My first Holz Hausen w/pics

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Got Wood

Got Wood

Minister of Fire
Oct 22, 2008
926
Dutchess Cty, NY
I finished my HH yesterday and took some pictures of the project along the way. This one has a 7' diameter, 5' tall to the "roof" and 8' tall at the top. By m math has 1.8 cords in it (pi * r2 * h) for the cylinder + ((pi * r2 * h)/3) for the cone shaped roof)

A couple things I learned along the way:

* be sure to maintain the angle down and in on the outside ring
* fill the center as you go
* I didnt get any more wood in the foot print than I did with a "square" pile in same spot
* if I do another I will do the roof a little different having less pitch and higher rows overlapping

I did mark the center pole to see how much it shrinks over time.

All in all, a fun project.
 

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Wow, nice job....I like the pitched roof as well, most are often a little more flat.
 
Very nice. I wish I had the time/patience to build one. What is the purpose or the strategy of the outside horizontly laid pieces (they lay perpendicular with most of the other wood)?
 
That's swell...looks like it has it's own roof too.
 
Jack Straw said:
Very nice. I wish I had the time/patience to build one. What is the purpose or the strategy of the outside horizontly laid pieces (they lay perpendicular with most of the other wood)?
Click to expand...

From a time perspective, it really didnt take much longer than a normal stack would have. Filling the center by "chucking in" the splits contributes to the speed. Having done it once, the next time would be quicker too.

The outside horizontal pieces are used to create the "down and in" angle. If you look at the wall you will see other horizontal pieces put in the re-establish the pitch. This is needed to provide stability to the wall.
 
GW

Thanks for the info. Do you think the wood in the center will dry? You getting a lot of rain today?
 
Jack Straw said:
GW

Thanks for the info. Do you think the wood in the center will dry? You getting a lot of rain today?
Click to expand...

Time will tell on the seasoning. This stack is proabbly gonna hit the stove late in the 2011/2012 heating season so it should be fine.

Yes, it is pouring rain here today! Hope that roof doesnt leak LOL
 
Got Wood said:
Jack Straw said:
GW

Thanks for the info. Do you think the wood in the center will dry? You getting a lot of rain today?
Click to expand...

Time will tell on the seasoning. This stack is proabbly gonna hit the stove late in the 2011/2012 heating season so it should be fine.

Yes, it is pouring rain here today! Hope that roof doesnt leak LOL
Click to expand...

The weatherman said we'd get 1-3 in. of rain and the sun is shining
 
Looks good man! Double pallets to get it further up off the ground? It looks great with your other stacks, you've got a "wood village" back there now....
 
pulldownclaw said:
Looks good man! Double pallets to get it further up off the ground? It looks great with your other stacks, you've got a "wood village" back there now....
Click to expand...

You noticed the "double pallets" .... actually the reason why is the bottom pallets were frozen solid to the ground and I couldnt budge them w/o breaking them up. I had scored those plastic pallets that I wanted to use so I just put them on top and leveled it off. Can only help air flow.

I call the village Woodland. Up to 16 cord c/s/s now
 
'Down and in angle' ... seems like that would funnel any rain hitting the outside wall right to the interior of the stack? Seems like 'in and up' would help shed more water?
 
Those things look awesome, but every time I see one I have this reassuring feel wash over me which clearly states: you idiot, you would find a way to collapse that thing simply by looking at it directly for more than 2.37 seconds.
 
Pretty neat looking. Been hesitant to build one myself for fear that I'd get a a colony of ewoks squatting in the woodpile.
 
Impressive. Very good job !
Do you need a ladder to do the roof part?
Is there wood in the middle circle when done?
You know you're making the rest of us look bad. ;)
 
bogydave said:
Impressive. Very good job !
Do you need a ladder to do the roof part?
Is there wood in the middle circle when done?
You know you're making the rest of us look bad. ;)
Click to expand...

I could reach the top using a milk crate to step on. For the Very top I did use a step ladder to make it easier.
Yes, the middle is full - I just chucked in splits to fill it
 
Hey Redd, did you really click on this thread and read through it to post that? If you don't think HH are a good idea or a waste of time, just move on, nothing to see here....
 
Got Wood, I am glad you got a chance to build one, I know you liked mine. You are right the key to strength is to keep the wood leaning in, really not hard to do. I agree that the roof looks a little steep, but nice job. I found I could reach the top by finding foot holds in the side and stepping up. Now you will get all your friends and visitors talking. Everyone has seen a wood stack, but not too many have ever seen a HH.
 
Nice wood lot and house too, I wish I had 16 cords read to go. I need to catch up, I am starting to use my HH wood now and I hate to see it go. Picked up some wood today from a CL score. Kind of silly seeing that I have tons here, just hard to pass up free wood.
 
CrawfordCentury said:
Pretty neat looking. Been hesitant to build one myself for fear that I'd get a a colony of ewoks squatting in the woodpile.
Click to expand...

:) :) :) :)
 
I agree an HH is really 'neat' looking but I have a question: If the 'bark up' on the top is meant to repel rain/snow, what keeps your wood dry once you start removing wood from the stack? Do you tarp it at some point?

Shari
 
Here are pictures of my first HH.
I don't buy into the faster drying theories- just wanted to do something different.
It is a better conversation starter than the usual "why do you have some much wood?"
 

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Nice job, I dont buy into the faster drying time either but the neat factor is off the charts.
 
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