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Lumber Stack Weight

Started by ahlkey, April 26, 2013, 10:49:07 AM

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ahlkey

I am considering purchasing a used rough terrain forklift or piggyback forklift for lifting my lumber stacks in my drying shed and for loading/unloading lumber onto  flatbed trailers.  Up to this point have stickered and stacked all my lumber at 8ft high and 4-6 feet wide.  Moving the lumber stacks from the drying shed to the Kiln and elsewhere has been less than optimal.  If I standardize on lets say 4x4x8 lumber stacks what would a stack of stickered lumber weigh? Let's assume green lumber cut is all hardwood ie.. hard maple, oak, beech, hickory, etc....   Would a piggyback forklift capable of lifting 5,000 lbs be able to handle the job well?  Would I need something larger?  Would like to be able to stack one lumber pile on top of another to make a 8ft high stack both in the drying shed (stickered) and again in my storage garage. In addition, the forklift needs to be small enough to get around in tight areas but capable to lifting heavy loads. Thoughts?

dboyt

Click on the "Extas" menu at the top of the page, then "Toolbox", then "Calculators".  You will find a calculator for green weight of lumber.  If your lift can pick up a stack of green lumber, it won't have any problem with it after it has dried!  Let us know what you decide on the forklift.  It will definitely be a handy tool around the sawmill!
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

red oaks lumber

on 8' lumber we sticker 20 rows 42" wide, weight isn't the concern as my backrest on the pallet forks dosen't go any higher.
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Larry

I have a piggyback forklift.  It is a Navigator 5500 Lumber series...one of the heavier machines.  While it will lift 5,000 pounds with the forks retracted that weight goes way down with forks extended.  I keep my stacks under 3,000 pounds.  It will lift 12 foot so I can build a tall stack.  It will also get into some really tight spots.

I bought my machine because it was in great condition and really cheap.  I would rather had a machine with higher lifting capacity but $$$$'s.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Tom the Sawyer

ahlkey,

I use a piggyback forklift around the mill and it is quite handy.  Mine is a '93 Princeton Teledyne D-5000.  Just make sure that if the stack is 48" wide and you have 42" forks that the foundation of your stack is strong enough to bridge that extra 6", I plan for 8" what with sticker ends protruding, etc.

As far as the weight, just take the # of board feet, divide by 12 to get the cubic feet and multiply by the pounds per cubic foot for that species (from the tools menu) or let it do it for you.   1000 board feet of walnut / 12 = 83.33 cu.ft. @ 58 lbs/cu.ft = 4833 lbs.   smiley_sidelightbulb

The stickers won't add much weight but any weight on top of the stack would.  I also tend to round down when figuring board footage so I allow at least 5% extra (5075 lbs).  My piggyback is rated for 5000 lbs. so I'd keep my stacks to 7 or 800 bf.  Eventually they do get lighter.  smiley_thumbsup
07 TK B-20, Custom log arch, 20' trailer w/log loading arch, F350 flatbed dually dump.  Piggy-back forklift.  LS tractor w/FEL, Bobcat S250 w/grapple, Stihl 025C 16", Husky 372XP 24/30" bars, Grizzly 20" planer, Nyle L200M DH kiln.
If you call and my wife says, "He's sawin logs", I ain't snoring.

mesquite buckeye

Sounds like if your forklift won't lift the whole pile, you lift it in sections that it can handle. :)
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

ahlkey

Nice to hear that the piggyback has worked well for some of you.  My volume is such that investing in more expensive equipment doesn't seem to make sense for me.  From what I have seen the piggyback's are reasonably priced.  From the toolbox it appears I should ok on the weight side of the equation but as suggested might reduce the width to accomadate the size of the forks.

GeneWengert-WoodDoc

The following publication shows how to calculate the weight of lumber including different sizes (like 1-1/8 or 1-1/16"), different MC, different species and even shrinkage.

http://forestandwildlifeecology.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/69.PDF
Gene - Author of articles in Sawmill & Woodlot and books: Drying Hardwood Lumber; VA Tech Solar Kiln; Sawing Edging & Trimming Hardwood Lumber. And more

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