Need Advice on Stacking

[velvetfoot]

I've stored the winter's wood in the garage the last several years. I had a problem with powder post beetle, where they made holes in a couple of unpainted window frames. Anyway, today I was looking close at a couple of pieces, and I saw the tiny insects I had seen in years gone by, and I'm thinking they might be those bugs. So, I've decided to stack the wood this winter on the asphalt driveway close to garage and was wondering what is best practice.

It has to be somewhat neat looking.
I imagine I'll have to put some tarps on it before the snow flies.
Plywood too? We got plenty of snow that has to be removed.
Do I remove the wood from the end (vs. the side)?

It's not like I haven't used plastic covering before, but never had it all together.

Thanks.

 

[remkel]

When I cover my stacks I use 3' wide poly sheets. Only cover the top of your rows, do not encase the rows in covering.

As for where to taket he wood from- wherever you feel comfortable accessing it- taking it from the end makes sense, but if you are building two ends, you can take the wood right from the center. You may want to put your rows up off the pavement an inch or so to allow moisture to pass beneath and air to pass through.

Just some thoughts.

 

[velvetfoot]

Thanks.
The wood I'll be stacking is at least 2 years old and should be dry.
My current plan is to stack it 5 pieces (16") wide, by 4' high by 24'.
With 5 pieces wide, I can put an 8' sheet of plywood across it, width-wise with some overhang.
So 5 sheets would cover it. (Sounds expensive, but could reuse...maybe paint).
Not sure how the plywood would work when pulling out the wood...maybe the end sheet would get lower and lower as wood is pulled out...but it would be sloping...maybe here is where a tarp is used.
Thinking of screwing down through the plywood to anchor it in some peripheral stacked splits...that would leave a smooth top for shoveling.
Staying away from tarps would be great, I'm sure, if possible.
Just the outer splits would be affected by wind blown snow, and hopefully, not too deeply.

The mechanics of drawing down the piles with plywood covering has me concerned.
Maybe some kind of hinges?....

 

[Woody Stover]

The wood I'll be stacking is at least 2 years old and should be dry.
My current plan is to stack it 5 pieces (16") wide, by 4' high by 24'.
With 5 pieces wide, I can put an 8' sheet of plywood across it, width-wise with some overhang.
So 5 sheets would cover it. (Sounds expensive, but could reuse...maybe paint).
Not sure how the plywood would work when pulling out the wood...maybe the end sheet would get lower and lower as wood is pulled out...but it would be sloping...maybe here is where a tarp is used.
The mechanics of drawing down the piles with plywood covering has me concerned.
Maybe some kind of hinges?....

How about running the plywood sheets lengthwise? You could square-stack to support the ends of the plywood sheets, then stack splits in the normal way between the square-stacked support pillars. Leave the pillars in place, and pull wood to burn from between the pillars. That way, the plywood would not be moving down as you pulled wood. Agreed, you need to protect the plywood (use exterior?) by painting or tarping.

See tfdchief's pic here for square-stacked pillars.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/74655/

 

[velvetfoot]

While I think this length-wise piller thing would be time-consuming and difficult to achieve reliably in practice, I have been thinking of this width-wise.
This way, the splits would be already lined up so you could take out some splits from the middle.

 

[Woody Stover]

While I think this length-wise piller thing would be time-consuming and difficult to achieve reliably in practice, I have been thinking of this width-wise.
This way, the splits would be already lined up so you could take out some splits from the middle.

You can just have the pillars supporting the corners of the plywood, with straight-stacked wood between that you could pull out.
You can place a couple of thin splits perpendicular every so often, sticking out of the end of the straight stack, so that you can build the ends straight up. Don't know if this makes sense. I'm not where I can post a pic of this method right now. Tomorrow maybe...

 

[firefighterjake]

Is it Shari that has the very neat looking stacks of wood with the camo cover on them? I don't stack my winter wood outside -- just the wood that I'm drying -- but I always liked the look of Shari's stacks (if it is Shari that I am thinking of . . . very tidy looking.)

 

[PapaDave]

Pretty sure you're right on that Jake. It's Shari with the camo covers. Very cool looking.
You can hardly tell she has wood stacked there. :lol:
VF, would it be feasible for you to build a shed near the house?

 

[velvetfoot]

No, there's not much flat ground right next to the garage; it slopes down real quick to the spot where I have the drying stacks.

I've been trying to visualize how to draw down the wood from under the plywood, and I'm gravitating towards a tarp again.
Shari uses pallets on top - too much for me. I'm leaning towards a brown tarp - they could be available in a little more heavy duty flavor.
In a way, the available sizes of tarps could have an influence on the stack size as well.
Looking at the HD web site, 12' widths are pretty common, and then it jumps to 16'.
A five piece width (16") stack would be around 7' wide which would leave 2.5' hanging over on either side with a 12' wide tarp.
With a six piece wide stack, theoretically 8' wide, but say 8.5', that would leave 3.75' hanging down on either side-maybe a little long.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

VF, I don’t know if you read my post about tarps in your other thread, but I wasn’t kidding that that lumber tarps really do hold up better to the weather (wind and sun) than many store bought tarps. I seriously use them almost on a daily basis with my work and have found their durability far superior to many low and mid range tarps they sell in the stores. I’ve got a half dozen store bought tarps, I have accumulated over the years, still in their package in my garage, I’ve never needed them because the lumber tarps always sufficed for any application I needed a tarp for so i never had a need to unwrap the store bought tarps.

Just trying to save you some money.

 

[velvetfoot]

Thanks CL, I did see it.
I might give it a whirl. I've had mixed success getting free stuff. The only two lumber places near me are HD and a real small one. I'd have to drive for a real lumber place, but it might be worth a shot.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

The HD ought to have them; the best thing to do is ask the guys who work out in the yard because they’ll know where they are and if they currently have any kicking around, usually the people who work in the store are clueless about that sort of thing.
My main supplier of tarps is a place where they manufacture laminated beams. They have a huge supply of long tarps that are six feet wide (perfect for wood stacks). I use to drive in to their yard and collect them, but they started folding up their used tarps and putting them in a bin in front of their property for people like me to come and collect them. That makes it easier for me and safer for them since there is a liability issue having non-authorized personal wandering around on their property. If people like me didn’t use them they would go straight to the landfill, and that would be a shame. Mine eventually end up there, but at least they get a usefull second life before they end up in the landfill.

Some even get a third, more permanent life, as landscaping underlay, which is another great use for old used lumber tarps.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The stacks pictured are stacked with the rows close together but that wood was stacked for 7-8 years before burning else we would not have stacked so closely. We like to use old galvanized roofing to cover the wood. Tarps can be really awful and pretty sad looking before the winter is over with. Be sure to cover only the top of the stacks. We cover the tops only just before snow flies as we feel leaving the top uncovered in summer promotes better evaporation of the moisture.

As for how to remove the wood, we simply start at the ends and work forward from that but I have taken from the middle too on occasion if the wood I wanted at the time was placed there.

Also, we stack the wood at 4 1/2' which will shrink down to around 4' or less by winter time.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Dennis I gota tell you, when I see that sheet metal laying on top of your stacks with just a couple splits to hold it down it scares beejeebers out of me. You must not get much wind there, because those sheets wouldn’t stay like that very long around here. I had some new metal roofing sheets stored here for a while, I even had them tied down on both ends, but the wind kept bucking them and loosened the ropes up enough that the top sheets started to work it’s way out from under the ropes and I caught it just in time before it slipped right out and blew away.
Living in close proximity to neighbours you really gota be conscious of stuff like that. Last spring the wind flipped over the kid's trampoline and just about into the neighbour’s yard. It landed upside down up on some other work related stuff and I had to run outside while the wind was still blowing and tie it down temporarily so it didn’t end up in the neighbours place. There was no way I could flip it back by myself, and it got damaged anyway, so I ended up cutting it apart into pieces where it lay to get it safely down.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hey Carbon, I did have a couple blow off on me already this year and I had those weighted down really good. I think it is because I stacked in the windiest area we have; like a funnel so when the wind blows it is super fast there. So I am considering screwing them down if it happens again. Of course the easy fix it to have a foot of snow all and that will keep them in place.

btw, where the roofing blew off, it would have to go a mile to hit any neighbor.

 

[velvetfoot]

A solid surface, like plywood, would also allow the snow to be shoveled easier.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I have been using the rubber roofing used on flat roofs. Flat top roofers take them off all the time and need to dispose of them. They work great and I am sure will last forever without ever tearing. The cut easily and mold to the tops. They will blow off like anything else, but certainly not hurt anything.

Also as a side note, there are ideal places to stack. And time is friend. I have a lake house that is unbelievable at seasoning. The hot sun, and wind season way faster than my wooded lot. But given time it will season just about anywhere. Stack it where you can, or it looks the best, and in time it will be fine. If you are in a hurry cross stack in the the sun and wind. The cross stacks allow alot of air and are sturdy (if you learn to lean them in on the stacks not out). You can see Dennis uses the cross stacks quite a bit. I use them every pallet or so and never need to use braces.

 

[velvetfoot]

Everybody seems to have more connections than I do.
Something nice about tarps is that they can be folded or thrown away and don't take up much room like the plywood, metal, and other stuff, and could look nicer (when new at least).
Again, I'm stacking for winter use. My seasoning stacks are uncovered.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Dennis mentioned screwing his metal sheets down, and that reminded me of one last little tip I’d mention that can be useful if you use tarps, it's a simple effective way to hold the tarps secure on the top of your stacks, but you'll need an battery powered electric drill or screw driver.
Make yourself a bunch of small squares of scrap plywood 2 or 3 inches in size is plenty. They can be used as cleats and you screw them in every couple feet along the side of your wood stack to hold the folded over tarp down. No need to lay anything on top of the tarp and you just need to unscrew one of the cleats once in a while as you use up your stack and throw the spare cleats in a bucket or box to reuse next year.
This keeps the tarp nice and tight and secure so they don’t flap around in the wind much, which is what causes the tarps to fray and wear prematurely.

Edit: I guess you don’t need an electric drill or screwdriver, you could just use a hand screw driver, but that seems like a lot of work to me. Guess I’m just spoiled by all the newfangled electronic gadgets we have at our disposal now a days. %-P

 

[velvetfoot]

CL, I like that concept for a flapping tarp!
How about screwed-in pieces of lath?
They would be rolled up like battens, without any removal of screws (in winter, with snow and ice).

 

[Lumber-Jack]

CL, I like that concept for a flapping tarp!
How about screwed-in pieces of lath?
They would be rolled up like battens, without any removal of screws (in winter, with snow and ice).

Not sure I follow? What kind of lath?

The cleats are easy to remove if screwed in on the sides, if they are screwed in on the top you would have to remove snow, or ice, to find them.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Ok, I think it sunk in now, I think you mean using longer strips of wood across the top of the stack and rolling up the tarps as you go. Right?

Rolling the tarp up is kind of what I do, except I kind of just fold it over and re-screw it down (on the sides) as I go to hold it down. When screwing the cleats on I try to make folds to pull the tarp tight and screw the folds down. The tighter you can get the tarp the less flapping.

 

[velvetfoot]

Oh, I get it now. I thought you were concerned about top flapping, which I don't remember being a problem.
On the sides, I'm assuming those nice grommets will hold (I know, ha ha).
I like the idea of the plywood squares as a backup.
You have me thinking though on what to do with the end of the tarp as wood is drawn down.
I think I've just rolled it up and left it on the ground with some splits on top.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Lol Best thing to do is experiment with all the options you have available to you. I suggest you try both a store bought tarp and a used lumber tarp, find out for yourself which one last longer. Those installed grommets are the one advantage store bought tarps have over lumber tarps, if you have an application where you can use them, but I never found them useful for covering wood. I have used the store bought tarps in the past for covering loads of stuff in the back of the pickup, like garbage to the dump, or moving furniture, and on practically every occasion some of the grommets blew out, unless I was going just a few blocks in town. In Fact I’m looking out the window right now at my neighbours 5th wheel RV, and they’ve had a couple of those store bought tarps covering it for the winter. They’re held down by bungees attached to those grommets, and guess what? The grommets in several places are starting to rip apart after just one winter. You really need to spend a lot on a tarp for one that will last more than a season or two. Who wants to spend that kind of money on a tarp for covering firewood?

Fortunately I have a nice woodshed now for most of my firewood, but I usually have a cord or so of extra rounds, that I like to split up for exercise in the winter, that I’ll keep a tarp on.

 

[velvetfoot]

Well, I figured I moved about 2 cords (40% of total required) over the weekend from one stacked location, up a hill in a wheelbarrow, to the driveway stack. All the time, visualizing how this'll be in the winter, pushing the snow off the 6' wide stack, how to draw from the pile in the snow, what to cover it up with, etc, etc, etc. I came to the conclusion I need a wood shed. Location will be a problem, but I'll probably be so disgusted by next spring that I'll find a way.

Meanwhile, just moving pre-stacked wood (admittedly, uphill) is already taking a toll on the body; I don't imagine cutting up the grapple load at the end of the 450' driveway, moving and picking up and then moving the rounds to the splitting area, stacking, etc, etc, will help either. Did I mention I first have to move some dirt around to get at it a little better with the lawn tractor/trailer?

"Workflow"-I've been hearing that term lately when I've look on the photo websites. Yes, it's all about workflow.

PS: The head net really helped with the black flies.