Firewood--Stump to Stove

I like to build machines to make my firewood operation fun and easier. I built the skidding arch several years back. The blade is easily removed and my 3pt splitter locks onto the arch in it's mounting points. I built the ginpole on the splitter to pull logs out of the piles at the landings and the grapple to lift the heavy blocks. I built the elevator to eliminate dropping split wood back on the ground after splitting. I now just have to get the unsplit blocks on the splitter, and the elevator does the rest. I have acess to the big tandem trailer from the farm, and just finished a smaller hyd dump trailer of my own which will also fit into my walk-in celler where I store wood for the fireplace in the house. We burn that when ocasional heat is needed in early fall and spring when it starts warming up. The Royall boiler which is in my shop does all the major heating, house-celler-shop, during the winter heating season.
I built the red cart to bring in wood to the boiler from the attached woodshed. In the celler I use a converted feed cart to wheel a batch of wood from pile to where the dumb waiter is. The dumb waiter is made from Kubota crates and overhead door rollers and track. I mounted a HF 120V winch up in the trusses to raise and lower the dumb waiter.
The last pic is of a chopsaw tab le that I built years back to block slabs off my home built bandsaw. I need to fab some brackets so I can quick couple it to the splitter for transport. It will free stand once set up at landing and dump directly into the elevator hopper. I'm tierd of bending over and chaseing smaller limbs with the saw to cut them to length.
I can't work like I used to, but my shop built machines provide the muscle that I no longer have.
To those of you who ask why not just hook to natural gas, the answer is easy. There are no NG lines in the area. Besids I like building things. the Kubota crates and other materials that I build stuff from are free, and I love working in the woods. On top of that You can't beat wood heat.
Loren, the Acg.

Man You do have a well organized and clean operation going there. It does look more like fun than work. You sure have taken alot of the manual labor out of that operation
John

What I don't understand is why split all those little blocks. I don't split it till it gets to big to handle. Like over 12inches. When it is smaller than about 16inches I just through it in. I cut it about 3Ft long and burn it that way. The door is 27 inches square. I can actually put a block in that is 24inches across. It will not burn good and will smother the fire out.
I do have a homemade hoist for the bigger stuff as the length prohibits it not plowing the fire apart upon putting in the door. I just used a length of 1 1/2 x2 1/2 tube with shed door track bolted to the bottom of the tube. Then support it about 2/3 the way out from the furnace with the other end held by the furnace. A hoist from Northern tool picks it up and rolls it right in the door on a forked cradle.

I agree you can't beat wood heat. You have some nice wood handling equipment. It is about 38 degrees & raining today in Nor. Cal. and the wood stove is burning well. Steve

Loren, I really admire your firewood operation.
But I have a question about the grate in your firewood boiler.
We have been through 3 or 4 trying to get one to last.
One with ?" steel rods, another cast iron one (puny Home Depot),
another made out of round stock tubing.
They melt within a month of use.
Any suggestions?

Mike in Ulster county.

I like how well you got it setup. It's amazing when a guy sits down with a barley pop what you can figure out. You just made it easier and it looks good.

As far as wood heat, to me there is nothing warmer to the bones then that.

I don't have an outside wood boiler like you apparently do. My inside boiler is perfect for my needs. Boilers need to operate at 140F and above to prevent erosion of the water jacket and cresote build up. Outside boilers are natorious for rotting out, because they arn't operated at suitable temps.
We do burn much bigger wood in our maple syrup evaporators, 30"+ but we still split it down to no more than 10" rounds to get the heat out of the wood. Sap has to be brought up to 221F +- depending on barometric pressure. That takes a very hot fire. Smoldering log
chunks don't get the job done!! In your case, if you are not maintaining 140F boiler temp., you will be wondering how to weld up a leaking water jacket prematurely.
I retired from a company that sold and installed wood gasification boilers so I'm not just blowing smoke here. I've replaced lots of conventional OSWBs that rusted out prematurely.
Loren

My boiler is a Royall wood/coal unit. the grates are cast to handle the heat coal can produce. Most wood stoves only have steel grates. I don't even use a grate in my fireplace. I can pack it tighter and the ash bed hold the coals much longer.
Loren

Thanks Dan, I have really enjoyed my shop and the time I have to build the things I want.
Yes, a barley pop can solve many design problems, and a comfortable "pondering chair" to kick back in helps too. Some of my engineering problems require more than one barley pop--HeHe
Loren

Loren
You have perfected the "Work smart not hard" theory!
And Your equipment is just plain good looking.

Steve A W

I'm liking those chairs around the fire, and the barley pops too, I hope I can get my shop someday so I can enjoy it like you. You know my Dad would sit around in his shop and he would smoke and drink coffee, but I knew he was thinking as he was building something. Others would say he was resting, and maybe he was, but he was also thinking.

He would have appreciated your work.

Just don't be painting those yellow handles blue! LOL

Dan, the boiler keeps the shop nice and warm during the day when I turn the unit heater on. I go out there about 9:00 in the morning and come in about 6:00 at night and do my thing. The wifey also does her thingy all day. She is into crafts, and has a good market for them and is busier than she likes during this season. Our daughter is coming home Christmas eve from Ohio, and we plan on having the fireplace out in our newly enclosed rear patio going, and will cook supper on the open fire. Life is good here. hope my health continues to get better after the disasterous 2015 year. It sure set me back!!!
I think it would have been fun to sit down with your Dad and shoot the breeze in the shop with a wood stove going.
We used to have a woodstove in the front room of the Dealership during the winter, and a coffee pot going. There was always a group of neighbors who showed up after morning chores and shot the bull for a while each day. Was always enjoyable.
Loren

HeHe you don't think I should Larryize them huh????
Loren

Beautiful set up! You do nice work!

It sounds like Loren, it will be a very nice Christmas, nothing better then the family coming home and seeing how good things are, and so very real. Our Christmas will be different, still good, yes its been a year since we lost Mom, and selling the family home just a month ago, really feels "different". I wished before we sold it we would all gathered for one more Christmas, but it was not to be.
My Dad usually only spoke when he really had something to say, so it was good to listen when he did. He enjoyed craftsmanship, and craftsman. He would look at welding, and would say, this man knows how to lay a bead. He admired that and normally would like to meet this man, and complement him on his work.
I like the idea you are going to cook over a wood fire. I really like that.
Your comment on having a wood stove in the dealership and coffee on tell me a lot about your family dealership.

Mike, I have built some for wood stoves I used to have. I worked at a construction equipment dealer at the time and had access to loader cutting edges that were used in our weld shop for various projects. The last one I built I used a 14" wide 1 1/2" thick, 24" long cutting edge. I scribed out slots in it 3/4" wide with 3/4" between them, I made them so that they had 2" at each end and in the middle to help reinforce it. I cut it out with a torch using a straight edge, I hate crooked lines and rough torch cuts. Worked well, used it for a few years, sold it with it in there, looked as good as it did when I built it. Very heavy though!

Ross

Really nice,,,great setup!!

Smooth operation Loren. I like the picture of the Case and Kubota together, old and new. What do you do with the wood too big for your 'assemble line' too handle?

Bret

Not exactly sure what you mean about too big. If you look in the 2nd pic at the saws, you will see both saws have PEX tubing clamped to handles. That is my guide to cut each block at 19"long. The splitter opens to 20". If block doesn't fit there, I saw it so it will. If you are talking block diamiter, I have cut some lengthwise into halves with the saw.
Loren