Firewood FIBCs (bulk bags)

[ChoppyChoppy]

They'd take up a TON of space when not in use.

I work mostly by myself, it's not hard to load the bags.

I put a block of wood as a wheel chock. Pull up to the chock, put the bag on the tines, fill.

Move to storage spot, throw a pallet under the bag. Done.

To move later, pick up from pallet. Shop door where I do bundles is 8ft tall so couldn't lift from the loops anyhow.

If seasoned wood sells decent, I'll probably build a hopper to flip the bags and conveyor into the truck.
Right now the plan is to just empty by hand.

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.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

How do you guys label the bags to know when they were filled? Metal tag?

 

[T. Mainus]

We had these made up this year to keep track. Ordered from Expresstags.com. They are made out of a tyvek type material. They seem pretty sturdy so far. We just fill them out with a permanent marker and try to tuck the tag in as well so the sun does not fade the writing. Having them numbered was really nice for keeping track of how many you fill in a day. We just attach them with a zip tie. We need to keep track of when the logs arrived at our shop for our state certification. Our certified wood has to be on site for 2 years before we sell it for the state. This way when they come to inspect it shows that you are keeping track of the wood as it goes through the yard.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

What is state certification?
When tagged on-site for two years, are you talking log form?
What the heck does having wood on-site for two years do if anything?
Edit: Nice tags!

 

[T. Mainus]

State of WI is trying to stop the spread of Emerald Ash Borer and a couple of other invasive species of bugs. Their theory is that after the tree is cut, if it stays on your property for 2 years any bugs that were in the logs will have died off, and now the firewood is safe to transport anywhere in the state without the bugs flying of the wood as you drive down the road, thus spreading the bugs all over the state. That is the easiest and cheapest way to qualify for state certification. The 2 other ways is kiln drying the wood and spraying the wood with some kind of pesticide. The wood just has to be on property for 2 years before you can sell it as certified. Can be log form or split, doesn't matter. Our customers who want certified wood then get a certificate from us stating that the wood is certified and that you can travel anywhere in the state with it. You can't bring in any firewood to any state park in WI unless it is certified. Some private campgrounds enforce the law as well, but that is usually just so you are forced to buy their firewood inside the campground then. The only people who are concerned with this is the campers who travel the state. Most other people don't care. We get very few customers a year looking for certified wood, but your company info is on the state DNR website. We sell more non certified wood to people who found us on the DNR website then certified wood. Its just another way to get your name out there. Once a year we have 2 state inspectors come out and look everything over to make sure we are up to date with our record keeping and keeping track of when we got all of our deliveries from the loggers.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

The bags I have do have a sewed in zip lock pouch, thought about putting just a piece of cardboard with date.

Also thought of marking on the bag, but with wanting to keep reusing them, that'll get confusing.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

T. Mainus: Thanks for sharing.
I used a small piece of foam type sheeting, very thin and flexible.
Cut into 2" x 3" tags, stapled it to pallets and wrote with permanent marker.
Did not work well.
After one season could only read about half of them, and I quit doing it.
Checked out express tags.com and that kicked me over to Uline. Tyvek tags are expensive but would really be handy to keep track of things as I have over three hundred pallets on the ground as well for this year and next year. I simply do not have room to keep wood two years although by the time I get to some truck loads, process and split, some of it may have been here that long in the past. Trying to avoid that agin as the bark falls off during processing and makes for a lot of clean up.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Well leaving the bags uncovered hasn't worked out so well. They dried out fine through the summer, low humidity and not much rain.

Now though, the wood I put in bags about a month ago is borderline junk. Like even big mushrooms growing off it! Was able to wire brush the worse of it, though the wood is probably just as wet as the day I cut it, maybe even wetter!

Fall here is rainy season. We've had something like 6" of rain in August (rained nearly everyday).

Trying to come up with a cover for the bags. Something that covers a bag at a time would be ideal. Something that doesn't involve much work to put on and take off, and won't fly off in 70mph winds.

I contacted the outfit I bought the bags from to see if he could get me some that had the big closable opening on the top. Most of the non-vented bags we get have this (we get the bags from the farm next door, fertilizer is shipped in them).
I guess that's not a thing, so wanted me to get pallet covers for the bags. Doesn't seem like that would last though, they are trash bag material.

Ideas?

Ideally would be to keep them under a roof, but don't have the resources to build a roof that big just right now. (would need to hold 100+ bags)

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I bought the largest tarps I could find at Menards and cut them into 6' square pieces.
It was as cheap as I could find.
(Lumber material covering was free, but had a much looser weave and tore easily.)
Then folded the corners under about 16 and single stitched about 8" from the fold, double stitching both ends. (Use outdoor thread)
I bought a box of baling twine cut 16' with a 4" loop at one end and a 4" loop about 10'. Knotted the end.
Cover top and easily thread twine through corner tunnels.
Run knotted end through end loop, back through 10' loop, cinch tight and do an overhand with a loop so all you have to do is give the end a tug to undo. The pipe clamps on the trailer were used for making the twine ties.
The rub: UV is destroying the coating in one years time, but I'm still re-using covers and twine.
If double stacking just cover the top bag. I no longer double stack.
Covering does keep leaves off in the fall, which mat and stay wet from then on.
First cut: Because of the multiple layers, each cut was a new blade.
Second cut isn't shown, but I unfolded the 6' wide strips on the concrete drive and used the expansion joints to line it up straight and pulling 6' past the cross joint, used that joint to run a knife blade through. Worked well.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I bought the largest tarps I could find at Menards and cut them into 6' square pieces.
It was as cheap as I could find.
(Lumber material covering was free, but had a much looser weave and tore easily.)
Then folded the corners under about 16 and single stitched about 8" from the fold, double stitching both ends. (Use outdoor thread)
I bought a box of baling twine cut 16' with a 4" loop at one end and a 4" loop about 10'. Knotted the end.
Cover top and easily thread twine through corner tunnels.
Run knotted end through end loop, back through 10' loop, cinch tight and do an overhand with a loop so all you have to do is give the end a tug to undo. The pipe clamps on the trailer were used for making the twine ties.
The rub: UV is destroying the coating in one years time, but I'm still re-using covers and twine.
If double stacking just cover the top bag. I no longer double stack.
Covering does keep leaves off in the fall, which mat and stay wet from then on.
First cut: Because of the multiple layers, each cut was a new blade. View attachment 672129
Second cut isn't shown, but I unfolded the 6' wide strips on the concrete drive and used the expansion joints to line it up straight and pulling 6' past the cross joint, used that joint to run a knife blade through. Worked well.View attachment 672130
View attachment 672131View attachment 672142 View attachment 672132View attachment 672133View attachment 672134

Hmm, we have a tent and tarp shop in Anchorage, I'll check with them on making covers.

I have some commercial rubber roofing scraps a friend gave, it's like 1/8" thick.
Just haven't wanted to cut it up in case I find a better use for it.

We originally got it to put on the shop roof, but ended up putting new tin.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Are you using breathable bags? Like regular firewood bags. If not, covering will most likely trap moisture make it worse.

 

[T. Mainus]

We had pretty good results from our bags this year. No mold or anything like that growing on the wood. I saved all my lumber tarps last year and was going to cut them up to say 6x6 and tuck them in the bags to cover the tops up but then I decided it was to much screwing around. We just leave ours uncovered and it works out fine. Where we put our bags though they get full sunlight. You can see how much the wood has greyed from being in the sunlight. We are definitely liking the Dino bags better then the Woodland Mills ones we started with. The Dino bags are holding up to the sunlight much better than the Woodland Mills are.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Are you using breathable bags? Like regular firewood bags. If not, covering will most likely trap moisture make it worse.

Yes, vented fibc bags

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

We had pretty good results from our bags this year. No mold or anything like that growing on the wood. I saved all my lumber tarps last year and was going to cut them up to say 6x6 and tuck them in the bags to cover the tops up but then I decided it was to much screwing around. We just leave ours uncovered and it works out fine. Where we put our bags though they get full sunlight. You can see how much the wood has greyed from being in the sunlight. We are definitely liking the Dino bags better then the Woodland Mills ones we started with. The Dino bags are holding up to the sunlight much better than the Woodland Mills are.

View attachment 672251 View attachment 672252 View attachment 672253 View attachment 672254

I got mine from an outfit in Cali, they had the best price. They were about $8 ea before shipping (shipping made them around $15 ea)

 

[muddstopper]

Just a suggestion for a cheap cover. Try going to one of those sign companies that makes banners. The banner material comes in pretty good size rolls. They have a machine to roll the banners out on and cut to the length you want. They can also put in eyelets for running a string thru to tie the covers down with. They should be fairly cheap since you wouldnt have any printing on them. My son works for a sign company, I'll ask him about possible priceing.

Edit to add, I talked to my son about banner pricing and he said it would be cheaper to just buy tarps and cut to size. His other suggestion was to build a pole shed, said it would be cheaper in the long run. Probably right about that, but it would take a big shed to cover 100cords.

 

[KiwiBro]

Just a suggestion for a cheap cover. Try going to one of those sign companies that makes banners. The banner material comes in pretty good size rolls. They have a machine to roll the banners out on and cut to the length you want. They can also put in eyelets for running a string thru to tie the covers down with. They should be fairly cheap since you wouldnt have any printing on them. My son works for a sign company, I'll ask him about possible priceing.

The used advertising banners are even cheaper, sometimes free. Here, the companies that erect and maintain those banners have to keep each printed banner for a few months after they take them down. They tend to accumulate a huge pile of em and can sometimes give them away if you know tte right people.

 

[muddstopper]

The used advertising banners are even cheaper, sometimes free. Here, the companies that erect and maintain those banners have to keep each printed banner for a few months after they take them down. They tend to accumulate a huge pile of em and can sometimes give them away if you know tte right people.

Probably not as hard to find used as one might think. I know Wendy's puts up new banners every time they have a special promotion. When the promotion is over, they take the banners down and throw them away. I would go to one of those fast food places and just ask if they have any used banners laying around, chances are they have one or two and would be glad to get rid of them.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Just a suggestion for a cheap cover. Try going to one of those sign companies that makes banners. The banner material comes in pretty good size rolls. They have a machine to roll the banners out on and cut to the length you want. They can also put in eyelets for running a string thru to tie the covers down with. They should be fairly cheap since you wouldnt have any printing on them. My son works for a sign company, I'll ask him about possible priceing.

Edit to add, I talked to my son about banner pricing and he said it would be cheaper to just buy tarps and cut to size. His other suggestion was to build a pole shed, said it would be cheaper in the long run. Probably right about that, but it would take a big shed to cover 100cords.

Banners aren't very common here as stuff like billboards are illegal.

I have an idea using some of the non vented FIBC bags for the covers. We have a supply of hundreds of them (fertilizer is shipped in them), so going to cut the bottom, put some eyelets and a rope and try that out.