# Outdoor to Indoor Wood Butler



## Martin Strand III (Feb 12, 2011)

Maybe it's just me.  I gotta believe someone or two out there feel the same as me on this one.  

There's gotta be a better way of getting seasoned wood inside for short term storage just before burning than treking it through the house a couple times a week.
It's been done with coal bins and laundry chutes; why not wood bins or is everyone doin' it except me?

I'm talking about a slooce-way (aka wood butler - I prefer this term to 'dumb waiter') from outside to inside the house very close to where the wood is needed near the stove.  And insulated so you don't have to buy an oversized stove to compensate for affluent cold air leakage created by the butler.  And critter proof so as not to be host to uninvited rodent woodstock parties.  And enough volume (say 1/4 cord: 32 cu ft) for several days so as not to become a slave to the thing.  And, of course, weather proof to keep the inside of the house different than the outside.  "Pretty" would be nice but is in the mind's eye anyway.

I'm talking diagrams for the thing with dimensions, latches, hinges, insulation and weather stripping, all spelled out.  Yup, cookbook style.

Any Paul Bunyon wannabees out there with some *solid plans*?

Aye,
Marty


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## LLigetfa (Feb 12, 2011)

The problem with a sluice is the water in it freezing.  That and your nice dry wood would get wet.

You could setup a button line conveyor system.  Essentially they are a sluice or pipe with 2 or 3 lines that have buttons the size of the sluice or pipe ID, spaced so that the splits can fit between them.  Problem with that is that you need a return on all the lines.  Instead of a line and return, you could have several "boats" that you shuttle back and forth with air pressure and vacuum if you went with a pipe instead of a sluice.  Kinda like the air tube mail delivery systems in old buildings.

I've also thought of building a railroad using pipe for tracks and removing the tires from the carts so the rims ride the tracks.  Kinda like in a coal mine.


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## Cowboy Billy (Feb 12, 2011)

No plans but there are some ideas in this link.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/33384/

Billy


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## snowleopard (Feb 12, 2011)

I had an aunt that lived in the WI northwoods, and their small-ish front porch had a large-ish woodbox in it.  It was what we call an arctic entry--an enclosed porch with an outer door and an inner door.  The woodbox was a pass-through, so it could be accessed either through the porch or inside the house; outer door could stand open while the woodbox was filled--I'm guessing it held about a week's worth of wood.   I thought that was way cool when I was a kid.  Of course, she also had the wit to have had three sons, and that was central to the system working as well as it did. 

The problem I would see--for me--with the wood-in-a-box system is that I'd get annoyed by having to access the wood through that each time, plus my wood benefits from the warmth and drying that it gets by sitting out stacked for a few days indoors.   So I found a compromise between carrying in armloads of wood (boo hiss for all the obvious reasons), having a mobile wood cart (which would then be in the way when I wasn't using it), and having an indoor-outdoor passthrough that would require modifications I don't want to make.  

My system is cave-level tech, but works well for what I need.  I have a rack under my deck, next to the door of my sunroom.  Just beyond the rack is my chopping block. One day when I was carrying wood by the sledload from chopping block to rack, I looked at my cargo sled, eyeballed the width of sled and sunroom door, opened the door and kept on going to the wood rack at the other end of the sunroom.  The sled slides across the tile floor w/no apparent harm done.  I sort the wood there into the rack or into a box for smaller pieces, and knock off bark, snow, etc. into the sled.  Three sled-loads fill the rack, lasts me about three days when it's around zero or above.  Takes about ten minutes to fill the rack, unless I'm chopping wood directly into the sled. The rack is about 5-6 steps from the loading door of the stove, so it benefits from the warmth of the stove in bringing it up to temps.  (I've sat next to a stack of freshly-fetched wood when it's -20 and had to move because so much cold came off of it: the anti-stove.)

Next summer I may put fasteners in the indoor rack to make it a permentent configuration, and possibly put industrial casters under it.  Then I could roll the stack to the door, and fill it, roll it back to its spot.  (However, to make that work, I'd have to leave the door standing  open while I filled it.  I'm not sure that it would be an improvement over the sled.  The casters would be a good thing for moving it to sweep under, however.)   My first year w/wood in this house--we all figure things out as we go, and have fun doing it, right?


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## Martin Strand III (Feb 12, 2011)

My relatives go back to cave men.  No biggie.  So do yours.

After discovering fire, they came up with other good ideas.

Like putting rocks near fire to retain heat after the fire went out.
Like using fire to cook food (except sushi).
Like beheading critters on wood blocks to not dull their tools.
Like using animals to drag heavy loads on wood poles.
Like using herbs to cure maladies.

Strange, maybe that's why I now

* Use thermal mass to maximize heat output
* Use fire to cook food (except sushi)
* Split rounds on a wood block to create firewood
* Use a tractor to drag large logs to the wood work site
* Use my Jet Sled to drag splits to the house
* Over season my food.

But if they used rocks for doors to their cave,
no wonder they had no primitive pass thru for wood.

Aye,
Marty, a modern day cave man
PS:  They didn't do so well with chimneys until much later.


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## Thistle (Feb 12, 2011)

Pass-through woodbox in basement family room,approx 3' x 3' square  x 2' deep opening in hollow claytile non-load bearing wall in walkout basement of 85+ yr old house with 2 car garage underneath.Other side of wall where hinged door is in garage/shop there's room for about 3 times amount on floor.I can get roughly 2-3 days storage total.Not much more cause I need room to walk or climb around lumber stacks.


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## Martin Strand III (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions and photos guys!

I'm retiring into my cave to think of what could work for me.

Aye,
Marty


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## Martin Strand III (Feb 13, 2011)

Actually, this reminds me of my old sailing days: trying to find a remedy for an unusual situation.

"Jury rigging" or "Barber Hauling" comes to mind.

In other words, there may not be a "pat" answer which fits all situations.
Just use sound principles based, good ideas and imagination to come up with
a solution which fits your particular circumstance.

Then, if it's really good, share.

Aye,
Marty


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## gpcollen1 (Feb 14, 2011)

I set up some winter wood storage in the garage.  Usually I just use pallets to make a bin that holds two rows of wood.  I can stack it to the ceiling if I want to.  I fill it up about once per week whether I need to or not...


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## Martin Strand III (Feb 14, 2011)

Here's my initial plan to build on the back side of the house and enclose the wood pass thru.

The 'shed' should hold about 90 - 100 cu ft (3' x 5' x 6') of stacked wood aside the entrance way, keep it dry and provide a sheltered 
enclosed area to load the inside storage bin next to the fireplace.

Arrg,
Marty


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## SolarAndWood (Feb 15, 2011)

I'd put about 8" of gravel in for a floor with a 4" pipe coming out of it headed downhill.


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## wi_wood (Mar 5, 2011)

Same questions here.  Came up with some ideas on my own- no info available on-line which is not surprising seeing as how not many people thinking burning wood and no one seems to do anything for themselves anymore or is afraid to.  

Anyway- I had a friend who's parents house had one of these and it was so slick.  Basically just a one-piece wood box that passed through the wall and had hinged upward-opening doors on each end.  You could side it and roof it just like your house on the outside if you wanted.  Tough part is keeping it mouse and insect proof long-term.  With wood you'd have to have a good seal on the top and be sure to caulk all the joints at the angles.  The seal on top would have to be a compressible rubber or similiar material.  As for home security issues, that can be addresses simply by putting a lock on the outside- no big deal.  Yes if a bearing wall you will need to put in a header to span the width of the box- no big deal.  

Here is another idea I came up with:  Buy a double opening across-the-box truck tool box and stick that half way in and half way out.  Finish tight enough around the box so you could use caulk to keep out the critters.  Build whatever kind of fancy decorative box you want to cover the truck box with on the inside and outside (insulate it if you wish). Make the lid hinged just like the above idea.  Or if you are a true redneck just leave the truck box exposed.  Truck box is critter proof (if a good one), rain-proof, lockable, and won't decompose over time.  Only thing you would want to do is cut in a screened vent on the outside to keep the wood from rotting in the box, if you are going to keep it in there for long.  This should be done for the wooden box idea above as well.  

Other idea:  Have a triangular metal trough made that pivots on the acute angle of the triangle and which is mounted in your wall.  Pivot it outward to fill, inward to expose wood to the interior of the house.  you would leave it in this position till empty, then go outside and pull on handle, pivot down, fill, and pivot back up.  Not sure if I am describing this effectively but just an idea at this point.  Again you could cover the inside with a decorative box- the sealing out of critters would be done by having a flexible seal around the perimeter of the outer face.  You would need a good tin-knocker (sheet metal worker) to build this for you and without a plan would likely cost you some $.  Anyway- good luck and some else chime in with good ideas.  No reason to be walking and carrying wood through your house- if I were buying a house and I knew that would be the case I would not see that as a positive, however, if had a wood box similiar to the above I would really value it, if well-done.


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## Martin Strand III (Mar 5, 2011)

WIWood - 

Check on the sealants/gaskets for sealing the box.

Triangular pivoting sheet metal storage idea is very interesting.
The only negatives on this so far is the additional cost over a
regular insulated lined box and the space/volume of wood storage
loss from the metal pivot device itself.  But, I'll think more on it.

Aye,
Marty


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## wi_wood (Mar 5, 2011)

I have seen a fair amount of basement windows converted to a chute to an interior wood box as well here in WI.  This is a awesome solution, but you have to have your woodstove in the basement and within reach of a chute from the window obviously.  You just put a hinged door w/gasket in place of the window, then build a wood or metal simple chute to get the wood to slide in to your wood box.  Here is a link to the truck box I was referring to in my last post:  
http://www.weatherguard.com/truck_tool_boxes/view_products.php?subcat_id=12

You can find them used sometimes on craigslist but woudl have to be sure it had a gasket or else critters would get in.  I still think this idea has best practical potential for me to use in my situation (cabin, new construction).


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