Indoor firewood bin

I use a big rubber-made tub that I keep on the hearth next to the stove.
I can hold about a nights worth of wood in there and then have a few
splits left for the morning fire.

hearthstoneheat said:

I'm trying to find a nice container to keep an arm load or so of wood next to the stove. I was wondering what everyone is using. If you could post a pic or link, that would be great. I've looked at the rack style, but I'd like something to contain dirt, etc.

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You've got a soap-stone. . . doesn't 1 arm load get your house warm for a week?

I just built something. It measures about 18" wide x 22" long x 20" tall. It was actually the scrap pieces of ply I had from when I built my stove pad. Nothing too fancy, but it doesn't look ugly sitting in the living room either.

Threw a coat of stain and poly on it. Put some wheels under it. When it gets empty I wheel it outside on the front porch, fill it up from my yard cart and then wheel it back in the house. So far has been ~week worth of wood, but I am only heating at night right now.

Keeps the mess in the house down and having the wood at room temp vs froze solid works out a bit better too.

Trying to bring in an arm load threw the doors, take off the boots, not leave the door open too long (-20* outside) and manage to not make a mess or drop a log on the floor (or toes)... yeah,... lots of fun.

Yard cart holds about 3-4 wood box fills. Then I just hook up to it and haul it out back and fill it up. I will just keep a path clear with the snowblower (on tractor) when it starts to snow.

rhyano said:

I use a big rubber-made tub that I keep on the hearth next to the stove.
I can hold about a nights worth of wood in there and then have a few
splits left for the morning fire.

Click to expand...

That's a good idea, and would contain any of the dirt that the OP was concerned about. I was thinking of one for my kindling, but maybe I'll get a bigger one, like you mentioned and do the same for my regular splits.

I use a five gallon bucket now. I'm looking more towards a copper or brass bucket. Plow and hearth has one. A little steep in pricing. I can probably get one at a flea market this fall or a house salvage store.

Here's a link to a woodbox I cobbled together awhile back using scrap wood. It's not a real work of art -- for something really nice looking do a search for Woodsman_WI and his woodbox -- but it was cheap and gets the job done.

I used tongue and groove scrap for the outside . . . there is a Rubbermaid tote inside to collect bark, debris and any possible moisture from melting ice or snow (made when I had woodstacks outside, this was in my pre-woodshed days) . . . a second "compartment" for kindling . . . and hooks outside to hold my gloves and tools. If I only want a half day's worth of wood I can shut the hinged door on top . . . but in the winter I usually load it right up so I can go a little over 24 hours without reloading.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/28252/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php?ACT=24&fid=27&aid=16272_oGDeze6uC4ibv9curwij&board_id=1

We use a rectangle-shaped, heavy duty basket purchased at the xmas tree store. Holds about 10 splits and looks nice too.

I use a 20" x 20" wood box made out of leftover plywood and 2x4's it heavy duty enough I put a pad on it and put upholstery fabric on it and can use it to sit on when we have people over or when I feel cold and want to sit next to the stove.

I also use the rubbermaid storage bin. It's about the size of a large cooler and holds 24 hours worth of splits for me and no dirt gets on the floor. Very clean operation.

I was also thinking of an old wood toy box or something you might find in an antique store - maybe a wooden orchard crate?

firefighterjake said:

Here's a link to a woodbox I cobbled together awhile back using scrap wood. It's not a real work of art -- for something really nice looking do a search for Woodsman_WI and his woodbox -- but it was cheap and gets the job done.

I used tongue and groove scrap for the outside . . . there is a Rubbermaid tote inside to collect bark, debris and any possible moisture from melting ice or snow (made when I had woodstacks outside, this was in my pre-woodshed days) . . . a second "compartment" for kindling . . . and hooks outside to hold my gloves and tools. If I only want a half day's worth of wood I can shut the hinged door on top . . . but in the winter I usually load it right up so I can go a little over 24 hours without reloading.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/28252/

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php?ACT=24&fid=27&aid=16272_oGDeze6uC4ibv9curwij&board_id=1

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Looks very nice to me, FFJ. Beautiful!

i got a whiskey barrel style planter for $10 at TSC.

Storage bin... clear plastic, holds close to 2 days worth of wood for the Classic and contains the mess nicely. But I think it's ugly.

I have two large not to code steps from the garage to the house I have to climb so I have never bothered to make a cart. I just might build something, I will have to make it bug proof. Last year a frozen hobo spider fell off a log on the kitchen floor as I hauled wood in.

NATE379 I know you from somewhere,

fishingpol said:

I use a five gallon bucket now. I'm looking more towards a copper or brass bucket. Plow and hearth has one. A little steep in pricing. I can probably get one at a flea market this fall or a house salvage store.

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I use a whole bunch of large buckets. Probably they're about 5 gallon size- anyway they are cat litter boxes and hold 25-30 pounds of clay litter. They are rectangular in shape so they stack close, side by side. I like that I can have a variety of wood types and sizes available at the same time. The whole collection (8 or so) will hold upwards of 3-5 days worth of splits. That way I make 1 or 2 trips for wood most weeks instead of daily trips. No, we will never be the cover photo on Better Homes and Gardens magazine. The buckets are white or yellow, and are not all that ugly. They more or less fit into our 'rustic' decorating scheme. :lol:

No woodshed here yet, I'm still using low stacks with tarps across the tops.

We have done the "small bin" idea but I am at the stage now where I don't like bringing wood in on a daily basis.

Instead I went with a four foot wide by four foot high by 20 inches across wood box on wheels.

Hmmm I kind of like that idea. Do they come in different colors?

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If you go to Walmart you can get orange for the halloween season, red and green for Christmas, you can always have a color on hand depending on the date :lol:

I have metal wash tubs I use... However lately I've been using banana boxes. I have a bunch of them that I keep filled in the garage. They stack nice, have handles, and are really strong and did I mention FREE. They have a hole in the center but I just lay some of the cardboard from the lids in the bottom and it stops anything from falling out. I keep up to 4 next to the stove and when I need more it's just a short walk to the garage.

I'm for the rubber maid tub. I havent done it yet. Wife or the one of the kids vacuum on a daily basis. (my consession to having a cat in the house). The Dyson grabs and filters everything.

Are you able to carry the rubbermaid tub?

I built my wooden box with handles with the intent to carry it in and out, but I quickly realized that it could hold more wood than I could lift without throwing out my back!

I wanted something to be able to load outside to keep the mess down.

My friend has a fireplace and he keeps his wood by the back door. Even then it means making 3-4 trips a night in and out to grab wood. (Fireplace eats wood like it's candy!)

Been using one of these from Home Depot, I think, for about 7 years. I think it was something like $15 or so.

It's about 2 feet long. Bring one in at the end of the day, load the stove in the morning from it, bring another in later in the afternoon, burn the rest of the day; repeat.

I like the round Rubbermaid bin but this is what it looked like after a season. The next one is going to get a couple cans of foam blown in the bottom and then a plywood floor.