easiest wood seasoning method I can think of

[sweetheat]

Any threads around or thoughts about DIY built heavy duty steel wood trailers with high sides, or caged steel box trailers to hold one or two cords. Simlar to the fork lift cages they use for kiln drying. My thoughts are, since I don't own a wood lot and must purchase firewood, is to haul this trailer to the wood yard, load up with their conveyor and return to a drive-in wood shed. Park it and let it set for several years until well seasoned and on a rotational basis use the driest for our heat demands. It would take several trailers and a wood shed large enough to park them in. This completly eliminates stacking. When the wood is ready for use, open a door or chute and take what you need or move the trailer out to the structure your supplying and unload what you need or can store inside. The welding, cutting and fab part, I will do, any ideas are appreciated. Thanks for your thoughts and input. sweetheat

 

[taxidermist]

PM leaddog on the boiler site and ask him for pictures as he has built just what you are looking to do. He has a few trailers built from wire grates and he stacks his wood in them and they season right on the trailer.



Rob

 

[jdemaris]

My thoughts are, since I don't own a wood lot and must purchase firewood, is to haul this trailer to the wood yard, load up with their conveyor and return to a drive-in wood shed. Park it and let it set for several years until well seasoned and on a rotational basis use the driest for our heat demands.

Considering the amount of wood I use to heat my home and workshop every year, #1 that plan would entail tieing up equipment and large buildings for years. Not sure how it would be worth investing in several trailers and buildings just to store wood. I know in my case, any good building space gets expensive equipment put into it in the winter, not wood.
#2 - I've found that unstacked wood does not dry near as well as stacked -indoors or outdoors. It needs the air-circulation that stacking provides. Also nice to use the sun for drying when it finally comes out for awhile in the summer. I've found that wood put inside, stacked or not, does not dry near as well as wood out in the sun.

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

I use a similar method here. I no longer bale hay or raise tobacco so my flatbed wagons aren't actually used much anymore. Rather than moving my wood to a woodshed, I stack three runs front to back on a 3-4 wagons, & pull them in an alleyway in the tobacco barn. As I need wood on the porch racks I simpy hook up a wagon, back up to the porch & unload. I'm cutting next years wood now & it's going straight into ricks on the wagons. They can sit out all summer, then be pulled into the dry barn this fall. Anything to eliminate even one or two handlings helps!

 

[leaddog]

PM leaddog on the boiler site and ask him for pictures as he has built just what you are looking to do. He has a few trailers built from wire grates and he stacks his wood in them and they season right on the trailer.



Rob

I picked up a couple trailers made from mobilhome frames. One is 25ftlong and about 6ft wide. I welded in some scrap angle across the bottem for supports and then welded in lenght wise some 1x2x1 u steel that I had picked up at auction. I spaced them with a 3in spaceing. The extra i-beam frame I welded on top of the other frame sides so it had sides about 20in. It has 2 axles but if you were going far 3 would be better. I then just throw the wood in my bucket of my tractor and dump it into the trailer. when its full I park it out in the sun and wind and let it season. When I need it I just pull it down to the wood shed. It works quite well as it is off the ground and with the slats gets air thru it. That said it doesn't dry quite as fast as if it was stacked in the sun but does eliminate 2 times handleing.
I also have about 20 4ftx4ftx3ft wire crates with forklift bottems. They were used here alot in factories for part handling but with all the factories closing they were available cheap untill just a couple years ago. ( but once people figured out to use them for wood they got high priced- $25 each or better now) I paid $4 each and sure wish I had gotten LOTS more. Just take them out to the tree and load, pick up and park it in the sun. when you need wood just pick one up and set it next to the boiler. It works even better if you just set on the tractor and have the grandson load!1
leaddog