could I refit this pallet jack to drive through my yard?

[twd000]

I just spent two hours loading a single cord of splits onto my screened porch. A lot of wheelbarrow trips.

Trying to cut down on handling time, thinking about palletizing my system. Came across this on Craigslist: (broken link removed to http://nh.craigslist.org/hvo/5278796179.html)
Looks like it has enough capacity to lift a half-cord pallet, and it runs on a marine battery. The only downside it that the wheels are made to run on concrete, not through the woods. Do you think I could refit it with some bulkier off-road tires to let me drive it into the woods to pickup a full pallet?

My screened porch deck is about three feet above grade. I can easily remove a screen to get access. The porch is over 20' long; I think I could easily fit 6-8 pallets on there (3-4 cords).

 

[ElmBurner]

I'm not seeing how you could "off-road" it. Seems like you'd have better luck laying some boards or something for it to run on, but that would get old in a hurry.

My solution to moving wood from the woodpile to the porch is to wait until the ground is frozen, then do it with my pickup. One load up to the bed-rails is about a weeks worth of wood. I just drop the tailgate, back-up, and start stacking.

Something to think about too....3-4 cords could be 10000 lbs, depending on the wood type and how dry it is. Would you feel comfortable parking several cars on your porch? Because that's the kind of weight you're talking about.

 

[Jags]

The only way I could see that being converted to off road would be to make a framework for new axles/wheels and essentially slip it under what is there. You could pull the steel wheels off and bolt the rest right to the new frame. Just an idea... Oh, and you wont want a three wheeler for off road. Think 4.

 

[twd000]

I'm not seeing how you could "off-road" it. Seems like you'd have better luck laying some boards or something for it to run on, but that would get old in a hurry.

My solution to moving wood from the woodpile to the porch is to wait until the ground is frozen, then do it with my pickup. One load up to the bed-rails is about a weeks worth of wood. I just drop the tailgate, back-up, and start stacking.

Something to think about too....3-4 cords could be 10000 lbs, depending on the wood type and how dry it is. Would you feel comfortable parking several cars on your porch? Because that's the kind of weight you're talking about.

yeah, the pickup sounds good. Unfortunately I have an Xterra and a Civic, neither really conducive to wood hauling. I use a 10' trailer to get the big stuff onto my lot, then process it in the side woods. The other wrinkle is that the backyard and porch is fenced all around with two 40" gates for access. Not big enough for a truck.

I just measured my porch - it is 12' x 24'. The deck is supported by 2x8's 16" on center. So 10,000 lbs of wood distributed evenly (leaving space for a walking path to screen door) would be 10,000 lbs / (12X24) = 35 lbs/sq ft or 0.25 psi. I'm comfortable with that.

 

[Longstreet]

yeah, the pickup sounds good. Unfortunately I have an Xterra and a Civic, neither really conducive to wood hauling. I use a 10' trailer to get the big stuff onto my lot, then process it in the side woods. The other wrinkle is that the backyard and porch is fenced all around with two 40" gates for access. Not big enough for a truck.

I just measured my porch - it is 12' x 24'. The deck is supported by 2x8's 16" on center. So 10,000 lbs of wood distributed evenly (leaving space for a walking path to screen door) would be 10,000 lbs / (12X24) = 35 lbs/sq ft or 0.25 psi. I'm comfortable with that.

The weak point in decks is never the joist. It is almost always where the deck meets the house. Is your deck free standing or is it attached to the house for support? If it is attached to the house, you need to take a very close look at how it is secured. I mean a very close look. Lag bolts don't mean jack if they are only screwed into the siding....

 

[Little Digger]

Another thing to consider: the pallet jack is made to run on a level surface. If you don't mind pushing or pulling the thing up even mild inclines, you could make it work, but and that is a BIG but, the thing is not self propelled. If it were then maybe. Even using solid core tires, they would probably sink into the ground especially under load. So add that to the difficulty level. I would think you would be better off and money ahead just leaving the idea of that pallet jack behind. You'd be better off using a wheel barrow or garden cart to haul the wood.

As for stacking on the porch, you may well be looking at several times 10,000#. Some cord wood can weigh up to 4700# (Osage-Orange) or less like white pine that weighs in at about 2200# per cord. If you had a concrete deck or porch, then it would work, but that much weight on what you've described would end up being too much. Do you really want to take that chance?

 

[ElmBurner]

I just measured my porch - it is 12' x 24'. The deck is supported by 2x8's 16" on center. So 10,000 lbs of wood distributed evenly (leaving space for a walking path to screen door) would be 10,000 lbs / (12X24) = 35 lbs/sq ft or 0.25 psi. I'm comfortable with that.

4 cords is a 16' x 8' pile stacked 4' tall. If you spread it all out, the wood would be about 2 ft high. That would look pretty odd.

But maybe you don't care...in which case, go for it.

 

[gzecc]

Get a small tractor and a 3x6 trailer. Load the burnable splits into the trailer and leave it at the door. When empty get more.

 

[iamlucky13]

A deck that complies with the international residential building code should, if I'm remembering right and checked against a reliable source, should be able to support a load of 40 pounds per square foot. Sounds like you're in the ballpark of the limit.

 

[Little Digger]

While the list might not be complete, this site has a listing of the most common woods for Ohio including their green and dry weights. Compare it to the type woods you have and you should be able to make a decision from there. (red oak -3500#, bur oak - 3700#, white oak 4200# per cord dry as examples) That's an awful lot of weight no matter how you look at it.

http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/forest-products/wood-heating/

But as was said, a garden tractor and a cart might just be the ticket.

 

[twd000]

The weak point in decks is never the joist. It is almost always where the deck meets the house. Is your deck free standing or is it attached to the house for support? If it is attached to the house, you need to take a very close look at how it is secured. I mean a very close look. Lag bolts don't mean jack if they are only screwed into the siding....

It is attached to the house, but also anchored in the ground. The long side away from the house (farthest cantilever force) has four 4" diameter steel columns supporting it. I'll take a closer look at the house connection tomorrow, but it's not like an apartment balcony that's hanging out in the air.

 

[twd000]

Another thing to consider: the pallet jack is made to run on a level surface. If you don't mind pushing or pulling the thing up even mild inclines, you could make it work, but and that is a BIG but, the thing is not self propelled. If it were then maybe. Even using solid core tires, they would probably sink into the ground especially under load. So add that to the difficulty level. I would think you would be better off and money ahead just leaving the idea of that pallet jack behind. You'd be better off using a wheel barrow or garden cart to haul the wood.

Good point. You know what else I have? A garden tractor. It's got the appropriate wheels and propulsion. I bet I could weld up some sort of bracket to connect the pallet jack mechanism to the garden tractor frame, then just drive the tractor into the woods to lift the pallet. I assume the pallet jack is counter-balanced to keep it from tipping under load?

As for stacking on the porch, you may well be looking at several times 10,000#. Some cord wood can weigh up to 4700# (Osage-Orange) or less like white pine that weighs in at about 2200# per cord. If you had a concrete deck or porch, then it would work, but that much weight on what you've described would end up being too much. Do you really want to take that chance?

I have roughly equal proportions of red oak and eastern white pine, so say 2850 lbs/cord according to University of Illinois. 3 cords on the porch would put me pretty deep into winter before I would need to reload. So say 8550 lbs across the span of the porch

 

[twd000]

4 cords is a 16' x 8' pile stacked 4' tall. If you spread it all out, the wood would be about 2 ft high. That would look pretty odd.

But maybe you don't care...in which case, go for it.

The aesthetic appearance is not a consideration at this point; we're at the "requirements development" phase of the project

 

[twd000]

Get a small tractor and a 3x6 trailer. Load the burnable splits into the trailer and leave it at the door. When empty get more.

I already have a 5'x10' trailer, too large to fit through the gate. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, by avoiding double-handling splits, and not buying a second trailer

 

[twd000]

A deck that complies with the international residential building code should, if I'm remembering right and checked against a reliable source, should be able to support a load of 40 pounds per square foot. Sounds like you're in the ballpark of the limit.

I'm quoting this post for when my deck falls off the house

 

[Little Digger]

Good point. You know what else I have? A garden tractor. It's got the appropriate wheels and propulsion. I bet I could weld up some sort of bracket to connect the pallet jack mechanism to the garden tractor frame, then just drive the tractor into the woods to lift the pallet. I assume the pallet jack is counter-balanced to keep it from tipping under load?



I have roughly equal proportions of red oak and eastern white pine, so say 2850 lbs/cord according to University of Illinois. 3 cords on the porch would put me pretty deep into winter before I would need to reload. So say 8550 lbs across the span of the porch

From looking at the jack, it's the lower legs that keep the pallet from tipping once it's up. To counter balance once you would have the jack attached to the garden tractor might not be possible. You would probably have to remove the legs with the wheels which would leave you with nothing to counter, other than the tractor and maybe 1000# weight. Then the question of if the tractor tires would be able to withstand an additional say 3000# total, plus your weight. But where there is a will there is a way. "Believe"

As for stacking 3 cord of wood on the porch, first look underneath the porch to see where the supports are and how they are run. That's what I did first, and have since stacked about a cord worth of wood almost right next to the wall. One stack on one side of the door and one on the other. One is 9 feet long and the other is 10 feet stacked 5 feet high and my splits are 16 inches in length. I also have 2 four foot racks stacked 5 feet high in the house alongside the wood stove almost against the wall. The reason I say almost is because I left at least a few inches to still get air in behind the racks. I could probably get away with doing the same across the front of the porch, but since I'm in the throws of destruction/construction, I'll wait. My front porch is 40 feet long by 12 feet wide. (I took the picture about a week ago)

Three cord distributed evenly across the porch could work if it's right across the supports and support beams. I would suggest trying one cord and see how that feels and sounds. Listen for creaking and cracking. In other words, proceed with caution.

 

[Blaine]

If the idea of using that straddle-stacker is still alive, contact the seller for an outside width measurement on the load legs (the legs that stay on the floor). Stackers like that are often sized to straddle a 40" pallet, so the overall width is likely in the 48" range- too wide to fit through your gates. Yet another reason to let go of this plan.

 

[Corey]

$600 for that pallet jack and a couple hundred in parts to 'off road' it - I'd think you could find a used lawn tractor and cart for that and have something that might actually be viable.

... I just measured my porch - it is 12' x 24'. The deck is supported by 2x8's 16" on center. So 10,000 lbs of wood distributed evenly (leaving space for a walking path to screen door) would be 10,000 lbs / (12X24) = 35 lbs/sq ft or 0.25 psi. I'm comfortable with that.

I guess that works if your 3 cord (384 cubic feet) stack of wood is spread out on the floor 1' 4" tall. Otherwise, you get a lot more pounds on a lot less square inches.

 

[twd000]

If the idea of using that straddle-stacker is still alive, contact the seller for an outside width measurement on the load legs (the legs that stay on the floor). Stackers like that are often sized to straddle a 40" pallet, so the overall width is likely in the 48" range- too wide to fit through your gates. Yet another reason to let go of this plan.

Good idea
I found this (broken link removed to https://www.custommhs.com/image/data/pdf/Presto%20AC%20Stackers.pdf)
Looks like the widest outer legs are 40" so it would fit through the gate (which is actually 50" now that I measured it instead of guessing)

 

[twd000]

$600 for that pallet jack and a couple hundred in parts to 'off road' it - I'd think you could find a used lawn tractor and cart for that and have something that might actually be viable.

But the sight of my wife rolling her eyes as I cruise across the lawn in my Franken-lift - how do you put a price on that?!

 

[ErikR]

Regardless of where you stack the wood you want to move, think of the effort it will take to pull a pallet load of it... Sure, as an industrial mover, on concrete floors, the effort probably isn't too bad. But set it up for "off road" use and I bet the effort required to pull it across a soft surface, with wide soft tires, is exponentially higher! You'd probably need a garden tractor to pull it., so save the $ and time, get a tractor with a cart and move the wood.

Just my 2 cents, YMMV...

 

[gzecc]

I already have a 5'x10' trailer, too large to fit through the gate. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, by avoiding double-handling splits, and not buying a second trailer

Make the fence opening wider if possible.

 

[jeffesonm]

I move pallets of firewood with a 31 hp 3500 lb tractor and it's still shady. They are super heavy, and moving across uneven ground is dangerous. No way you are moving one of those around by hand with a modified pallet jack. I don't think you could pull it with the garden tractor either.