How soon is too soon to stack? A shrinkage thread...

[SolarAndWood]

In January, I stacked 5 cord of maple and elm that I scored and split in November. 2 rows 10 ft high 22 ft wide. It has now hopelessly rolled over on me and needs to be taken out of the shed and then restacked. I have not experienced this before and the only difference I see is that it did not sit in the heap a year before being stacked.

So, how soon is too soon to stack if you don't have room to stack nicely spaced single rows no more than 4' high? While certainly not dry, it was already far from green.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Hi S&W

I stack as soon as I split and rarely have a problem. And its usually 4x4 I stack on sinking into the ground more on one side than the other.

Billy

 

[SolarAndWood]

How high Billy? 4 or 5' would not have been an issue.

 

[yooperdave]

i also stack as soon as i split. the stacks at the house are as high as i can reach-almost 8'. the stacks at the lake don't seem to get over 5' high.
and none of them look like zaps

 

[Cowboy Billy]

I missed where yours are stacked 10' I am stacking 6' But thats out in the yard in the wind.

Billy

 

[LLigetfa]

BTDTGTTS

Stacking on frozen ground, there is always a risk that frost heaving will take away your joy so I would never stack on frozen ground to begin with. When not stacking on a concrete slab, I at least use a wide base like pallets or a criss-cross of long poles so that the frost moves it as one. That however, does nothing for the uneven shrinkage issue.

For the curving toward the open air/sun issue, you could salt in some longer poles to tie the rows together. Before I built the shed I would stack in groups of 3 rows like BWS does but I would salt in some long poles that spanned all three rows and that kept the outside rows from leaning out.

As for stacking in the shed on a concrete slab, my wood spends the first Summer on outdoor stacks and then gets restacked in the Fall. THere was a time I left the wood in heaps for the SUmmer and then stacked in the shed but with 9 1/2 foot tall stacks, they would suffer the same fate as yours if I didn't salt in long poles. Here's a pic of my stack showing some of the long E/W poles at about the 4 foot mark. You cannot really make out the N/S poles though in the pic.

 

[pen]

I had a pile roll over this winter too. Mine was from the frost and that was only a 5 foot high stack. I think the 10 feet high is probably what killed you. I've never seen shrinkage to be an issue. If it was, I always attributed it to something else that I found.

pen

 

[SolarAndWood]

BTDTGTTS

had to look that up...pretty funny. I'll wear my shirt while I am restacking :coolsmirk:

Here's a pic of my stack showing some of the long E/W poles at about the 4 foot mark. You cannot really make out the N/S poles though in the pic.

I was thinking I would put a pallet shelf in about 5' up. Think this would accomplish the same thing?

 

[LLigetfa]

I've had both frost and shrinkage take away my joy. I have an idea for an alternative to using poles to tie in the stacks. The wife buys large bags of sunflower seed for the birds and I've been saving the bags. They are made of a tough rip-stop material like what's used for tarps. I figure I can layer in a bag here and there to hold the rows together and it won't be as finicky as using poles and I won't have the protruding poles to cut off as the stack diminishes.

BTW, here is an example of what frost will do.

 

[SolarAndWood]

my wood spends the first Summer on outdoor stacks and then gets restacked in the Fall. THere was a time I left the wood in heaps for the SUmmer and then stacked in the shed but with 9 1/2 foot tall stacks, they would suffer the same fate as yours if I didn't salt in long poles.

Reread that part. Sounds like I needed to wait until next Fall to be safe going 10'? That is what my experience has been. My cycle got out of whack though with 6' of early snow, so I grabbed the stuff off the south side of the heap instead of the stuff that has been in for a year. I push the pile towards the shed with the loader on the tractor so the driest stuff is always closest to the shed. But, stacking got delayed this year because of my siding project and then the heap got buried.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I always state we stack 4' high but we actually stack it 4.5' high and it will shrink down to 4' or less in about 6 months time. We stack right after the splitting is done. Our stacks don't fall over!

However, when I cut and stack the wood up for later splitting, I don't stack very neat and also stack sometimes over 4' high. Of course some of the wood gets stacked on top of snow and ice so it is not uncommon for one to topple over. I had one do that a couple years ago but it is no problem then because it is just waiting to be split. What LLigetfa's picture shows is common frost heave and for sure if it is stacked too high, it will topple over. After splitting though, I do not want to have to stack it twice.

 

[SolarAndWood]

BTW, here is an example of what frost will do.

Yep, I can imagine what was uttered when you found that. This is what I am dealing with. The middle section is only a matter of time.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I always state we stack 4' high but we actually stack it 4.5' high and it will shrink down to 4' or less in about 6 months time.

So, is that the end of the shrinkage? i.e. I just need to wait a season. Or does it keep going down? That kind of makes me think I just need a second heap and only stack it once the fall before it gets burned.

 

[LLigetfa]

I was thinking I would put a pallet shelf in about 5' up. Think this would accomplish the same thing?

Ja, that crossed my mind too but then I would need to take down two rows at the same time to be able to remove the pallets. With the poles, I could just cut off what sticks out. I thought of using pallets just on the ends but my rows are only 10 feet long so the width of the pallets would come close to the middle anyway. Thought of shortening the pallets too but I really hate to chop them up. I mostly salt in the poles near the crib ends so I can take most of the pile away before having to deal with them.

I would take the outside row down to about 3 feet and stand on it to reach the top of the row behind it. I don't care to bang my head on the rafters or the protruding screws from the metal roofing. It's just recently I started to use that scaffold in the pic. I'm going to give the bird seed bags a go next time.

 

[LLigetfa]

Our stacks don't fall over!

Dennis, I've been looking at your pics and have come to the conclusion you have well draining soil, nothing like the blue clay I have.

 

[SolarAndWood]

nothing like the blue clay I have.

glacial till and clay here. Probably don't need a liner for a pool

 

[LLigetfa]

Yep, I can imagine what was uttered when you found that...

Actually, it didn't bother me nearly as much as when a stack of splits topples over. What bothered me a bit was the toppled rounds were sitting in standing water.

I like to buck up my wood in the Winter and then I stack it in the round until the snow is gone. I don't like to run my splitter in really cold weather nor do I like to sweat, so right around the time that pic was taken was when I was splitting.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Actually, it didn't bother me nearly as much as when a stack of splits topples over.

No chit, especially when it is in the shed and you have to empty it before you can start restacking. I'm almost thinking I should put an ad on Craigslist and sell it out of the shed instead of dealing with it. Burnable wood under a roof seems to be a somewhat precious commodity around here right now.

 

[peterc38]

I've never seen shrinkage to be an issue.

pen

Really? Didn't you ever see that Seinfeld episode?

 

[kettensäge]

My stacks shrink about 2 to 3" as measured between the top of the stack and the bottom of the shed roof. Solid floor, no settlting there.

About 38 cu ft in volume. Shed is 8 X 22.

Haven't had any fall over in about 7 yrs. or so.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I always state we stack 4' high but we actually stack it 4.5' high and it will shrink down to 4' or less in about 6 months time.

So, is that the end of the shrinkage? i.e. I just need to wait a season. Or does it keep going down? That kind of makes me think I just need a second heap and only stack it once the fall before it gets burned.

Yes, that is about the end of the shrinking. If it shrinks any more it is very little. So if you can let your wood dry through the summer and part of the fall and then stack or move it into a wood shed, all should be well.

 

[SolarAndWood]

3 months later and it hasn't moved. But, there is a chitload of compression on that 8' step ladder which is likely the only thing that has kept the whole stack from coming over. Almost makes me think 3 or 4 8 foot t-posts on the side of the stack would have prevented this.

 

[thewoodlands]

3 months later and it hasn't moved. But, there is a chitload of compression on that 8' step ladder which is likely the only thing that has kept the whole stack from coming over. Almost makes me think 3 or 4 8 foot t-posts on the side of the stack would have prevented this.

What are T-Post? :vampire:





GIBIR

 

[SolarAndWood]

lol, you stacking prima donnas crack me up.

 

[HollowHill]

3 months later and it hasn't moved. But, there is a chitload of compression on that 8' step ladder which is likely the only thing that has kept the whole stack from coming over. Almost makes me think 3 or 4 8 foot t-posts on the side of the stack would have prevented this.

You know I'd be willing to get rid of that nasty old wood for you, SAW, that'd teach it a lesson