You, sir, are a living testament to the idea of who Americans are. They see problems, develop solutions, and then implement their ideas to make the world better. This took a little bit of doing, but you certainly didn't sit in your field, cry and call the government on your cell phone to bail you out and help with the problem. Great job! Bravo!
I see always Doug helping you with his genius and concern. 1. How would you reciprocate? 2. How to get a neighbour like Doug? and, I Envy and a bit jealous of you for being so lucky to have a best neighbour. Good luck. All the best Adam. 😊
I have been using these for years now. I have 40 of them....got a really good deal. A couple things I do differently: Remove side panels to improve air flow. You cut on the long side, I cut on both short sides but I also keep the 2 cross bars that held in the bladder. I reinstall those to maintain strength in that direction. This allows loading/unloading from either side of the tote. Anyway, great video!
I really like the idea of using the frame of an IBC tote to load and transport firewood. We usually load the bucket of our tractor and make multiple trips to the attached garage to our home. From there we offload the firewood by armfuls to stack in our basement where the wood stove is located. We live in Northern Vermont and I’ve noticed several other folks utilizing the IBC totes for firewood. Great video as always.
Pro tip…….when you come up to the full IBC tote, come at it with the open end away from you……then you won’t have any wood trying to jump out and scratch your tractor paint. Good job
We use these crates a lot in the UK. I put old carpet on the ground first, then 6 or 7 bricks, then the cage on those; it lets air under the cage as well as all around. Re the tops; if you cut one in half diagonally you can get two tops for the price of one. Enjoy. JOn
Cut one bladder diagonally you have a top for two totes so then you have a extra bladder complete to use as needed, use large zip ties to hold in place.
I have about a dozen of these things I use for firewood. They're fantastic but they don't last forever. Repeated loading and unloading and moving them with the tractor takes a toll on them eventually (the steel is quite thin). I don't cut the side out of mine. I suspect that might make them weaker again. Once they're a bit under half empty two people can easily push them over to unload the stuff in the bottom. The real beauty of them is that they eliminate any disputes about volume. If you know your customer you can just load the whole thing up with the tractor and the bring the empty one back next time. No double handling!!!
@@HometownAcres I normally get 3 or 4 years out of one. The bottom bit where the forks go tend to get bent. I can be a bit on the rough side though (and our ground can be uneven)
Thanks for your video. Mike's firewood is a mix of red oak, cherry (very common on Western Pa), and some maple. His totes might weigh a bit less but then if you watch Mellissa or Mike you see them carefully stacking wood between front and back. Big tool rack looks to be a great product but you gotta love how simple and rugged your carry-all is. Take care
I started using these for firewood last year, they work great. You can cut down on handling a great deal. I would say though, that I think it's a mistake to cut the top rail out of the tote. You should leave it to keep the tote from spreading from the weight of the wood over time. Not to mention that the more you cut the tote, the more places will begin to rust. Biggest problem is finding a place to get cheap or free totes.
Your tractor did good, those are heavier than people think when loaded, I don't know if you mentioned or not but the big ones like that hold a little over 1/3 cord when you stack it in there like that
Hey thanks for the comment. I’m just a little north of you in Meadville PA so I got ahold of Adam for these totes too. He is a real nice guy. We talked for about an hour
Ever think of firewood bulk bags? They hold 1/3 cord lose stacked and they dry inside the bags. You just put them on pallets then you can just load them in the truck bed with the tractor when they are dry. They cost like 16-20$ vs 75-100 for the ibc totes
That Kioti Is pretty impressive. The baskets are a good idea, the less times you touch the wood the easier it gets. If I never said it before I gotta tell ya , you have a beautiful farm there in northern Pa. thanks for sharing!
Adam I agree with you and Mike Morgan. What a great use of recycled material. I would think the top cover will help to dry, especially if it’s left out over winter with the snow/ice sitting on it. At my old place I only cut red oak and would stack it on pallets 4 feet tall in rows. I’d then buy 12’ tarps and cut them in 2’ wide strips which I’d lay on top of the rows. It’d not lessen the wind flow while preventing the ice/snow and fall leaves from accumulating on top. Great video and take care.
Hometown Acres - It worked out great, especially since I had it piled off of a trail on pallets amongst oak and poplar trees. Once it had a year to season I’d remove the tarp and have dry, clean hardwood to put in the woodshed ready to burn.
We cut the bladder tops about 12 inches down and then use two bungee cords tied from the bladder top to the metal tote. No need to stack wood on top. Then we take the bladder and nail a 2x4 at the bottom to a pallet. Drill a bunch of one inch holes in the bladder for air flow.
Someone may have already said this but I just saw a video and thought I should share it with you. The guy cut the plastic inside the tote in half at a diagonal to make a roof for rain protection. Just a thought, loving the new Axis videos.
TRY VERTICAL STACKING! Cut the logs to 20", tilt the cage to 45 using a chain with your bucket and stack it on it's end. It's easier to load and unload. You only have to reach halfway down to grab and end for your wood furnace. Have been doing this for a long time.
@@josephpostma1787 My stove/furnace can take 20" sticks of firewood. If 16 is the stove's max, go ahead and cut to 16 and use the remaining space on top to lay firewood. It's all good either way. My vertical stack method makes it easier to retrieve sticks of firewood and I often drive a hatchet into the bottom vertical pieces to lift them out of the cage. I tile the cages 45 degrees to load them btw.
Thats awesome. I didn't think that would lift it! I ran into the same problem years ago. I built some really nice wooden crates for firewood, but the old skid steer I had at the time woudnt lift them.
A little suggestion on the curl cylinders ..try putting a remote control warn winch on the center of the loader to help with the curl....it's an easy and inexpensive way to keep the load steady. You may also want to consider wheel weights instead of rear ballast...I have a M-5140 Kubota tractor and run triple 150 pound plates on each side and have more than enough ballast to lift anything without ever worrying about tipping and it frees up the rear end so I have tight rear clearance when working in limited rear turning.
I’ve been using old wooden pallets with timbers screwed to the side. I load them up to hold about a cubic meter of firewood so I can keep track of our firewood usage 👍🏻
I had a Kubota L35 that could just lift a 4 foot “green” concrete jersey barrier. After about 3-4 weeks of curing, it was noticeably easier to lift with lower moisture content. Running an L39 now and lifting is even easier.
I use the IBC cages as well. FYI I've done an experiment, tightly packed Vs loosely packed. Results were surprising. Loosely packed IBC = 0.8 tightly packed IBC
I have a DK 45 and without ballast, half a pallet of wood started to lift the the rear tires, now I keep a box blade on the back (500lbs.) and it works great. my DK with the shuttle shift ended up cheaper than the CK 40SE Hydro, anyone out there considering a CK should look hard at the DK, only slightly larger footprint and much heavier, stronger machine, shuttle shift with a clucth is no issue at all for doing jobs with forks, or grapples. Low gear is so slow and controllable, delicate operations are easy.
Nice video Adam! Asher and I watched and we both thought your tractor could pick it up and we were right. He even cheered when it worked. Have a good one, bud.
If you raise birds , take your tote bladder split it in half, wash it good makes a pretty good brooder to use in a barn till your chicks get they're feathers
Good video. I usually cover my wood, and like you only cover the top, not the sides of the pile. Just keep the water shedding off when it rains, and don’t allow it to trap moisture. I keep my covers a few inches up by stacking a few pieces of wood the other direction to allow an air space. You may find water trapped under your cover because it can’t escape. Your top pieces may not dry the way you have your cover
Remember that your 3-point hitch can lift way more than your loader. If you're not stacking them 2 high, a set of forks for the back makes it a whole lot easier. I see guys using the cages from these totes a lot, but around my area, you can't buy these used for less than $100
I'm a fabricator I tried making a cheaper alternative Even with free decent quality scrap steel... these are one of the cheapest options for good quality sturdy tidy firewood storage
Go get a 3 point hitch pallet fork. If you'll look at your lift capacity on the 3 point lift it will surprise you. Probably close to 3k lbs at the pins. As the lift rises it naturally " curls" so the tips of the forks are higher than the point closet to the pins, thus resisting anything sliding off going up a hill in forward motion. Also solves your ballast problem.
Went really well. Only issue I had was checking torque of some of the mounting bracket bolts for the loader and backhoe. Some where just tricky to get to and get the proper leverage.
Nice idea, couple of thoughts. It might make it harder to load but I'd be tempted to leave the top hoop of metal intact and just cut the thinner cross pieces out...it would give you a bit more rigidity in the basket. Also you can strengthen the bladders up by screwing wood to the outside through from the inside, or bury it a bit - you wouldn't need to bury it far to make it more rigid...maybe a foot deep...you could connect the hose first and have a tap externally? Just wish we had the space you guys have over your side of the pond you have a great setup there.
This is awesome man. My dad runs a tree business and the way he sells, cuts, and delivers firewood is just too slow. This would be great to have these, fill them and put them on the bed of the truck.
If you want to curl it, get you a cinder block or something alittle taller sit the edge on it so it leans back towards the tractor that will allow you to curl up to the point it makes contact again.
Adam, I had no doubt your tractor could lift it because mine can, the only difference is I have a self leveling loader that keeps it level as you lift it. You might want to try curling first before you lift. IBC's are a great firewood solution, the only problem for me is that the cheapest price they sell around me is $95 each. I have 2 but use them for fire fighting. Also my mate who has a few cuts the tanks at 45 degrees so it makes a angled roof as a cover.
Good morning Adam, good job with the tote. Also you can’t go wrong watching OUTDOORS WITH THE MORGANS, Mike does a great job sharing with everyone!! You might review his stacking in the tote and getting the correct measurements so you have it correct. This is me personally, I wouldn’t use the plastic bladder for anything! If you can’t use it for drinking water, why water plants that will bare fruits that you are going to eat? BE SAFE, thanks for sharing. Fred.
I know dump trailers aren’t cheap, but have you ever thought about getting one, that way you can make a 1/3 cord box that can be loaded off the splitter, then dumped into the dump trailer, then dumped at the customers. That way your only handling it once off the splitter? That’s what I plan on doing anyway. Thanx, nice vid.
If you need to go downhill with a heavy load, reversing down is often a better option as you will also have a better view of where you are going as well as not tipping the load. Great idea to use an IBC cage, did you have to buy it?
If you use some pallete wood upright around the tank then some fencing wire and staple it to the wood so the wire does not slip down it will hold its shape
Really to be honest about it, you should stack a legal cord in 4x4x8 with 20 inch stick measurements then divide it into 4 sections or quarters then load your cage to see how many quarters will go inside, then you can legally sell and advertise without someone whining about the fair quantity.
Adam those totes are a great idea no doubt, I wonder if maybe you should set them on a skid? Wondering if they might settle making it hard to get under? Thanks for sharing 👍
I thought that was a great idea Adam. I'm not sure who first came up with the idea but it was a great idea. I'm curious how much Red Oak actually weighs. I bet its closer to 1700 -1750 lbs. Great idea with the cap. 👍👍👍
Thanks CJ. I was convinced I could make these cheaper on my own but sometimes it pays to just pony up and get the right equipment. These things are way better than the wood pallets I was using
Great video. You should cut the bladder in half but diagonally. That way you have a roof pitch to shed the water away and you get 2 pitched roofs out of 1 bladder. Also how many litter bladder was that? 👊
My guess is that the empty tank will not be successful for water storage as the sides will belly out without having the support from the cage or the top that you cut off. Even with the top still in place I would doubt if it was be ok to hold more than a foot or two of water,
I was just watching an Eastonmade video just before this and Andrew was talking about putting all his wood into 1m3 firewood bags. These are potentially another very easy option especially if you wanted to avoid stacking by hand.
Looks like the tractor did fine should work great. So load one of these in the truck then deliver and unload by hand just like you would with a normal truckload then repeat? Take care brother
I’m not selling cordwood anymore. Strictly bundles now. Way more money in it for not much more work. The plan is to just carry one of these totes up to the garage where my beer fridge and bundler are and make bundles in the shade haha
Use the IBC Tote water bladder full of water as your counter weight. You may not need to fill the bladder completely full of water. I'm sure you can figure out how to load and unload the bladder quickly and easily.
I bought 10 of those to try out this year paid $25.00 for each but I had to repair them first. The going rate now is about $50.00 for nice ones here in Michigan I have to use a 4320 deere to lift mind and I carry them with the hole facing forward . I have a lot of hills to deal with. I been told to cut the tanks at a 45 degree to make 2 tops. Great video.What are you paying for yours?
Hey I live in east tx. I like that little grappel on your tractor. Would like to know where you got it. Want to see if I can get one. Thanks and keep them videos coming
I am going to be on the lookout for some of these IBC totes. You said on one if the videos that you can fit a full face cord in one if these totes. Is that a cage for a 275 gallon bladder or 250?
I think these are a great idea. I am curious how they will do sitting in the field all year however. I mean, will the grass grow around them and and make forking them difficult etc?
Hardest part of forking the damn totes is seeing where your forks are and not going under the bottom rail on accident -- especially if the totes are on uneven ground.
Uhhh correct me if I am wrong and only correct me if you are a chemist, but can you use a tank that was used to haul chemicals as a rain tank to water the plants that you will eat the fruits from those plants such as blueberries?
