Moving to a pallet based wood storage system?

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Right now I pile wood on top of rotted railroad tie chunks in a small horse pasture that is now the wood yard. I have to handle the wood up to 6 times from cutting to woodstove if it needs to be split. I don't have pallet forks, or clamp on pallet forks to handle pallets currently.

I pretty much wheelbarrow my wood from the stack where its seasoned to the OWB, where its piled again before loading into the OWB. Have to walk 40-60 feet with the barrow to the stove. Its not bad, but does take lots of time. And I don't like to pile wood by the OWB in the non burning months so i can mow there. Get too crazy with wood piling there and it spills onto the driveway and gets hard to plow snow.

I have pallets and scrap lumber out the wazoo to make storage racks. Is it worth it to do so?

Do you have any luck loading the pallets in the timber in the back of the truck then unloading with a machine?

The only alternate solution would be to trench new lines to go all the way under the driveway to the wood yard, and move the stove out there.
 
So you would get a FEL or something to move the pallets with?

I stack all my wood on pallets. I used to move them right into the basement beside my boiler with a FEL & pallet jack. But I now move them to next to my walk out and wheelbarrow it the rest of the way since I have been seasoning on pallets for an extra couple years - a couple extra years stacked seems to make for more mess accumulating in the pallets that I'd rather leave outside. Like maybe pine needles & mouse nest mess.

Anyway - I would go pallets for sure, if you can move them while full. Cuts down on handling a whole lot. Some things that also help, aside from getting pallet racks built, is getting them up well free & clear of the ground (I use concrete blocks under them, I can get them cheap from the boneyard at the local concrete place). And I also splash some Pentox or similar, on places that would be be prime for rot, on some. I hate dealing with rotten pallets. But top covering along with keeping them well off the ground takes most of the rotting issues away, I have been using some for years.
 
I stacked a few pallets this fall with oak about 5'-6' high. I stacked them very evenly and as stable as possible with the plan to move them with the skidsteer once seasoned. Well it didn't work. I have a tracked skidsteer and even with as smooth of a ride as the tracks provide any slight bump and the pile would shift and eventually fall. If you were moving the pallets a very short distance it might not be so bad but I was trying to go about 100yds and didn't even come close. Its a very viable system but you would need to build pallet racks with sides of some kind to help stabilize the load. Its quite frustrating to watch your nicely stacked pile collapse within 10' of moving it. I had 3 experimental pallets and not one of them made it to the boiler.
 
I have gone to a pallet system and have had good luck. I found them by the hundreds at our local landfill - all stacked up and waiting to be had for free. I use a hardwood pallet on the base and two pallets on each side. Due to my pallet jack and basement space, I cut each pallet length down to 36" (which holds two rows at 18" long wood). I use the small scrap pallet parts to tie the two side pallets together at the top. I cut and split in the woods, stacking right on the pallets. I move them with my tractor front loader with forks to my basement door. I too keep them off the ground, using whatever sacrificial limbs are laying around. Good luck with your quest!
 
I place a 27' x 2 " ratchet strap about a foot from the top around the stack when i move mine with the skidloader, load them on the truck or trailer, or even haul them for miles without having them topple. I usually only stack to about 4 feet high though. A second strap a couple feet lower might be needed for stacks 5 feet or higher. It works nicely and it easy to remove .
I use hardwood pallets as the base and I bolt 6 2x4 uprights (from cut up pallets) to stabilize the rows. A loop of wire across the tops of the uprights keeps them from tilting outward and can be re-used for years.
 
I stacked a few pallets this fall with oak about 5'-6' high. I stacked them very evenly and as stable as possible with the plan to move them with the skidsteer once seasoned. Well it didn't work. I have a tracked skidsteer and even with as smooth of a ride as the tracks provide any slight bump and the pile would shift and eventually fall. If you were moving the pallets a very short distance it might not be so bad but I was trying to go about 100yds and didn't even come close. Its a very viable system but you would need to build pallet racks with sides of some kind to help stabilize the load. Its quite frustrating to watch your nicely stacked pile collapse within 10' of moving it. I had 3 experimental pallets and not one of them made it to the boiler.

Would shrink wrap work for moving them, not necessarily store them wrapped but not sure if it's a feasible thing to do or not. Sure beats a tower of wood collapsing.
 
Tried this a couple years ago...

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Works great if the yard is either dry or frozen. Which last winter neither happened.

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Gave up and when back to seasoning in stacks along the property line and moving a years+ supply under a leantoo off the garage.
 
Some pics of mine from 3-4 years ago. I have two different types on the go. If this attaching thing works.

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p_00549.jpg p_00552.jpg p_00553.jpg

I have since gotten concrete blocks under everything, and tarp on the top of everything.

I do all my moving of them, in a September/October dry spell. So no worries about mud or ruts.

EDIT: Ran outside & snapped an up to date one:

Winter Stacks.jpg
 
Yes I have a 4x4 front end loader. no pallet forks for it (yet). it can lift 5000lbs. I also have a micro skid steer that lifts 500lbs (currently disassembled). I don't think the micro steer is going to work, the pallets would end up having to be too small to be effective. Throughout the winter, I have to start the big loader to move hay for animals and could then move wood at the same time. One of the problems I have is my wood yard is on a hill, Flat area tough to find or we drive there... So its tough to put blocks down (because it raises the center of gravity even more... and be able to get to the stuff behind it as it will be frozen down becase you'd have to drive over the blocks.

A lot of great ideas here. The thread Cantoo showed also has lots of good ideas, I really like the long, narrow racks like Cantoo and NSMaple showed, but they would not work for loading in the timber in the back of a truck. Has anyone tried that?
 
Not sure exactly what you mean by timber?

Would likely depend on exactly what you'd have for a truck. Those long ones I use could go on a flat deck, two next to each other. Load & unload each from each side. Those are around 7.5' long. So you could get 4 on a 16' deck with room to spare. Or size them to fit the truck. You could also maybe put them on cross wise, but getting them all off with a loader would be harder - unless you pull them to the back with a pallet jack or something like that.

If it's a pickup truck, you could likely get a couple of square ones on & off from the back if your loader would reach in far enough.

When I started out with those square ones, I had the idea to throw one on a trailer behind my ATV, drive to the woods, load it up right off the splitter, drive back out with it, then put it where it was going to go with a FEL. That didn't work too good, the trailer I had at the time was a pretty rough ride over the rough ground I was going over. And it was too small. But it might work with a better trailer - have since gotten a walking beam that might do it better, but just kinda forgot about the idea.
 
I considered using my skids and load branches in them in the bush. I was going to cut branches 32" long and load them onto skids on a narrow trailer. Never ended up doing it though. You could do it with 2 skids back to back and load from each side. Sounds like you have pretty rough ground though so not likely a good idea. I staple the roof material over the sides of my skids to help hold the splits in place.
 
The wheels in my head say something like this:

My wood trailer is 4x8, its flat deck with side boards. Remove the side boards...

I have lots of approx 8ft 2x8's from the old floor joists in the house I tore down. 2x6's might work better, might have to rip them down I'd be able to drive in between the blocks on each end with the loader because the track is less than 8 feet, and use the space on the bottom provided by the blocks to lift the rack.

By taking pallets and cutting off one side along the outside of the center board, capping all 4 sides with 2x8's and making some sort of feet on each end to rest on blocks.... With appropriate end racks..

I'd be able to place 2 of these on the trailer, strap them down, and ground load them very, very easily. Also would be able to unload them with the loader. I don't think I could fully load them full 4 ft high to go down the road, but the half empty racks could be topped up with split rounds once on the ground. Then the sides would be ratchet strapped or tarped to hold the wood in to go down the road.. We split 24" plus like cantoo, so each rack would only hold 1 row of wood approx per rack.

Couple pics of the loader and wood yard.IMG_20180117_171005041.jpg IMG_20180117_171019801.jpg
 

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Did quite follow how your using the 2" x 6" and ripped down pallets.

Here is what I did for several years and it worked...okay. However I no longer use these racks except for five or six of them. Damaged racks from rot and being frozen down, too much time in stacking, and empty rack storage takes a bunch of space.
Two different style racks, starting with 4'h x 8'l x 16"w. Tippy so they need legs or feet, which I angled in the second batch I made so they would nest under each other when on the truck. The uprights are held in place by 3" x 3" x 1/4" angle, and designed to leverage against the bottom rails. Note the center foot block to support the weight, est. 2,000 lbs. for 1/3 cord of green Oak.
The second rack design had a base that allowed picking from any side, and was much easier to cover if needed. 4' x 4' x 6' tall (inside dimensions), or 3/4 cord. These were very nice, as in no tipping when moving. However, if not covered, the upper half of the center row remained wet from rain and snow, and thus green from lack of drying. But very heavy at 4,500 lbs. green loaded. These racks also use the angle brackets (12 pcs. each), of which I made hundreds cut from five 20' pieces of angle.
I would think your loader could easily lift this larger style rack and have good visibility, unlike a skid steer.
Moving either style in the winter often resulted in damage to the rack from being frozen to the ground. At the very least the frozen dirt needed to be cleared to rest evenly on the truck. I don't deliver in the winter any more due to many things, of which tearing up racks or pallets is one.0618121648.jpg0323121722.jpg0901121456a.jpgIMG_0673.jpgIMG_1301.jpg
 
Sandhill, what material did you use to build these racks you made (both kinds)? it looks like landscape timbers? NSMaple1 used 4x4's it looks like. I have a large supply of 2x8's only, and was going to cut down pallets to make the "floor" inside of the 2x8's (doesn't look like you guys have floors in yours). The 2x8's increase the center of gravity and then "feet" and bricks or blocks will increase it more... Will have to try to build one and see how it works. I intend to place blocks or bricks so I can move them in the winter for sure.
 
Simple is good.
I used $0.97 8' landscape timbers. I bought a few and tried building a rack, and then bought 900 more, and several hundred after that. The small racks have almost five 8' pieces. Two rails; two for the ends (4-4' pieces); 32" feet plus the end top caps 16" each; and some 2" x 4" to get enough height for forks. Plus a center support under the middle; four pieces of angle; buckets of lags and bolts. The big racks took 21 8' pieces and 12 pieces of angle. That's 24 bolts for the angle alone. I made templets to tack to each piece for drilling the bolt holes on the drill press.
Several years later the price of landscape timbers ranged from $2.97 to $3.97 each, and I said screw it. They were beginning to rot already, rot and dry rot. Too much work and money for a temporary rack, five years or less.
For small scale I think a big firewood bag on a pallet and one banding strap to hold it there to keep it from shifting tipping when moving. Stack of empty pallets and a box of firewood bags instead of empty racks scattered all over.DSCF2072.jpgIMG_0273.jpg
 
Sandhill, what material did you use to build these racks you made (both kinds)? it looks like landscape timbers? NSMaple1 used 4x4's it looks like. I have a large supply of 2x8's only, and was going to cut down pallets to make the "floor" inside of the 2x8's (doesn't look like you guys have floors in yours). The 2x8's increase the center of gravity and then "feet" and bricks or blocks will increase it more... Will have to try to build one and see how it works. I intend to place blocks or bricks so I can move them in the winter for sure.

A few of my long ones are made out of 2x4's. You can see the end of one in the third picture. There's 6 of them there on edge - the two middle ones catch each side of a double stack. Then I think the crosswise bottom skids on those ones are doubled up 2x4s. If you don't have any 4x4. Maybe you could rip your 2x8's in half? Don't see any reason for flooring - as long as something is there for the wood to rest on. Also that gives the bottom of the pile full exposure to air that is moving under the pallets - since they are well off the ground. Lots comes down to what you have to work with or can get cheap.
 
IMG_20180411_184952622.jpg IMG_20180411_185050019.jpg IMG_20180411_185105180.jpg Thought I would update this thread.

Used wood concrete forms that were part of my old house. They are 24"x8'. The sides are 2x8s. About 40" long. I nailed them with some weird spiral galvanized deck nails that I was about to scrap. I just cap the ends with logs longer than 24". I can fit about 9-10 wheelbarrow loads in each which is about 5 days worth of burning at pretty average winter temps. I spaced out the racks from the fence so I can trim all the way around them, and pick them up with the end loader with my non-conventional fork arrangement.

I think I will end up with 10 total racks before I run out of useable forms. Some wasted space, but seems pretty sturdy and uses minimum materials the short 24" board at the ends are very weak and often broken, but the 2x8s like this are really strong.

I must have cut up and burned a hundred of the forms and hundreds of warped or marginal 2x8 joists that would have been perfect for this already. Too bad..

Just wanted to thank everyone again for the great inspiration.
 
If I was going to make some for the house, I'd just use steel. C channel or square tube and make something that holds around 1/2 a cord or so.

That, or buy vented bulk bags. They are about $15/ea. It's what I use at the shop for storing and drying wood. Works well.

I use a yard tractor and cart at the house. Would be a PITA to bring the skid steer over, plus I don't want to drive it in my yard unless I really have to.
I only burn 2.5-3 cords a year so it's not too bad to deal with. The cart I have holds about 1/4 cord and I have a rack on my porch that holds about 1/2 a cord.
 
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