nothing.
If you look at the blue MACK dump in background, it is a 1969. Ran every day I need it for many many years and still ready to go to work.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Not to worry, I beleive that in middle of winter this is best thing for idle equipment. It takes just a few days with 2 men and all these bins are full.
I would rather excersize my equipment a few days in winter rather than just let it sit doin nothing

Move a bit further north, and you could exercise it a ton moving snow!

Seriously, those bins look like a good idea for mobility. How are they for drying the wood in? I'd think the airflow would be less than optimal. We ship a lot of parts in those bins, they are replacing wire mesh bins that I'd like to get my hands on for this purpose, but they belong to our customer, not us :sad:

Some day, I'm gonna build a house with a walkout basement and a big enough sliding door to slip a bin like that in with a set of forks, then roll to the stove with a pallet jack. That day is a long ways off yet, however.

 

[jasult]

We do a lot of snow work with our trucks and 2 Skid steers if and when it snows. I have a snow pusher on one and snow bucjet for other. We just are not getting much snow at all this year except just befor XMAX

The holes in boxes do help quite a bit and I added holes in bottom for drainage too.

 

[dolmen]

Where did all the wood come from ? I thought that all of you burnt turf !!

Our cousin Joe near Castletownbere calls us about once a week. Lately he's been whining about the cold (sic) weather you're having in Europe. "The lads are freezing their things off. What do you do in winter there in Maine ? You can't possibly work outdoors in below freezing. " When it goes below zero C, he brings the cows and sheep into the barn. No long underwear for sale in Ireland ? :monkey:

Where are you Dolmen ?

I've been fortunate getting all my firewood for free, at least so far! I work at getting the turf won aswell mind you, but that mostly goes to the BIL, there's far too much ash and dust with turf and far more heat and lasting burn with wood.
I don't like working outdoors in our wet climate, but just hang in for a day or two until it changes

Cheers

 

[dolmen]

jasult I've looked at similar bins over here, they had vents in ... but the guy was asking 50'ish US for them ... so I decided free pallets would do me for now

They certainly cut down on that bit of rehandling after splitting ... my idea was to split into them, like you are doing and let them season before lifting with the 3 Pnt linkage on the tractor and setting into the shed. They sure look tidy, mind you.

Cheers

 

[jasult]

Dolemen
thanks, I still use gool ole pallets as well when I get extra wood.
The bins I aquired were free from company that closed up.There is always a bargain or a option to be hunted down :greenchainsaw:

 

[Stihl Crazy]

This is how I get mine out of the woods. 3 cords to a trip.

 

[clinchscavalry]

I don't know if this rig even fits in this thread but here are some pictures of my new (used) JD 2755 tractor with grapple installed. I mainly wanted this tractor to get the loader and attachments rather than spend the money on a loader for my original tractor (JD 2355). I figured I could use both tractors and get the loader and tractor for not much more than just a loader would cost for the smaller tractor. The grapple was chosen, from several designs, for picking up limbs after cutting firewood and cleanup in pecan orchards, but I think it will be great for lifting logs and big limbs off the ground for bucking. It will keep the chain out of the dirt and also help prevent binding and pinching. I think I can even load small logs on the trailer if I need to.

The joystick operated the loader in four directions, but I had to be able to control the opening and closing of the grapple. I didn't want to have to use the tractor hydraulic controls which would require me to move my hand constantly, so I had an electric button attached to the joystick handle which controls a multi-function valve installed on the grapple. The rear remote hydraulics are free to use for something else.

I think this will be a real time and back saving machine.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Perhaps the best way to see if you can handle 20 cords a year is to start by collecting a pile of rounds all cut to length and ready to split that measures about 30 cords.

That's about 50 pickup truckloads. Work from there.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I don't know if this rig even fits in this thread but here are some pictures of my new (used) JD 2755 tractor with grapple installed. I mainly wanted this tractor to get the loader and attachments rather than spend the money on a loader for my original tractor (JD 2355). I figured I could use both tractors and get the loader and tractor for not much more than just a loader would cost for the smaller tractor. The grapple was chosen, from several designs, for picking up limbs after cutting firewood and cleanup in pecan orchards, but I think it will be great for lifting logs and big limbs off the ground for bucking. It will keep the chain out of the dirt and also help prevent binding and pinching. I think I can even load small logs on the trailer if I need to.

The joystick operated the loader in four directions, but I had to be able to control the opening and closing of the grapple. I didn't want to have to use the tractor hydraulic controls which would require me to move my hand constantly, so I had an electric button attached to the joystick handle which controls a multi-function valve installed on the grapple. The rear remote hydraulics are free to use for something else.

I think this will be a real time and back saving machine.

Nice looking Deere! Those older JD utilitys are a pretty good bargain at least around here, compared to the 6000 series. I spent a lot of time on a 2640 back in the day, solid and cheap on fuel. As green paint resistant as I am, one may show up here someday, as the only decent dealers left close by are JD.

I couldn't make out the name on the rake/grapple, who makes it? It looks pretty solid.

 

[clinchscavalry]

Steve asked:

I couldn't make out the name on the rake/grapple, who makes it? It looks pretty solid.

It's called a Brush Raker and actually made in the USA, if you can believe that. I'll get the name of the company tomorrow and post on here. The fun part was choosing the model I wanted. The tractor equipment owner I had install and set it up took me to a huge, wholesale equipment place and let me look at all the different types of grapples designed for different jobs. They had some with long, curved teeth for use as root rakes, some with two "thumbs" that clamped down rather than one like I got, and many more. The loader on my tractor was measured and the unit was custom made to fit, but the first two they sent were wrong for some reason. Finally, the third one they shipped was right, and the only thing I don't like about it is the limited visibility from the tractor seat. It's hard to see the bottom of the rake which makes it a little difficult to keep from digging in rather than just skimming the surface. However, it picks up huge piles of limbs with ease, and I can't wait to try it on whole trees(smaller ones) or limbs for cutting into firewood.

 

[clinchscavalry]

http://www.brushraker.com/


Mine is the lighter duty, 5 foot model listed as the LD on the website. We'll see how it holds up to piling, but I imagine it will get tested doing something it shouldn't eventually.

 

[crashagn]

http://www.brushraker.com/


Mine is the lighter duty, 5 foot model listed as the LD on the website. We'll see how it holds up to piling, but I imagine it will get tested doing something it shouldn't eventually.

I was kind of looking into something like that for our IH656 hydro. Its got a freeman loader on it. I did not want to run a 3 valve or install a solonoid to get a 3rd valve to the grapple. I seen westerndorf has something that looks kind of fancy that uses the original loader cylinders so nothing needs to be re-plumbed-called the brush crusher. I might look further into it but right now i got look up the cost in rebuilding the hydro... $$

http://www.loaders.com/aspx/Product/Default.aspx

 

[Wishie22]

It's hard to see the bottom of the rake which makes it a little difficult to keep from digging in rather than just skimming the surface.

I know that it is new and all, would you consider painting the tips. This may help see where the tips are. JD yellow would blend with the tractor but maybe too much, a caution orange would be my personal choice.

 

[clinchscavalry]

I know that it is new and all, would you consider painting the tips. This may help see where the tips are. JD yellow would blend with the tractor but maybe too much, a caution orange would be my personal choice.

That's a good idea, but the new black paint came off immediately in about thirty minutes of use. I might could paint just up from them a little ways.

I don't know whether or not it was designed that way or if I was just lucky, but when you pull the grapple back all the way (tilting control), it sits level on the ground when the loader arms are lowered, so all I really have to worry about is "up and down".