Ibc totes- no tractor-no skid steer

I don't have a tractor or a forklift or anything and I have 6 IBC totes. I use two of them as a staging station right outside the front door......and the other 4 have the totes full of kindling. I don't know what the layout of your land is.....and how much wood you have, etc......but I have had zero issues not being able to lift a tote by hand. The code enforcement officer forced me to move one kindling tote away from the building, so it took about 5 minutes to empty half of it into garbage cans and then I wobbled it back and forth to move it. No biggie.

I also stack my wood inside the tote cage in the staging area. I cut out some of the steel to make it easier to access the bottom of the tote. I keep them covered with a tarp and it works great.

$10 is a steal. I got mine for $25 each with the totes inside......but people closer try to sell them for $100 each.

 

I have one tote. Only have it because I was using it as a water tank and the tank sprung a leak. So I salvaged the cage and recycled the plastic. I have a 35-hp tractor and it will not pick up a full tote of firewood unless it's bone-dry and I have a substantial counterweight on the 3-point. I can get about 3/4 full before the tractor gets tippy. I have loaded rears too. A third cord of wet oak is over a ton, and that exceeds the max lift capacity of my machine at the pins.

I would love to put all my firewood in totes for the convenience, but they are also $100+ around here, so I don't bother.

An investment in firewood totes usually means an investment in a machine big enough to pick them up, plus enough cheap totes to contain your wood. Since I burn 10+ cords a year, having 90 totes around (3 year plan?) is probably not going to ever happen.

 

Forks for the 3PH?

 

Calling Ontario Firewood Resource for comment…. He seems to stack the highest with totes of anyone I’ve seen.

 

I have a JD2520 ( next size down at 26.5 HP) and have the same problem. It's fine for moving gravel, one of the purposes I bought it for. Firewood wasn't on the list of considerations at the time. I might have gone with the 3 series - like some people were suggesting. I think JD's specs are 800 pounds for the loader and 1200-1400 pounds for the 3-point. I've lifted about 1200 pounds with an Artillian fork set rig but I'd have to make small racks for oak. Even pine. A lot of racks even for 9 or 10 cords. I just don't want to make that many small racks. I've maxed out the front end loader and I'm really surprised I didn't pop the turf tires right off the rims doing it. I was just lifting a log . I think if I had tried to move the log the tires would have rolled right off the rims.

I'll see totes for 25-50 dollars but they're totes that the bladder had something in them that doesn't lend to powerwashing the insides easily. The canola oil ones fetch $$$$. Cages with no bladder are tougher to find and are often somewhat beat up for cheap $.

 

Well I picked 2. Just to see how it would work. Regardless of what the outcome is it won't be the worst $20 I ever spent.

 

Only have 1/3 acre total, actuallly 0.39 Thats counting the area the house is on. Part of the reason the number crunching was so high I need more land to season wood on.
And yes always looking to expand the wood yard. Like any true hoarder

 

Still trying to convince the wife the need for one. We're the last house on a dead end private gravel road. So city doesn't do any maintenence or plow snow and the 5 of us on the street can't agree on a contractor. Making more of a need for one other than just firewood.

 

Heck yeah!! Why pay for a contractor ? Although it could get tricky splitting up ownership and responsibilities and all the related crap that comes up.
Although my wife's uncle/family pulled it off successfully in New Hampshire. They even built a building with shared ownership for the snow/road equipment along with their toys.
Personally I'd rather own and be responsible for my own stuff.

 

Maybe this could work. Become the road maintenance contractor and have the neighbors pay you. A tracked skid steer with bucket, forks and snow blade takes up less space than a tractor and IMHO can do more especially in tight place.

 

Now day ss units, used, are priced more than my first 2 home purchases together. I have no idea why the prices went ballistic over the past 8 years. I suppose it might have something to do with the EPA requirements on diesels now. ( seeing as it took almost 3o years to make a gas engine work reliably- well most of the time with the epa crud- I do not have any real hope for diesels in what is left of my lifetime)

 

I vote for bobcat toolcat!!

 

Not sure they can even lift an IBC full of green oak.

 

Check engine light on lol? I had a relatively new Impala in the shop, engine knocking like you wouldn't believe, no light on, but leave the gas cap loose & it'll come on.
Another vote for the Toolcat.

 

Some times people try to give them away.