What do you stack your wood on???

[Wet1]

Up to this point I've been laying three of the 4" tall cinder blocks down and then laying 4"x4" or similar lumber down on top of them. I've been doing my stacking in a single row creating a 'fence' between ourselves and our next door neighbor. The timbers on the blocks are not only very functional, but it also looks pretty nice. The problem is I'm now out of blocks and can't seem to find the time (or desire) to go out and buy more. The lumber I've been using is running short as well, so I'm looking for other ideas. Although, I can't think of a better solution than what I've been using up to this point.

I can get skids for free from work, but the sizes might not be consistent. Not only will they not look all that great (I need to keep this 'fence' looking good so I don't upset the neighbors), but I'm also wondering how long a hard wood skid will last laying in the dirt... I don't really want to have to deal with getting rid of a bunch of rotten skids every couple of years.

I do have access to quite a few small dead cedars. I was thinking about cleaning them up and laying them down directly on the ground and then stacking on top of them, but that wouldn't provide any air flow underneath.


So what do you guys use for stacking your wood on that's 1) reasonably cheap, 2) looks good, 3) holds up over time, and 4) provides a little ventilation underneath?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Pallets and RR ties mostly. The RR beams were left by the last owner- you can sometimes get them cheap from home building stores. They last forever and don't look too bad.

I have also cut small pines in the woods to make quick racks for rows that I left to dry out there.

Have used scrap dimension lumber... man I've stacked wood on all sorts of stuff.

 

[RAY_PA]

Pallets

 

[Highbeam]

Pallets. They are also a stable base and can be cut to fit. I get at least two years out of pre-aged pallets from a lumber yard.

I like wood fences but I like two rows of depth for stability which uses up most of the normal pallet width. Dispose of the dead ones in the campfire or many folks burn them in the stove. They'll dry out.

 

[savageactor7]

My wood sits on a foundation of either washed stone or run a crush...I don't stack wood but just throw it into a gigantic long pile as I'm splitting it. Then sometime in the fall I make a tent like enclosure that I can walk in with my wheelbarrow to recover the wood for burning. Sounds jacked up but it's solid enough to walk on...absolutely no prob with landslides either. Quite a time saver really as back in the day we use to spend as much time stacking as C&S;-ing...I'm thinking one of those piles has to be close to 8' tall now.

 

[Wood Pirate]

I use 10' to 20' length of +-2" PVC conduit two per row of wood (scraps from work) and also pressure treated 5/4 X 6 that was left over from a deck build. I have been using them for over 4 years now and will keep reusing them. Keeps everthing off the ground and PVC / Pressure treated will not rot.

Works great.

 

[Jay777]

Wow, nice stack. Compared to that, my stacks are jumbled piles.

 

[RobinJoe]

Last year we cut down a tulip poplar, and the wood isn't great for burning, so I lay down a couple layers of the poplar first and then stack the Oak and Maple on top of that.

Right now, I have most of my wood uncoverd in our wooded lot, and then the imediate source near the house is covered with a tarp. The covered wood is in two rows with a 12" gap in between for air circulation. How long can I expect my wood to last before it rots?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Todd]

I use treated 8' lanscaping timbers. They are a tad smaller than 4x4's but much cheaper. I've also used pallets but sometimes they don't hold up if you have a heavy wood like oak. If part of the pallet breaks the whole stack comes down.

 

[billb3]

Concrete blocks and 2x4 PT.
Concrete blocks and PT fence posts.
Concrete block and tubes (legs) from steel swing sets.
Concrete blocks and thin logs (they tend to warp from the weight though).

Everything up on blocks because of termites (and watch for tube builders, sometimes I double the blocks if the ground is soft)
Pallets will get termites and we have these red and black ants that build huge colonies in pallets. You know they're there bbecause of the piles of grass and pine needles built up in them.
They're also in the piles of mulch from branch grinding. They thrive on borax and poison, I swear.

 

[HearthKB]

If you have a local fence dealer around you, take a ride over there. They always throw out the old 4x4 wood posts that were replaced with new ones. Usually, they're in pretty good shape. They have wood pallets too. I picked up 8 pallets and 10 4x4's last Sunday in preparation for my wood delivery this weekend.

 

[Tfin]

Pallets. I get two rows per pallet with a nice air space between the rows. Works slicker than snot.

 

[Patapsco Mike]

Pallets. I butt pallets against each other, 3 deep and as long as I need them. I cross stack everything so that even in the middle of it all there is lots of air space. I have always had good luck stacking wood this way, never a problem. I get 2-3 years from each pallet.

 

[Wet1]

I use treated 8' lanscaping timbers. They are a tad smaller than 4x4's but much cheaper. I've also used pallets but sometimes they don't hold up if you have a heavy wood like oak. If part of the pallet breaks the whole stack comes down.

The 4"x4" I've been using aren't PT, but they've been free. If I have to pay for them, I'll certainly use PT. What do the landscaping timbers cost these days?

 

[woodconvert]

Pallets. They are also a stable base and can be cut to fit. I get at least two years out of pre-aged pallets from a lumber yard.

I like wood fences but I like two rows of depth for stability which uses up most of the normal pallet width. Dispose of the dead ones in the campfire or many folks burn them in the stove. They'll dry out.

GOOD LORD MAN...it appears there is one piece of wood out of order on the far end! ;-P THAT is a nice stack job!.

I use pressure treated 4x4's and some skanky rounds to make 17ft long rows. They hold up good but i'm guessing they don't provide enough ventilation for the bottom row of wood.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We stack our wood on the ground for the most part. However, this is not only on yellow sand, but it is also on a high spot. If we stack in other places, we simply cut poles in about 8' sections, lay them on the ground and stack the wood on them. We use green poles, so those get cut up after a year or two into firewood and new ones are then cut. Very little work and very little money needed to do it this way and it looks just as good as any other method.

 

[Beanscoot]

Up until this year I always stacked directly on the ground. This is the most stable as the bottom row gets kind of buried in the ground. But even so these pieces only seem to soak up water to the depth they're buried, and will dry quickly when pulled up and scraped off. I often just burn them immediately with no problems.
This year I have a woodshed, and put a rain gutter on it to direct water away from it. I got a bunch of leftover asphalt shingles and carefully placed them down to make a floor cover. I am confident that this will keep the ground moisture from rising, and it is also not slippery or tippy.

Hey apparently you can post messages in various colours. Groovy!

 

[Beanscoot]

Hey, the colour feature didn't work. Fiddlesticks.

 

[Catskill]

2x4x12 PT wood with 5' metal fence posts on each end. Each pile comes out to be about 12' long and about 4' high. I brace the ends and middle of the 2x4's with 7" sections of 2x4 so that in the end I have a rectangle box (or frame if you will) 12'x7".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|______________________|_________________________|

The metal fence posts are lashed together in the middle with wire. The wire is very strong and easy as heck to tie off.

Here's a pic from another thread.

 

[fossil]

In my woodshed, on a wooden floor raised above ground with generous spacing between boards; on a concrete slab under a roof on the north end of my shop/garage building; on a gravel bed under eave & tarp on the south end of the building; on p.t. 2" x 4" 's under eave on the south end of my house; on concrete under roof outside the front door; on a raised wooden deck under roof outside the back door. Never in direct contact with the dirt. Rick

 

[Girl]

My first year living here no pallets right on the ground half on concrete half on earth.
3 years later~
Now everything is on pallets except for the big chunks I need to split, some in a holder or resting on top of two 2x4' for now.
Don't have to deal with frozen pieces stuck to the ground that I am famous for tripping over.

 

[velvetfoot]

I have some that I stacked on plastic on the ground.
My plan was to prevent ground/wood contact.
I'm finding now that the lowest level of wood is soaking in low spots.
No carpenter ants though.
My latest plan is pallets on bare ground, and save the plastic for cover.
I'm still in the process of making my 5 cord "wood car" in the third bay of the garage-beats schlepping out to the pile in the snow.

I'd be interested in the nature of that improvised structure over the pile of wood.
Reminds me of road salt shelters the dot has.

 

[tkirk22]

I use treated 8' lanscaping timbers. They are a tad smaller than 4x4's but much cheaper. I've also used pallets but sometimes they don't hold up if you have a heavy wood like oak. If part of the pallet breaks the whole stack comes down.

The 4"x4" I've been using aren't PT, but they've been free. If I have to pay for them, I'll certainly use PT. What do the landscaping timbers cost these days?

In my neck of the woods PT 4x4x8' are about $7-$8 each. The PT landscape timbers are $1.77 -$2. They are only about 3x4" though. I had no idea they were that cheap until after I bought a bunch of 4x4s for wood racks. :-S

 

[Jukeboxfun]

Pallets. I get two rows per pallet with a nice air space between the rows. Works slicker than snot.

Same here without the snot part.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

3 concrete blocks and two 12 foot 2x4s. I put three 1 foot long 2x4 spacers between the 12 footers.

Matt