Holtzhausen, Scourngers dream or Waste of time? (pic added)

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Remmy122

New Member
Jan 7, 2011
257
East NC
Being a scrounger in the city limits I get alot of different lengths of wood and debating on building a holtzhausen since it will be sitting for 2 years at least (mostly Oak).

So what do you all think? Waste of time, or efficient use of space???

Discuss
 
Remmy122 said:
Waste of time, or efficient use of space???
Both.

The time is yours to do with as you please.
 
I think it doesn't really matter if you stack the wood in a holz miete or in a traditional stack . . . you might be able to get a little more wood in a smaller footprint with the holz miete if you stack it higher (but the counter point is you may need a step ladder or stool if you go too high.) Holz mietes are fun and interesting to build . . . I usually build one each year . . . mostly for fun.
 
If a Holz is built correctly, it will never fall over like a stack could. They are more stable due to the inward pitch of the splits. I too build one ever other year as I rotate through the piles.
 
Make one that looks like this one. That will be the envy of the forum.
 

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LLigetfa said:
Remmy122 said:
Waste of time, or efficient use of space???
Both.

The time is yours to do with as you please.

Wife will be building (although she hasnt admitted to the same). Shes much better at stacking than I am (seeing as her 3 havent fallen and my 1 has...)
 
I say do it. They are well suited to different lengths of wood.
 
One advantage of the round stack is the space in the middle for odd sizes. I too scrounge all my wood and therefore I have lots of odd pieces, so for me the holz hausen makes sense. It looks nice too.
 
Not a waste of time and a great use of space.
 
Just yesterday I started to dismantle my HH to fill my storage area near the house. It was interesting to see .... the wood was plenty dry and seasoned fine (2 years). The HH had become a squirrel hotel. The inside was full of nesting material - leaves, grass small sticks - and I found a dead squirrel in there.
I am planning on building another on the same spot, not because it seasons better or provides more stacking on same footprint (both I disagree with) .... doing it because it adds character to my Woodland. Its gonna be there 3+ years so it may as well look good.
 
Not a waste of time if that is what you want to do with your time. However, it has to take more time to stack wood this way so it is definitely not time saving. In addition, there is no way you will get more wood piled in a circle than you will stacked in rows. That said, some like the looks of them and if so, do it. We also know there are some folks who like to be artistic with their wood piles and that is fine. It just is not time saving nor space saving nor does it dry the wood faster.
 
Remmy122 said:
Wife will be building (although she hasnt admitted to the same). Shes much better at stacking than I am (seeing as her 3 havent fallen and my 1 has...)
sounds like good planning to me!
 
My 2 cents based only on having built 2.
They are fun to build & nice to look at.
The way you get more wood for the space is building higher.
Take around twice as long to make as regular stacks if you stack high.
A bit harder to keep track of how much wood you've got on hand.
Wood takes longer to dry than single stacks so it might add another season to the process. I'm burning from a HH built in august 2010 of Mulberry, Elm & some Red Oak. All was cut green in early summer 2010 & sat in small stacks & piles for 1-2 months before I built the Holz. From what I've seen the stuff in the middle is not ideal, not even the Elm. From now on I consider Holz wood to NEED 2 full years vs 1 for stacks (i'll add a year to each for Oak). Not sure if I'll build another one.
 
I figured I had to look at it for 2 years and would rather build it than look at the stacks thinking about how I should have built one!

Didnt take to long (3 hrs) it was fun and the wife even anjoyed it.

Worst part was the "roof" theres got to be an easier way for that
 

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Looks pretty to me. Fun to do and nice to look at for two years! That's a win-win.

Should get lots of compliments too from neighbors. Roof looks fine. As it dries, it should lock into place and be solid. You'll find the center will sink some and that roof will lower some.

Nice work!
 
KatWill said:
Make one that looks like this one. That will be the envy of the forum.

I was going to build a cordwood shed, I love the look...but then I decided it was a waste of perfectly good firewood!
 
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