Wood On Pallets On Paved Driveway?

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velvetfoot

velvetfoot

Minister of Fire
Dec 5, 2005
10,202
Sand Lake, NY
I'm thinking a 5 foot high stack would make depressions where the pallets sit.
I had no problem when stacking the splits directly on the pavement.
(This is for next year, potentially.)
Opinions?
 
Depressions? in the grass? What about pallets over pavement. I think the pallets help with air flow. I would be reluctant to place my wood directly on the ground or pavement for a long period of time.
 
Use the pallets. If you have a good paving job, the weight should be distributed enough so that no depressions are created in the pavement. But you could always tear down a few pallets and place the flat slats under the beams of the pallets you're going to use. That will spread out the load bearing ratio.
 
Oh - now I understand, you don't want depressions in the asphalt driveway. Do you have space to set the pallets - just off the driveway? 5 ft is alot of weight. Depressions might be a concern.
 
If you have enough pallets you could place one layer top down with another on top facing top up. You want as much contact as possible between the pallets and the pavement to spread load, which means the part of the pallets touching the pavement should be full of slats (not too many gaps). The top layer of pallets would give you a surface without too many gaps to make stacking easier. The extra height would be nice too, allowing a little more air beneath.

Alternately try to find pallets with both the top and bottom filled in with slats. Also find the pallets with the thickest slats, which will help distribute the load.
 
You know, I think I'd have to forgo the pallets because it looks like I have to go 4 rows deep, 5' high, and 24' long.
This is just potentially for storage during the winter, and the wood should be pretty dry at that point.
 
I don't think the pallets will affect the pavement as the load gets spread out a bit. You could put the pallets on top of 2x10 laid flat or something like that to additionally spread the load? I did that before I created pallet island for a year and had not issues, though my driveway was already old...
 
I'd think the pounds per square in on a pallet would be less than on one tire of a full sized SUV.
If worried though, lay plywood or several old boards down under the pallets to make a larger surface to distribute the weight.
The asphalt is going to be cooler under the pallets, no direct sun. I'd use pallets to protect the driveway. :)
 
I don't see where the weight of a pallet of wood should cause a problem. It would have to get lots of sun and very hot to make the asphalt that soft. The only place it will get sun is right at the very edge. Nope, I wouldn't be concerned.
 
Just lay down some 2x4's
 
i use those EZ stacker things and 2 X 4's and stack on the asphalt driveway for about 4 years now. If i was to move the stacks u would never know they were there
 
Just thinking... a full-loaded semi can gross out at 40 tons. Go look at the parking lot at a warehouse or truck stop- no depressions there.

I'd suggest you're thinking too much.
 
If you really want to get all nerdy about it, you can calculate the pressure of the wood on the pavement and compare to the pressure a car puts on the pavement. Pavement designers assume that the pressure on the pavement from a vehicle is the same as the tire inflation pressure. That is, your car presses down on your driveway at around 32 lbs/in^2. Probably somebody on this forum knows the tire pressure of a big truck, which I assume your driveway could handle. You can figure out the weight of the wood, divide by the area of the wood on the bottom of the pallet, and that will give you the pressue a pallet will put on the pavement. I'd use only the area of the main 2x4 beams of the pallet because the weight will be on those and might not spread out over the entire pallet area. If the two pressures are more or less the same, you're OK I suspect. Of course engineers get into more depth regarding axle loads, etc., but just the pressure on the pavement should give you an idea if the wood is too heavy.

So, oak is about 4000 ppounds per cord. If you stack 4 ft high on a 4x4 ft pallet, that is 1/2 cord or 2000 lbs. If there are 3 2x4 cross members, each 4 ft long running across the pallet (seems pretty standard), then there is 1.5 inches x 3 boards x 4 ft long = 216 square inches of contact. 2000 lbs / 216 square inches is less than 10 psi. i think you're OK.
 
Wood Duck said:
If you really want to get all nerdy about it, you can calculate the pressure of the wood on the pavement and compare to the pressure a car puts on the pavement. Pavement designers assume that the pressure on the pavement from a vehicle is the same as the tire inflation pressure. That is, your car presses down on your driveway at around 32 lbs/in^2. Probably somebody on this forum knows the tire pressure of a big truck, which I assume your driveway could handle. You can figure out the weight of the wood, divide by the area of the wood on the bottom of the pallet, and that will give you the pressue a pallet will put on the pavement. I'd use only the area of the main 2x4 beams of the pallet because the weight will be on those and might not spread out over the entire pallet area. If the two pressures are more or less the same, you're OK I suspect. Of course engineers get into more depth regarding axle loads, etc., but just the pressure on the pavement should give you an idea if the wood is too heavy.

So, oak is about 4000 ppounds per cord. If you stack 4 ft high on a 4x4 ft pallet, that is 1/2 cord or 2000 lbs. If there are 3 2x4 cross members, each 4 ft long running across the pallet (seems pretty standard), then there is 1.5 inches x 3 boards x 4 ft long = 216 square inches of contact. 2000 lbs / 216 square inches is less than 10 psi. i think you're OK.
Click to expand...

So when I park my bicycle I have to use caution because of running 120 lbs of pressure per tire.
 
velvetfoot said:
I'm thinking a 5 foot high stack would make depressions where the pallets sit.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking you're right. Over time, with weight, and high temps, my bet is there will be depressions in the blacktop IF it is relatively new. Maybe not old blacktop that's been down for a period of time, but I personally would not do it if my blacktop was down less than 5 years.
 
Wood Duck said:
If you really want to get all nerdy about it, you can calculate the pressure of the wood on the pavement and compare to the pressure a car puts on the pavement. Pavement designers assume that the pressure on the pavement from a vehicle is the same as the tire inflation pressure. That is, your car presses down on your driveway at around 32 lbs/in^2. Probably somebody on this forum knows the tire pressure of a big truck, which I assume your driveway could handle. You can figure out the weight of the wood, divide by the area of the wood on the bottom of the pallet, and that will give you the pressue a pallet will put on the pavement. I'd use only the area of the main 2x4 beams of the pallet because the weight will be on those and might not spread out over the entire pallet area. If the two pressures are more or less the same, you're OK I suspect. Of course engineers get into more depth regarding axle loads, etc., but just the pressure on the pavement should give you an idea if the wood is too heavy.

So, oak is about 4000 ppounds per cord. If you stack 4 ft high on a 4x4 ft pallet, that is 1/2 cord or 2000 lbs. If there are 3 2x4 cross members, each 4 ft long running across the pallet (seems pretty standard), then there is 1.5 inches x 3 boards x 4 ft long = 216 square inches of contact. 2000 lbs / 216 square inches is less than 10 psi. i think you're OK.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it!

I will add that if you are really concerned, you could put down a sheet of 15/32 plywood. The theoretical pressure would be less than 1psi.


I'm curious where you found your oak cord weight? When I was doing some math I was suprised (although I shouldn't be) to find it in my machinist handbook.
 
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