Stack Attack- Wood pile collapse

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Dobish

Dobish

Minister of Fire
Oct 26, 2015
2,040
Golden CO
we had a crazy storm blow through here yesterday. About 30 minutes of hail, heavy winds, and rain. We heard a huge thunderclap and saw immediate flash, so close I was convinced it hit the house. My son and i went out to investigate the storm drain, and the hail damage in the garden (and also, he wanted to collect a bucket of hail)
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Upon walking in the back yard by the stacks, we discovered this...

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At first I thought it was lightning, but i'm not sure. it might have just been the super high winds and the vibration. This was the only one knocked over. Tomorrow when it dries out, i will go and see if it was charred or not.

It did get me thinking though. I have a lot of fuel in the back yard right now. Has anyone here lost their stacks due to lightning strike?
 
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clear sky, no wind, girls started barking about 5:30am . went out to see what fuss was about, no 4 footed creatures in sight , part of the wood pile down. must be the day for that.
 
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I would say its unlikely caused by a lightning strike. No real conductive forces at play in the woodpile. No ground, limited water for conduction and a blunt top surface unable to catch the tip of the lightning bolt. Probably the vibration, and more likely from the thunderclap. Have been inside many times during a thunderstorm and felt the vibrations.

The other possibility is inferior stacking skills magnified by the immense light from the cloud flashlight and then trampled down by the spit and blow from the disappointed woodpile inspector from above. Maybe try some holzhousens --- heard they withstand lightning better :)
 
spudman99 said:
The other possibility is inferior stacking skills magnified by the immense light from the cloud flashlight and then trampled down by the spit and blow from the disappointed woodpile inspector from above. Maybe try some holzhousens --- heard they withstand lightning better :)
Click to expand...

Inferior! How dare you question my stacking! :p

Actually, this is the first time in a while I have had a stack tip over, and it was only 1 row of 18. The pile of fruit wood that it landed on still needed to be stacked into a holzhousen anyway, so I guess I will have to go back and do some work :)
 
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I've had this happen a few times, always during those high wind storms it seems like we've had more of lately. On one had, a nice full and sorta high stack looks pretty triumphant. On the other hand, I've picked up stacks that have toppled over one too many times just for that reason.
 
We had a bear using my stack for a ladder to get over a barb wire fence a couple years ago. had to restack it several times till I moved the stack.
 
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i went back there and restacked yesterday... didn't take very long. I was going to start on the holzhausen of fruit wood, but got distracted by this:
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No matter how well you stack green wood - it shrinks a bit as it dries, so therefore it is going to move- sooner or later a 4-6' high stack is going to move enough to lose its form. After a couple of seasons worth of drying I can see the stacks leaning- sometimes i can bump them them back a bit with the bucket , others just require remedial stacking.
 
Whatcha got there Dobish? Plums? I take it the tree is unsalvageable:(
 
osagebow said:
Whatcha got there Dobish? Plums? I take it the tree is unsalvageable:(
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Yep, it's a live plum tree. 4 years, and i never knew it was there.
 
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