Stacking corners and sides......

Pen…do you do anything that doesn't look good?

I think a solid answer to that would be whatever materials you have on hand thats either free or convenient. If you graduate from 2 trees(which comes in handy sometimes) the answer falls into three classes.
esthetically pleasing(something neighbors wont bi*#ch about)
cheap(as in free)
structurally sound(longevity)(as in between a rock and a hard place)
What you come up with is limited only by your imagination. It doesnt hurt to use a little feng shui.

Is that BS or what?

Applesister said:

Is that BS or what?

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-1

After trying several types of ends, I've decided that "pallet book-ends" are the most economical, secure end supports. Cribbing (cross-stacking) is more economical, but requires skill and is less stable and reliable. Tee posts are too costly (in $/cord stored) as are concrete blocks with landscape timbers and uprights. And there just aren't enough trees to stack against. Five 40" x 48" pallets (3 on the ground, 2 upright) will hold 1.25 cord.
They provide good ventilation and excellent end support. 1x4s can be used in the slots of the uprights to extend the height. I put the pallets on old bricks to get them up off the ground. They're cheap, easy to build and very reliable.


These aren't mine, they belong to HDRock, but you get the idea.

Damned elegant stack there. I'm still working on the artistic/architectural aspects of stacking and hope to reach that level soon.

That looks nice Pen, real nice...

I like to lean the ends in a little as I build it up. I think it adds a tad more stability. Keep practicing, it will click

Nice rack Pen!

Pen - that is a work of art.

When i started cribbing the ends i started with 2 splits on the bottom and just worked up in 2's (like i have seen here) but what i have found works for me is doing them in 3's it is much more stable especially when your wood is not uniform like mine. When you first start don't worry too much about the aesthetics - that can only come with practice worry more about the stability of the finished stack. My best looking stack only looked good for a couple of days then it fell over. I soon learnt that due to the nature of the splits not being uniform and the ground not being level my best attack is to stack 3 rows on a pallet and lean the outsides in. Very hard to fall over but takes longer to season. Compromise.

I do like pen does. The thing that really helps is spitting a bunch of square splits instead of triangles. Take your time building the ends as you go making sure the pieces don't rock you want them to be nicely seated and the pile will be stable. Also when you stack the wood choose your pieces so they are not pushing on the ends but sitting in place

as you move splits to the stack start throwing aside the "nice" square or rectangle ones. This way you have a pile of them to build cribs as you go. Some are better than others and you can always use little chunks and bark to shore up the cribs and crib pieces. I envy Pens stacks but mine stay put and that is what counts. If at all possible stack in multiple rows. This may effect seasoning time but allows for more liberty in regards to perfection. I stack on pallets and my main stack is 4-5 rows across and 65' long. This way I can crib off sections that equal about a years worth or burning by cribbing and stacking E/W in 4 cord sections and fill the rest in. There are two times you need good breaks in your large stacks. Original stacking and moving it to burn all winter. Not much worse than not having a breaking point in a huge stack at your annual usage point. I think one of those "worse" things is: RE-STACKING a fallen pile!!

I've noticed when a new stack is finished it takes a few days to settle in nice and stable.
I wobble the whole stack gently while I'm stacking.... Everybody has a little trick to it.

pen said:

Criss-Cross those ends with some of the splits that are pretty straight.

I threw a couple of posts up on the ends this year for the heck of it. Only time I've ever had a problem is when the neighbor has a cat that likes the wood piles. I stacked them higher this year in hopes that would deter the cats, so put those posts on the end for a little extra security. So far, the 5 foot stacks are enough to keep the cats off.

View attachment 116057

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Nice stack. Is that flagstone under your wood?

I do like pen, square the corners (only on pallets as opposed to stone). But I'm never gonna show a pic of my stacks here...

One way to do ends

Squared off splits are your friend. They can be very stable. A solid flat base helps quite a bit also. I didn't have quite enough square splits in this load and had to start using the pie wedges. The oak to the right went for revenge last summer and dropped a large limb on this stack. It took out the right corner, the middle and left stood.

pen said:

Doesn't need to be pretty to show it off. If it dries the wood, you should be proud of it.

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Yeah, you're right, just my humble way of saying you guys are a cut above - those stacks are works of art.

MrWhoopee said:

After trying several types of ends, I've decided that "pallet book-ends" are the most economical, secure end supports. Cribbing (cross-stacking) is more economical, but requires skill and is less stable and reliable. Tee posts are too costly (in $/cord stored) as are concrete blocks with landscape timbers and uprights. And there just aren't enough trees to stack against. Five 40" x 48" pallets (3 on the ground, 2 upright) will hold 1.25 cord.
They provide good ventilation and excellent end support. 1x4s can be used in the slots of the uprights to extend the height. I put the pallets on old bricks to get them up off the ground. They're cheap, easy to build and very reliable.


These aren't mine, they belong to HDRock, but you get the idea.

Click to expand...

I have tried different ways , And like the "pallet book-ends" the best, made from all free materials , I cut 16 to 17" long , stack 2 rows on the book end rack. It is 2 pallets 4'x6', so I have about 14" space between rows, I plan to keep covered to keep all the crap out of the space, sticks , leaves ,snow, nuts, dirt, amazing how much dirt falls out of the trees, oh yeah to me cross stacking, cribbing is a PITA, It takes way to long.
BUT ,there is always more than one way to do it

MrWhoopee said:

After trying several types of ends, I've decided that "pallet book-ends" are the most economical, secure end supports. Cribbing (cross-stacking) is more economical, but requires skill and is less stable and reliable. Tee posts are too costly (in $/cord stored) as are concrete blocks with landscape timbers and uprights. And there just aren't enough trees to stack against. Five 40" x 48" pallets (3 on the ground, 2 upright) will hold 1.25 cord.
They provide good ventilation and excellent end support. 1x4s can be used in the slots of the uprights to extend the height. I put the pallets on old bricks to get them up off the ground. They're cheap, easy to build and very reliable.


These aren't mine, they belong to HDRock, but you get the idea.

Click to expand...

+1

I tried the upright pallet approach for the first time this year and I'm thrilled with it. Makes life a lot easier. I tried cribbing the ends a few years ago and found it to be an enormous pain in the ass. It sure looks good, but it took me forever to find workable pairs of logs for the ends.

After that I moved to T-posts, which work fine but aren't very visually appealing [to my eye, anyway]. Some may think the pallets ugly, too, but I think they provide a nice, straight, clean look. This is my stack of next year's wood that I finished a few weeks back.

Stegman said:

+1

I tried the upright pallet approach for the first time this year and I'm thrilled with it. Makes life a lot easier. I tried cribbing the ends a few years ago and found it to be an enormous pain in the ass. It sure looks good, but it took me forever to find workable pairs of logs for the ends.

After that I moved to T-posts, which work fine but aren't very visually appealing [to my eye, anyway]. Some may think the pallets ugly, too, but I think they provide a nice, straight, clean look. This is my stack of next year's wood that I finished a few weeks back.

View attachment 116296

Click to expand...

Nice stacks bro, I like it