Very handy! You could use it for many things. Nice design.:thThumbsU
Firewood Fetchin' Box
Thought I'd post a pic or two of the box I made recently to help with the firewood collecting chores. The previous method I used for firewood consisted of the following steps.
Fell/find tree
Buck into firewood length
Lift heavy unsplit logs into 4x8 utility trailer behind the tractor
Drive trailer to my splitting area next to my woodshed
Lift logs out of trailer and throw on the big pile
Lift log from pile onto the "big log" for splitting (or to the rented splitter)
Lift split logs from ground and put into wheelbarrow
Roll wheelbarrow into woodshed to stack
In addition to the multiple lifting of heavy objects, the real problem with this method was 1) dragging the trailer through the woods and 2) the trailer is too wide to drive right up to the woodpile. I wanted something that was easier to manuever in the woods and that I could drive right up to the area that I stack.
The solution that I came up with was a big wood box with fold down sides built on to a King Kutter CarryAll. I bought the CarryAll at the local farm supply place for about $US100, the wood was about $50 and the hardware about $25.
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Now the firewood fetching duties consist of:
Fell/find tree
Buck into firewood length
Split the logs pretty much where they lay
Lift split logs and throw them into the box
Drive tractor with box directly to the stack IN the woodshed
Fold down the side and transfer logs to pile
Go have a beer and look at next winter's heat. :trink39:
I should note that I probably don't save all that much time as now I have to make more trips but that just means I get to drive my tractor around more! :thThumbsU Also, this works because I'm mostly splitting oak and cherry so I do it by hand. About once a year I'll rent a splitter and go at some of the more gnarly stuff and for that I still use the older method. But I enjoy the exercise for the 4 or 5 cords I do each year so I don't mind doing it by hand. Finally, filling this thing up to the sides with oak DEFINITELY is about the limit of the lifting capacity of a JD4100. I have to make sure that I don't over do the filling or I can't get it off the ground!
Fell/find tree
Buck into firewood length
Lift heavy unsplit logs into 4x8 utility trailer behind the tractor
Drive trailer to my splitting area next to my woodshed
Lift logs out of trailer and throw on the big pile
Lift log from pile onto the "big log" for splitting (or to the rented splitter)
Lift split logs from ground and put into wheelbarrow
Roll wheelbarrow into woodshed to stack
In addition to the multiple lifting of heavy objects, the real problem with this method was 1) dragging the trailer through the woods and 2) the trailer is too wide to drive right up to the woodpile. I wanted something that was easier to manuever in the woods and that I could drive right up to the area that I stack.
The solution that I came up with was a big wood box with fold down sides built on to a King Kutter CarryAll. I bought the CarryAll at the local farm supply place for about $US100, the wood was about $50 and the hardware about $25.
Now the firewood fetching duties consist of:
Fell/find tree
Buck into firewood length
Split the logs pretty much where they lay
Lift split logs and throw them into the box
Drive tractor with box directly to the stack IN the woodshed
Fold down the side and transfer logs to pile
Go have a beer and look at next winter's heat. :trink39:
I should note that I probably don't save all that much time as now I have to make more trips but that just means I get to drive my tractor around more! :thThumbsU Also, this works because I'm mostly splitting oak and cherry so I do it by hand. About once a year I'll rent a splitter and go at some of the more gnarly stuff and for that I still use the older method. But I enjoy the exercise for the 4 or 5 cords I do each year so I don't mind doing it by hand. Finally, filling this thing up to the sides with oak DEFINITELY is about the limit of the lifting capacity of a JD4100. I have to make sure that I don't over do the filling or I can't get it off the ground!
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That's EXACTLY what I do!
:fing32: That's where some of the oddball pieces that don't split easy go. They go back to the area next to the woodshed where I can wail away at them at my leisure. Or until I rent/borrow a splitter. Or I decide they're not worth the trouble and throw 'em back into the woods. Sorta like catch and release fishing but with a chainsaw. 
Huh. Well, waddyaknow? That looks fairly similar. I like the way they carry the choker chain. I'll have to do something like that. One thing about mine though is that I can take all 3 sides off of the platform in less than 60 seconds which is handy for carrying oddball things.
We burn about 4-5 cords a year in a masonry stove (primary heater) and a small conventional wood stove (basement). If I had an outdoor wood burner then I wouldn't have to worry about those "extra gnarly" pieces! I'd love to put one in and use it to heat a garage someday.
We burn about 4-5 cords a year in a masonry stove (primary heater) and a small conventional wood stove (basement). If I had an outdoor wood burner then I wouldn't have to worry about those "extra gnarly" pieces!
I'd love to put one in and use it to heat a garage someday.
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