*%$!!! pile fell over

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wg_bent

wg_bent

Minister of Fire
Nov 19, 2005
2,248
Poughkeepsie, NY
I thought I had it down to a science. Unfortunately, I end up with piles that don't have all nicely split logs. I have odd ball chunks that result from splitting monster pine rounds and elm disks. So, some stacks can get a little odd. As they dry in this nice hot weather, the splits start shrinking and loosen the piles, which eventually fall over. GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!
 
Feel your pain....sorry. I remember as a kid upstairs watching tv. We stacked some of the wood in the garage under the house, and every once in a while you would hear the pile let go......would make us jump!
 
In a former time there were fence builders. In New England where fences were built from stone there were specialists that would take your rocks and build your walls for room and board. It really was an art. They had no plans or details just a line and a pile of resources.

Maybe for today we need a new builder. We may need a true stacker. One that can take your splits and make a house for you. I think it is intuitive. I have four foot long and four foot high stacks, because I am not intuitive. Yet I can do a four foot wide and twelve foot high stack for drying wood boards without a hesitation and use stickers for stabilizing.

I can see the want ad: "Wanted stubby stacker to make my pile stable and last through the winter......" Could you be more obscure and specific?
 
Hey look at it this way. At least you already have the nice wood in a pile and already split. I still have to go get my entire pile, cut it up, and then stack it. Wanna trade?. Actually, you would be nuts to trade for crappy pine!.

Look at it as a blessing for more fresh outdoor air and good exersize; ..then go have a beer!
 
If your rows are close enough you can use a "joiner" to stabalize your stacks. This is just a small diameter piece of wood long enough to reach between piles to stabilize each row. inserted during construction of each row.

These work best when used about halfway or more up on fairly tall piles. All my rows are about two feet apart (6 feet tall) and I just insert these stabalizer pieces "in under" logs as I go up with my piles.

They are held in place by weight from all your other logs as you increase height. Two or three rows connected about mid way up are much more secure than one stack standing alone.





Robbie
 
Robbie said:
If your rows are close enough you can use a "joiner" to stabalize your stacks. This is just a small diameter piece of wood long enough to reach between piles to stabilize each row. inserted during construction of each row.

These work best when used about halfway or more up on fairly tall piles. All my rows are about two feet apart (6 feet tall) and I just insert these stabalizer pieces "in under" logs as I go up with my piles.

They are held in place by weight from all your other logs as you increase height. Two or three rows connected about mid way up are much more secure than one stack standing alone.



Robbie
Click to expand...
Interesting idea,but my piles are not rows. I pile on pallets using a mostly crisscross stacking. It's usually the most stabile I've found. Works well for the piles that are all even size splits. It was interesting yesterday, as the outside temp dropped in the evening, I could feel the warmth coming off the wood pile that had been in the sun all afternoon. That stuff's going to be nice and dry this year. Unfortunately, the stock for next year isn't as good a bunch of wood as last year. Mostly cherry and elm for stove food next heating season. Less pine this time though.

Unless the pine fairy visits again.
 
I feel your pain Warren.

There is one thing that is worse than stacking wood......Re-stacking wood >:-(
 
Wasn't me Warren, I STILL have some of your pine from last year, gonna get newer stove this summer, just debating where from do you trust Ashleighs???
 
Ashley is an old company. My first tin can stove was an Ashley.

If you're looking into a simple, reasonably priced stove, you might also consider an Englander or perhaps a Consolidated Dutchwest.
 
BeGreen said:
Ashley is an old company. My first tin can stove was an Ashley.

If you're looking into a simple, reasonably priced stove, you might also consider an Englander or perhaps a Consolidated Dutchwest.
Click to expand...

Ashleigh's Hearth and Home is the local dealer. Carry Scan, Morso, VC, Dutchwest, and Avalon stoves. Look them up on the web. The have a VERY impressive showroom and an amazing location right on RT 9. Sister company is Hudson Valley Chimney. Home of the 80.00 dollar 6" round poly brush (push rods are extra...) yes's that was the original quoted price, after protesting... the price dropped to 16.00. Similar behavior when they realized they didn't have an insert to fit my fireplace. Answer: replace the whole thing. While I agree that might have been the ultimate option, 8000.00 (yes, that was the quoted price to install a new epa approved fireplace) just didn't seem like a good idea compared to the price I paid for mine.
 
Ah Ashleigh, I thought that was a typo.....nevermind (in my best Emily Litella imitation).
 
I finally post again....

Hello Warren and hardwood.

I was very satisfied with Ashleigh’s. I used Hudson Valley Chimney once. Cost me $200 to have my pipe swept. Went up with the brush once. Perhaps a cup of debris after burning 1 cord of hardwood and 1/2 cord of Warren's pine. It was a good education on how to sweep my own chimney..... Will be buying my own brusg and rods for $50-$60 from Williams Lumber shortly....

Warren, I hear you on the restacking wood. Worst thing in the world to look out at your pile and see a portion of it on the ground. Just had to do a bit myself. Middle portion of a row fell over. Took 15 minutes to restack. Wasn't much that fell. My current row are stacked all parallel except for the end which is criss-crossed made of half rounds. This end stack seems much more stable that my previous end stacks made from various splits.

I do notice my end stack getting slightly more unstable as the wood shrinks.....
 
This pile falling over stuff has got me worried. I am assuming you guys are stacking it in a one split wide row. I stacked mine on pallets. The stacks are roughly 4'x8' and 6' tall. I realize this might make them take longer to dry out, but how much longer? This will be my first year burning with wood. The wood I split was cut in the spring of 2006 and laid in a pile in my yard until May of this year. When I split it. I could easily tell which pieces had been laying on the ground and which ones had been raised off the ground by how wet they were. It has been stacked for a month now and although I don't see much of a color change in it, you can look at the ends of the logs and see where they have cracked in the center. I have them covered with a tarp to protect them from the rain, and as recomended here the tarp only goes down the sides of the pile by maybe a foot. Will my stiff be dry enough to burn by December?

thanks,

Karl
 
karl said:
This pile falling over stuff has got me worried. I am assuming you guys are stacking it in a one split wide row. I stacked mine on pallets. The stacks are roughly 4'x8' and 6' tall. I realize this might make them take longer to dry out, but how much longer? This will be my first year burning with wood. The wood I split was cut in the spring of 2006 and laid in a pile in my yard until May of this year. When I split it. I could easily tell which pieces had been laying on the ground and which ones had been raised off the ground by how wet they were. It has been stacked for a month now and although I don't see much of a color change in it, you can look at the ends of the logs and see where they have cracked in the center. I have them covered with a tarp to protect them from the rain, and as recomended here the tarp only goes down the sides of the pile by maybe a foot. Will my stiff be dry enough to burn by December?

thanks,

Karl
Click to expand...

I stack on pallets. The interior of the pallets will not be as well seasoned as the outside. I had some Oak I cut 2 summers ago and it was not ready this past march. Still too wet. I like the pallet stacking, but I'm not convinced it's the best for drying. I do crisscross the logs as much as possible. I think rows dry fastest. also realize my place for the stacks is not in direct sun all day.
This year I uncovered all my stacks, and will cover starting around late August. I'll see if that works better.
This year all stacks are not doubled up. Meaning 4 pallets in a big square. This time there's always space around them. I'll see how it works.
 
Well my pallets aren't doubled up. I have two pallets side by side, which might be 3'x8' instead of 4'x8'. Anyway, it's two rows of wood together not one.
 
I too stack with pallets and fence posts to hold them in place. My area is about 8' deep x 16' long x 4' high. True the middle didn't season as well. I had oak and maple and some cedar mixed in. While burning I tried to mix it up as best as I could. The stuff was split March 06 and burned Oct through March 07 with no problem. I'll admit thogh some pieces seemed like they didn't want to burn but I wouldn't be denied. Cleaned the chimmney 3 x over the season and never more than a coffe can full of black flakes each time.
 
1 or 2 lbs coffee can? How many cords burned per cleaning? Seems like a lot, but good that you have been diligent with cleaning. Is this with an exterior chimney?
 
I burn between 4 - 5 cords per year. The chimmey is exterior metalbestos double wall pipe approx 22 feet. I think maybe I overstated in that when I said never more than a coffe can each time. Keep in mind the can is only 11oz these days and I would get maybe half of that (5 oz each time). Do you think that's more like it?
 
This year I uncovered all my stacks, and will cover starting around late August. I’ll see if that works better.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing this year uncovered the whole fenceline pile and will leave uncovered till fall, Yeah STEEP quotes from Ashleigh's, and I think I will shop around, Pleasant Valley, Wappingers etc
 
glassman, yes, that sounds ok for an exterior chimney after burning about 1.5 cords.

It's been a long time since I've bought coffee in a can. Is it really down to 11 oz.? Is this diet coffee? %-P
 
My method for seasoning wood is not to cover it until it's seasoned and ready to burn. Does anyone else do it this way?

MB
 
Yes, I do it that way, too. Only cover it once it is seasoned or if October arrives, whichever comes first.
 
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