moving wood in winter, sled?

[ckarotka]

I want to make a sled to get the wood from the stacks to the unheated room I have set aside this winter. In the past I've moved the wood to my garage, but I also stacked it behind the garage. This year to eliminate a mess in the backyard I moved the stacks to the side yard outside of the fence. I will have to move it about 40yards across the snow to get to the sunroom. I plan on having two rows in the sunroom about 8-9ft long 4ft high, one active for burning and one "drying out more" then refill the empty and and draw from the other. I'm guessing one row for me will last about 2 weeks so refilling won't be that bothersome.

I plan on making a sled from some old skis I have in the garage. Somebody has to have done this before. Could you post some pics so I could see some tried and tested plans please. I'm thinking that the two skis will be too narrow for the weight and the middle will drag. To fix this I could build up the base about foot of ground level but that makes for some weak joints at the ski itself. Unless I used a 2X12 and put it on edge and ran screws every 3in or so giving a lot of weight distribution. Opinions?

Thanks,
Charlie

 

[vvvv]

carhood + rope, or similar

 

[LLigetfa]

An old oil tank cut in two on a slight diagonal will make two great sleds. A snow scoop pulled backwards makes an OK albeit small sled.

 

[savageactor7]

I move wood 40 yds all the time in the winter. Sometimes I'll use a wheelbarrow, others one of those canvas wood carriers. Lately I've been one arming it while taking the dogs out. The advantage of doing it that way is that we never run out of wood in our 3+ day wood holder and the dogs are happier too.

For some reason the dogs are pleased to see me work...they can watch me do stuff for hours. Of coarse it's easier if you plow the snow first. For my purposes a sled would be more work but our rounds are made into small splits and that might be the deciding factor. Hope you can find something that works out for you.

 

[burntime]

My tractor with a snowthrower broke down. I had to use my kids sled and make 3 trips a day with wood one winter for a week. Sucks to do but it worked.

 

[willworkforwood]

I tried dragging wood on a sled once, and gave that idea up on the spot. I wasn't able to pull even close to the amount that a wheelbarrow can hold. Maybe Quads could do it, but not me :lol: . My stacks are located all over the yard, and I keep a wheelbarrow path open to the one at bat and on deck. The wheelbarrow only needs a shovel-wide path, which normally isn't a big deal to maintain. Of course, you need to keep track of upcoming storms - the big issue is lots of snow, followed by rain and a quick freeze. I make sure the paths are cleared before it stops raining. I also have strips of thin plywood on hand if the path was ever to turn into solid ice. Now, I see that you're on the lake, and everyone knows what kind of snow you can get there. But, if clearing a path sounds like a lot of work, then also think about trying to pull a sled full of wood through 2 feet of new snow :gulp:

 

[Archer39]

this winter i took the snow blower and made a path though the yard for the my wheelbarrow.

 

[ckarotka]

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna give the hood idea a try. As a kid my uncle would pull us around behind his snowmobile on an old hood curled up in the front with a handlebar welded on. Don't know why I didn't think of that earlier %-P

Maybe tie the rope to our Husky/Pit (Jasper) and see if mother nature kicks in!

 

[Jimxj2000]

When there is snow, I use a sled to move the wood about 30 yards to the house. We keep a stack near the door for a week or twos worth of wood. And once every week or so fill the stack and inside storage back up. I just use a kids plastic sled - one that can carry a couple kids. I make a track for the sled and it works find. Usually I put a couple large plastic recycling bins in the sled to hold the wood - otherwise I loose a couple pieces each trip.

 

[mayhem]

You can find these things at tag sales and on craigslist all the time, often pretty cheap. It'll float nicely, is designed to carry a good 600-800lb of weight over the snow (3-4 adults) and as a bonus, you cna go sledding on it with your wife, kids or grandkids when the work is done.

Since you have a fixed route you could rig up a pull system anchored to the house. Walk down to the stack with the empty sled, load it up and attach it to your pull, then walk back to the house and pull it up...probably alot less wear and tear over time than pulling it across the snow with your legs and you won't slip on any ice.

 

[the_dude]

As an avid icefisherman and puller of many sled/shacks, I can tell you that building your own sled with skis would not be ideal. Especially when 2 x 12's are involved. You are going to end up with one heck of a heavy sled, and no matter how waxed up you keep those skis, its going to pull like crap. More so if the snow gets deep enough that you sled is plowing the snow. I've had good luck moving wood with my Jet Sled, which is very similiar to an Otter sled. These sleds are sold as ice fishing sleds. They are very light weight, and are much deeper than a child's sled. The Otter sleds are a little spendy, but Jet sleds are pretty reasonable.