Since the topic came up a few posts ago, and since my Dad had a tree down that needed processing last week, I figured I might as well snap a few pics and share how we cut up and process firewood on the farm. This old maple tree has been around since we moved to the farm when I was a kid. It grew at a pretty severe angle over the driveway and in recent years, had started to die and was posing a hazard to any cars that might be parked around the driveway. Good thing he cut it down, he said that he had no more than cut about 6” into it when it cracked and fell.
Here’s the setup we’re currently using. The IBC cages are a game changer in reducing handling of the wood. Now we only have to stack the wood once into the container instead of handling it multiple times before it made it to the basement door for use. Best part is, Dad has a couple contacts at the grain elevator and his old job and gets them for free. Removing the plastic liners is a breeze.
In order to move the totes around, Dad built a forklift attachment for his tractor. He still wants to add a hydraulic cylinder to be able to better tilt the forks, but it works pretty well right now.
Each IBC tote holds just shy of a half cord of wood. The maple tree ended up getting us three and a half cords of wood.
Here are the main wood piles (sheep for scale reference). There is probably close to eight or nine cords of wood piled up here. This was processed over the last year or two before Dad started using IBC totes. Most of this wood will be gone by next spring.
A strange thought occurred to me when taking this pic – it might be the last time I see a big wood pile in this area as Dad makes the switch to IBC totes. I’ve spent a lot of hours in this small section of the property splitting and stacking wood. The end of an era I suppose.
Here’s the setup we’re currently using. The IBC cages are a game changer in reducing handling of the wood. Now we only have to stack the wood once into the container instead of handling it multiple times before it made it to the basement door for use. Best part is, Dad has a couple contacts at the grain elevator and his old job and gets them for free. Removing the plastic liners is a breeze.
In order to move the totes around, Dad built a forklift attachment for his tractor. He still wants to add a hydraulic cylinder to be able to better tilt the forks, but it works pretty well right now.
Each IBC tote holds just shy of a half cord of wood. The maple tree ended up getting us three and a half cords of wood.
Here are the main wood piles (sheep for scale reference). There is probably close to eight or nine cords of wood piled up here. This was processed over the last year or two before Dad started using IBC totes. Most of this wood will be gone by next spring.
A strange thought occurred to me when taking this pic – it might be the last time I see a big wood pile in this area as Dad makes the switch to IBC totes. I’ve spent a lot of hours in this small section of the property splitting and stacking wood. The end of an era I suppose.
