Moving firewood during heating season

[Bushels20]

I am curious how you all store, move, and otherwise keep your firewood “circulating” from the wood pile outside to eventually making its way into the stove or insert.

The wife and I are still looking for the best option for us. The challenge that presents itself for us is no easy access to the stove without dragging an armful of wood through the house (messy, tiring etc). Last year, I built a mini shed and put it in the patio and tried putting wood through the window right by the wood stove, the issue here was cold air coming through the window while passing wood through. Very easy access, but cold.

Just idea hunting. Thoughts? Do you guys have storage boxes? How much wood do yuh keep in the house at any given time? How often are you going to the wood pile versus how much do you keep In a garage/close to the house?

 

[T-roy_]

I usually keep a weeks worth of wood in the garage and take it in the house as needed. I use this to go from garage to house.

 

[barnaclebob]

Havent started burning yet but my plan is to store a few days or a weeks worth in the mud room/porch thing we have then bring in loads in one of the canvas log bags to contain the mess to the hearth area.

 

[Bushels20]

I am curious how you all store, move, and otherwise keep your firewood “circulating” from the wood pile outside to eventually making its way into the stove or insert.

The wife and I are still looking for the best option for us. The challenge that presents itself for us is no easy access to the stove without dragging an armful of wood through the house (messy, tiring etc). Last year, I built a mini shed and put it in the patio and tried putting wood through the window right by the wood stove, the issue here was cold air coming through the window while passing wood through. Very easy access, but cold.

Just idea hunting. Thoughts? Do you guys have storage boxes? How much wood do yuh keep in the house at any given time? How often are you going to the wood pile versus how much do you keep In a garage/close to the house?

 

[TedyOH]

I'm fortunate enough to have a big, deep garage....i move about 2/3 rd cord in first of October....once I burn half I replace it and start burning the other half

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

We have a covered patio. I use a wheel barrel to move the wood to the patio. Also my kindling is stored there. No wood is stored inside the house. I refill the patio a few times each week, depending on the burning rate.

 

[BoiledOver]

For moving firewood without a powered vehicle, a jet sled works well when there is snow on the ground. Depending on the size, it can do the same amount as a wheelbarrow and even more. In deeper stuff, take the first run with just a half load to pack a new trail. Dog owners have the option of training their pet to pull it with a harness.

 

[edyit]

I use one of these

(broken link removed)

go out to the wood shed load it up, bring it in and fill the stove then hang it back up, I find it really helps keep the mess down

 

[Bushels20]

I use one of these

(broken link removed)

go out to the wood shed load it up, bring it in and fill the stove then hang it back up, I find it really helps keep the mess down

Is your wood shed close to the house? I’m not sure I would like going out numerous times a day to grab a bag full of wood. I assume you’re loading your stove at least 2-3 times a day?

 

[edyit]

Yes my shed is about 40 feet from the front door. I load the stove when I get up in the morning before work at around 5am, when I get home from work around 3pm, and before I call it a night around 9pm. We tried the little wood rack inside but the wife didn't like the mess, so the few extra steps save me from hearing it and won't hurt me in the long run.

 

[Bushels20]

Yes my shed is about 40 feet from the front door. I load the stove when I get up in the morning before work at around 5am, when I get home from work around 3pm, and before I call it a night around 9pm. We tried the little wood rack inside but the wife didn't like the mess, so the few extra steps save me from hearing it and won't hurt me in the long run.

I completely understand. That is why I am still trying to figure out the right system. My wife doesnt like the mess either. A wood shed that close is convenient. Unfortunately, my supply backs up to a 300 acre field that likes to drift with snow all winter, so trompi g through the drifts isn’t realistic.

We are thinking about a storage “bench”. She asked if I could make one, which I can, but ultimately, the mess will still be there.

 

[Mojappa]

i'm lucky in that my stove (furnace next season) is in the basement. Wood seasons stacked up in the yard, once dry it comes up to the house under the deck where I can fit about 3 cords, then I use a wheelbarrow to bring a few days worth at a time into the house. Theres a metal rack downstairs that holds a week or so worth of wood. I try to pick "warm" days to fill it back up as needed, otherwise I just bring it wheelbarrow at a time.

At one point I was thinking about putting an insert upstairs instead of getting the furnace but then I'd have to haul all my wood up the steps onto the deck, decided against that plan pretty quickly.

 

[Highbeam]

I have the bulk stack in the backyard. I load about half a cord at a time via pickup truck into a garage. That lasts a month or two. I use the canvas sling to bring in enough for one stove full of wood. My stove only needs to be loaded once per day, hugely convenient and comfortable. Multiple loads per day would be a pain!

The sling is opened up on the hearth right under the loading door. After loading the stove, all the crumbs on the sling are rolled up inside. It’s like a big drop clothe. No mess or crumbs outside of the sling.


I don’t know what you guys are doing to be dropping wood fragments all over the place. Like throwing splits in the house?

 

[Cast Iron]

Wood cart that fits thru doors.
Open "Storm" wood shed hext to the house for snowstorms when getting to the outdoor sheds is a PITA.
Then, the real woodshed 50' from the house for the usual morning stove rack fills with the cart.
First though, coffee.
The boss demands that the "wood frags" get cleaned up after loading the rack each morning after emptying ashes. Then the 2nd coffee.
For those of you sophisticated enough, this is called a "gestalt". Common enough in the great north of New England.
Please copy chest thump here.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have 2 sheds in the back that total about 9 cord... i keep 1 rack by my back door that is about .33 cords.. i fill it about say every 2 to 3 weeks.. i keep 2 racks near the stove that i use to burn.. i use a tote and take wood from the rack by the back door and bring it in and fill the racks near the stove.. we fill the racks inside every couple of days

 

[CincyBurner]

Early season I try to move most of the wood to the front porch (~3/4 cord), and back porch (~1/3 cord on tiled pad) with wheel barrow (no flat tire) while ground is not soft, or water-logged, as that is tough of the soil.
During the winter when there snow, a game sled (a great X-mas present from my wife !) makes easy and fun work of sliding wood around the yard. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ZKPHDU/?tag=hearthamazon-20
I try to time bringing in wood when ground is frozen or snow covered.

At my boyhood home I'd load wood through the basement window well, and porch windows.

 

[bholler]

Wood cart that fits thru doors.
Open "Storm" wood shed hext to the house for snowstorms when getting to the outdoor sheds is a PITA.
Then, the real woodshed 50' from the house for the usual morning stove rack fills with the cart.
First though, coffee.
The boss demands that the "wood frags" get cleaned up after loading the rack each morning after emptying ashes. Then the 2nd coffee.
For those of you sophisticated enough, this is called a "gestalt". Common enough in the great north of New England.
Please copy chest thump here.

I am curious how that is a gestalt? Not saying you are wrong i just dont see it and i am curious.

 

[GadDummit]

I've got mine in a rick sized firewood holder on the back porch. I still have to drag it through the living room one fireplace load at a time. I've considered putting in a box like on the show "Man with a plan". It's right next to the fireplace, where I have a window now. Wouldn't be hard to make my window a closed box that loads from one side and empties from the other, I would think. Here's the only picture of it I could find .

 

[Poindexter]

I keep about a face cord in my indoor, heated garage during burn season. In mild/ moderate/ average weather that lasts about a week. In cold weather I can rip through that in three days or so.

The good news is I can reload the stove in the am just wandering down to the garage in my pajamas. The bad news is using a sled sized for a field dressed trophy caribou reloading the rack in the garage is five trips. Bringing the loaded sled into the garage through a man door rather than an overhead door minimizes BTUs wasted trying to heat the lawn.

YMMV, a week's worth in the garage is plenty.

 

[maple1]

I put our entire winters wood in the basement around September/October. That eliminates the wet & snowy part of a mess. And having to bring wood in from outdoors all winter - don't think I'd want to go there. And ensures nice dry wood the whole winter.

We don't have a stove though, but a boiler. Next to the wood pile. So not sure how much that helps. But - my grandparents had a 'wood box' not far from their kitchen cook stove. Just a big rectangular wooden box that had a flip up top on it that was also a seat. That got filled as necessary and contained the mess as best as possible. The bigger the box, the less the number of fillings. Therefore the less the number of cleaning up afterwards sessions. Gramps just brought it in by the armload, but you could use some kind of carrying bag thing or whatever to keep the crumbs off the clothes & limit the mess more. Maybe a cart depending on your pathway.

All comes down to your layout & situation. And preferences.

 

[maple1]

Wood cart that fits thru doors.
Open "Storm" wood shed hext to the house for snowstorms when getting to the outdoor sheds is a PITA.
Then, the real woodshed 50' from the house for the usual morning stove rack fills with the cart.
First though, coffee.
The boss demands that the "wood frags" get cleaned up after loading the rack each morning after emptying ashes. Then the 2nd coffee.
For those of you sophisticated enough, this is called a "gestalt". Common enough in the great north of New England.
Please copy chest thump here.

Does this mean that if we don't know what you're talking about, we're unsophisticated?

 

[kennyp2339]

I built the most ideal setup (for myself) that i could think of.
Outside my garage in my driveway I have a woodshed that holds 8 cords, it runs along the perimeter back wall of the driveway in a L shape
inside my garage I have a rack that gives me approx. 10days worth of wood. Inside the basement next to the stove I have a large tractor supply animal feed / water trough that I throw splits in (keeps the majority of the debris in the bin for cleanliness)

 

[Ashful]

I store firewood on a covered patio outside the walkout basement door, which means it all goes up a flight of stairs and thru the house to my two stoves. One of them is quite a long walk thru a few old narrow doorways.

I went thru several different log satchels before I landed on the ones I’ll link below. This is not the nice antique looking leather and canvas style I liked to buy before, but it’s the only one durable enough to have lasted me this long. I have moved at least 30 cords with these, probably more, and they’re still holding up like new. I threw away the shoulder straps the day I got them, I prefer the carry handles.

I like to use two satchels, as it keeps me balanced when carrying 60 lb of wood thru the house several times per day, and I find two moderately loaded satchels easier to maneuver thru doorways than one severely overloaded one.

Classic Accessories Veranda by Classic Accessories Log Carrier https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00525ZNOG/?tag=hearthamazon-20

 

[Ashful]

Why do we have two identical threads going in two forums at the same time? Could mods combine?

 

[Ashful]

I have the bulk stack in the backyard. I load about half a cord at a time via pickup truck into a garage. That lasts a month or two.

I do the same, but change pickup to wagon, and month to week. I bought a 1 cord wagon (2-ton small farm wagon) so I can just load it from the stacks, and park it on my covered patio. Stacks are 300 feet from house.