stacking to prevent falling over

[brian89gp]

I will be building lumber racks soon and stacking wood, they will be similar to the one pictured.
12' long and 7-8' tall. How should I stack to prevent the wood from falling out of it? Should I sub divide it so I have 2x 6' wide sections? I was planning to stack to at least 6' high, if not 7'.

They will be lined up along the side of my house so there won't be much force from wind blowing it over, just the settling causing the stack to shift.

 

[Stax]

Brian...nice rack! Kinda sounds weird telling a dude that. I would recommend subdivisions for two reasons...

1. If you're scrounging...you never know the size of the scrounge. If you c/s/s asap and then scrounge again, well then you're gonna have to offload. I should have done that when I built mine. Guess I have just been lazy lately.
2. Great for separating species regarding drying time.

Below are mine, very similar. Mine measure 16'x1'x6, holding approximately a cord. I soon want to create subdivisions and add tin roofing.

 

[Stax]

As for stacking...bark down and practice. There's no other way to do it.

 

[RORY12553]

Had my Sunday afternoon work fall over the other day and trust me it is no fun. Haven't been doing this long but I should have just restacked the top it seemed a little shaky.

 

[Woody Stover]

How should I stack to prevent the wood from falling out of it?

I'm pretty sure you could stack it any old way, and in the rack it's not going to fall out as long as the base is stable and the rack can't sink into the ground and tilt. SIL has similar racks and has never had a problem.

 

[brian89gp]

How should I stack to prevent the wood from falling out of it?

I'm pretty sure you could stack it any old way, and in the rack it's not going to fall out as long as the base is stable and the rack can't sink into the ground and tilt. SIL has similar racks and has never had a problem.

That is good to know. My entire yard is concrete, so the racks will be on sturdy ground

Would 7' be too tall? The rack itself is 8'.

I will divide the racks in half so that if they do fall out I only loose one section.

 

[basod]

Even with your entire yard being concrete, I still don't think its a good idea to stack wood next to the house.
Termites can move through the finest of cracks and take up residence in your walls.

 

[brian89gp]

Masonry house. 30" thick stacked stone foundation and 18" thick brick wall on top of that.

 

[basod]

Damn, I didn't think Fort Knox was in Kansas!
Sounds like an old house to be that thick and all masonry.

 

[Woody Stover]

My entire yard is concrete, so the racks will be on sturdy ground

Would 7' be too tall? The rack itself is 8'.

I will divide the racks in half so that if they do fall out I only loose one section.

How deep will the racks be (how long do you cut your wood to fit in your stove?) If the racks are on concrete, I really don't think you'll have to worry about them tilting or any wood falling out. As far as the height, I don't think 7' would be too tall.
Even if you're not worried about termites or other insect pests, it would be better to have the racks a little further from the house where the wind can blow through the stacks better.

 

[brian89gp]

Two story Victorian, built in 1890. The thickness from what I have gathered is to support its own weight.....It is very quiet inside despite being in an urban setting.

Average 18" length, racks will be two deep. I was going to leave 6-12 " between the back rack and the house, it won't catch a huge amount of wind but it should be enough. I was going to use 32" pieces occasionally to tie the two stacks together for stability

 

[KB007]

Couple of things:
1) use stainless screws - definitely NOT deck screws - they rust and break way too fast (only stack i had fall over was from the end falling from broken deck screws
2) just check 'em every once in a while - I walk around (usually with one of the doggies) and give them a little tapping with a split when I see stuff startring to lurch a little.

With a nice rack like that what about putting in a couple of diagonal 2x4's to keep them from falling over?? or even a couple of side rails at 4' and 6'? I've often thought about that, but I've given up staking more than about 5 ft high cuz I use pallets, never got ot building actual racks

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Is that pressure treated wood? (for the rack, not the firewood!)

 

[brian89gp]

The ones I am building are pressure treated, the image is just something I found on the internet and am copying the design.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

I think I shall copy it as well! How deep is it?

 

[brian89gp]

http://endofordinary.blogspot.com/2009/05/firewood-racks.html

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Got it! Thanks!

 

[bogydave]

Very nice,;
off the ground, single rows, good air circulation, perfect for fire wood !!

Like you mentioned:
Wood stacked in single rows over 4' high, the CG makes them unstable.
I would worry about kids wanting to climb on them & being top heavy & only a 12" width base, tipping over.
I'd find a way to attach the top (rope, cable, brace) to a wall so they cant' tip forward.
In my area, earth quakes could topple them if not secured near the top.
In an open area: 3 of them spaced a foot or so apart, & braced to each other would make a bigger foot print (5' to 6') & be more sable & still allow good air circulation.

Great post. Good idea.

 

[Gark]

Those stacking racks look really cool and I think you could pile up 7' high in ' em if you keep the sides vertical. The splits shrink in diameter as they dry and not uniformly. This requires occasional straightening the ends so they remain vertical (not leaning) by thunking them back into plumb. Here, this is done about every 3 - 4 weeks in warm weather which requires a cold beverage.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

As for stacking...bark down and practice. There's no other way to do it.

And I have to ask, why bark down? Most of us stack bark up.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

How should I stack to prevent the wood from falling out of it?

I'm pretty sure you could stack it any old way, and in the rack it's not going to fall out as long as the base is stable and the rack can't sink into the ground and tilt. SIL has similar racks and has never had a problem.

That is good to know. My entire yard is concrete, so the racks will be on sturdy ground

Would 7' be too tall? The rack itself is 8'.

I will divide the racks in half so that if they do fall out I only loose one section.

Brian, in the rack I doubt that would be too tall. We stack without a rack and stack approximately 4 1/2' high. In 50+ years of this, I've had exactly one partial fall with the wood. We just lay down poles we cut in the woods to stack the wood on. Nothing for a rack and not even posts on the ends. Just stack the wood good and it will hold.....usually. But in the racks there should be no problem....except for stacking that high. It is a bit of a reach to go 7-8' high.

 

[19FarmHand78]

Brian, I gotta put my Fire Chief helmet on here... You might want to check with both your insurance agency and the local fire department about staking wood next to your house. Stone and brick are fire proof, windows are not. I have made guys move there stacks away from the house after doing inspections for insurance companies... would be bad enough to loose your wood supply to a fire, but then to ad house damage would really suck.

Just my 2 cents,
19FarmHand78 aka Nathan

 

[ohlongarm]

I've alaways stacked wood up sheds water well and seems to work.whatever makes ya happy.

 

[brian89gp]

I will check with the insurance company just to be sure. When I asked them about installing fireplaces the response was literally "it will cost $100 extra per year, let us know when they are in". No inspections, nothing. Out of curiosity, what will cause a woodpile to catch on fire? Even with all my years growing up in the country it is not something I have heard of before.

I could pretty easily tie together the two racks to each other and/or attach them to the wall. I have the first one built and am working on leveling it today, I made mine 12' long and 7' high. Pretty stout rack.

My only correction to the plan is the 2x4 cut to 11.5" length should really be 12". You can't stack pieces in the corners where the 45* braces are so I am sticking my really uglies in there from the ends.

 

[LLigetfa]

Out of curiosity, what will cause a woodpile to catch on fire?

Is that a rhetorical question? A spark or a flame could start it on fire. A spark could come from the chimney, a grass or brush fire, a kid with matches, a disgruntled neighbour, etc..

I worry about my wood stacks catching fire. I always watch which way the wind is blowing when I burn down my brush piles. I built my woodshed far enough away from the house so that the house stood a chance if it caught fire. I don't store gasoline near my woodshed. My outdoor stacks are far away from the house.