Hauling wood from wood pile to stove

[Gridlock]

My current process for hauling wood from the wood pile to the stove is:

1) Get wheelbarrow from garage and take to wood pile and fill completely
2) Bring wheelbarrow back into garage
3) Carry arm loads from wheelbarrow up flight of stairs into living room and place wood in rack

It takes about 8 arm loads to fill the rack, which I have to do every 2-3 days.

I them came across this: (broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5CV-WC20)

It occurred to me that instead of going from wood pile to garage, then up flight of stairs 8 times, that I can use the above wood hauler to go directly from wood pile to stove, also with fewer trips up the stairs. Anyone else using one of these (or something like it)? How do you haul wood from the wood pile to the stove?

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I usually have one or more of the kids load up the "otter" sled and haul it from the woodpile to a smaller rack which is on the porch just outside the living room. From there it's just several trips throughout the day to the porch and back to the stove.

Although room temperature wood helps maintain the draft, we'd rather not thaw out any ants that ride in on the wood.

 

[Got Wood]

I use a wheelbarrow or tractor supply pull cart for wood pile to garage, small rack in garage. From garage to house I have a canvas wood carrying bag. I like it because it keeps all the debris in the bag and the bag looks nice enough to put on the floor next to the fireplace.
I would think that pulling that cart fully loaded up a flight of stairs wont be a fun experience. Also if the ground is wet or muddy you would track that in the house.

 

[savageactor7]

Yup, got to 2nd the use of the wheelbarrow for efficient movement of wood for short hops.

We were discussing that piece of equiptment a few weeks ago and a couple posters have some good info on them. You can find that topic in the 'gear room' from what I remember yeah it'll go up stairs but you'll have to tighten of the spokes first ...and a few other things too.

Lately I've reduced bringing wood inside a 'project' instead I grab a couple of 1 arm loads every time I take the dogs out. Surprisingly I'm super way more happier doing that cause the dogs really love me for taking them out more often and I get to multi-task.

 

[Gridlock]

I use a wheelbarrow or tractor supply pull cart for wood pile to garage, small rack in garage. From garage to house I have a canvas wood carrying bag. I like it because it keeps all the debris in the bag and the bag looks nice enough to put on the floor next to the fireplace.

I tried that, but it's easier on my back to carry a load using both arms than with the handles of the canvas bag.

Also if the ground is wet or muddy you would track that in the house.

Hmmm, didn't think about that; although it wouldn't be much different than now since I track mud from my boots. I could always keep a towel nearby to wipe off the wheels.

 

[Gridlock]

I usually have one or more of the kids load up the "otter" sled and haul it from the woodpile to a smaller rack which is on the porch just outside the living room.

Are your kids for rent?

 

[ChillyGator]

I'm using the same thing that I got from a local Harbor Freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44599

a little cheaper (probably built cheaper too) but it works good ......check the width and make sure it will fit through your doors (I have to use front door).

I was using four loads in a canvas tote to fill my wood holder, this does it in one load.

 

[Gridlock]

Yup, got to 2nd the use of the wheelbarrow for efficient movement of wood for short hops.

We were discussing that piece of equiptment a few weeks ago and a couple posters have some good info on them. You can find that topic in the 'gear room' from what I remember yeah it'll go up stairs but you'll have to tighten of the spokes first ...and a few other things too.

Thanks; I'll need to find that post...

Lately I've reduced bringing wood inside a 'project' instead I grab a couple of 1 arm loads every time I take the dogs out. Surprisingly I'm super way more happier doing that cause the dogs really love me for taking them out more often and I get to multi-task.

I don't think my cats could care less!

 

[Gridlock]

I'm using the same thing that I got from a local Harbor Freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44599

a little cheaper (probably built cheaper too) but it works good ......check the width and make sure it will fit through your doors (I have to use front door).

I was using four loads in a canvas tote to fill my wood holder, this does it in one load.

Thanks for the link and good point about the width, particularly since I need to round a turn going up the stairs.

Harbor Freight's version is a lot cheaper, but interestingly it's capacity is listed at 200 pounds vs. 150 for the more expensive one.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Gridlock, we too have considered one of these carts. In fact, Cabela had theirs on sale a bit ago for only $70. I think they were just closing them out. I know they also have them at Harbor Freight but those are the ones people have had to tighten the spokes and I've heard of other problems. Usually Harbor Freight only handles very poor quality items so I'd stay away from them on this thing.

I thought too that it would work very good for going up a flight of stairs. I also figured we could pick up a cheap runner rug or strip of plastic to lay down to roll it over when entering the house. Then it could be rolled up and stored in the garage or somewhere else.

As for prices, I've seen them as high as $170, so that price is not bad of the one you looked at.

 

[Flatbedford]

Wheelbarrow loads to front porch. Canvas bag to stove. I can keep just about a one week supply on the covered front porch which is right outside the stove room.

 

[daryl]

I have been using one for about 16 years now. They are the cats meow. One trip two days worth of wood. Mine will fit through a 2/8 door. It also has spoked wheels,never had a problem with them.The big wheels make it easy too pull up a set of stairs.

 

[Gridlock]

I have been using one for about 16 years now. They are the cats meow. One trip two days worth of wood. Mine will fit through a 2/8 door. It also has spoked wheels,never had a problem with them.The big wheels make it easy too pull up a set of stairs.

Which one do you have? Some folks suggested that the Harbor Freight version might not be of great quality.

 

[Gridlock]

Gridlock, we too have considered one of these carts. In fact, Cabela had theirs on sale a bit ago for only $70. I think they were just closing them out. I know they also have them at Harbor Freight but those are the ones people have had to tighten the spokes and I've heard of other problems. Usually Harbor Freight only handles very poor quality items so I'd stay away from them on this thing.

I thought too that it would work very good for going up a flight of stairs. I also figured we could pick up a cheap runner rug or strip of plastic to lay down to roll it over when entering the house. Then it could be rolled up and stored in the garage or somewhere else.

As for prices, I've seen them as high as $170, so that price is not bad of the one you looked at.

I can't see much of a difference between them, at least as far as what I can see in the pictures. I wonder if the one sold by Northern Line is actually any different than Harbor Freight's version.

 

[daryl]

I have been using one for about 16 years now. They are the cats meow. One trip two days worth of wood. Mine will fit through a 2/8 door. It also has spoked wheels,never had a problem with them.The big wheels make it easy too pull up a set of stairs.

Which one do you have? Some folks suggested that the Harbor Freight version might not be of great quality.

I have no idea the dealer at the time through it in to close the deal. It does not have a sign placqe on the end though just a heavy criss cross wire brace in front.

 

[jhjove]

Gridlock, we too have considered one of these carts. In fact, Cabela had theirs on sale a bit ago for only $70. I think they were just closing them out. I know they also have them at Harbor Freight but those are the ones people have had to tighten the spokes and I've heard of other problems. Usually Harbor Freight only handles very poor quality items so I'd stay away from them on this thing.

I thought too that it would work very good for going up a flight of stairs. I also figured we could pick up a cheap runner rug or strip of plastic to lay down to roll it over when entering the house. Then it could be rolled up and stored in the garage or somewhere else.

As for prices, I've seen them as high as $170, so that price is not bad of the one you looked at.

I can't see much of a difference between them, at least as far as what I can see in the pictures. I wonder if the one sold by Northern Line is actually any different than Harbor Freight's version.

I got the Harbor Freight unit. I saw the Northern price and decided to try out Harbor Freight. Works well for me. I use it to move cut logs from
the woods to my stack. The one thing I have to monitor are the bolts that attach the tube steel to the metal/wheel frame. I need to add some lock washers.
So far I've had it for 2 years and use it hard. Probably the biggest issue is making sure the logs are cut so that they don't interfere with the spokes/wheels. And stacking the cart can be tricky due to this. Also I have a bunch of bungies/straps to keep the logs in place. I'm not sure if the Northern has fenders or wheel guards to keep the logs from touching the spokes/wheels.

 

[Gridlock]

Gridlock, we too have considered one of these carts. In fact, Cabela had theirs on sale a bit ago for only $70. I think they were just closing them out. I know they also have them at Harbor Freight but those are the ones people have had to tighten the spokes and I've heard of other problems. Usually Harbor Freight only handles very poor quality items so I'd stay away from them on this thing.

I thought too that it would work very good for going up a flight of stairs. I also figured we could pick up a cheap runner rug or strip of plastic to lay down to roll it over when entering the house. Then it could be rolled up and stored in the garage or somewhere else.

As for prices, I've seen them as high as $170, so that price is not bad of the one you looked at.

I can't see much of a difference between them, at least as far as what I can see in the pictures. I wonder if the one sold by Northern Line is actually any different than Harbor Freight's version.

I got the Harbor Freight unit. I saw the Northern price and decided to try out Harbor Freight. Works well for me. I use it to move cut logs from
the woods to my stack. The one thing I have to monitor are the bolts that attach the tube steel to the metal/wheel frame. I need to add some lock washers.
So far I've had it for 2 years and use it hard. Probably the biggest issue is making sure the logs are cut so that they don't interfere with the spokes/wheels. And stacking the cart can be tricky due to this. Also I have a bunch of bungies/straps to keep the logs in place. I'm not sure if the Northern has fenders or wheel guards to keep the logs from touching the spokes/wheels.

The also have this version: (broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5CV-SC20) which seems easier to load preventing the wood from interfering with the wheels/spokes. I am leaning toward that version.

 

[LLigetfa]

It looks too top heavy to use on uneven ground.

 

[Bubbavh]

I fill this up and pull it into garage. From there I fill up banana boxes that I get from the local food stores. The boxes are strong and I cut the pieces from the lid to cover the hole in the bottom. You could even stack the boxes on your wood racks then just grab a box. I have 10 of them filled right now because of the "snowicane" that is coming. Free plentiful and disposable!

 

[Gooserider]

I have two of the HF wood carts, and think they are well worth the money. However I found it interesting that even though they both have the same part number and description, they are significantly different... My older one matches the description, but the spokes on the wheels were loose when I got them, and they got progressively worse until one of them collapsed on me.

This is when I got the second cart, which I left in the box for several months because I was able to get the local pedal-bike shop to fix the wheels from the first cart (cost me about $10 a wheel) Now they wobble a lot, but the cart is usable...

I then had a friend ask me to help him move some wood while my old cart was full, so I decided to put the new one together - I found it had MUCH stronger wheels - the hubs were about an inch wider, and the spokes were significantly heavier duty - however the tires and tubes were still crap - my friend blew one tire and tube off just trying to air it up at assembly....

Subsequently, I discovered that while the old cart fit through a standard door no problem (albeit without a lot of room to spare) the new cart would NOT - I got out the tape measure and started comparing the two carts and found that the people at HF had compensated for the new stronger wheels by making the axle longer, with the result that the cart was wider than the dimension listed in the catalog...

After discovering this, it was only a couple of hours work to trim about an inch off the ends of the axle, the same off the pipe wheel spacers, and drill new holes for the cotter pins. The result was a cart that was the same width as the old one, and which would now go through doors w/o a problem... It IS narrower between the wheels, so I would say that the maximum split length it could fit would be about 21", but since I cut to 18" and reject anything over 20", that isn't a big deal. (because of the distance between the rails, it won't carry anything shorter than 12-14" either) Since the much stronger wheels on this cart actually run true, I find it is no harder to center the logs that need to fit between the wheels on this cart than I do on the wobbly wheeled older version... Once you get the logs stacked higher than the wheels the centering is not critical anyway.

As another part of fixing the cart, I had to replace the tire that my friend blew up - went to Wal-mart and got a couple of tires, and even though they were much more expensive, decided to try a pair of the new "No-more-flats" solid foam rubber "tubes" they were selling - about $14 each instead of $6 for the regular tubes.... These are a hard foam rubber donut that go into the tire instead of a tube, with the claim that they won't ever go flat, and never need air (and have no fill valve)... They are a BEAST to install - the instructions say to use lots of soap, and they aren't kidding, I found that you basically need to completely coat the tube and the inside of the tire with soap to get them installed. However I've been very happy with the result - the tires are nice and hard, roll well, and it's nice not to have to worry about ever blowing them up again...

Another difference I did notice, is that the new cart holds less wood than the old one - however, putting the two carts side by side, I don't think this is because of a design change on HF's part, but more that the old cart has gotten a bit "splayed out" where the tubes have bent out just enough that they are more angled, giving a bit more capacity than the new cart - just says I need to overload the new cart more... :coolsmirk:

I use the cart during heating season to bring wood into the house - which involves dragging it up eight or nine steps depending on how you want to count... Not "fun" but the big wheels make it about as easy as such a task can be - it is no worse than using an appliance dolly.

In the summer I use it for moving wood from the backup stacks to the wood shed, and any other wood moving tasks, including dragging stuff that I've cut out of the woods - does a good job of that. The only limitation I've found is that it doesn't like large (over about 12") rounds as they seem to put to much "point load" strain on the cart instead of a distributed load. Not a big deal, I just use a different cart for the bigger rounds.

IMHO the HF cart may take some extra work to put into service, but it's worth it.

Gooserider

 

[ChillyNoMore]

I recently purchased a Landmann Wood Caddy on clearance at Lowes:
http://www.amazon.com/Landmann-82427-Caddy-Cover-Black/dp/B0017K651A

I have used it once so far to haul a big load of wood into the house. It worked just fine and is narrow enough to fit through the front door. The wheels seem to be quite solid and had no problem getting up a few steps. Once in the house, it provides a compact way to store a bunch of splits (probably its biggest advantage over using a good ol' fashioned wheelbarrow).

The only challenge I have encountered is that when the caddy is fully loaded, it is quite heavy to pull upwards (steps or slopes). But hey, part of the charm of being a wood burner is the exercise, right?

Happy hauling!

 

[nojo]

All this moving wood from cart to racks is for the birds.

I made these racks that are 18wide X 36 tall. I take them outside and fill them with wood, Then use a dolly to bring them inside. Once inside I just put the rack in position. Only had to load it once and get about a 3 day supply depending on weather.

 

[billb3]

wheelbarrow to front porch / canvas tote

 

[Gridlock]

Thanks for all the very helpful information!

I ended up getting this one: (broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5CV-SC20).

I like the large tires for going up the stairs, and the fact that it's narrow enough (24 inches) to negotiate the door openings. By the way their website mentions the width is 27 inches which is incorrect. I have to give kudos to northlineexpress who called me back within 30 minutes to find out what the actual width is. They also mentioned that this model is easier on the back particularly when climbing stairs than this one: (broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5CV-WC20). Hopefully it will be balance well enough despite carrying the wood higher as someone here had suggested it might not. I do like that the wood can't interfere with the wheels in this model.

 

[LLigetfa]

All this moving wood from cart to racks is for the birds.

I made these racks that are 18wide X 36 tall. I take them outside and fill them with wood, Then use a dolly to bring them inside. Once inside I just put the rack in position. Only had to load it once and get about a 3 day supply depending on weather.

Now you're thinking! I've been thinking about the same sort of concept except I'd need to use two dollies, an outside one with larger rugged tires and an inside one with non-scuff gray tires. They make these fold-up models for indoor use.
http://content.etilize.com/Large/11968979.jpg