So I like watching YouTube videos of other people processing firewood - anything to do with firewood, be it falling, bucking, splitting, stacking, even burning. My wife thinks I'm nuts. But anyway - I found this guy's video where he does a comparison of a few different splitting mauls from Stihl, Husqvarna and Fiskars (spoiler here - Fiskars wins). What caught my eye was not the splitting maul comparison, but the IBC tote cage being used as the cribbing at the end of his firewood pile. It was one of those "why didn't I think of that?" moments. I will have an overflow of firewood this season, too much to fit in my wood sheds at the rate I'm going, so I am going to set up a row of six or seven pallets side by side, with a tote cage at either end, and fill the cages with shorts and uglies. That will anchor the ends of the stack, and if for some reason I need to extend the pile, I can simply unstack a bit of it, pick up the cage with my tractor forks, and re-position it. The cages can be parked next to the wood boiler when it's time to burn the junk.
I did the same thing this year. I cut a small section out so it's easier to reach inside the cage, but it does provide for some sharp edges. This system seems to work pretty good.
I think I can solve the sharp edges problem with an angle grinder and a flap disc. Maybe paint the cut ends with some rubberized coating? I have no use for the actual poly tank liners, so I managed to find a local seller with just a bunch of cages for $35 each. I wish I could find them for free but nobody is giving those things away.
Some cement company was giving some away and I thought about using these but I would seriously need a bigger rig and trailer for the job not to mention some much better room specifically for wood and not need to take up room in my yard. Got plenty of junk odds and ends to burn but it does make it difficult to stack evenly with them. This takes care of that and likely last forever.
