Been busy...

[Blue2ndaries]

Haven't been on the forum much this summer as we've been busy w/our 8mos old and C-S-S this load of wood for '15-'16. The log load came out close to 10 cord with a mix of cherry, oak, maple, and ash--mostly ash and oak.

Shed is packed to the hilt so I started a few 18' rows along the fence stacked on pallets. I will need a few more rows to accommodate the last pile of splits. It feels really good to be several years ahead; I feel I can take a year off to enjoy the kiddos w/o having to worry about wood. All that's left to do some light cleaning of the stove and flue to get ready for this winter.

 

[bogydave]

Great shed & stacks.
Well organized & neat wood processing.
15/16 wood is all CSS, gotta feel mighty good

 

[TimJ]

very nice wood management

 

[thewoodlands]

Nice work Blue2ndaries, great looking woodshed.

zap

 

[Pagey]

Spectacular shed and stacks!

 

[ailanthus]

Great looking shed & stacks-nice work!! Enjoy a well-deserved break!

 

[Realstone]

Those pics could grace a calendar. You're doing well, time to kick back & enjoy the family. I'll bet that friends, family & neighbours will supply you with enough scrounge wood over the course of the next year to get you yet another year ahead. That's just the way it seems to go

 

[onetracker]

damn....

 

[BrowningBAR]

That's pretty damn impressive.

 

[PapaDave]

Well, somebody has their chit together.
Nice.

 

[osagebow]

Very nice - enjoy the little one!

 

[Blue2ndaries]

Thanks everyone. It was about 40 deg cooler today than the past 3-4 days; went from 102 to about 65deg. Pretty nice weather for stacking so I spent about 5hrs finishing the final pile of splits. Got another 28' x 4.5'x18" out of it and some leftover oddball pieces. All that's left is to pick thru and gather up the bigger wood chips for kindling. Feels good to be just about done.

 

[Thistle]

beautiful

 

[DexterDay]

That's pretty damn impressive.

Yep... Impressive.

Very nice stacks....

 

[onetracker]

doesn't it just make you feel like working when the weather cools off like that?
its like getting a burst of energy.

beautiful stacks.

 

[ScotO]

Just when I get to feeling good about my stacks, I see Blue2ndaries woodshed and I just fall apart..... That is just fantastic, no other way to put it. I've said it many times, your shed is in my top 3 on this site. And one other thing, I am pretty sure if they did a DNA analysis on you, Dexter, Bogydave, TFDChief, and Fossil, they would see a link to prove you all are related... Good to see you back on the site again, and you have held the high standard you and others set long ago......

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Impressive indeed.

 

[wingsfan]

How dos one make their stacks look so nice? I try and all the ends are cut a angles it seams. And the end cross stacks never look that even.My stacks are lucky to be standing after they shink and move.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

Just when I get to feeling good about my stacks, I see Blue2ndaries woodshed and I just fall apart..... That is just fantastic, no other way to put it. I've said it many times, your shed is in my top 3 on this site. And one other thing, I am pretty sure if they did a DNA analysis on you, Dexter, Bogydave, TFDChief, and Fossil, they would see a link to prove you all are related... Good to see you back on the site again, and you have held the high standard you and others set long ago......

Much too kind Scotty, thank you. Many others have set the standard pretty high here on this forum; I'm just trying to keep up.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

How dos one make their stacks look so nice? I try and all the ends are cut a angles it seams. And the end cross stacks never look that even.My stacks are lucky to be standing after they shink and move.

Wingsfan--My mother-in-law was here last Thurs when I was stacking and she asked where I learned to stack wood and I replied "this forum". In all seriousness, she asked as you did what I do and how. Last year someone on this forum mentioned using kids sidewalk chalk to mark the log lenths, so I did that this year with this log load. I locked 18" on a tape measure and marked lengths out before I began to cut. I even got my 4 yr old to help mark, which he found fun to do. This not only made my cutting faster not having to stop and "estimate" after every cut, it made all my cuts pretty uniform which I believe is the first step in making good stacks--not just for aesthetics, but to keep stacks from leaning/falling. Next step is splitting. I use a hydraulic splitter and try to split rounds into "pie shapes" as much as possible which again helps in stacking. Finally, I am a bit OCD and spend a bit more time to find, arrange, and put pieces tightly into the rows as much as possible. The end columns are key. I really look for the most uniform and similar dim pieces to stack the end columns as they are the bookends for the stacks (if you are not using any other means of support like vertical poles/bars).

After all this though, the wood does shrink after time and things begin to shift. If you look closely at the middle bay of my shed, that wood is going on 2+ years and has shrunk quite a bit (I estimate maybe as much as 6") and the row/stack has shifted both vertically and horizontally. Can't do too much about that, but I think getting a good start has helped prevent things from falling forward/over. Hope this helps, I'm sure others may have their own suggestions and methods.

 

[firefighterjake]

Great pics . . . great looking shed -- somehow they always look nicer when they're full like this one!

 

[wingsfan]

Wingsfan--My mother-in-law was here last Thurs when I was stacking and she asked where I learned to stack wood and I replied "this forum". In all seriousness, she asked as you did what I do and how. Last year someone on this forum mentioned using kids sidewalk chalk to mark the log lenths, so I did that this year with this log load. I locked 18" on a tape measure and marked lengths out before I began to cut. I even got my 4 yr old to help mark, which he found fun to do. This not only made my cutting faster not having to stop and "estimate" after every cut, it made all my cuts pretty uniform which I believe is the first step in making good stacks--not just for aesthetics, but to keep stacks from leaning/falling. Next step is splitting. I use a hydraulic splitter and try to split rounds into "pie shapes" as much as possible which again helps in stacking. Finally, I am a bit OCD and spend a bit more time to find, arrange, and put pieces tightly into the rows as much as possible. The end columns are key. I really look for the most uniform and similar dim pieces to stack the end columns as they are the bookends for the stacks (if you are not using any other means of support like vertical poles/bars).

After all this though, the wood does shrink after time and things begin to shift. If you look closely at the middle bay of my shed, that wood is going on 2+ years and has shrunk quite a bit (I estimate maybe as much as 6") and the row/stack has shifted both vertically and horizontally. Can't do too much about that, but I think getting a good start has helped prevent things from falling forward/over. Hope this helps, I'm sure others may have their own suggestions and methods.

Well thank you for the lesson. I will try some of your practices, and as this is really my first year of saving wood for myself, I think things can only get better. Thanks again for the advise.

 

[Fire Breathing Dragon]

Very impressive shed and stacks. That wood will be paying dividends before long when you cash it in for a much deserved break. Nice work!

 

[Senatormofo]

That's a work of art bro! Thanks for the inspiration!