Getting wood into the house

[Bushels20]

It is always about this time each year that I start to consider the best way to get the splits in to the house. I’ve done everything from a good old fashioned armful, a carrying tote, a 96 gallon trash can rolled in from the garage, and more.

I’ve yet to find what I feel is that perfect method. To a certain degree I think I’ve just conceded to the idea that it’s a pain in the butt and that’s just a small trade off for the great wood heat.

anyone have any genius/realistic ideas???

I have a window right beside the stove (in a sunk in below grade room). I’ve always thought it would be pretty awesome to throw the the splits through the window into a wood box. Or, build a mini wood shed/box outside the window and an access door from the inside. Fill it from the outside and access it from the inside (insulate it etc.) Not realistic however. The boss shot that down rather quickly.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Luckily for me my boss likes to carry wood. Just having two people makes a wood stove easier. I've got no great answers, though I'm dealing in a much smaller volume than everyone else here.

I did once live in a home where the stove was in a large, finished basement with patio doors. So we could have brought it right in with a wheelbarrow, but we brought it in per fire, not far from the door.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

It depends on where the stove is, but if you have a porch, and a stove on the first floor, a utility cart/wagon that goes from porch to hearth can work well. For me, I have a basement install. So my solution was to build a woodbox with casters on the bottom, that is stored in front of the basement bulkhead doors. Those get opened, a wheelbarrow load of splits is tossed down the open bulkhead into the wood box. Then the full wood box is wheeled over to the hearth. I built the wood box to have a couple inches of clearance on either side to get through 1 door that separates the hearth/bar part of the basement from the washing machine, boiler, cat box side of the basement. I unload and repeat until winter is over. It's the best way that I've found. The wood box needs attention every year as it take quite a beating but it's held up for 2 seasons now. Before that I used large trash barrels and wheeled them over, but they didn't hold up.

 

[Sawset]

I have a 2x3x3ft tall cart on casters kept in the living room next to the stove. It gets wheeled through the house to the back door leading to the garage. 3 cord is stacked in the garage near the back door. Just outside is another 3 cord under a beside the house leanto.
Early on the leanto is accessed before the snow gets going. Midwinter when it's cold snow and blizzarding the garage gets accessed where it's warmer, dry and calm.

 

[Gearhead660]

There are many different ways, depends on stove location. For my basement burner, I built a chute to slide wood thru a window into a big box. For the living room stove, toss the wood thru a window into a large box. I have 3x3x4 crates full of wood that I fill up and move over next to the house when needed. Also added sides and a roof to a trailer to turn it into a rolling wood shed that I park by the house. Would like to store a seasons worth in the house or have a shed close, but neither is possible.

 

[Woody5506]

Your setup kind of reminds me of something the treadmill method could be used for.

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My method is a lot less exciting though. I have a 4'x4' metal cage in my garage I keep full, but from there just bring in using plastic totes or a the fabric log carrier.

 

[kennyp2339]

My stove is in the basement which is walk out through the garage, typically when shoulder season starts I'll just carry in as needed from the woodshed in the driveway, I'll keep an eye on the weather during this time and if I see the potential of sustained cold, or a storm coming I'll get the wheel barrel out and fill the garage rack up, the garage rack can hold between 8-10 days worth of wood, once the rack is in operation then its full time burning, pulling from the rack, filling it up as needed or when I have extra time.
I also keep a big metal trough in the basement, I throw splits in that thing for morning reloads, the tub help keeps the wood crumbs from getting all over.

 

[Bushels20]

I have a 2x3x3ft tall cart on casters kept in the living room next to the stove. It gets wheeled through the house to the back door leading to the garage. 3 cord is stacked in the garage near the back door. Just outside is another 3 cord under a beside the house leanto.
Early on the leanto is accessed before the snow gets going. Midwinter when it's cold snow and blizzarding the garage gets accessed where it's warmer, dry and calm.

I too have a rolling cart made from pallets and galvanized plumbing piping. It look good (from my wife’s perspective) and holds about 4 days worth of splits.

My problem is (given) the stove is in a below grade room (split level home), I have no way to get the splits to that room without a flight of 6-7 steps getting in the way. There are steps down from the garage and steps down from the main level.

The shortest distance is from the window outside off the concrete patio (but not ideal). I run the risk of damaging the new Andersen Windows, plus the window faces southwest and in the dead of winter the wind off the corn fields is brutal. I would lose some serious warmth just getting wood in to the house.

Thus far my best set up has been storing 2 cords in the garage and reloading the inside cart with a 96 gallon trash can.

I just keep telling myself there has to be a better way!

I have a good friend who has turned large metal cages (that previously had plastic chemical liners in them) in to mobile wood carriers. He takes the tractor with the forks and simply moves one cord at a time right on to the front porch. Opens the front door, grabs an armful, closes the door. Probably 15 steps and 10 seconds total. Genius!

 

[Sawset]

My problem is (given) the stove is in a below grade room (split level home), I have no way to get the splits to that room without a flight of 6-7 steps getting in the way. There are steps down from the garage and steps down from the main level.

The shortest distance is from the window outside off the concrete patio (but not ideal). I run the risk of damaging the new Andersen Windows, plus the window faces southwest and in the dead of winter the wind off the corn fields is brutal. I would lose some serious warmth just getting wood in to the house.

I had a trilevel once. If there had been a stove in the lower level, supply would have been an issue. Back before the 40s when houses were designed with coal or wood and gravity air in mind, they had cellar ways or coal chutes. The cellar ways could be filled from the outside from the wood shed nearby, and accessed from within. And the coal chutes (ground level window openings) could be used to access an inside bin. The farm house back home had both. Failing that, some form of access and/or airlock would need to be figured out. Reinforce/protect your easy access window to be suitable for moving wood through. The treadmill idea is crude but functional. I would think of some ways to reinforce and protect the access window, and create an asthetic way to use it. Any room for an inside supply like kenny? Another farm house nearby had a inside outside access bin on the back porch (your patio). Fill the bin from the outside, open the hatch from the inside to get at it. It resembled a shoe changing seat next to the back door, with a cord of wood outside under a covered porch to service it. An airlock and supply in one.

 

[twd000]

my screened porch is right outside my stove room on the first floor. Obstacle there is four steps to get from ground level to the porch. I built a ramp out of galvanized steel decking and I drive my DR Powerwagon full of splits right up the ramp onto the porch to unload. I don't bring an entire winter's worth of wood onto the porch at one time due to concern about the dead weight load. Usually half a cord at a time, which lasts me a few weeks at typical temperatures.

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

My stove is located on the main floor of my house in our family room. This room has a large sliding door that leads out to a stone deck. Normally what I do is I transport the wood from my stacks to the house via a wood caddy that holds about 2 to 3 days worth of wood and then transfer the logs from the caddy into a large (wooden) wood box that's near the stove. The wood box holds slightly more than my wood caddy can hold so its perfect. This time of year however since we haven't had our first hard freezes yet I will just fill up my wood caddy and move it to just outside my sliding door and open the door and grab wood as needed for the fire. I can cover the caddy as well to keep the logs dry if it rains (like this week!). My rule of thumb is that logs don't come into the house till we've had a few good freezes outside, to help cut down on bugs in the house.

In my last house, my wood stove was in the lower level (it was a bi-level home) and the previous owners built a wood chute from the outside that went into the lower level. You could just toss logs down it and into a container or bin waiting underneath it. A really cool thing, that's about all I miss from that house. The stove, eh not so much as it was a VC Resolute Acclaim.

 

[Bushels20]

I had a trilevel once. If there had been a stove in the lower level, supply would have been an issue. Back before the 40s when houses were designed with coal or wood and gravity air in mind, they had cellar ways or coal chutes. The cellar ways could be filled from the outside from the wood shed nearby, and accessed from within. And the coal chutes (ground level window openings) could be used to access an inside bin. The farm house back home had both. Failing that, some form of access and/or airlock would need to be figured out. Reinforce/protect your easy access window to be suitable for moving wood through. The treadmill idea is crude but functional. I would think of some ways to reinforce and protect the access window, and create an asthetic way to use it. Any room for an inside supply like kenny? Another farm house nearby had a inside outside access bin on the back porch (your patio). Fill the bin from the outside, open the hatch from the inside to get at it. It resembled a shoe changing seat next to the back door, with a cord of wood outside under a covered porch to service it. An airlock and supply in one.

I love this idea. I have the mechanical abilities to build such a structure but lack the engineering and mind frame to imagine it. Also, I wonder (because of my lack of imagination) how to make it look nice given the “sink in” room.

attached is a photo of the stove, window and actual space on which I reference.

It would be awesome to fill some sort of insulated “wood box” outside and access it from the inside; right beside the insert.

 

[Simonkenton]

1. Grab up an arm load of wood.
2. Carry it into the house.

 

[Sawset]

There are a number of hotels and inns around here that are 180yrs old. (Old World WI has some, and Milton house inn, Night Cap inn). Every one had stoves - get this - up flights of stairs to the second floor. Each upstairs room was a guest room that was self contained, with rope and straw bed, and a stove. The Nelson Dewey house near Prairie Du Chien had a bunch of fireplaces, some were - up stairs on the second floor.
Your window doesn't look good for chucking firewood through. Looks too nice to be messing it up with contraptions or bark laying around waiting to clean up. I'd use the totes and walk it in.

 

[Deets]

I love this idea. I have the mechanical abilities to build such a structure but lack the engineering and mind frame to imagine it. Also, I wonder (because of my lack of imagination) how to make it look nice given the “sink in” room.

attached is a photo of the stove, window and actual space on which I reference.

It would be awesome to fill some sort of insulated “wood box” outside and access it from the inside; right beside the insert.

Could you take out the window and just frame in a door?

 

[Bushels20]

Could you take out the window and just frame in a door?

I could easily do that, not sure it would pass the wife test, however. Maybe she will just show up from work one day and it “just happened”. Haha

 

[Deets]

I could easily do that, not sure it would pass the wife test, however. Maybe she will just show up from work one day and it “just happened”. Haha

Gotta let her pick the door out, gunna cost you more but she’ll be happy. Lol

 

[Bushels20]

Gotta let her pick the door out, gunna cost you more but she’ll be happy. Lol

Maybe a metal chute leading right to a wood box by the insert could be added! Possibilities are seemingly endless until you run it by at the dinner table LOL

 

[Seasoned Oak]

My kids old red ryder wagon does a fantastic job for this. can get a lot of wood in that with the side boards on.

 

[Sawset]

Maybe you could get some ideas from here:

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[trueg50]

One house I looked at had a pretty cool idea.

The stove was located in the corner of the room and the outside wall on one side was along a porch. They cut a hole through the wall ~2 ft wide, 3 feet high, and it basically made an insulated box with an inside and outside door. You could open the outside door, load all the wood, close it and then when you needed the wood in the house you open the "inside" door and take the wood out. It was all sealed up kind of like a firewood airlock so you didn't need to leave a door open or track wood in/out.

 

[Bushels20]

One house I looked at had a pretty cool idea.

The stove was located in the corner of the room and the outside wall on one side was along a porch. They cut a hole through the wall ~2 ft wide, 3 feet high, and it basically made an insulated box with an inside and outside door. You could open the outside door, load all the wood, close it and then when you needed the wood in the house you open the "inside" door and take the wood out. It was all sealed up kind of like a firewood airlock so you didn't need to leave a door open or track wood in/out.

My goal is to talk my wife in to doing just that! That would be awesome.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have a rack on my covered patio.. I keep 1 6ft rack thats it.. from the rack by my back door I use a tote and I have 2 medium size metal racks, 1 for overnight and 1 for the day. Its usually 2 days worth of wood. I dont think that this method is overly excessive in work. That being said I only burn no more then 4 cords.

 

[firefighterjake]

I like handling my wood.

After cutting it down, bucking it up and splitting it I stack it outside for a year or two. And then I haul it into my woodshed where it sits for another year or two.

During the burning season I haul about two week's worth of wood on to the porch . . . at this point either using a wheelbarrow early in the season when there is no snow or a canvas tote from LL Bean which for some reason seems to be holding up much better than the cheap tote I bought from Lowes a few years back. From the porch I then use the tote to haul wood into my firebox . . . and from there it goes into the stove.

This may not work for you, but as I said, I like handling my wood.