Guess a lot has to do with what you got ....
To me, the downside to the totes looks like not being able to
load and unload without either working over the top (ug), or
fighting with a side access. I liked the suggestion of turning them
on their side and using as a hoop of sorts .... that would be more
like the setup I use.
I have a small bandmill, and end up with pith/cants of low grade
that I saw up and bang into 6' X 2-1/2' pallets with 1X stuff to make
the sides. Tying baling twine from the top of one side to the other
keeps the sides from spreading out at the top.
I wire 4-5" locust rounds to the bottom to keep 'em high
'nuff off the ground to get forks under. Filled to the very top, they're
just shy of a half cord, and, weigh around a ton, depending on species
and moisture content.
I can just pick them up with the front and rear forks on my JD 970,
but moving them any distance that way is dicey, and hard on the front
end. I have a rear 3 pt fork setup, and after the pallet is filled, I'll move
it if needed out of the way with the front forks. When I'm done filling
pallets, I use the rear fork rig to move distances. The beauty of the rear
rig is that there's way less "divot" tracks - a full pallet on the front in
any kind of moist or wet ground leaves real ruts. On the back, I can
go just about anywhere without tracks.
Put a roof on the barn 6 years ago, and use the old tin from the roof
to make lids for the pallets - I fasten the lid to a pallet, and can then
set the lid on/off using the forks.
This arrangement has made a monster improvement in my firewood
work - I put up around 10 cords on pallets ... now the process is off
the splitter, onto the pallet. Then off the pallet a year or two later
onto the 6 cord stash on the porch. Two touches instead of many
more in the old system. Any movement of the firewood is from the
seat of the tractor - a welcome upgrade.
Same logic could be used with smaller pallets for smaller tractors.
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