Length, Tee Posts For Wood Stacks

HDRock said:

Trying to determine what length I need
Is driving them in 1ft deep enough ???
I was thinking 5ft post ,drive in 1ft, or 5 1/2 ft or 6ft ????
Going to put them at end of pallets

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if you tie the top ends together with fence wire you'll only need a few inches.
its super cheap, you can twist it to customize the length, it's unobtrusive and ain't gonna break.

Depth planted would be determined by the soil they're going into. Loose, sandy soil would require much more depth than heavy clay. I plant mine just far enough for the flat plate to be below ground surface and in my heavy clay they hold just fine. As mentioned, wire would help.

Oldogy is right with the depth. You no doubt would want 6' or 7' depending on how high you wish to stack. However, I would not waste any money on t-posts because they are not needed.

18" to 24" is typical.
Like said soil type is a factor.
Get/make a post pounder. Sledge hammer not a good tool for setting/driving metal posts

Should not be too hard to make one. They're available many places, most farm supply stores. Here is a link to a picture.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200322188_200322188

The end of T stakes are subject to chipping small pieces of steel when struck with a maul. The end of the T stake is hard to hit with a maul. The T stale driver captures any steel chips within the tool.

HDRock ,
There's a method over at www.woodheat.org that is simple , doesn't involve t post ,or cross stacking . Basically it involves using cord to stabilize the stacks . Pretty interesting method .

HDRock said:

Bare with me here cuz IDK, whats the difference if you use a slide hammer /post pounder or a plane old hammer ???

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Try a hammer, may work .
Not sure how a slide hammer would pound a post.

Post pounder is a 2' long or so piece of pipe that slides over the post you want to pound into the ground with a heavy cap in one end.
Some have handles welded on, smaller ones don't need handles.
Slide it on the fence post, raise it up & pull it down to pound the post

Pic from oldogy link:

Before I started stacking on pallet racks I just cross stacked the ends. If your stacking a row you can sort through as you stack and find uniform pieces for the end cross stack. They don't have to be perfect or even square, just two pieces of similar size placed next to each other. Half rounds work there great as well, just work your way up and lean the end in towards the stack if it needs to. You could even use a pallet on end with a 2x4 nailed onto another pallet at a 45* angle to make an end.

HDRock said:

I see, it's a pipe with a cap
Just sayin ,It's kinda like a slide hammer.
I pounded 7 ft of an 8 ft ground rod in the ground with a hammer

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I have too, but sooooo much easier with a post pounder

glacial till gravel here
try to pound a T bar in here and you pretty much end up with metal pretzels
gotta stab the ground first with a 5 foot garden bar to locate the rocks and you usually end up with a post somewhere near your original plan
I do 12 - 18 inches where I use them to support fence to keep the deer out of the fruit trees in the Winter.

HDRock said:

Why are they are not needed ? I know you have a better idea.What is it ?????
Is it stacking alternately 90% on the ends or what ?? that doesn't seem to work to well, unless all pieces are uniform size.
Edit: Maybe I just did it wrong

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All the pieces do not have to be a uniform size. If they did, I'd fail miserably.

Here is some wood that was cut during the 20089-2009 winter. The splitting and stacking was completed in early April of 2009. The 2 stacks on the right side are still there and look the same except for the galvanized roofing that is on top of them. Under the wood are some maple saplings that I cut in the woods. Those stacks are as solid or perhaps more so than when they were stacked 3 1/2 years ago. We'll no doubt burn part of that next year but will still have some left for the following year because there are at least 3 cord left there. But notice, there are no t-posts nor will you find any supports at all. Just a stack of wood. T-posts are not cheap but not super expensive either but if you don't need them, that is money left in the purse to use for other things.

Backwoods Savage said:

All the pieces do not have to be a uniform size. If they did, I'd fail miserably.

Here is some wood that was cut during the 20089-2009 winter. The splitting and stacking was completed in early April of 2009. The 2 stacks on the right side are still there and look the same except for the galvanized roofing that is on top of them. Under the wood are some maple saplings that I cut in the woods. Those stacks are as solid or perhaps more so than when they were stacked 3 1/2 years ago. We'll no doubt burn part of that next year but will still have some left for the following year because there are at least 3 cord left there. But notice, there are no t-posts nor will you find any supports at all. Just a stack of wood. T-posts are not cheap but not super expensive either but if you don't need them, that is money left in the purse to use for other things.

View attachment 85727

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it also helps that you have a large level / flat area to stack on, my stacking area is far from level. Even when I criss cross the ends they still have a tendency to fall over without t posts

I thought Zap was the only one to use T-posts!

Gary

Elderthewelder said:

it also helps that you have a large level / flat area to stack on, my stacking area is far from level. Even when I criss cross the ends they still have a tendency to fall over without t posts

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If I was a few miles closer I would take some of that wood off your hands to give you some more room!

Gary

Hickory split and stacked two weeks ago. No t-posts. I put the uglies on top to keep the wooden doors from blowing off or the bears from knocking them off.

billb3 said:

glacial till gravel here
try to pound a T bar in here and you pretty much end up with metal pretzels
gotta stab the ground first with a 5 foot garden bar to locate the rocks and you usually end up with a post somewhere near your original plan
I do 12 - 18 inches where I use them to support fence to keep the deer out of the fruit trees in the Winter.

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I understand your problem of too hard of ground to pound a post into. I have access to a lot of tools, a demolition hammer with a 1-1/4 bit should do the trick, something like a Hilti TE-706. Most rental yatds have one or similar.

Elderthewelder said:

it also helps that you have a large level / flat area to stack on, my stacking area is far from level. Even when I criss cross the ends they still have a tendency to fall over without t posts

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Nice looking rounds,,, more work,,, That red fir??? Doug Fir?? Wenatchee area here,, pine and fir,,, some tamarack,, You are in good shape.. working on 14-15 now,, big rounds. Just scored some black locust on a acrounge HOO-HOO. 1 cord..

Mr A said:

I understand your problem of too hard of ground to pound a post into. I have access to a lot of tools, a demolition hammer with a 1-1/4 bit should do the trick, something like a Hilti TE-706. Most rental yatds have one or similar.

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If the rock is small enuf I just dig it up and put it somewhere else.