holz hausen?

[tlingit]

Is anyone familiar with this technique for stacking wood? It promises a faster drying time, but I'd like to see if anyone has tried it before. Here's a link.
http://soede.net/soede/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=151&Itemid=9

ps; husband person, in case you read this, i'd be happy with either of those wood lots

 

[begreen]

This was the rage a few years back on hearth.com. There are still some folks trying them out. Lots of old threads and pictures will show up with a search.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/56975/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/58374/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/51388/

 

[NH_Wood]

I'd like to try one, just for the fun of looking at it for a few years. But, seems like a lot of work - probably won't get to it! Cheers!

 

[shawneyboy]

I am half tempted to try one as a conversation piece...

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've not built one yet but maybe some day will try it. I've just not been impressed and it looks like more work. I also imagine how it will look as one starts removing the wood. Then it surely would not look too neat.

 

[adrpga498]

I will continue to build them. Can't say it dries any faster but I do like the smaller "foot print" it uses to stack alot of wood. One item never discussed before is that I could care less which way the wind blows. Being circular some splits gonna get some direct hits from the wind. As for how they look when you take them down, They look shorter.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

You can see one of mine in my avatar, the two main advantages are you can store alot in a small foot print and they are a great conversation piece. I have alot of rows of pallets of wood stacked nice and neat, but all the guests always gravitate to the HH. Also Backwoods if you build them right they are the most solid way to build, they never lean out. The key is when you build them to keep the outside leaning inwards, that make the wood tend to fall inwards not outwards, it creates tremendous strength and you can actually climb up the sides of it to put the roof on. When you tear them apart I have found you can take a piece of the pie and just rebuild it for future years. Just remember what part of the pie you used. I am getting rid of the avatar this year as it is in a bad spot, sad to see it go.

I agree that it does not season any faster. The hole in the middle is great for just throwing the odd shaped pieces, it is not worth stacking vertical in the middle.

 

[basswidow]

Looks nice but doesn't dry the wood any faster IMO

Here's a pic of mine.

 

[ecocavalier02]

looks pretty cool may try it someday. looks pretty easy to build.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

A 4 pallet one you can build pretty easy, holds maybe 2 to 2 1/2 cords depending on how high you make it. A 10 footer holds alot, maybe twice as much. Here is a larger picture of mine.

 

[Got Wood]

My thoughts on HH:

Does not season faster
I contend it does NOT allow more wood on a foot print. Most build these on a set of pallets placed in a square formation. Do the math....it just doesnt add up to more in a foot print. The "arguement is that you can stack higher with a HH but I dont find that to be true vs. a square "block".
Building one is fun
Having the middle to throw in your shorties/uglies is a great feature
It most certainly is a conversation piece and looks cool

Would I do it again....probably

 

[firefighterjake]

When I became a member here at hearth.com I thought it was mandatory to build a holz miete (the proper name for what many folks call a holz hausen) and so I built one just because I wanted to see what it would look like . . . and then I built a second last year.

My opinion is pretty much similar to others.


Holz mietes are not some miracle way to season the wood faster . . . but they are pretty cool to look at and folks will notice your stack of wood.

Holz mietes do not require a whole lot of extra work to build . . . you just need to exercise some common sense building skills such as getting the wood to lean in.

Holz mietes are great in one regard . . . the "hole" in the middle is a perfect place for those punks, chunks and uglies to go vs. waiting to throw them on top of your stack.

Holz mietes are very stable if you build them correctly . . . I've neve had a blow out or tip over . . . whereas some of my traditional stacks sometimes look like the Leaning Tower.

Like Got Wood I too am not sure if they really allow you to store more wood in the same footprint . . . I would say yes . . . but only if you stacked pretty high and I find that doing so can be a challenge when doing the "roof."

I think the biggest drawback of the holz miete however is the great sadness that comes whenever I have to tear one down when I move the wood into the shed . . . I always feel a bit sad . . . which is why I'll most likely continue to build one each year.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

When I became a member here at hearth.com I thought it was mandatory to build a holz miete (the proper name for what many folks call a holz hausen) and so I built one just because I wanted to see what it would look like . . . and then I built a second last year.

My opinion is pretty much similar to others.


Holz mietes are not some miracle way to season the wood faster . . . but they are pretty cool to look at and folks will notice your stack of wood.

Holz mietes do not require a whole lot of extra work to build . . . you just need to exercise some common sense building skills such as getting the wood to lean in.

Holz mietes are great in one regard . . . the "hole" in the middle is a perfect place for those punks, chunks and uglies to go vs. waiting to throw them on top of your stack.

Holz mietes are very stable if you build them correctly . . . I've neve had a blow out or tip over . . . whereas some of my traditional stacks sometimes look like the Leaning Tower.

Like Got Wood I too am not sure if they really allow you to store more wood in the same footprint . . . I would say yes . . . but only if you stacked pretty high and I find that doing so can be a challenge when doing the "roof."

I think the biggest drawback of the holz miete however is the great sadness that comes whenever I have to tear one down when I move the wood into the shed . . . I always feel a bit sad . . . which is why I'll most likely continue to build one each year.

You got it down Jake. I do know on my 10 footer that I went at least 8 foot high (It shrunk alot, so not that tough to unload), some traditionalist will even go 10 feet, but that is pretty tough. On a 4 pallet square I don't think anyone ever attempts 8 or 10 feet, I would lay odds on that falling over. So I do feel you can stack more wood, but who really cares. As you said Jake, the sad part is tearing it down. I may never build a 10 foot diameter one again, so it is really sad to see it go. I built this one on concrete, so I was not that worried about pallets. I need the dryway now.

 

[spirilis]

IIRC, someone from down under did a controlled experiment of Holz Hausen vs. standard ricks and proved that Holz Hausens season slower, with standard ricks being the fastest. Someone else can go search for the thread

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Yes there was a study, I would not say the season any quicker, but probably at the same pace as full pallet stacking (which I believe most of us do). If you are in a hurry, do single rows. Fortuneatley now I am 4 years ahead.

 

[midwestcoast]

[quote author="GolfandWoodNut" date="1291674291"]
...On a 4 pallet square I don't think anyone ever attempts 8 or 10 feet, I would lay odds on that falling over...quote]
What kind of odds you giving? My 4 pallet HH is pretty much 6.5' to the eaves, lol, and the roof is pretty steep, so I'd put the tippy top at around 8-8.5'
Full disclosure: I only had 3 pallets & used scrap lumber & blocks in place of the 4'th. It's been up since late August and shows no sign of tipping. No concrete slab either, that's cheating!
Sure looks nice these days with the roof covered in snow.

 

[Jags]

Yes there was a study, I would not say the season any quicker, but probably at the same pace as full pallet stacking (which I believe most of us do). If you are in a hurry, do single rows.

I believe that was exactly the conclusion that was made from our friend down under.

 

[Wood Duck]

Here are pics of mine. I like Holz hausen because they stand on their own. I have no idea if they season the wood as fast as other stacking methods. I assume they are slower than single ranks because they allow less air flow, but I haven't tried both methods side by side so I can't say for sure. I think they look nice.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

...On a 4 pallet square I don't think anyone ever attempts 8 or 10 feet, I would lay odds on that falling over...quote]
What kind of odds you giving? My 4 pallet HH is pretty much 6.5' to the eaves, lol, and the roof is pretty steep, so I'd put the tippy top at around 8-8.5'
Full disclosure: I only had 3 pallets & used scrap lumber & blocks in place of the 4'th. It's been up since late August and shows no sign of tipping. No concrete slab either, that's cheating!
Sure looks nice these days with the roof covered in snow.

midwest, you missed my point. What I was saying it is no problem going high with a HH the problem is if you do conventional square stacking on pallets. I was saying that you could not get over 6 feet, on a HH go as high as you are comfortable with. That is why you can store more wood in a HH than conventional stacking.

 

[midwestcoast]

...On a 4 pallet square I don't think anyone ever attempts 8 or 10 feet, I would lay odds on that falling over...quote]
What kind of odds you giving? My 4 pallet HH is pretty much 6.5' to the eaves, lol, and the roof is pretty steep, so I'd put the tippy top at around 8-8.5'
Full disclosure: I only had 3 pallets & used scrap lumber & blocks in place of the 4'th. It's been up since late August and shows no sign of tipping. No concrete slab either, that's cheating!
Sure looks nice these days with the roof covered in snow.

midwest, you missed my point. What I was saying it is no problem going high with a HH the problem is if you do conventional square stacking on pallets. I was saying that you could not get over 6 feet, on a HH go as high as you are comfortable with. That is why you can store more wood in a HH than conventional stacking.

Just kiddin around. Thought maybe I could make a few bucks.
To bad about this cold, I was gonna start driving piles for next year's Holz Highrisen

 

[trailmaker]

I've not built one yet but maybe some day will try it. I've just not been impressed and it looks like more work. I also imagine how it will look as one starts removing the wood. Then it surely would not look too neat.

I'm planning a Holz build as well, and had the same thought about the aesthetics of dismantling. If you built the HH with two or three of the "outer rings" you could probably just take off one outer ring each year. Then it would just get skinnier each year. Of course you'd have to have multiple HH or other stores of wood.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Is anyone familiar with this technique for stacking wood? It promises a faster drying time, but I'd like to see if anyone has tried it before. Here's a link.
http://soede.net/soede/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=151&Itemid=9

ps; husband person, in case you read this, i'd be happy with either of those wood lots

Nope. Never heard of it.

 

[basswidow]

I'm planning a Holz build as well, and had the same thought about the aesthetics of dismantling. If you built the HH with two or three of the "outer rings" you could probably just take off one outer ring each year. Then it would just get skinnier each year. Of course you'd have to have multiple HH or other stores of wood.

This would work if the inner rings were completed in the same fashion as the outer rings. But you'd have to make a mighty large one. The interior is not made of more rings - but the splits are stood up on their ends. Mine is 4 pallets in a square and I doubt you could go much smaller. The tighter the circle - the spokes of the wheels gap more. It makes stacking more difficult.

You have to start out with a shim footprint so the next few courses stacked tilt in. When it levels - you must put down another shim ring. Doing this kind of building on multiple rings would seem time consuming verses using the interior to stack splits on their ends. The tighter the ring - the more it flares out the laid out splits. This is hard to explain - but I doubt you could do a really skinny HH. You might be able to do two rings. You'd need small splits. My HH was tough enough using regular 16 inch splits that were hand size. I would be concerned about settling and when you remove the outer ring - it may lose it's lock and collapse.

I also hide my uglies and shorts in the middle.

My first one - my wife and kids helped with and they were not schooled in the proper technique. The kids were tossing uglies in it like a basketball net and we had a wall kick out. I corrected it and it's still standing today. I think as they shrink - they lock even tighter. A fun project and nice to look at. I may do another this year.

 

[trailmaker]

I'm planning a Holz build as well, and had the same thought about the aesthetics of dismantling. If you built the HH with two or three of the "outer rings" you could probably just take off one outer ring each year. Then it would just get skinnier each year. Of course you'd have to have multiple HH or other stores of wood.

This would work if the inner rings were completed in the same fashion as the outer rings. But you'd have to make a mighty large one. The interior is not made of more rings - but the splits are stood up on their ends. Mine is 4 pallets in a square and I doubt you could go much smaller. The tighter the circle - the spokes of the wheels gap more. It makes stacking more difficult.

You have to start out with a shim footprint so the next few courses stacked tilt in. When it levels - you must put down another shim ring. Doing this kind of building on multiple rings would seem time consuming verses using the interior to stack splits on their ends. The tighter the ring - the more it flares out the laid out splits. This is hard to explain - but I doubt you could do a really skinny HH. You might be able to do two rings. You'd need small splits. My HH was tough enough using regular 16 inch splits that were hand size. I would be concerned about settling and when you remove the outer ring - it may lose it's lock and collapse.

I also hide my uglies and shorts in the middle.

My first one - my wife and kids helped with and they were not schooled in the proper technique. The kids were tossing uglies in it like a basketball net and we had a wall kick out. I corrected it and it's still standing today. I think as they shrink - they lock even tighter. A fun project and nice to look at. I may do another this year.

Oh yes I see what you're saying about tight rings being more problematic. So on your 4 pallet HH, how many rings of splits are laid flat before you started laying in the middle of uglies and shorts?

 

[basswidow]

Just one. I think its such a thing to say it can be done in different ways.

Personally - I hate putting the uglies in the middle -because they were just loose packed. It should be splits stacked on their ends leaning toward the center pole. My loose uglies actually put outward pressure on the wall - which is not good.

If you made it large enough, there's no reason why you couldn't do rings covered by rings and then take it back down in reverse.

Just post pics and give a report.