Zipline firewood retrieval

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sw18x

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Ok, you can all say I'm crazy but my best buddy installed a wood furnace in his walkout basement and he's always complaining about how wet his backyard is and what a pain it is to grab wood from his pile at the back of his lot. He lives on about 1/2 acre so his wood pile is only 70 feet away, right next to a big old maple. I told him if I lived there I'd install a zipline downhill from the tree to a post right next to his basement entrance, then rig up some kind of carrier that would hold a few armfuls of wood. If he was really ambitious he could install a second zipline to the pile and he wouldn't even have to get his feet wet in the snow. This guy can engineer anything and usually does but so far he's not biting at my suggestion. I gotta go back to him with something because I'm dying to see the neighbors' faces when he zips back and forth across his lawn next January every couple of days to grab wood. Tell me one of you guys hasn't tried something like this before? If you have then I'd love to hear from you or better yet see a pic or video.
 
If it were me I consider excavating and installing a gravel path and just wheel barrel it the 70 ft or so.
 
He still would have to walk over to the pile to load up the carrier...would be slick as a toy thing though...

I would think better is a carport, maybe cheap/used, next to the basement loading area, sitting on a load of gravel, and store the wood there.

Bugs become much less of an issue if the wood is up off the ground and actually dry, so there wouldn't be a problem with storing the wood closer to the basement.
 
There is a video on YouTube of a man using a line strung between trees in the woods to bring logs out of the woods right to his wood pile for processing. Not big logs, but might be worth a look. I'm guessing this is what you have in mind. It could definitely be adapted to what you are thinking. Search nauceders homemade wood processing. The part you want to see is past the halfway point, so be patient. Guy has some good ideas.
 
My grandfather had something like a zipline rigged up to get wood out of the swamp when I was a kid. It was about a 1/2" cable that he rigged up somehow between two trees on oposite sides of the swamp and then built a cart for the wood. The cart hung from the wire like a chair lift at a ski resort. Only differnece was the cart had a big wheel on it to roll on the wire. I never saw him use it as I was too young. It is probably still there today. The land was sold 18 years ago now so I can't get you pictures. He used this up until he got a 4wheeler and pulled the wood out during the winter when the swamp was frozen.
 
Be aware that downhill yarding can be treacherous--he'll need room for the chunks to slow down and stop. Production is cut in half when compared to uphill yarding.

[video=youtube;wuDZGOx3rfE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuDZGOx3rfE&feature=share&list=TLxNT1zbg25J0[/video]
 
Ok, you can all say I'm crazy but my best buddy installed a wood furnace in his walkout basement and he's always complaining about how wet his backyard is and what a pain it is to grab wood from his pile at the back of his lot. He lives on about 1/2 acre so his wood pile is only 70 feet away, right next to a big old maple. I told him if I lived there I'd install a zipline downhill from the tree to a post right next to his basement entrance, then rig up some kind of carrier that would hold a few armfuls of wood. If he was really ambitious he could install a second zipline to the pile and he wouldn't even have to get his feet wet in the snow. This guy can engineer anything and usually does but so far he's not biting at my suggestion. I gotta go back to him with something because I'm dying to see the neighbors' faces when he zips back and forth across his lawn next January every couple of days to grab wood. Tell me one of you guys hasn't tried something like this before? If you have then I'd love to hear from you or better yet see a pic or video.

OK, You're crazy.

Im going to suggest a pair of Mukluks and a power wheelbarrow.
 
If he that big a weiney -wuss don't sound like he needs to be burning wood anyway!! Bet he buys all of it and bitches about every stick!!!!!!!
 
If he that big a weiney -wuss don't sound like he needs to be burning wood anyway!! Bet he buys all of it and bitches about every stick!!!!!!!

I was rather thinking the same thing. He's apparently not that bright either - put the wood pile right next to the house then it won't be a problem.
 
everything on this site is that old this time of year on this site , time to put it in shed shed till fall
 
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