Holtz Hausen on a slope?

[Beetle-Kill]

Anybody try it? My best location to do this for seasoning, is on a gentle slope. I'd like to do a couple of them for future use. Like starting saturday. Best guess on the slope would be a 1.5/12- 2/12 pitch. For non-roofers, that's a drop of 1.5-2 inches every 12" horizontal.

 

[Tony H]

Don't they refer to that as a Roll-Hausen instead. What would it take to lay some pallets or timbers on the low side to reduce the slope.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I honestly don't know what to call the round wood "decorative,wood stacked thingy". I will prob. do as you suggested, and stack material on the low slope to bring it to level. Just curious if anyone had tried this before. Thanks Tony H, for the input. :coolsmile:

 

[zzr7ky]

Hi -

I would probably stop the tendancy to head down hill by stacking against a tree or adding some fence posts on the down hill side. I've got a stack that's about 3 cords, and am starting another this weekend. They are 8' square at the base and at about 4' in hieght they morph into a heap like top. Mostly Ash, silver maple, some Elm and Oak.

ATB,
Mike

 

[LLigetfa]

I would crib the first few courses with half rounds until you are level.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Kinda what I was thinking. May cross them up for a little better ventilation on the low-slope side. After I hit a certain height, may run 3 stakes at the loww perimeter, and wire them together. thanks all.

 

[Valhalla]

The downhill side will be bit harder to top.
Still a fine HH design engineering project.

I would do it! Enjoy the fun.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I built mine on a slight slope. No big deal you just end up with more wood on the one side. Depending on how high you go you might want to find some foot holds. This way you can step up to finish the roof. You can see my HH in my image. It is a 10 foot diameter one probably 2 feet lower on the low side.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I'll prob. go larger in diam., vs. taller. I've been told repeatedly that I'm 5' nothing, and ugly to boot. So, walking around in circles - alot- would prob. suit me. I DO think I'll cross-stack the low-slope ares, for better ventilation.- QUESTION-: After you actually build one of these, does anyone actually burn it? I'm worried that after I get one or two up, I'll say "Screw it!", leave them there, and and go back to stacking in rows. :roll:

 

[golfandwoodnut]

check out this post
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/41091/P18/
adrpga498 has built 6 of these so I guess some people keep doing them. This was my first one and my only problem is that I like it so much I hate to tear it down. I am thinking of taking a piece of the pie and redoing it to keep it alive. They really are not that hard to do and they do hold alot in a small footprint. The best part is they are quite a conversation piece. I really don't believe they season any better but the roof is a neat idea versus using tarps etc. Your friends will be impressed, most people who have seen mine have never seen anything like it. My stove dealer could not stop talking about it even though he has been in business 30 years. There is a nack to it, but not difficult, keep sloping the outside wood inwards for strength, and believe me they are strong when build properly.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

golfandwoodnut- Now see,.. That's what I'm talkin' about!! Thanks for the links, and your input. Thanks to you and that link, I have direction. I appreciate it.

 

[Wood Duck]

I have four holz hausen and several are on slopes. There really is no problem building them on a slope, just make sure the lowest course of splits all slope in toward the center, as you would on flat ground. To build a holz hausen you make sure all of the splits in the outer ring slope slightly in to the center. As you build, you need to make sure that each layer of splits has a slope, so sometimes you add a narrow split horizontally to porp up the outside end of a split. I build mine with vertical sides, but each split slopes inward. TO build on a slope, you just make sure that the slpits on the downhill side on the bottom layer, which would naturally slope outward, due to the slope of the hill, instead slope inward. This just means an extra split, a brick or rock, or something else is propped under the end of the splits to make them slope inward. As long as these splits are solidly positioned and won't slide, the rest of the holz hausen construction goes normally.

 

[LLigetfa]

To build a holz hausen you make sure all of the splits in the outer ring slope slightly in to the center.

I've always had a problem with that inward sloping concept. In my mind that would channel rain inward, not outward like shingles do.

When I was doing traditional heaps, I would stand the outer layer on end, leaning it inward like a tee pee. Not exactly shingling since the ends butted rather than overlapped but at least not sloped toward the inside. When we made haystacks on the farm we would comb the straw to shed the rain like you see on thatched roofs. If you just piled it willy nilly, it would rot the hay.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

In a properly built HH the roof protects from the rain, so sloping inwards is not really an issue. And the strength created is impressive as in leans in on itself instead of a risk of it falling out.

 

[Wood Duck]

To build a holz hausen you make sure all of the splits in the outer ring slope slightly in to the center.

I've always had a problem with that inward sloping concept. In my mind that would channel rain inward, not outward like shingles do.

When I was doing traditional heaps, I would stand the outer layer on end, leaning it inward like a tee pee. Not exactly shingling since the ends butted rather than overlapped but at least not sloped toward the inside. When we made haystacks on the farm we would comb the straw to shed the rain like you see on thatched roofs. If you just piled it willy nilly, it would rot the hay.

I don't assume my holz hausen stay dry on the inside, but I do think that rainwater passes through in fairly discrete channels, so most of the wood stays dry, while a few pieces have water running over them when it rains. I think in this regard the HH are not worse than a regular stack. Mine do have 'shingles,' which are really just the outside slabs of larger rounds, on top, but since I place the shingles bark side up they don't channel water downhill very effectively. Instead, water runs off the side of each shingle and through the HH. I think the HH are the same as a pile or most other uncovered stacks in regards to keeping rain off the wood - they don't do a great job. It apparently doesn't matter, since my firewood seems to be seasoning well.

 

[adrpga498]

To build a holz hausen you make sure all of the splits in the outer ring slope slightly in to the center.

I've always had a problem with that inward sloping concept. In my mind that would channel rain inward, not outward like shingles do.

When I was doing traditional heaps, I would stand the outer layer on end, leaning it inward like a tee pee. Not exactly shingling since the ends butted rather than overlapped but at least not sloped toward the inside. When we made haystacks on the farm we would comb the straw to shed the rain like you see on thatched roofs. If you just piled it willy nilly, it would rot the hay.

I don't assume my holz hausen stay dry on the inside, but I do think that rainwater passes through in fairly discrete channels, so most of the wood stays dry, while a few pieces have water running over them when it rains. I think in this regard the HH are not worse than a regular stack. Mine do have 'shingles,' which are really just the outside slabs of larger rounds, on top, but since I place the shingles bark side up they don't channel water downhill very effectively. Instead, water runs off the side of each shingle and through the HH. I think the HH are the same as a pile or most other uncovered stacks in regards to keeping rain off the wood - they don't do a great job. It apparently doesn't matter, since my firewood seems to be seasoning well.

Ditto above, good post.