Ugh.. Holz just collapsed

Sorry to hear that. I have one and another started which seem to be very secure. One has been there for a month or better now. I can lean on it and nothing moves yet. I think the secret is to make sure they are leaning into the center so if the move they pack tighter without falling.

cmonSTART said:

Well, finished it off today. It was 7 feet diameter and about 6 feet high, maybe 7. It looked cool. I was so proud.

Some thunderstorms are moving through and it's been pouring rain for a while. I heard one clap of thunder and then what sounded like a cord wood waterfall. My heart sank as I went to the window - I already knew what had happened. Sure enough, the top half had collapsed. Everything I put on today... I'll inspect the damage tomorrow.

:sigh:

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At least you still have a Halfhauzen :cheese:

I feel your pain. It happened to me a couple years ago.

cmonSTART said:

Well, finished it off today. It was 7 feet diameter and about 6 feet high, maybe 7. It looked cool. I was so proud.

Some thunderstorms are moving through and it's been pouring rain for a while. I heard one clap of thunder and then what sounded like a cord wood waterfall. My heart sank as I went to the window - I already knew what had happened. Sure enough, the top half had collapsed. Everything I put on today... I'll inspect the damage tomorrow.

:sigh:

Click to expand...

Bro, i've had more wood tip over this year due to the amount of rain we've got....the soils is wet and won't hold my stakes. I honestly feel your pain. That sound, the "coord wood waterfall"...GAAAAAH....it's a terrible sound.

myzamboni said:

cmonSTART said:

Well, finished it off today. It was 7 feet diameter and about 6 feet high, maybe 7. It looked cool. I was so proud.

Some thunderstorms are moving through and it's been pouring rain for a while. I heard one clap of thunder and then what sounded like a cord wood waterfall. My heart sank as I went to the window - I already knew what had happened. Sure enough, the top half had collapsed. Everything I put on today... I'll inspect the damage tomorrow.

:sigh:

Click to expand...

At least you still have a Halfhauzen :cheese:

Click to expand...

........................brutal..................just brutal.

I just finished my first today, holds about 2.5 to 2.67 cord. 9 foot diameter, outer perim resting on old window lentils from century buildings. Center vertical section up on a square pallet to create an air space. Mine's 6' tall in the center, and 4.5 to 5 feet tall on the perimeter.

I just came inside and said I don't know if I'll ever build another one (even though I was biased towards being an HH fan before attempting one), when the wife said "Why not? I like it." So I'll probably keep building them.


They DO seem to handle irregular pieces of wood much better than a straight stack But it took much effort to set aside my 'shingles', the small half round splits. Even at only 5-6 feet I was struggling to get wood stacked in the center. And the center vertical core eventually just turned into a jumbled mess. It's too hard to try to get them all vertical. Towards the end, I did end up standing on my holz haufen to lay some of my last shingle pieces. It was plenty stable to hold me.

I have seen pictures of these type of piles, but I never new what they were called... 8

My first/only attempt fell at the top. Want to try another but maybe next year. I spent a lot of time trying to get it right but obviously I was home schooled or something.

I am glad I did not bother to stack the oak yesterday. It was a long day and I was tired and did not have enough juice left to stack so i just through it out of the trailer and into a pile. No Holz for me yet for this red oak. I was afraid i would not put the effort into doing it right being so beat...

Stacked in rows fall over easy, too.

One reaso I don't stack rows beside each other any more (at least not at the end of the driveway).
I backed into one once.
Which of course fell into the stack next to it, knocking that one over, which of course, knocked the last one over.

No spaces or very wide ones from then on.

I don't want to sound like jerk- I just don't know how stacks fall over for people. I have had one stack fall over ever- and I think it was because I was trying to knock an ice dam off the top by pulling on the tarp covering it (stupid)

Learn how to properly box the ends and you won't have to use stakes and it will be stable. Also- wood is not all regular shapes. Think about wood as complementary shapes and stack accordingly. Every piece has it's place like a puzzle- fat end, branch sticking out etc- all help you lock it together a bit if you think about it.

Maybe it takes me longer to stack though- I don't know. I like stacking wood.

If you like it so much, you could always stack it in such a way that you get the occaisional collapse... affording you the opportunity to re-stack it. *grin*

I may restack the 2 cord I have for next year when it dries a bit. I have a plan- LOL

I love wood

[ author="Adios Pantalones" date="1216678801"]I don't want to sound like jerk- I just don't know how stacks fall over for people.

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900000000000 inches of rain and the soil (actually clay) get's snotty then restack it. I have never had a problem but this year the rain is killin' me.

Learn how to properly box the ends and you won't have to use stakes and it will be stable.

Click to expand...

I used to do it that way but it takes me too long and I split my wood from somewhat small to ginourmous. For me to come up with enough even splits to cap 9 rows of wood 6ft high....stakes are easier.

Hey- whatever is easy. Seen the rope method?- lay the rope along the stack and double it back up every few rows- the wood on top holds it together.

I may be lucky as well to have good stable footings for them. I have some old RR ties, and also use pallets, stacked on my very stable driveway. Rain 40 days and 40 nights and my driveway won't shift... wood may float away, but the driveway is stable

It may take longer boxing ends (as seen in the non-holz piles in my pics)- but I like it that way I guess. I live in a log home and nice wood piles are almost an 'accent' in the yards.

Sans-pantalons, nice optical illusion. In one pic it looks like your Cub is carrying a holzhaufen!

Ya, I got the 5300# capacity cart- LOL

Adios Pantalones said:

I don't want to sound like jerk- I just don't know how stacks fall over for people. I have had one stack fall over ever- and I think it was because I was trying to knock an ice dam off the top by pulling on the tarp covering it (stupid)

Learn how to properly box the ends and you won't have to use stakes and it will be stable. Also- wood is not all regular shapes. Think about wood as complementary shapes and stack accordingly. Every piece has it's place like a puzzle- fat end, branch sticking out etc- all help you lock it together a bit if you think about it.

Maybe it takes me longer to stack though- I don't know. I like stacking wood.

Click to expand...

Those of us who don't have a speck of level ground is how. Double that if your stove is small and your wood is 14 or 16 inches. Boxing the ends is great, but you have to have a good amount of perfectly even splits. An unstable box end makes everything worse. And then there are the cats leaping and clawing their way to the top. Because of those things and my very uneven (mostly beech, some soft maple) wood, l have to stack slowly and carefully, piece by piece, jigsaw puzzle style, like you. I started out enjoying it, but it's getting real old now. When you have one of those fall down, it's a morale-buster. Right now, I'm watching the stakes on the end of a very long row leaning more and more because of the saturated soil and the extra weight of the drenched wood. I just have to wait and see because there's no way in heck I'm going to fiddle around on the downside of that leaning stack trying to shore it back up.

gyrfalcon said:

Adios Pantalones said:

I don't want to sound like jerk- I just don't know how stacks fall over for people. I have had one stack fall over ever- and I think it was because I was trying to knock an ice dam off the top by pulling on the tarp covering it (stupid)

Learn how to properly box the ends and you won't have to use stakes and it will be stable. Also- wood is not all regular shapes. Think about wood as complementary shapes and stack accordingly. Every piece has it's place like a puzzle- fat end, branch sticking out etc- all help you lock it together a bit if you think about it.

Maybe it takes me longer to stack though- I don't know. I like stacking wood.

Click to expand...

Right now, I'm watching the stakes on the end of a very long row leaning more and more because of the saturated soil and the extra weight of the drenched wood. I just have to wait and see because there's no way in heck I'm going to fiddle around on the downside of that leaning stack trying to shore it back up.

Click to expand...

Maybe you need longer stakes??.....

I had a row fall over. I had it stacked straight about 7ft high. I left for a few hours came back and thought
what the hell happened here.