Level? Hah!
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Oldhippie
Minister of Fire
- Dec 18, 2011
- 570
Yeah... sometimes I get a bit aggressive with stacking under my deck near the house and I've experienced the avalanche effect.
I'm new here, and hear a lot about safety inside the house with the burning and chimneys, but there's plenty of opportunity to be less than safe outside the house, while, cutting, splitting, stacking. I was cutting some older drops from an ice storm we had a few years ago the other day and realized I was off balance with the chainsaw. Trying to take a shortcut and not get properly positioned for the cut, etc..
Think safety all the time around the whole wood burning thing is real good advice I think.
Thanks for the reminder.
I'm new here, and hear a lot about safety inside the house with the burning and chimneys, but there's plenty of opportunity to be less than safe outside the house, while, cutting, splitting, stacking. I was cutting some older drops from an ice storm we had a few years ago the other day and realized I was off balance with the chainsaw. Trying to take a shortcut and not get properly positioned for the cut, etc..
Think safety all the time around the whole wood burning thing is real good advice I think.
Thanks for the reminder.
WoodpileOCD
Minister of Fire
The only thing worse than stacking wood is RESTACKING WOOD... 
:-S
I've also found that if one of my stacks falls, it ALWAYS fall toward me. Don't think I've ever had one fall toward the rear.
:-SI've also found that if one of my stacks falls, it ALWAYS fall toward me. Don't think I've ever had one fall toward the rear.
I too have no level ground to place my stacks. I brought isome 3/4 inch stone and leveled off an area. The stone also serves as a drainage barrier to allow for water to run out from under the wood.
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
> The stone also serves as a drainage barrier to allow for water to run out from under the wood.
That why I don't use re-bar. I use 36" 2x4's cut at a 45 degree angle lagged twice into the upright pallet and twice into the horizontal pallet. Once stacked with wood you could probably tie up an elephant to my stacks and the stacks wouldn't move. 
The first year burning in our stove I 'free stacked' the firewood. Worked out okay until I nicked a front stack with the snowplow - and then it was domino time.
The first year burning in our stove I 'free stacked' the firewood. Worked out okay until I nicked a front stack with the snowplow - and then it was domino time.
I dodged a bullet a couple of days ago. I have two rows piled up to the garage ceiling. When Mrs. Velvetfoot needed to feed the stove during the day, she took all the wood from one cross-stacked end, because she could reach it. Luckily, there was no tumbling wood incident.
I hope your splitter wasn't damaged that Erks me when I stack and the magic just isn't there and it all comes down.
Pete
Pete
Well shoot. Anyone can do the job once but those that get practice doing it twice, well, they learn. Or as my neighbor says, "Why do the job only once? You get more practice by redoing it."
wishlist
Minister of Fire
As long as the neighbors didn't see it fall your ok blue. Just curious, after re-stacking if it should happen to tumble AGAIN would you post pics again for our amusement? Lol....
Shoot, it looks like you just stacked a leaner and it fell out at you and had nothing to do with the ends like others are talking about. Bummer. I usually walk around my stack here and there and straighten it up during the process. Once you stray from straight, you just keep on going.
Pete1983 said:
Splitter is OK... it's actually UNDER the pictured pile.
And yeah, I stacked a leaner. The ends were actually the pallets you can see still standing.
Boy, that was a close call. I had a full 7ft high stack fall forward out of the woodshed the first year we stacked in it. It happened as I was loading the cart. Fortunately my body reacted faster than I could think and leapt backward just in time. Now we always stack with a slight backward tilt to the tallest front rows and it has not happened again.
I'm hoping my fresh split maple stays intact until spring when I can move it into the shed. The yard is not too level there either. There were a ton on gnarly, hard-to-stack pieces in the pile. I finally gave up and put them on the left front side of the stack and on the top of the pile.
I'm hoping my fresh split maple stays intact until spring when I can move it into the shed. The yard is not too level there either. There were a ton on gnarly, hard-to-stack pieces in the pile. I finally gave up and put them on the left front side of the stack and on the top of the pile.
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Even a good stack seems to eventually settle and down she comes.
I learned to admire my piles. Saved a lot of time too.
Kenny
I learned to admire my piles. Saved a lot of time too.
Kenny
Must be your wood is still wet as the fluid is still seeking it's own level. NOT lol. :wow: Glad you were limber enough. That's some serious poundage. Step back and critcally view your progress while building the rows and do like BeGreen suggested.... A slight purposeful tilt in the didrection you desire. Seems like a slope in the picture so... maybe run your stacks to follow the slope down hill lengthwise instead of parallel to the crest of the slope?
bluedogz said:
I am glad you did not get hurt that's a lot of wood. I use bins some times and occasionally I end up restacking just cuz I don't like how it looks. Then sometimes I will take a 2 by 6 and screw it half way up for support then attach a leaner from there to the ground that almost always holds them tight together.
Good luck
Pete
Glad no injuries
Gotta learn to stack like Zap:
He uses a chalk line & 4' level & every split has a perfect location
I jam a stick into the back row to the row I'm stacking in a few places as I'm stacking, to tie the 2 together, helps make them more stable & not wobble.
Gotta learn to stack like Zap:
He uses a chalk line & 4' level & every split has a perfect location
I jam a stick into the back row to the row I'm stacking in a few places as I'm stacking, to tie the 2 together, helps make them more stable & not wobble.
Wife laughs when i break out the 4 FT. level to keep things plumb, and the faces all lined up.
But we've had many comments on how nice they look on our city lot.
Hey you gotta look at it for a year might as well look nice
Happy New Year all.
But we've had many comments on how nice they look on our city lot.
Hey you gotta look at it for a year might as well look nice
Happy New Year all.
Hehheh . . . my woodstacks aren't all that pretty or level . . . but they stay in place until I tear them apart in the Spring.
Shari said:That why I don't use re-bar. I use 36" 2x4's cut at a 45 degree angle lagged twice into the upright pallet and twice into the horizontal pallet. Once stacked with wood you could probably tie up an elephant to my stacks and the stacks wouldn't move.
The first year burning in our stove I 'free stacked' the firewood. Worked out okay until I nicked a front stack with the snowplow - and then it was domino time.
+1 and I used those flat patio stones you can get at home depot for about $1 to level my stacks.
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