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Roadside Firewood Business
Robert Crouthamel sells firewood to customers who pick it up at the end of his driveway. He had a problem with some people stealing the wood if it was left out overnight, so he made a simple wooden "forklift" that mounts inside the bucket on his Deere 318 garden tractor. It lets him haul 30-in. sq. wooden crates filled
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Roadside Firewood Business 32-6-6 Robert Crouthamel sells firewood to customers who pick it up at the end of his driveway. He had a problem with some people stealing the wood if it was left out overnight, so he made a simple wooden "forklift" that mounts inside the bucket on his Deere 318 garden tractor. It lets him haul 30-in. sq. wooden crates filled with firewood out each day, then bring the leftover wood back to his yard at the end of the day.
"I built 18 of these crates and pre-load each one with 75 pieces of wood, so when people come for wood it's already counted out," says Crouthamel, of Milford, Penn.
The forklift consists of a pair of 2 by 10 pressure-treated boards sandwiched between cross-mounted boards inside the bucket. A short 2 by 6 board at the center fits against the top of the bucket and holds the boards in place as weight is placed on them. A pair of bolts, one inserted through each side of the bucket, keep the boards from being pulled out as the driver backs away.
"I'm 75 years old with limited vision because of macular degeneration. I can't weld any more which is why I made the forklift out of wood," says Crouthamel. "I spray painted the tip of each 2 by 10 board so that it would be easier for me to see."
A log chained to the back of the tractor serves as a counterweight.
The tractor is fitted with a Cozy Cab that wasn't made for Crouthamel's garden tractor so he modified the mounting brackets. He also installed a windshield wiper. He uses a 12-volt hair dryer to defrost the windshield during the winter. "The tractor's battery doesn't have enough amperage to handle the 12-volt dryer, so I mounted a jump start on the tractor and hook the dryer up to it. The dryer permanently mounts on the cab's roof and blows down toward the windshield," notes Crouthamel.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert A. Crouthamel, 100 Crouthamel Road, Milford, Penn. 18337 (ph 570 296 -7366).
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