-I started out with 1/3 cord wooden firewood racks I could lift with forklift. Great for staging and seasoning. Lots of stacking time, and hard to wrap for transport and delivery. I put a sheet of osb on both sides and strapped.
-Then I improved the wood rack making them 4' x 4' x 6' tall. Same issue however with lots of stacking and osb for delivery. More easily covered in winter, and 3/4 cord. Which lead to lots of time explaining, the odd quantity.
-Between the two styles there were seventy cord, until they began to rot and something different was needed.
The choices seemed to be use bulk bags with pallets under them, ICB totes, something custom made or converted like stackable racks, and wrappers like the Posch PackFix, which also needs pallets.
I eliminated stackable ICB off the list for a couple reasons.
They require stacking the wood. Not doing so would require a huge, huge number of them.
As for stacking, I could stack two high. Beyond that would require a very level hard surface to work from. I have gravel, but not flat enough for stacking three or four high.
Cost per tote, or actually cost per cord. Which varies of course where ever you are and the demand for them.
Empty totes, like my wooden firewood racks, take up a lot of room. I have limited space.
And the last factor for each choice was, would it have a resale value when I'm done doing firewood?
The main question for me is does it eliminate stacking?
And is it affordable per cord? X 70-100 cord. Thats a lot of stacking, and that's a lot of totes.
In my case I season for a year, so the turnover is slow, unlike some selling green firewood. And that leads to even more totes because I start processing now, in the spring, before I start selling and emptying totes.
-As most of you know, I went with pallets and the Posch PackFix. Bulk bags may be a better way, as I'm still figuring out how to load a dump trailer efficiently for deliveries. I love the Posch. Saves me a ton of work. Just figuring out the last piece of the puzzle. Put license plates on the trailer yesterday.
EDIT: I like pallets because as shown, I have a couple hundred to start this year with and they take up little room. As I unload pallets, the same, they take up little room. They last about four years with ground contact. I'm beginning double stacking, so only a little over half have ground contact and fewer covers.
ICB totes would work well for a limited number of cords or higher turnover frequency. They certainly last longer and that's a cost factor for sure at five, ten or twenty years.
View attachment 896570View attachment 896571View attachment 896572View attachment 896573View attachment 896574View attachment 896575View attachment 896576View attachment 896577View attachment 896578
