Palletized Wood Setup

[sloeffle]

The way I currently process firewood is so inefficient it makes my head spin. As a rough guess I probably touch each piece of firewood two or three times before it lands in my wood burning furnace. Luckily we only burn a couple cords a year.

So this had led me to the idea of palletizing my wood production. I have seem some folks post pictures of a palletized system where they stack wood on pallets and then use a tractor or skid loader to bring it into there barn or house.

My current tractor ( JD 770 ) is only rated to lift around 700 - 800lbs at best with the loader. It is all it can do to move a 700lb round bale. My house has a walk out basement with double doors so I'll easily be able to drop a pallet into the basement. Currently I am in the market for a new tractor because our current tractor is not capable of doing what I need it to do anymore on the farm.

Would anybody have a rough guess of what a pallet load of green wood weighs ? And know what percentage of a cord a pallet holds ? Of course I know a lot depends on the species too. A ball park estimate is fine. The reason I am asking is that I definitely want to buy a tractor that has the loader capacity and weight to handle a pallet load of green firewood easily.

 

[jwfirebird]

i dont know the wood weight but the 3pt rating is normally higher than the loader for a small tractor, mine is just 30hp but its 1500 lbs. having the weight on the back is alot better for tipping and the 3pt pallet frks are pretty cheap compared to a loader

 

[zrock]

We use the big drums the DPF and deicing fluid come in. They work perfect we take out the plastic drum and have a steel cage left over to toss wood into. You can usually find them for free or in the $50 price range

 

[sloeffle]

We use the big drums the DPF and deicing fluid come in. They work perfect we take out the plastic drum and have a steel cage left over to toss wood into. You can usually find them for free or in the $50 price range

I have seen some posts about that too. There is a local manufacturing plant that throws away pallets on a pretty regular basis so that is why I was planning on going the pallet route.

Any idea what a steel cage full of firewood weighs ?

 

[sloeffle]

i dont know the wood weight but the 3pt rating is normally higher than the loader for a small tractor, mine is just 30hp but its 1500 lbs. having the weight on the back is alot better for tipping and the 3pt pallet frks are pretty cheap compared to a loader

I thought about that too, but I don't think I can get the pallet into my basement without actually driving the tractor into the basement. My current tractor does not have a foldable ROPS too.

 

[zrock]

I have seen some posts about that too. There is a local manufacturing plant that throws away pallets on a pretty regular basis so that is why I was planning on going the pallet route.

Any idea what a steel cage full of firewood weighs ?

Your guess is as good as mine as we moved ours around with a skid steer and it lifted it like nothing.
If your going the pallet route get the good hardwood pallets if you can find them. The others are crap and brake and fall apart at the worst time. The hardwood ones will last forever and seem to be indestructible.

 

[jwfirebird]

have to have it stiking out some wether its a loader or three point to get it over the threshold. loaders aren't normally rated that high to begin with and then if you need to stick it out so you don't hit the glass going to need something with a much higher rating.

we had a ss quick mount on the backhoe we had, but when you got anything heavy on it was really tippy and you need 4wd to even move, the rear is much better for lifting if you are talking a tractor that doesn't weigh much more than what you are lifting. they have rear bale spears you can get too

 

[VirginiaIron]

A cord is 128 cubic feet. 8 feet long x 4 feet wide x 4 feet tall.

So a 4 foot pallet is half a cord. 4x4x4=64 half cord
3×3×4=36 or >1/3

Weight will vary according to species and quality. Oak looks like an additional 1500 pounds per cord when green.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/weigt-wood-d_821.html

 

[sloeffle]

A cord is 128 cubic feet. 8 feet long x 4 feet wide x 4 feet tall.

So a 4 foot pallet is half a cord. 4x4x4=64 half cord
3×3×4=36 or >1/3

Weight will vary according to species and quality. Oak looks like an additional 1500 pounds per cord when green.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/weigt-wood-d_821.html

Thanks the reply. I didn't even think about it from a cord and volume perspective. As my electrical engineering professor would say in college "it all boils down to math".

 

[jotul8e2]

My bil stacks and stores his firewood exactly this way. He uses heavy plastic 4X4 pallets and welded a light frame to fit up two sides and across the top to hold a half cord. Despite being open on two sides it holds the wood well enough to move the pallets around as he needs them. It makes it easy to know how much is on hand.

 

[FTG-05]

A 275 gallon IBC has the following dimensions:

45" Length x 40" Width x 46" Height (from here: https://www.protank.com/275gallon-caged-ibc-tote-p9931172). This equals 47.9 cu ft. Since this is the external dimensions, the internal dimensions will be less. The volume of 276 gallons is 36.7 cu ft.

Using the Engineering Toolbox posted by Virginia, Hickory is the densest wood at 64 lb/cu ft. (Poplar for example, is 38 lbs/cu ft; Southern Pine is 52 lbs/cu ft.)

36.7 cu ft x 64 lbs/cu ft = 2,348 lbs
47.9 cu ft x 64 lbs/cu ft = 3,066 lbs.

Use the ET to pick the wood density you have or use, then multiply by the above volumes and there is your weight range. Don't forget to add the weight of the IBC frame, about 100 lbs +/- (135 lbs minus the plastic tank).