firewood rack

[wesessiah]

i was browsing for simple rack designs, and i came across this one
http://www.instructables.com/id/No-tools-firewood-rack/
basically you place cinder blocks about 8 feet apart, lay landscaping timbers across, and place a cut 2x4 in each hole of the cinder block for the side support. i think i may make a few of these. has anyone else come up with an extremely simple design that has worked well?

 

[bogydave]

Simple & sweet.
Should work well,
single rows dry great with the good air circulation

Did you make some?

 

[wesessiah]

Simple & sweet.
Should work well,
single rows dry great with the good air circulation

Did you make some?

not yet. i think i'm going to make a couple this weekend and see how they are. taking down a red oak friday or saturday, so i guess i'll make them before i do that.

 

[bogydave]

Looks like you need to keep the bottom few rows full for ballast,
before stacking the ends very high.

Post some pictures when you try them,
I bet others here will like the idea too.

 

[Hills Hoard]

I love it....I am going to try it...just wish i hadnt of thrown those cinder blocks out now...

 

[lumbering on]

tie some rope between the uprights, may given some more support at the top.

 

[wesessiah]

i'll definitely take some pictures. i've been thinking about how to support each 2x4 to get them perpendicular to the landscape timbers, without obstructing clearance for the splits. maybe stuffing some wood into the holes of the cinder block, and/or leave the 2x4s a little long and rig up another one to connect the two sides.

 

[Woody Stover]

I like it!

I love it....I am going to try it...just wish i hadnt of thrown those cinder blocks out now...

My hoarding disorder extends far beyond wood; Concrete blocks are only one of the many other things in my hoard stax.

 

[Applesister]

Never throw cinder blocks out!
I use horse fencing wire to tie uprights together. The metal is super super strong and does not rust and it twists fairly easily. Tractor Supply sells the wire on roles. Its cheap compared to adding more 2x 4s.
This is a great idea using cinder blocks.

 

[jdp1152]

Used a similar set up with cinderblocks and old steel pipes the previous owner left behind (see Avatar). Built the stacks two deep. I've since gone to pallets/Tposts and moved to back yard and off the driveway. Was always concerned about stability being so high off the ground. Sandy knocked it over as did my wife backing into it. I've got some temporary kindling stacks like that for now, though I just used the excess cinder blocks for my ends (pictured below).

Pallets are free and TPosts are 5-6 bucks each. I like that way much better.

 

[RORY12553]

I have used pallets on the bottom which i wish i put something under to get it off the ground along with metal posts instead of the wood...they were a few $ at home depot but figured they would last a while

 

[MasterMech]

I like it, but seems limited on how high you could go and keep it stable? I've recently constructed some 6' x 12' stacks very similar to DexterDay's and while space efficient (stacked in single rows - 8' x 12' = 96 sq ft/2 cords), it ain't cheap, especially compared to this idea. I'm building my racks in triplets and tying the 3 of them together via 2x4's on the ends so that any one individual rack cannot tip over.


These are Dexter's stacks, mine are/will be constructed very similar like.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Mine are very similar to dexters too. 2x4x12 in length and 2x4x6 in height. I don't quite have the same amount of space on the side of my garage but I do get plenty of sun and wind going through. I have 9 racks that are about 8 inches off the ground withpolyjust on the tops.

I do like the open cavity blocks idea too.

 

[Woody Stover]

I'm all about cheap. Right now, it's either free pallets on top of free dead Sassafras half-round splits, or just free dead Sassafras poles about 5" in diameter laid next to each other, Sav-style, two per row.

 

[HatCityIAFF]

I tried what wesessiah basically posted. Went out and got three cinder blocks, and two 10' pieces of pressure treated 2x4's. Spaced the cinder blocks apart, and the 2x4's went down on top. Stacked the ends with splits criss cross like a regular stack, and just stacked 5' high in between. Found this to be a little unstable, and expensive in the end, as each row would be roughly $12 between the blocks and the 10 footers. As or now my stacks are 5 rows x 40 ft long

 

[Backwoods Savage]

i was browsing for simple rack designs, and i came across this one
http://www.instructables.com/id/No-tools-firewood-rack/
basically you place cinder blocks about 8 feet apart, lay landscaping timbers across, and place a cut 2x4 in each hole of the cinder block for the side support. i think i may make a few of these. has anyone else come up with an extremely simple design that has worked well?

Yes, as a matter of fact we have come upon a very simple design and the cost of doing it is about $0.00



No pallets needed either. No posts except for the saplings we cut and that is what the wood is stacked on. So this should fit your requirement of "an extremely simple design that has worked well." So far it has worked a bit over 50 years so we do not intent to attempt to improve on it. At least not yet.

 

[Adkjake]

That's one of those "duh, why didn't I think of that' things. There's a dozen or so cinder blocks over at the camp, that I've moved several times and keep wondering, what to do with them Duh, here we go. Perfect timing too, have a cord or two to stack over there.

 

[jdp1152]

Yes, as a matter of fact we have come upon a very simple design and the cost of doing it is about $0.00

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No pallets needed either. No posts except for the saplings we cut and that is what the wood is stacked on. So this should fit your requirement of "an extremely simple design that has worked well." So far it has worked a bit over 50 years so we do not intent to attempt to improve on it. At least not yet.

Those would look better with some T Posts

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Those would look better with some T Posts

No! T-posts are meant for building fences!

 

[DexterDay]

I like it, but seems limited on how high you could go and keep it stable? I've recently constructed some 6' x 12' stacks very similar to DexterDay's and while space efficient (stacked in single rows - 8' x 12' = 96 sq ft/2 cords), it ain't cheap, especially compared to this idea. I'm building my racks in triplets and tying the 3 of them together via 2x4's on the ends so that any one individual rack cannot tip over.


These are Dexter's stacks, mine are/will be constructed very similar like.

Yeah. They cost a little more to construct. But are very stable and will last quite a while.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Yeah. They cost a little more to construct. But are very stable and will last quite a while.




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Mine are nearly the same in size and style, only exception is I used a piece of fencing wire to connect the tops together. I'm too lazy tonight to get off my ass to take a picture, sry.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I think the fella that made the racks and posted it for us to see has a good idea, but he needs to take some of the money that he saved from it and at least buy a maul or a sledge and wedge so he can bust them rounds open-no splits on it at all lol! He's really fond of rounds I guess!

I'm sure he just did that for the sake of the picture...maybe?!

 

[new_wood]

Nice, simple idea......I think I am going to give this one a shot. In the pictures, it looks like the 2x4's are cut in half at an angle. Is there a reason that they need to be cut at an angle? Thanks for the input!

 

[ridemgis]

Yeah. They cost a little more to construct. But are very stable and will last quite a while.

Dexter - where did you find those brackets holding everything together?



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[DexterDay]

There are several brands. I used Rutland Stack-N-Store brackets.

Just ad your own 2 x4's. I used 12' boards. By 4.5' tall. Cut at 18", its over 5/8 cord per rack. Or about 5 cord with all 8 full.