Stacking...

[Sandhill Crane]

Not everyone stacks, but I do and for me, this is the slowest part of the process. So I was thinking for a long time, for as long as it took me to stack three and a half 12' high piles. And when I was done cleaning up, stacked every piece, still had no idea of how to do it quicker. Late this fall I straightened up the shed, moved some lumber and scaffold bucks back to their proper spot against the wall. It took another month to get to it, but this is what Im trying. What little I've done, maybe a 1/3 cord, so far it seems twice as fast, and much easier than picking off the ground and loading one arm full while bent over. Just have to stack more often!View attachment 277018

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Having technical difficulties. Must be the weather...

 

[Icehouse]

You should be proud, looks like a great, neat system.

 

[dave_376]

how do you keep the wood from dumping out when they are upside down.:hmm3grin2orange:


It looks good to mee

 

[CTYank]

Looks like what I built late this spring- pix to follow eventually. 6'H x 4'W x 2.5'D inside.

A "leaky bin" with peaked roof and partially-removable front mid-section. Facing south. My stove takes 8-inchers; bandsaw is right inside the adjacent door. (Ever tried to stack 8-inchers? Don't.)

Sides & bottom are spaced bandsawn 2 x 2. Painted white. Excellent airflow.

8-inchers, odds, ends and uglies go into bin. About a ton as air-dried. Come winter, 2 steps out the door and fill a bag. With wind & sun there, red oak shorties burn well after one summer, a plus.

 

[tld400]

Looks like what I built late this spring- pix to follow eventually. 6'H x 4'W x 2.5'D inside.

A "leaky bin" with peaked roof and partially-removable front mid-section. Facing south. My stove takes 8-inchers; bandsaw is right inside the adjacent door. (Ever tried to stack 8-inchers? Don't.)

Sides & bottom are spaced bandsawn 2 x 2. Painted white. Excellent airflow.

8-inchers, odds, ends and uglies go into bin. About a ton as air-dried. Come winter, 2 steps out the door and fill a bag. With wind & sun there, red oak shorties burn well after one summer, a plus.

What type of a wood stove do you have that will only take 8" pieces. My stove can take 28" pieces but I cut 16" and alot of 10" to. I like small pieces but it is a pain to stack like you said.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

View attachment 277049View attachment 277050View attachment 277052View attachment 277053Thought I'd try this again.

 

[Gavman]

Thats a neat idea, and cool conveyor.... Got specs on it to share...

 

[Uncle John]

View attachment 277049View attachment 277050View attachment 277052View attachment 277053Thought I'd try this again.

Thats better. It'll stack better now that you aren't working against gravity....:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[jthornton]

I built a conveyer for a buddy some years ago using the open link chain like you find on the old farm conveyers with the sides at an angle he could sit and split and toss on the conveyer and off it went to a big pile.

John

 

[BrokenToys]

That's how they stack wood in Australia though so the first set of pictures are correct.:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Gavman: The conveyor is a 28' Built-Rite w/rubber belt. Love it! Bought it used on line and drove to Iowa to get it. It is great watching the splits pile up.
However... To pile up several piles, you need to move the conveyor, which means moving the splitter and also the cut-off table. Then there is the task of stacking one piece at a time. That is how all things get done in life, but in the beginning it was exhausting to look at the piles and even think about stacking. And now it is done! But I was not anxious to do it again and thought of eliminating the conveyor all together. Splitting a small pile, 1/2 cord at most, then stacking. Sell the conveyor. But that really wouldn't change much, save moving equipment. Still bent over loading one arm full... The scaffold bucks I had, minus an x-brace that could not be found. I bought the long screw legs and out riggers (they are called something else) used from a scaffold supply house. One new x-brace, 2x4x8's treated, 1/2" treated ply, 4x4x8' on 12" centers on the bottom. Measures 6'8"(?)x4'+x8' high (213 cu. ft approx.); whatever that is loose thrown, so about a cord. This is an experiment. If I was to build one from scratch the top would be narrower than the bottom by a foot or so in width and depth to eliminate any chance of jambing. May still do that if it proves to be a problem. One draw back is the tendency to reach in with the hand. I use a hook-a-roon to pull a bunch of splits forward, so as not to get clobbered/guilitined(sp?) in the wrist or hand by shifting and dropping splits. I think narrowing the top would eliminate much of that. Needs a tarp over the top for snow, or to be used more often. With the shorter hours of daylight and some weekend side work to catch up on, no splitting for now. I am anxious though to run a few cord through it and give an update. Previously the 4'x4'x6' rack (3/4 cord) in the pictures took two hours plus to stack from piles. Thanks. I enjoy learning, and sharing on Arboristsite.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I like it! If I ever get my conveyor made, I'll have to make a box like that for the tractor bucket.

Have always thought one of those piggy back forklifts would be the cat's meow too, as long as the terrain isn't too bad. How do ya like it?

 

[Bushmans]

That is a really cool idea! I'll have to show pics to a guy at work. He has a conveyor and two huge piles of splits. Nice work!

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Steve NW WI: Mostly I bought the lift to save my back in the processing stage. A piggyback forklift, unlike a tractor, is a specialty piece of equipment with little or no cross use, that's the dis-advantage. The advantage is the lifting capacity, maneuverability, and the piggyback feature: 6500# between the wheels, but much less when extended as in picking off a truck. The 3/4 cord racks sometimes gently tip at full extension, and vision on a 6'+ high load requires backing up. I can easily see over the 4' racks. If Oak is 5,800# green, than 3/4x5,800=4,350 plus the rack. When seasoned they might lose, what, 1,000#'s ? I would need a huge tractor to come close to that. As for piggyback, well, I just bought a much smaller truck that will not handle it, a well worn 2000 Topkick 5500, and am considering for the time being, a fifth wheel trailer with three ramps. Money is definitely a factor in any choice. The lift is three wheel hydraulic drive and maneuvers very tightly. I use it just for firewood, placing logs on a cutting bench and moving filled racks. I obviously want to deliver with it also. Just not there yet. Had a woman starting her website design business set up this a few weeks ago. Kind of late for this season, but a start. flamedancefirewood.com Like stacking; one piece at a time. You can carry buckets of water, or build a pipeline, one is slower in the beginning and the other slower in the end. I'm just enjoying this, and far from making money at it at this point.

 

[T. Mainus]

We stack all of our wood as well. Use and old hay elevator to load either the truck or the barge box. We have thought about buying an old gravity wagon for corn/grain and trying that. The sides are sloped already, just thought the wood would get stuck .

View attachment 277147View attachment 277148.

 

[trailmaker]

That's a great labor saving idea. I was thinking of trying something along those lines but I live in steep terrain so I would just back my utv up to the "hopper" and dump it in. The "hopper" would look like a children's slide but much bigger.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

T. Mainus: In sloping the sides it would be opposite a grain wagon, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, so as to let the pieces drop freely and not jamb in a constricting funnel. In my case the bottom and top are the same, roughly 4x7. If I brought the top in 6" on each side, or even 1', to 2'x5' top and 4'x7' bottom, when you pull off the open side at the bottom the load should shift down of it's own accord. I have to use what I have for a bit more, but I'm open to ideas and suggestions.