New Wood Location Progress

[Caw]

So after restacking 2 cords of wood for the second time in two years (different stacks but 2 cords nonetheless) I decided it's time for a new method of storage. The ground in my back yard is just too soft for cinder blocks, even solid side down. They settle, break, and the stack only lasts 1 or 2 years before it gets a lean going.

We decided to have a tree company clear cut all the brush, vines, and mostly invasive sumac saplings back about 15 feet from the yard over an 90 foot stretch . In the pic below the brush used to come within 3 feet of the wood. Best $500 I've spent in ages, I was working hard to just keep it 3 feet back.

I'm claiming 64 feet and 6 feet deep of that space for a new wood lot. It slopes gently towards the woods so the first step was making a retaining wall to level off the area. I could have gotten away with two levels but went three just in case and I think it looks better having a little extra. Dug the trench, gravel, and first later yesterday with 24 x 2' rebar (awful work with roots, rocks etc. Digging in New England is always a slog). Today was layer two, drilled and sledged in 16 x 4' rebar, layer three, and more gravel.

It's not PERFECTLY straight but it'll do the job. My body is not happy with me after all the rebar and around 60 x 6" nails. Last thing is to add the sides but that'll have to be next week. I'm out of time and energy.

The plan is to fill and level the area with free wood chips from my local tree guy. Same guy who gives me lots so it works out for everyone. Then I'm going to make a 60 ft long pallet shed with 10 ft bays (3 pallets). Stacked up to 6.5' it'll hold about 12 cords which is a perfect 3 years for me. Pallet base, walls, dividers, then I'll build the roof with scrap/regular lumber.

Fun project. Where's the beer and Advil???

 

[peakbagger]

If you hace soft soil, putting a layer of geotextile down and then covering it with gravel will make a big difference. Without the geotextile the undelying muck will filter upthrough the geotextile.

 

[Caw]

If you hace soft soil, putting a layer of geotextile down and then covering it with gravel will make a big difference. Without the geotextile the undelying muck will filter upthrough the geotextile.

Yeah I plan to put a layer down before filling the area. It will also help keep it weed free. I probably should have used some in the trench too but it's too late for that. That rebar isn't going anywhere.

I think I probably over built the wall for what it needs to do. It's only going to be holding back about 6-8" layer of wood chips that's only 6 ft deep across the entire thing, but, better to build it well once than fix it down the road.

 

[moresnow]

Any consideration of how soft woodchips will be/become as they naturally decay? Seems like a potential settling issue with failing stacks. Unless I misunderstood your plan? Dunno! Good luck either way. Restacking stinks.

 

[Caw]

Any consideration of how soft woodchips will be/become as they naturally decay? Seems like a potential settling issue with failing stacks. Unless I misunderstood your plan? Dunno! Good luck either way. Restacking stinks.

Yes. I was thinking more about it at work this week and I actually decided against wood chips for that very reason. I had 6 yards of gravel delivered Friday. Only $240 so better to just spend the money and do it right.

Today I finished off the side walls, filled in the remainder of the wall trenches with the last of the bagged gravel, made up a bunch of deadman anchors, and prepped the area for the geotextile fabric installation. I got some 5 oz in a 100' x 6' roll so it should be a smooth install with a bag of staples. I used 6" timber screws for the anchors and connecting the side walls for extra stability. I could have used them for the whole wall but they are $1.50 a whack vs a $0.38 for a 6" spike and spikes are plenty adequate for vertical layering.

Tomorrow I'll lay down the fabric first thing then attach the deadman anchors to the wall on top of the fabric. Two 4' pieces of rebar in the anchors plus the weight of the gravel and woodshed itself will be plenty to stabilize the long run of wall. After that it's gravel time. Send positive energy for my back lol. Moving gravel is a chore...but it's the right thing for this job.

Bonus Gordon pic!

 

[Caw]

Today's progress. Got the geotextile stapled down, deadman anchors secured, and a bit of gravel done. Gravel moving is grueling work...that little patch was 7 trailers full with the tractor and barely made a dent! Got the first deadman covered. All that's left now is to keep chipping away for the next week or so between work and kids activities and get it filled/level. Then we swap to operation acquire good pallets. Finding pallets is easy but finding good quality (preferably oak) can take some time.

 

[Itslay90]

So after restacking 2 cords of wood for the second time in two years (different stacks but 2 cords nonetheless) I decided it's time for a new method of storage. The ground in my back yard is just too soft for cinder blocks, even solid side down. They settle, break, and the stack only lasts 1 or 2 years before it gets a lean going.

We decided to have a tree company clear cut all the brush, vines, and mostly invasive sumac saplings back about 15 feet from the yard over an 90 foot stretch . In the pic below the brush used to come within 3 feet of the wood. Best $500 I've spent in ages, I was working hard to just keep it 3 feet back.

I'm claiming 64 feet and 6 feet deep of that space for a new wood lot. It slopes gently towards the woods so the first step was making a retaining wall to level off the area. I could have gotten away with two levels but went three just in case and I think it looks better having a little extra. Dug the trench, gravel, and first later yesterday with 24 x 2' rebar (awful work with roots, rocks etc. Digging in New England is always a slog). Today was layer two, drilled and sledged in 16 x 4' rebar, layer three, and more gravel.

It's not PERFECTLY straight but it'll do the job. My body is not happy with me after all the rebar and around 60 x 6" nails. Last thing is to add the sides but that'll have to be next week. I'm out of time and energy.

The plan is to fill and level the area with free wood chips from my local tree guy. Same guy who gives me lots so it works out for everyone. Then I'm going to make a 60 ft long pallet shed with 10 ft bays (3 pallets). Stacked up to 6.5' it'll hold about 12 cords which is a perfect 3 years for me. Pallet base, walls, dividers, then I'll build the roof with scrap/regular lumber.

Fun project. Where's the beer and Advil???

View attachment 314544
View attachment 314545

This is beautiful, how much wood is that ?

 

[Caw]

This is beautiful, how much wood is that ?

Thanks. Each rack is 2 cords so that's 6 cords of oak/maple pictured. I have about 9 on hand right now total. New shed will hold 12.

 

[Caw]

Update:

I finished filling in the area, it took about 5 yards. The wife and kids helped shovel it into the trailer this weekend which made it go a lot faster. Now I just need to level and smooth it out with the remaining 1 yard or so left before going pallet hunting.

I'm happy with how it's turned out. Settling/leaning stacks are soon to be a thing of the past!

PS - I'll be very glad when I'm done with all the gravel....it's so damn heavy even with the family and tractor helping. My back is very angry.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Nice work, as a fellow New Englander I can relate to the work of digging that out and driving the rebar. I could go to any spot on my property and attempt to drive rebar and it's probably 50/50 on hitting a large rock in the ground.

 

[peakbagger]

50/50?. More like 10/90 in my area unless it was farmed at one point.

I am not sure where I saw it but someone claimed that a piece of land needed to be farmed for 18 years before the rocks got down below the frost line so they didnt keep popping up due to frost action every spring. Lot of sweat and expect tears in those random piles of rocks out in the woods from old farms that have grown in.

 

[Caw]

Nice work, as a fellow New Englander I can relate to the work of digging that out and driving the rebar. I could go to any spot on my property and attempt to drive rebar and it's probably 50/50 on hitting a large rock in the ground.

Yeah I know. I got incredibly lucky with the rebar on this project. There are 20 pieces of 4' in the back of the wall and only two hit rocks. They at least made it in about 3' so I just cut them off with the angle grinder. The deadman anchors weren't as fortunate I think 3 or 4 hit rocks out of 10 pieces but I just cut those off too. Getting those deep isn't as important as the weight of the gravel and wood well help keep those in place.

50/50?. More like 10/90 in my area unless it was farmed at one point.

I am not sure where I saw it but someone claimed that a piece of land needed to be farmed for 18 years before the rocks got down below the frost line so they didnt keep popping up due to frost action every spring. Lot of sweat and expect tears in those random piles of rocks out in the woods from old farms that have grown in.

I live on old Apple orchard land last active in the 70s so there are those piles of rocks in the woods. I know exactly how they got there. We actually raid then sometimes for stone wall pieces. My front yard used to be the bottom of an irrigation pond. I now have a small ornamental 20x10' pond there now to help with drainage.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

sounds like a nice piece of property!

 

[BIGChrisNH]

50/50?. More like 10/90 in my area unless it was farmed at one point.

I am not sure where I saw it but someone claimed that a piece of land needed to be farmed for 18 years before the rocks got down below the frost line so they didnt keep popping up due to frost action every spring. Lot of sweat and expect tears in those random piles of rocks out in the woods from old farms that have grown in.

Yeah I'm probably being overly optimistic/kind with the 50/50 ratio. I put in a garden bed here many years ago, 15 feet x 15 feet. There were enough rocks I pulled out of that ground to build a stone wall around the garden, with some boulders so big I split them in half and used them for stone steps in another part of the yard.

 

[Caw]

Quick update. I was able to secure my first F150 load of good shape pallets and got the first bay built. A few observations so far:

- I decided to put the back wall on the gravel rather than the pallets. This will allow 3 fulls rows to fit without much overhang, allow easier pallet repairs/replacement down the line, and also spread out the weight of the eventually. This means each bay at its current height will hold just shy of one cord, about 0.95 to be exact.

- Using pallets isn't an exact science as none are exactly the same so there's a lot of "level enough" going on. I screwed a 2x4 along the back to give myself a smooth surface to build up on. I originally planned on another layer of pallets but I think that's pushing it stability wise. I have a lot of scrap PT 2x4s I think I'll just frame a 2' wall and go up that way. There front I'll do 3' for a good roof angle. I'll likely need to add a few more support posts for the front, too.

- The wood itself is going to play a major role in stability. It'll help keep the walls in place and secure. So, I'll likely build wide, add wood, then go up. I don't need to build the entire thing right away. I could but it's not really necessary.

- The gravel and wall are working out nicely. Every pallet I put down is close to level just requires minor raking and tamping. My back is glad it's hard work is paying off.

- So once I get more pallets I'll have 6 bays total holding 1 cord each (we can round up for easy math). Going up another 2ft (plus roof angle is more room) will give me another 4 cords or so giving me 10 in the end of all goes well. It's not quite the 12 I wanted (I use 3-4 cords a year) but it'll be good enough. I still have plenty of other storage I can use.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

nicely done and looking good. There's a lot to be said for low (ish) effort wood storage. You must have a source for free pallets which is always useful. I have spoken to a few local businesses over the years about pallets and most are more than willing to give away at least some to whoever wants to take them. I've found the best sources to be nurseries. Most of the time they have deals with some of their suppliers to give them back the pallets (mostly the overbuilt ones for stone) but most of the other ones that mulch, bags of soil, etc. come on are free. Even if they're damaged, a few nails or an extra board or two makes them serviceable for several years.

 

[Caw]

Update:

Have my first 3 cords for the year ready. One in the new storage unit and two in front. If it's a mild winter like predicted I may only need this much but we'll see. Plenty more of needed. I'll be building a roof eventually once I get more pallets but for now a tarp will do.

 

[Itslay90]

Update:

Have my first 3 cords for the year ready. One in the new storage unit and two in front. If it's a mild winter like predicted I may only need this much but we'll see. Plenty more of needed. I'll be building a roof eventually once I get more pallets but for now a tarp will do.

View attachment 316853

I love it !

 

[Solarguy3500]

Do you have any solar installation companies nearby?

If so, ask them if they use Q Cells brand panels. Those panels are shipped on some of the strongest pallets I've seen. They have 2X4 rails running lengthwise and instead of 1X slats going across they have 2X6s. They are also longer than most standard pallets because most panels nowadays are 6' long or longer. For example, the Q Cells 405W panels are shipped on pallets that are 76" long.

Word of warning: with all that lumber comes some serious weight, so they are a bear to move around by hand.

I'm starting a new woodshed build right now using only those 76" long pallets with 2X6 cross members. One of the perks of working for a solar company. I'll start a new thread in the woodshed section soon to document my build.

 

[mpaul]

Glad it’s coming together for you. I threw this pallet shed together over the summer. Very similar design (and as some pointed out here, the height will make it a bit prohibitive to get the stacks in the back).
I used pallets as dividers to not only create bays but also help span the gaps. Then used pallets for the roof which then allowed me to put a corrugated asphalt roof right on the pallets.
I may modify mine next summer and go up one level to double my space and make it easier to get to the back row.

 

[peakbagger]

Adding the extra pallets on top like the prior poster of the stacks make a big difference on air flow up through the stacks.

 

[Caw]

Glad it’s coming together for you. I threw this pallet shed together over the summer. Very similar design (and as some pointed out here, the height will make it a bit prohibitive to get the stacks in the back).
I used pallets as dividers to not only create bays but also help span the gaps. Then used pallets for the roof which then allowed me to put a corrugated asphalt roof right on the pallets.
I may modify mine next summer and go up one level to double my space and make it easier to get to the back row.

View attachment 316855

I think the biggest problem going up a level is going to be stability. Two pallets high is going to get wobbly. I'm thinking of just framing up another 2 ft with some scrap PT 2x4 I have and fastening that to the pallets.