Firewood FIBCs (bulk bags)

[ChoppyChoppy]

There's a couple guys on here using the bags to dry wood.

I can't seem to pull up the threads with that info.

I was wondering if placing them together in a row still works or, or do they need air space on all 4 sides?

I just finished filling 18 bags and it's taking more room than I expected. I have enough room between the bags that a person can easily walk around them.

As far as stacking 2 high, worth it or do they fall over often?

 

[nighthunter]

There's a couple guys on here using the bags to dry wood.

I can't seem to pull up the threads with that info.

I was wondering if placing them together in a row still works or, or do they need air space on all 4 sides?

I just finished filling 18 bags and it's taking more room than I expected. I have enough room between the bags that a person can easily walk around them.

As far as stacking 2 high, worth it or do they fall over often?

we do it here every day in large bulk bags that are roughly 6x4 in size, once they are filled by conveyors, there taken to the shed and stacked as close as possible and stacked 2 high in open side sheds and left all summer to dry. This is my add from a couple of weeks ago
https://www.donedeal.ie/view/13749010
FIREWOOD, it shows the way we stack the bags

 

[Little Al]

We at one time tried the bags that are used for sand /building materials but found the drying took quite a time longer than open stacking with just the top covered

 

[nighthunter]

If your going to try it, get the proper firewood bags with the mesh sides

 

[T. Mainus]

When we stack ours I push them tight together from front to back so the bags kind of lean on each other. We do all of our splitting in the winter and there is usually snow on the ground when we set the bags on the pallets. So when the snow melts the bags move around a little bit. I keep about a 12" of space from left to right, this serves 2 purposes. It lets air flow around the bags to season, and the spinner we have for unloading them has a side on it that needs to fit between the bags when you pick it up. I Would not even consider stacking them 2 high. We fill our bags as full as we can so that I know we have full face cord in the bags. It would be impossible to set another bag on top of them.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

What is a "spinner"?

Dries OK without being covered? Last year I did 6 bags as a test. Sat outside for 4 months. The bottom 1/3 was wet still.
Was thinking it'd help to cover them.

Ideal would be a large shed, but that's pretty far down the list of where to spend $$ right now.

 

[T. Mainus]

Spinner video



We didn't have any issues last year with any wet wood. Everything dries pretty good and a lot faster than if it was sitting in a pile. Good enough that I couldn't see spending the time covering all the bags. We split 45 bags last year as our proof of concept. We were selling the wood by June/July without any complaints. This year we did 310 bags in about 2 months time, or 100 cord. A covered shed without any sides would be ideal but also a little expensive.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

The bags I have just have 4 loops at the top.

I got them from an outfit in California for about $16 each with the shipping (shipping is $$)

Looked into several outfits, these were the best value I could find.

I'm mostly doing it to dry wood for campfire bundles, but thus year trying out selling seasoned wood as well.

 

[T. Mainus]

We started with the Woodland Mills bags last year. If we bought in quantity we could get them down to about $18 a piece. 4 loops top and 4 on the bottom. I like the design of these bags the best, 2 sides kind of like a burlap style bag, and then the other 2 sides were like a window screen. The sun really destroyed the straps last year. We didn't tuck them in the bags out of the sun last year. This year we did. We had to duct tape the straps on the bags to get another year out of them. These bags were a little brittle the second time around, you had to be gentle with them while moving them or else they would tear the second use. We switched over to the Dino bags this year after we ran out of the Woodland Mills Bags. $12 a piece and I have a local source for them so that is nice. 4 straps on the top and just 2 bigger straps on the bottom. The Dino bags have a rip cord/drawstring on the top to pull the bag tight after you fill it. Don't really care for it. We tucked the straps on the Dino bags this year as well so we will see how they hold up next year to a second use.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

The 6 I used last year I filled about 15 times, they are still fine.

I'm surprised that the bags would be rotten that quick. I have some regular FIBCs that we use for sawdust that have been outside for 10+ years and are still ok.
Once in a while the loops break off, but for the most part they are still working fine.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Nighthunter. Very impressive.
T. Mainus. Thanks for sharing. 100 cord in two months is also very impressive. I see from another thread your using a PowerSplit. I like the Palax "Swing" a lot!!!! Did you import the Swing from Canada? And if so what is the cost? Looks to be a good idea. A short time ago I saw similar home made unit on youtube mounted on small excavators for tipping pallets. They also used the excavator for cone splitting large logs.
ValleyFirewood. I've double stacked pallets with mixed results. Most successful if the top row is staggered, setting on two lower pallets. My pallet bundles are round, so setting on two lower ones gave a bigger foot print for the top bundle. Settling was an issue, not with tipping by themselves, but getting forks back into them after settling and no longer level. My forklift does not have side tilt, like a tele handler does. I pushed more than a few over and no longer double stack. Just takes too long to level the bottom row for the top row to sit on, and then re-handle those six to twelve pallets that I tip over. So until I run out of room, single stacking.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

We are on about 4 acres, but have a shop, a wood shop/kiln building, couple parts sheds, 3 houses, logs, 2 processors, a sawmill, trucks and equipments, etc all here, so not a ton of free space.

 

[KiwiBro]

How much more expensive could steel mesh crates on built-in steel or alloy pallets be before they are uncompetitive? I'm assuming they would last years longer than the bags, but is the extra cost worth it? I looked at this some time ago, but the cages I was most interested in were essentially twice the width/capacity of those dino bags. What I don't like about those bags is the handling time setting them up, keeping them open, finding and positioning pallets, guiding the lift handles on the forks, etc, etc. I often work alone and boy is it a PITA to get on and off the tractor 6000 times a day when keeping the conveyor clear of bags, stacking bags, or dumping 50 of them into a bulk tip truck and trailer. I did get the cost of those bags down to about US$8.50 each landed here, but the order volumes were 1000 at a time. The aforementioned double wide cages are about $45 each and I'm leaning towards them as a better option in the long term but need to get a few here and test for a year or so.

 

[LondonNeil]

IBC cages. the poly tank cuts in half to make a lid. i know lots of firewood producers here use them

 

[KiwiBro]

IBC cages. the poly tank cuts in half to make a lid. i know lots of firewood producers here use them
View attachment 656747

Those are about NZ$40 each here. Had hoped to find them cheaper but gave up. If they were cheaper they would be a good option for a fixed-yard producer. In the end though, the fact they don't fold down rendered them unsuitable for my needs. I transport them to jobs produce and leave on-site to dry, then load out bulk trucks a year later.

What I really liked about the bags was can easily throw 100 in the back of the ute and trailer, by hand. The fold down metal crates would be harder to handle manually, and would get fewer in a single trip to the job site (sometimes 2.5 hrs drive away).

 

[T. Mainus]

How much more expensive could steel mesh crates on built-in steel or alloy pallets be before they are uncompetitive? I'm assuming they would last years longer than the bags, but is the extra cost worth it? I looked at this some time ago, but the cages I was most interested in were essentially twice the width/capacity of those dino bags. What I don't like about those bags is the handling time setting them up, keeping them open, finding and positioning pallets, guiding the lift handles on the forks, etc, etc. I often work alone and boy is it a PITA to get on and off the tractor 6000 times a day when keeping the conveyor clear of bags, stacking bags, or dumping 50 of them into a bulk tip truck and trailer. I did get the cost of those bags down to about US$8.50 each landed here, but the order volumes were 1000 at a time. The aforementioned double wide cages are about $45 each and I'm leaning towards them as a better option in the long term but need to get a few here and test for a year or so.

We had racks built to hold the bags while we are filing them, it takes me 3 minutes to get 2 bags hanging and ready to go. With our powersplit splitter, you just drive the splitter forward when one bag is full and keep splitting. I am usually moving bags while my 2 guys just split We also had slide on forks made with hooks on them for the loops. This way you don't have to thread the needle to get the loops on the forks. You just hook each strap and away you go. The bags easily save us anywhere from 1-2 hours of hand labor per cord of wood as opposed to stacking the wood, or just piling the wood and then hand loading in to the dump trailer. My time is worth more than that to make the cost of the bags a no brainer in the long run. Plus the wood seasons so much faster in the bags as opposed to just sitting in a big pile. The bags also makes for a really clean operation. No wood chips to clean up from the piles.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I pulled this photo of T. Mainus set-up off another AS thread.
I think he has it down pretty good to do a hundred cord in two months without a processor.
The cost of handling is 310 bags @ $12.00 per bag.

 

[T. Mainus]

T. Mainus. Thanks for sharing. 100 cord in two months is also very impressive. I see from another thread your using a PowerSplit. I like the Palax "Swing" a lot!!!! Did you import the Swing from Canada? And if so what is the cost? Looks to be a good idea. A short time ago I saw similar home made unit on youtube mounted on small excavators for tipping pallets. They also used the excavator for cone splitting large logs.

Sandhill,

We did import it from Canada. My local guy here took care of it but I think the place was Hakmet Forestry. Cost was around $4,500.00. This was way cheaper than buying an actual rotating set of forks for the JCB. I was quoted 15 grand for one of those. The Palax looks nice but it is going to need some re-engineering to make it work like it should. The bags are heavy and when it starts to spin the bag there is some slop in the construction of the spinner. Some of the metal rubs together from the weight. I am going to have my fab guy look at it and try to come up with a better idea. You would think for that kind of money you were getting a proven piece of equipment but that is not always the case. I guess that is why the industrial rotating forks cost what they do.

 

[KiwiBro]

Thanks for the info and pictures.

We

This is a key point. Working alone, "can't be in two places at once" means sometimes the solutions are a bit different

it takes me 3 minutes to get 2 bags hanging and ready to go.

A solid crate/cage needs no racks, no manual hanging

We also had slide on forks made with hooks on them for the loops. This way you don't have to thread the needle to get the loops on the forks. You just hook each strap and away you go.

Not needed with solid crate/cages

The bags easily save us anywhere from 1-2 hours of hand labor per cord of wood as opposed to stacking the wood, or just piling the wood and then hand loading in to the dump trailer. My time is worth more than that to make the cost of the bags a no brainer in the long run. Plus the wood seasons so much faster in the bags as opposed to just sitting in a big pile. The bags also makes for a really clean operation. No wood chips to clean up from the piles.

These benefits would be the same with cages/crates too, wouldn't they?

Everyone has a different system that is optimal for them, but if a crate/cage doesn't need to be replaced every one or two seasons, needs no special racks, has the same or more time-saving benefits, I wonder if it is worth paying more for than the ongoing cost of the bags.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

We had racks built to hold the bags while we are filing them, it takes me 3 minutes to get 2 bags hanging and ready to go. With our powersplit splitter, you just drive the splitter forward when one bag is full and keep splitting. I am usually moving bags while my 2 guys just split We also had slide on forks made with hooks on them for the loops. This way you don't have to thread the needle to get the loops on the forks. You just hook each strap and away you go. The bags easily save us anywhere from 1-2 hours of hand labor per cord of wood as opposed to stacking the wood, or just piling the wood and then hand loading in to the dump trailer. My time is worth more than that to make the cost of the bags a no brainer in the long run. Plus the wood seasons so much faster in the bags as opposed to just sitting in a big pile. The bags also makes for a really clean operation. No wood chips to clean up from the piles.

View attachment 656805 View attachment 656806 View attachment 656808 View attachment 656809 View attachment 656810 View attachment 656815

I just stick the bag on the tines and fill, then move it when full. Using a 12k rough terrain forklift, may buy something smaller at some point.