Wood racks

[cbscout]

I know this is technically not a woodshed issue, but I stack on wood racks using steel corner brackets and 2x4s. I was wondering if anyone has ever had stability issues. Also, even if you haven’t used racks, would you have advice on using stakes of some sort to stabilize the wood racks would help? Keep in mind the racks are 4’ high and 8’ long and at most 16-17 inches wide to accommodate splits for my insert. I didn’t have any problems last year, but this year had softer ground and had a set of three go down like dominoes. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[mrd1995]

You could try tying them together, put them close enough so that you can either use a split and bridge between them or use a few tree limbs 1-2" diameter and tie them that way. We have 4 cord stacked with the top tied like this and so far so good. They are 4-5' tall and 24' long. Saw this on a YouTube channel I watch and it has worked wonders. We have them stacked on unlevel ground, ran out of pallets and room under our carport.

 

[cbscout]

You could try tying them together, put them close enough so that you can either use a split and bridge between them or use a few tree limbs 1-2" diameter and tie them that way. We have 4 cord stacked with the top tied like this and so far so good. They are 4-5' tall and 24' long. Saw this on a YouTube channel I watch and it has worked wonders. We have them stacked on unlevel ground, ran out of pallets and room under our carport.

Ah, so a couple inches is enough to provide enough space for airflow and then the stability needed?

 

[mrd1995]

I was told on here by numerous people that for spacing of row " Wide enough for a mouse to run between them but not wide enough for a cat to follow.". If you can stack and tie it together mid way and at the top it would be even more stable. The sticks/limbs sort of act like 45s to stabilize a frame.

 

[mustash29]

I cut everything 22" and used to stack on wood pallets but got tired of cleaning up the rotted pallets and nail mess every few years. After having a few "should have been replaced last year" wood pallets cave in on me and loosing a few stacks, I'm converting over to HD plastic pallets. I looked into the stack brackets like you have, but over time wound up acquiring all of my plastic pallets for free from my work.

Now my 22" splits are stacked 2 rows deep on 42" x 48" plastic pallets with a 4" air gap between the rows. My current setup is 18 pallets long x one pallet wide x 4.5 feet high, so about 8.5 cords with the stacks running east/west with full southern sun exposure. I have another 2 cord stacked under the deck for easy access just outside my walk out basement slider which is in the stove room. Another "brick" of stacks is on wood pallets out back with good morning sun exposure.

Your brackets essentially have 2 dimensional support - vertical + one narrow horizontal plane. If you're stacking 16-17 splits then your horizontal base is probably something like 12". So your stack is 4x taller than your base. You either need more stability in your base soil, or need to add 3-D stability to your existing racks by adding some supports to your base at a 90 deg angle.

If your current stacks are 4' high and 8" long (east / west) then you need to add some north south stability. Screw some 4" long landscape timbers to the underside of your current racks to give them a wide N/S/E/W foot print.

 

[mustash29]

Meet Kammo and Patton.

 

[mustash29]

More stacks.

 

[mustash29]

Easy access under deck stacks.

 

[cbscout]

I was told on here by numerous people that for spacing of row " Wide enough for a mouse to run between them but not wide enough for a cat to follow.". If you can stack and tie it together mid way and at the top it would be even more stable. The sticks/limbs sort of act like 45s to stabilize a frame.

Thanks!

 

[cbscout]

Meet Kammo and Patton.

Nice dogs. How did you come up with their names?

 

[cbscout]

I cut everything 22" and used to stack on wood pallets but got tired of cleaning up the rotted pallets and nail mess every few years. After having a few "should have been replaced last year" wood pallets cave in on me and loosing a few stacks, I'm converting over to HD plastic pallets. I looked into the stack brackets like you have, but over time wound up acquiring all of my plastic pallets for free from my work.

Now my 22" splits are stacked 2 rows deep on 42" x 48" plastic pallets with a 4" air gap between the rows. My current setup is 18 pallets long x one pallet wide x 4.5 feet high, so about 8.5 cords with the stacks running east/west with full southern sun exposure. I have another 2 cord stacked under the deck for easy access just outside my walk out basement slider which is in the stove room. Another "brick" of stacks is on wood pallets out back with good morning sun exposure.

Your brackets essentially have 2 dimensional support - vertical + one narrow horizontal plane. If you're stacking 16-17 splits then your horizontal base is probably something like 12". So your stack is 4x taller than your base. You either need more stability in your base soil, or need to add 3-D stability to your existing racks by adding some supports to your base at a 90 deg angle.

If your current stacks are 4' high and 8" long (east / west) then you need to add some north south stability. Screw some 4" long landscape timbers to the underside of your current racks to give them a wide N/S/E/W foot print.

Thanks - and you nailed it on my dimensions. Appreciate your advice. You have a nice setup. I wish I had more land for mine.

 

[mustash29]

We had a 14+ year old sheltie, Nikko, that we had to put down due to repeated episodes of pancreatitis which eventually turned into pancreatic cancer.

We went to a breeder who had a litter of 5 pups. She kept 3 females for the show circuit and had 2 males who had "bad colors" for showing. We instantly fell in love with both of them and brought them home.

Kammo was the runt of the litter and was trying to hide from us when we first met by crouching behind the breeders kitchen table legs. He was super cute but a bit stand-off-ish. Kammo - as in camouflage. He's become the barky bully of the 2.

Dad did 3+ years Army in Germany in the 50's. Older bro did 24 yrs Army. I did 10 yrs Navy. Younger bro is 21+ years PA Nat'l guard.

Patton, as in General George. He's the love bug, but becomes quite authoritative and assertive but only when absolutely necessary.

Shelties are very high strung, but also very smart and loyal. We treat them like our kids. The're spoiled rotten.

 

[cbscout]

We had a 14+ year old sheltie, Nikko, that we had to put down due to repeated episodes of pancreatitis which eventually turned into pancreatic cancer.

We went to a breeder who had a litter of 5 pups. She kept 3 females for the show circuit and had 2 males who had "bad colors" for showing. We instantly fell in love with both of them and brought them home.

Kammo was the runt of the litter and was trying to hide from us when we first met by crouching behind the breeders kitchen table legs. He was super cute but a bit stand-off-ish. Kammo - as in camouflage. He's become the barky bully of the 2.

Dad did 3+ years Army in Germany in the 50's. Older bro did 24 yrs Army. I did 10 yrs Navy. Younger bro is 21+ years PA Nat'l guard.

Patton, as in General George. He's the love bug, but becomes quite authoritative and assertive but only when absolutely necessary.

Shelties are very high strung, but also very smart and loyal. We treat them like our kids. The're spoiled rotten.

So sorry about your first dog. So now you have a bully and a love bug. Well, I always did admire General Patton. And thank you all for your years of service. I like the names, and it's great how you named them. Sounds like your Shelties are really great dogs.

 

[kennyp2339]

I use to stack on single row stacks made out of 2x4's, had the same issue with soft ground in the spring and the bear coming through tipping it over occasionally.
I switched over to pallets, 2 rows per pallet, each pallet row is 5 pallets deep, it does me well and I haven't had a tip over in years.

 

[neverbilly]

I cut everything 22" and used to stack on wood pallets but got tired of cleaning up the rotted pallets and nail mess every few years. After having a few "should have been replaced last year" wood pallets cave in on me and loosing a few stacks, I'm converting over to HD plastic pallets. I looked into the stack brackets like you have, but over time wound up acquiring all of my plastic pallets for free from my work.

Now my 22" splits are stacked 2 rows deep on 42" x 48" plastic pallets with a 4" air gap between the rows. My current setup is 18 pallets long x one pallet wide x 4.5 feet high, so about 8.5 cords with the stacks running east/west with full southern sun exposure. I have another 2 cord stacked under the deck for easy access just outside my walk out basement slider which is in the stove room. Another "brick" of stacks is on wood pallets out back with good morning sun exposure.

Your brackets essentially have 2 dimensional support - vertical + one narrow horizontal plane. If you're stacking 16-17 splits then your horizontal base is probably something like 12". So your stack is 4x taller than your base. You either need more stability in your base soil, or need to add 3-D stability to your existing racks by adding some supports to your base at a 90 deg angle.

If your current stacks are 4' high and 8" long (east / west) then you need to add some north south stability. Screw some 4" long landscape timbers to the underside of your current racks to give them a wide N/S/E/W foot print.

Wow, I would love to have plastic pallets like that. I did get some free 330 gal totes (3 of them) recently but the plastic pallets would be even better. I have been using wood pallets, and yes they rot.