Just finished building this. Nothing special but show what you put the wood in before it gets in the house!
My grandfather was a salesman for smith Corona typewriters. I still have a typewriter shipping case painted red that was my toy box as a kid. We had a huge typewriter shipping case as our wood box, it must have been for shipping a few at once. All I know is that it looked like the grand Canyon when I had to fill it each evening, hoping I got done before my dad loaded up the tempwood stove for the night.
Probably like filling up a gun box full? You know those crates they would use to ship them, about that size? That would make the night pretty long for a lil fella filling it. This one i measured it comes very close to 5 cubic feet. Just something to keep the trips at minimums during the night.
It seems in my dim memory that it held two rows of wood, so I'm guessing 3x4x2 feet. I had to drag it all the way around the house to the back door on my wagon, then walk it through the house to the wood stove. Could have cut the trip in half if I could have used the front door, but we never did...
Nice box FatBoy85 When I was a kid (6-7 yo), if 5 splits was just about right for me to carry... I would go for 7-8 splits, and my dad always said, "don't take take a lazy man's load." I be thinking to myself, "I ain't lazy!" I soon came to understand what he meant!
Sorry to ask a stupid question (yes, they DO exist). How exactly are you using this? When I first saw it, I expected that you are filling it with seasoned wood, then using forks on a loader to move it closer to the house. But that can't be, because there's no provisions to accomodate forks. Does it just sit next to the house? I see you left significant gaps between boards for air flow, or maybe just to use less lumber. If it's just to hold that night's wood, why would airflow matter? I am asking because I have the chance to grab a similar box, except it is forkable and doesn't have gaps between the boards. I don't have a loader or any other way to move this box once it's full, so it seems like stacks are better than a box.
While I'm putting my stupidity out there, I'd like to know what you mean too, Eric. I used to carry big loads because so many people say "save your footsteps". But it always seemed wrong to me, because my dainty arms tire quickly while carrying big armloads of wood, while my footsteps remained in good surplus. Then an old timer told me of his school of thought: "load light, and go often". I immediately took to his thinking. I know I can and will walk all day. So now I carry light loads and I'm not so quick to make excuses why I should stop.
I was in Lowes with my friend and there was a bucket of screws with a busted lid. Probably were not many missing if any. He talked to a manager and got a discount on the bucket. Just thought I would mention it in case you see similar while out shopping in one of these big box home stores.
Yes You will tire yourself out quicker if you take lots at a time. You can take larger loads but then this is likely to be used best when there's not much wood or not in a hurry (why I don't know). The advice has been passed on for sure. It seems to me the 'diesel' in me just wants to get the work done when things are rolling smooth, hard to stop a train at full boil isn't it? Then you feel it in the morning...
Brought home about as much wood as my F-150 would hold yesterday. Mostly big rounds from a maple. I sure felt it this morning.
Sorry I got mixed up in my other posts and didn't get back to this! My bad Just going to use this for a wood box in the garage so Im not walking out to the pile so much. Its only about 5 cubic feet but likely to stack perhaps twice that if I just add some 2x4's on the ends that are a bit longer than the thinner box slats I put in to prevent rollouts.* As for your airflow question the boards I put in front are slightly wet/green so I didn't want to invite mold as an issue. Mostly did so that I can find what's at the bottom of my bin if there's a wood type Im wanting more than another. Other than that it's purely aesthetic. It's kinda like those crates where fruit was transported in. I just used thicker boards in the main structure for longevity.* Im likely to just use a handcart to move this. Now that you mention moving this around, might be worthy putting some caster wheels on this thing. Im happy where it is but filled with wood, this may get pretty heavy and where I have it in the garage its in front of a storage rack of household items. I did think about a wood rack that is minature and give it some rungs to separate wood types, something about 4 feet high maybe? This is kinda the starter pack, I'll move to upgrade depending on my wood use if need be. Already have plenty of wood lumber cuts that make great chill-cutter fires, maybe just stick to hardwoods with this box? I had brought it in the garage and noticed it was just slightly off. Grabbing two small blocks of wood I raised the front end and it is perfectly level now.Hardly any cutting was involved in the making of this. Just a couple inches cut off boards like the wood slats on the sides that stick up but they were put in on the bottom to strengthen it, not in view but at least it won't bottom out. Should keep this inside as the wood isn't stain treated. Great box I hope to use it for years and years!!
So this is available to me if I want it. It seems so full of possibilities, but I don't know what I would do with it. If it had better ventilation, I would throw green uglies and short pieces in. Any suggestions? Also, I have no way to move it when it's full.
I like that a lot. If I were you I'd want to find out about the bottom. Just to find out what kind of airflow is about that. If you're worried about airflow, I wonder if a hole saw would help you. Something small but make it so that you're giving it a chance to swirl...? Great looking box I'm thinking about building another for my wood blocks. Tons of those...
Wood boxes are more for holding the days wood out of the elements, near enough to be a short trip to the stove. I use a wood ring on the back porch. My son keeps it filled, and then my wife only has to put her slippers on to grab whatever she needs all day. Having it staged nearby but in a box , or on the porch, keeps the loose bark, snow, and dirt from falling all over the hearth, as most of the loose bits fall off there.
