I thought I'd post up some pics of my firewood storage solutions. I store freshly cut stuff at the back of the property uncovered for 2 years or so on pallets, then I'll load them into these 48"x45"x 48" tall crates and move them up to the house with the tractor. I use them to move easily and to sort different types of wood. I can stage them around the property and tag them with what year they were cut and split. Then i keep a couple up by the house with kindling, oak, cherry and whatever other types I have on hand. This is mostly oak and some ash from the spring: about 1.5 cord of maple cut last winter on reserves: lots of maple, pin oak from 2.5 years ago, a crate of cherry, and a crate of red oak that was hit by lighting that should be ready to burn this winter. Lightning struck trees normal dry out in one season or less. I guess the lightning dries them out, they are much drier than standing dead trees. what I keep up by the house ready to burn. A mixture here of cherry, ash, pin oak, white oak, and some other wood that was in a pile from my uncles that is hard and burns good, but not sure what species it is. Possibly hickory. and how I move them around... homemade pallet forks on the 3 point. the new kubota won't pick up a full crate of oak, but will cherry, maple and ash. I used the front end loader on my other tractor, but I was going to break it, so I stopped using the front forks and made an adapter for the rear instead.
Nice setup and system you have for your splits there! Nothing like having some machinery to help you out as well. I saw the pics on the front end loader build on the blue unit. Nice work!
yeah, I sold that little blue mitsubishi so I could buy this kubota. I got it dirt cheap with a blown motor, so I sold my beaver cheap to get it. much more user friendly for me. hydro, can actually mow with it and take the loader off. no need for a separate lawn mower now. trying to minimize my junk, lol
Only downfall is that it can't lift a full crate of oak? Can you fill the loader bucket with something to compensate?
no, it doesn't have the hydraulic strength. the hydraulics on the kubota are run from the hydrostatic transmission instead of a dedicated hydraulic pump. its rated to lift 1K on the 3 point. The forks weigh a couple hundred pounds and a half cord of oak in a hundred pound cage is well over 1K lbs... my little mitsu was going to break the front axle if I kept using it the way I was. it was a stick with a clutch, and I couldn't use it to mow very effectively with the mower hanging 4' off the back. The kubota is much more user friendly. I sold a mini tractor that did tractor stuff well, but wasn't a lawn mower. I got a 4wd diesel lawn mower than does some tractor stuff. i don't have a ton of use for a real tractor anymore, so the overgrown lawn mower works well for me. I could upgrade the hydraulics, but I'd rather just not mess with it, it works.. for me. its the size of a large lawn mower, but is 4wd, diesel, power steering and the loader comes off in 30 seconds for versatile mowing in tight conditions, i.e., around the house, fence, it still needs some work, but for what I got it for, I could afford it. Otherwise I'd still have the mitsu. only reason I got the mitsu was because it was cheap. being a newer homeowner, i don't have the free money I used to have. a used kubota BX with a 60" mid mount mower and front end loader goes for 8500-10K depending on condition. I got a hydraulic front mount dozer and snow blade setup with it too. Thats about 3500 new. I'm into it less than 4500. sure, it needs some work, but I Sold my Beaver for 3500 for quick cash so I could get this. I could have gotten more out of it, but time was of the essence, so it literally cost me 1K out of pocket. Now, I pulled the motor out of my kubota lawn mower (19hp) to get it running for the winter. When some funds free up, I'll fix the 22hp motor and put it back in and sell my kubota lawn mower. I'm mechanically inclined and can fix stuff, but can't afford to just go out and buy what I want. So I have a 7500-8500 tractor for about 3K initial investment...I only had about 2K in the mitsu total, but that was paid for and had it for a few years and not counting all the labor I had in it building the front end loader and restoring it. Sure the kubota needs some work, but I can afford to work on it and put money into it versus going out and spending 10K on something. besides, it matches the husky's.. lol
look around on craigslist. They are liquid totes, usually in 330 gal an 250 gallon capacities. Take the plastic tote out and whalla, you have a galvanized firewood crate that won't rust. plus stacking them with air gap between them helps them dry 3-6 months faster. they used to be found for cheap or free. I bought some 2-3 years ago for 30 bucks each. seems nowadays they go for 40-50 bucks. I need 8-10 more so I don't need pallets but am too cheap to spend that kind of coin on them. I got luck this summer and bought 3 at a scrapyard for scrap weight. (10 bucks each, bare cage, no plastic)
Yes, they usually go for $50 here so your prices are not out of line. If we could get some for $30 we'd get them but would want the plastic container left in for hauling water.
