stacking to prevent falling over

[LLigetfa]

The wood in my shed is so tinder dry that I worry about any spark setting it off. My woodshed is divided into two sections and I keep a lightbulb in the section I am taking wood from. I even worry about rodents chewing the wire for the light, so I flip the switch in the house to cut the power to the shed. I know there are rodents cuz I see their tracks in the snow and find their nests in the stacks.

The other night I was out there after dark to bring in some splits but they were all too big for what I needed so I had to resplit some. I keep a chopping block in the dark side of the shed for resplitting and was surprised to see sparks fly when I whacked the wood with my little 2-1/2 pound axe.

 

[LLigetfa]

Apologies for participating in the digression... back on topic... how to keep stacks from falling over.

1. Stack on a firm base. If the base is prone to move, widen it using pallets or some such material. I stack my wet wood in two rows on pallets and limit their height to 4 feet. Before the pallets and before I had a woodshed, I was building a base of criss-crossed poles and stacking in three rows. I used 5 foot long poles on the crib ends to tie the three rows together.

2. Restack wood after it is dry. Wet wood shrinks a lot and as it shrinks, it can topple a pile. If stacking in other than single spaced rows it can shrink more on the exposed face, causing it to curl and lean. After drying on pallets for a few years, I restack 9-1/2 feet high in my woodshed with no spacing. Again, I used 5 foot long poles on the crib ends to keep the ends from blowing out. You can see them in this pic at about the 4 foot level.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qNw1H5D1WJE/SbpOjAKd1ZI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/UzcHOM2lIzE/s640/100_0296.JPG

 

[Ralphie Boy]

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.

I'm new so I could be all wrong here, but, from what I've read in this forum and other online sources, stack splits bark down because the bark acts like a "cap" slowing the moisture removal process from the wood. Always cover the top of the stack, tarps, sheet metal and so on. If you can't cover the top of your stack, turn the splits bark side up on the top rows to prevent as much rain as possible from soaking into the wood. Again the idea is the bark acts as a "cap" greatly slowing the moisture moving process.

Wow, I hope I don't start a "fire" with this statement. it's just what I've read. I love to here what everyone else thinks.

 

[LLigetfa]

Bark up or down won't keep the stacks from falling over. Search the forum on the topic of bark if you want to know what everyone else thinks.

 

[bigoakhunter]

These are my set ups that are similiar to the ones posted in this thread. I slant them slightly and they have a metal pole barn tin roof. As long as they have enough bottom runners and you stack them full, they do not have any issues with wood falling out. Mine hold two rows, back to back . Keeps water and snow off the wood and allow wind and sunshine in! I have built several more and some neighbors have copied the idea around here.

 

[LLigetfa]

As an experiment one year, I decided to stack half of my fresh split Birch inside my roundtop. I built a 12' x 8' base of poles and stacked 5 rows tight together about 10 feet tall. The two end rows dried much faster and shrunk much more than the ones in the middle and so developed a bad lean. I kept pounding them back, trying to keep them plumb, but it was futile and they eventually toppled. The 10 foot tall stacks shrunk by about a foot.

I may repeat the experiment but just heap them instead of stack and use pallets for the base and to line the walls instead of cribbing.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

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.

1) Plumb

2) Level

 

[LLigetfa]

1) Plumb

2) Level

#1, really important. #2, not so much.

 

[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.

I'm new so I could be all wrong here, but, from what I've read in this forum and other online sources, stack splits bark down because the bark acts like a "cap" slowing the moisture removal process from the wood. Always cover the top of the stack, tarps, sheet metal and so on. If you can't cover the top of your stack, turn the splits bark side up on the top rows to prevent as much rain as possible from soaking into the wood. Again the idea is the bark acts as a "cap" greatly slowing the moisture moving process.

Wow, I hope I don't start a "fire" with this statement. it's just what I've read. I love to here what everyone else thinks.

I stack bark up. Not only that, but most of the time also stack 3 rows together and have stacked more than that and have never had a problem. Just to give an example, we stack approximately 4 1/2 feet high. We stack the wood in March or April. By October those stacks are down to or under 4' high. Methinks that says there has been some major evaporation of moisture. We do top cover before the snow flies.

One more thing about stacking bark down is that moisture can get between the bark and the wood. If so, it sits there and takes a long, long time to dry. I do not want that to happen to our wood. Well, one more thing. I've tried to stack bark down and it just stacks easier bark up. But each to his own.

 

[bogydave]

Some good ideas, pictures & info on this thread.
Nice racks, mini wood sheds, wood sheds, stacking techniques, & locations for insurance & fire prevention info.
Covered allot of bases.

All Good topics

I may use a few this year

 

[brian89gp]

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.

No, not rhetorical, just poorly worded. The thought of a wood pile catching on fire from anything other then a freak accident or a deliberate attempt to light it is foreign to me. I have never seen nor heard of a a wood pile catching fire even growing up in an area that a majority of people heat by wood and routinely burn brush piles and fields. Perhaps its a differences in wood between where you are and here, most wood here would not light with a spark or match unless it was popcorn fart dry.

 

[brian89gp]

Got the first one built and stacked, 6.5' tall. It is surprisingly sturdy but I will probably anchor it to the house for those freak acts of nature.

For the record, I used 12' long lumber for the length and 7' tall 2x4's for the height. Leaving out the space for the triangular braces on the bottom gives me 106 cubic feet, so just shy of a cord per rack.

 

[DanCorcoran]

Fire in the woodpile: my cabin is a woodpile.

 

[Realstone]

:coolgrin:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qNw1H5D1WJE/SbpOjAKd1ZI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/UzcHOM2lIzE/s640/100_0296.JPG

That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen :coolgrin: