Wood management proof of concept

[captjack]

see if the local high school/ community college has a welding class. have them weld you up 4x4x4 frame out of angle with one end open. Then get the 19buck fence panels from tractor supply. and wrap on the inside of the three sides. you can use hose clamps to secure to the corner angle posts. Then find some rail road ties or 4x4 or 6x6 or something and bolt them on the bottom as skids. These will last years and years. The pallets won't last and then you will have busted ones and nails etc laying around. 1/8th inch by 2 or 3 inches steel angle sticks are not much money and if the labor is free you won't have a lot of money in them and they will last you 8-10 years

 

[SpaceBus]

see if the local high school/ community college has a welding class. have them weld you up 4x4x4 frame out of angle with one end open. Then get the 19buck fence panels from tractor supply. and wrap on the inside of the three sides. you can use hose clamps to secure to the corner angle posts. Then find some rail road ties or 4x4 or 6x6 or something and bolt them on the bottom as skids. These will last years and years. The pallets won't last and then you will have busted ones and nails etc laying around. 1/8th inch by 2 or 3 inches steel angle sticks are not much money and if the labor is free you won't have a lot of money in them and they will last you 8-10 years

Local around here is an hour away. After all of the snow and ice clears I'll just mill my own lumber and make totes from scratch. These are free and I need portable firewood storage in the short term. It would be awesome to have a permanent (as much as something can be) portable storage solution. I expect the pallets won't last forever, but I really just need them to last about a year.

 

[Slocum]

Dont give up on trying to find ibc totes. I was looking for 2 years and couldn’t find a deal on any. Then I found some for 20$ a piece. I’ve ended up with 35 totes. The last 15 I found were free. They will last for a long long time.

 

[SpaceBus]

Dont give up on trying to find ibc totes. I was looking for 2 years and couldn’t find a deal on any. Then I found some for 20$ a piece. I’ve ended up with 35 totes. The last 15 I found were free. They will last for a long long time.

I hope I can find some. Until then I'll make pallet and/or wooden totes. I've got plenty of stone around here to put under the totes. Maybe I'll find some cheap or free cinder blocks.

 

[captjack]

another idea is to use these bags. Im considering switching to these. They hold 1/3 cord loose and the sticks will season in them. I was chatting with a guy on another forum and he sets them on pallets to move them instead of using the straps on a loader. He was paying 14 bucks a bag. I like the idea since I have a loader tractor and elevator to load them off my splitter. just a thought instead of the pallet boxes.

 

[SpaceBus]

another idea is to use these bags. Im considering switching to these. They hold 1/3 cord loose and the sticks will season in them. I was chatting with a guy on another forum and he sets them on pallets to move them instead of using the straps on a loader. He was paying 14 bucks a bag. I like the idea since I have a loader tractor and elevator to load them off my splitter. just a thought instead of the pallet boxes.

Where do you find those? Is that mesh on the sides? Looks like great airflow and 1/3 cord per bag is fantastic

 

[jman66]

I hope I can find some. Until then I'll make pallet and/or wooden totes. I've got plenty of stone around here to put under the totes. Maybe I'll find some cheap or free cinder blocks.

Morning Space... How far down east in Maine are you... I have a ton of IBC totes I need to get rid of. If you can't make it down to Canton, Mass I do have to take a trip to Biddeford in two weeks and could meet you there with 2 I can fit in my pick up.. Let me know...

 

[SpaceBus]

Morning Space... How far down east in Maine are you... I have a ton of IBC totes I need to get rid of. If you can't make it down to Canton, Mass I do have to take a trip to Biddeford in two weeks and could meet you there with 2 I can fit in my pick up.. Let me know...

Unfortunately that would be a five hour drive one way for me, I'm really in the sticks. How good of shape are they in? It would cost me about $100 in fuel, but that's still less than the cost of one new IBC tote. I might have seen your ad on Craigslist while searching for totes in Maine, a ton of Mass ads show up.

 

[peakbagger]

I am guessing you are near the old Woodland pulp and paper mill? They probably go through a lot of totes. The contracts usually require the suppliers to haul the totes back to the depot but may be worth asking around or maybe doing an Uncle Henrys ad. Not sure where they get rid of their scrap but that's sometimes a backdoor as I know with our mill the legal folks were paranoid about liability and would not let anything out the door but the guy who handled the scrap from the mill would sell it in heartbeat. I know folks who have used the IBS tote frames in the past and they really are optimized to haul poly tanks, the tubing is not that robust for carrying irregular products like firewood and will have a variable life depending on how you treat them as the tubing can get bent up pretty easy.

 

[SpaceBus]

I am guessing you are near the old Woodland pulp and paper mill? They probably go through a lot of totes. The contracts usually require the suppliers to haul the totes back to the depot but may be worth asking around or maybe doing an Uncle Henrys ad. Not sure where they get rid of their scrap but that's sometimes a backdoor as I know with our mill the legal folks were paranoid about liability and would not let anything out the door but the guy who handled the scrap from the mill would sell it in heartbeat. I know folks who have used the IBS tote frames in the past and they really are optimized to haul poly tanks, the tubing is not that robust for carrying irregular products like firewood and will have a variable life depending on how you treat them as the tubing can get bent up pretty easy.

It's a little over an hour from me, so not too bad. Should I call them, or is this something I need to be there in person for?

 

[peakbagger]

It's a little over an hour from me, so not too bad. Should I call them, or is this something I need to be there in person for?

Calling them is not recommended as you get the official policy which is far different then how a large industrial facility really works. Your only chance is Uncle Henry's or find a contact that knows someone who works in the mill and have them ask around. Just need to be careful as sometimes if there is money involved folks will just steal them.

Sort of like how the blue pallets at Walmart works. They are supposed to be sent back to the warehouse and officially can not be given away but I see a whole lot of them redirected to folks wood piles via employees when the stack of them near the loading dock gets too high . The store manager cant officially give them away but if they are in the way it's a problem and he/she really doesn't care how the problem goes away as long as he doesn't know.

 

[SpaceBus]

I built a few more pallet totes. The bottom photo is my first tote, but filled up.

 

[SpaceBus]

Calling them is not recommended as you get the official policy which is far different then how a large industrial facility really works. Your only chance is Uncle Henry's or find a contact that knows someone who works in the mill and have them ask around. Just need to be careful as sometimes if there is money involved folks will just steal them.

Sort of like how the blue pallets at Walmart works. They are supposed to be sent back to the warehouse and officially can not be given away but I see a whole lot of them redirected to folks wood piles via employees when the stack of them near the loading dock gets too high . The store manager cant officially give them away but if they are in the way it's a problem and he/she really doesn't care how the problem goes away as long as he doesn't know.

I'm not from here, so chances are slim for me. I wish I had some of those nice plastic pallets though

 

[Mikel Ward]

I've been using pallets for wood for many years. They are the best.
Think about putting a sacrificial pallet under the one loaded with wood to keep it off of the ground.

When I split now I put wood directly onto the pallet. Move splitter and fill another etc. Then use tractor to move pallets to storage area. No big pile of splits to stack later!!

These pics are how I'm making my pallet racks
All wood is from pallets taken apart
The empty ones are on their side so I can move them with a hand truck
You have to look close but there are two strands of wire across each of the uprights.
Wire is unwoven from black chain link fence. It holds up well and keeps sides from spreading when I'm moving with tractor.

 

[SpaceBus]

Wow, maybe mine are a bit over built. I use five pallets per. Once the snow and ice have all melted I plan on putting them on stones or block in a sunny windy spot. I need a hitch sleeve for my pallet forks. The bucket hitch has been real handy.

 

[Mikel Ward]

YES! really overbuilt and made heavier before putting splits on pallet.
Sides don't need to be as strong as bottom.
Sacrificial pallet underneath saves the rack you made. I use the softwood pallets for this and all oak ones for holding wood

Heres some more pics for ya

 

[SpaceBus]

Wow, thanks for the photos. I like using the pallets on all sides so I can loose fill the totes. Perhaps it's worth it to carefully stack the firewood instead. Being able to stack the totes is also a nice touch. I really wish I could find out where to get those mesh bulk bags. They even have a spout on the bottom!