How do you get to your firewood?

[Jeffm1]

How do you get to your firewood?
....Old rail ties as well as new rail ties.

Yes, burning creosote soaked railroad ties really puts hair on your chest, don’t it?!

 

[ZZ Tom]

I pull right up to it with the truck. If not, I'm not working that hard...

 

[Ashful]

On the subject of hauling wood, but in this case it’s from the stacks to my patio, I picked up a new toy... err, tool this week. It has a 4000 lb rating, so it should hold a full cord of hardwood. Fill, haul, park, done.

 

[FishKiller]

when i used to have to get into the woods to get wood, my technique was a woods truck. something like an old 4wd Toyota, throw some junk yard mud tires on it and figure out a trail to get to where you need to get to. however, now i just load up the trailer and the tundra and throw the rounds on the process pile... if they are too big to manage, i split by hand on location. but i also do tree work on the side these days, so I'm spoiled.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

On the subject of hauling wood, but in this case it’s from the stacks to my patio, I picked up a new toy... err, tool this week. It has a 4000 lb rating, so it should hold a full cord of hardwood. Fill, haul, park, done.

View attachment 217010

View attachment 217011

Brilliant, Ash. I've been scheming on this very idea since last year. Mobile wood shed. Huge labor saver.

Mine is a two wheeled 5'x7' trailer someone dropped off at the house last summer when I wasn't home. Came with a tongue jack, and I'm going to put it on blocks when full to save the tires. For this year I'll have to settle for a tarp on top, hope to have a "carport" arrangement by next season.

 

[webfish]

Back my wood haulin truck into the garage.

 

[Manly]

Manly,
You don't really burn ties and poles do you? Are you an OWB owner?

Full disclosure. I don't steal, encroach or poach. Nor do I burn rail ties. Actually get all my wood delivered by a tree cutting friend who drops off truckloads of good hardwood. I buck, split and stack. Burn about 3.5 cord per year in a Jotul #3, supplemented with about 3/4 ton of pellets in a Ravelli Francesca, and zero oil. Sorry about the original response. My mind takes off at times. Old war injury. But that's another story for another day.

 

[Ashful]

Mine is a two wheeled 5'x7' trailer someone dropped off at the house last summer when I wasn't home. Came with a tongue jack, and I'm going to put it on blocks when full to save the tires. For this year I'll have to settle for a tarp on top, hope to have a "carport" arrangement by next season.

I've been telling myself the tires won't be an issue, since it will never sit it one spot more than 2-3 weeks. Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see.

Currently, with the stock low sides on it, I'll only be able to fill it with about 1/2 cord, which means I'll be hauling it down to the wood lot to refill it almost every week, this winter. Next summer, I will be making some time to do the cutting/welding work required to make it narrower, so it fits on the porch with better walking room round it. At that time, I'll be adding taller sides and ends, so it will hold a full cord of wood, and give me 2 - 3 weeks between refills.

I will say these articulated wagons are almost impossible to back into a spot like that, and I'm damn good at backing up trailers. If my tractor ROPS would clear that porch overhang, I could have gone with a much simpler tandem-axle trailer, but as it is I have to push this thing in backwards using the front-end loader. It weighs about 5000 lb. loaded, so pushing it by hand over that rough natural flagstone floor is not a great option. The wagon does have the advantage of being stable, if someone were to unload it in a fashion that left it tail-heavy, something that could be dangerous with a regular tandem-axle trailer.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I've been telling myself the tires won't be an issue, since it will never sit it one spot more than 2-3 weeks. Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see.

Currently, with the stock low sides on it, I'll only be able to fill it with about 1/2 cord, which means I'll be hauling it down to the wood lot to refill it almost every week, this winter. Next summer, I will be making some time to do the cutting/welding work required to make it narrower, so it fits on the porch with better walking room round it. At that time, I'll be adding taller sides and ends, so it will hold a full cord of wood, and give me 2 - 3 weeks between refills.

I will say these articulated wagons are almost impossible to back into a spot like that, and I'm damn good at backing up trailers. If my tractor ROPS would clear that porch overhang, I could have gone with a much simpler tandem-axle trailer, but as it is I have to push this thing in backwards using the front-end loader. It weighs about 5000 lb. loaded, so pushing it by hand over that rough natural flagstone floor is not a great option. The wagon does have the advantage of being stable, if someone were to unload it in a fashion that left it tail-heavy, something that could be dangerous with a regular tandem-axle trailer.

What's the weight rating on the wagon?

I've had tires go flat under load too many times to risk it myself.

 

[Ashful]

4000 lb payload rating.

Maybe I'll make quick-drop outriggers to the list of mod's, when I tear it apart for narrowing, next summer.

 

[skw]

Your gear is bigger than my gear! (That's to everyone, except the one person who carries it out by hand.)

Right now, I am using a Cub Cadet LAWN tractor pulling a little PLASTIC dump trailer. I am cutting with a Stihl MS 290, and then splitting with an AX right on one of the stumps. I throw the little 10" long logs into the plastic dump trailer, and haul it up to my truck, which is a Chevrolet Colorado with like a 4.5 foot bed. It is a 2006, so it isn't as big as the new Colorado.

Still, I managed this last weekend:

The steel stake gives it some support on the close end so it doesn't spill out past the barn. The wood is held up off the ground by 2 scraps wide of pressure treated 2x6. The pile is mixture of Cherry and several other woods that the power company cut right behind my current house, and the woodpile is stacked behind the barn where our new house (with the stove) will be. I have some metal scraps from the construction of the barn that I will use to rig a bit of a roof.

 

[Ashful]

Your gear is bigger than my gear! (That's to everyone, except the one person who carries it out by hand.)

It all comes down to time vs labor vs what you already own for other needs. Five years ago my equipment was a 1965 Cub Cadet, a plastic tub utility trailer, an 8 lb maul, and a 20 year old 50cc Echo 510EVL. My economic and time constraints have shifted, since then.

Run what you brung, and except for stealing good ideas when you see them, don’t worry what others are doing.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Your gear is bigger than my gear! (That's to everyone, except the one person who carries it out by hand.)

Right now, I am using a Cub Cadet LAWN tractor pulling a little PLASTIC dump trailer. I am cutting with a Stihl MS 290, and then splitting with an AX right on one of the stumps. I throw the little 10" long logs into the plastic dump trailer, and haul it up to my truck, which is a Chevrolet Colorado with like a 4.5 foot bed. It is a 2006, so it isn't as big as the new Colorado.

Still, I managed this last weekend:
View attachment 217071

The steel stake gives it some support on the close end so it doesn't spill out past the barn. The wood is held up off the ground by 2 scraps wide of pressure treated 2x6. The pile is mixture of Cherry and several other woods that the power company cut right behind my current house, and the woodpile is stacked behind the barn where our new house (with the stove) will be. I have some metal scraps from the construction of the barn that I will use to rig a bit of a roof.

Keep on keeping on, skw. I'm still working my way up like you, but if you have the time and inclination, you'll move mountains.

I really liked Ashful's post, 'cause he started like us, and now he's hauling wood in by the semi-trailer load to feed those wood sippin' BK's of his, and still probably saving tons of dough compared to burning fossil fuels for heat.

Upgrade when the opportunity strikes, if you like. I think a solid trailer to pull behind that truck of yours might be your biggest bang for the buck?

 

[cptoneleg]

I skid it all out with a Ford tractor, then winch it onto my trailer for hauling home.

View attachment 216876

What year is that Ford I have a 1944 2n its 4 years older than I am.

 

[Hasufel]

Your gear is bigger than my gear! (That's to everyone, except the one person who carries it out by hand.)

So you're saying my gear is smallest of all? Thanks, I've been needing a confidence boost!

 

[Ashful]

What year is that Ford I have a 1944 2n its 4 years older than I am.

I'll have to ask the owner when I see him on Wednesday, but I think it's early 1970's. That's not me on the tractor, but a good friend of mine. I do most the cutting and ground work, and he does the skidding, since I'm about 35 years his junior. My tractor is the only-slightly newer Deere shown in post 28 of this thread, which does the job for me, but I have grown fond of that old Ford.

 

[Sodbuster]

Those white rocks are awfully clean, do you put a tarp under the splitter when splitting to catch the wood crumbs?

I cut and split in the woods for that reason alone, although a backpack blower does a pretty good job of cleanup.

 

[Sodbuster]

I'll have to ask the owner when I see him on Wednesday, but I think it's early 1970's. That's not me on the tractor, but a good friend of mine. I do most the cutting and ground work, and he does the skidding, since I'm about 35 years his junior. My tractor is the only-slightly newer Deere shown in post 28 of this thread, which does the job for me, but I have grown fond of that old Ford.

Looks like a Ford 4000 series to me.

 

[Ashful]

Looks like a Ford 4000 series to me.

I think it's a 3000, but don't quote me on that.

edit: I forgot to mention, it has a Fiat engine, if that gives a clue on model year.

 

[SuperSpy]

Work has it piled up so I just drive up beside it with my pickup and a crappy Harbor Freight trailer and load up.

 

[D8Chumley]

I also started like Ashful. I’m not on his current level by any stretch, although I’m much more advanced than I was. We all gotta start somewhere brother!

 

[Ashful]

I also started like Ashful, but I’m not on his current level by any stretch, although I’m much more advanced than I was. We all gotta start somewhere brother!

Hey, you have excavators!

 

[D8Chumley]

Hey, you have excavators!

Well, the company I work for has all kinds of equipment- that is true. That works in my favor when I’m scoring at work, I was more so talking about personally owned stuff

 

[moresnow]

I've been telling myself the tires won't be an issue, since it will never sit it one spot more than 2-3 weeks. Maybe I'm wrong, we'll see.

Currently, with the stock low sides on it, I'll only be able to fill it with about 1/2 cord, which means I'll be hauling it down to the wood lot to refill it almost every week, this winter. Next summer, I will be making some time to do the cutting/welding work required to make it narrower, so it fits on the porch with better walking room round it. At that time, I'll be adding taller sides and ends, so it will hold a full cord of wood, and give me 2 - 3 weeks between refills.

I will say these articulated wagons are almost impossible to back into a spot like that, and I'm damn good at backing up trailers. If my tractor ROPS would clear that porch overhang, I could have gone with a much simpler tandem-axle trailer, but as it is I have to push this thing in backwards using the front-end loader. It weighs about 5000 lb. loaded, so pushing it by hand over that rough natural flagstone floor is not a great option. The wagon does have the advantage of being stable, if someone were to unload it in a fashion that left it tail-heavy, something that could be dangerous with a regular tandem-axle trailer.

I'd be tempted to build a elevated center rib from end to end on the trailer with 2 flip open lids. Fill it and park it without jockeying it backwards under the porch roof. Easy to hook/unhook. Easy to walk around. Looks appropriately redneck in the yard Unless you get huge snowfall?

 

[bodhran]

I use to cut my own, but now I buy it. 16 cords in my friends yard and 8 cords in my own. Too much?...nah.