pallets or stone?

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ssupercoolss

Member
Jan 28, 2008
223
southeast pa
i will be building a covered woodshed next to my existing shed...flooring suggestions? pallets? stone the area? this will be somewhat of a "temporary structure" in order to dance around some zoning codes.
 
I'm a pallet man myself. Lots of air flow under it.
 

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The issues with stone- less air flow, not free, not enough spacing for ice at the bottom, hard to get rid of if you want a lawn there later. It's a good option if you have it free.

Pallets are free- they are just often not attractive.
 
Behind our wood shed many years ago we took out the pallets, excavated the topsoil out, brought in some sand and topped it off with washed gravel. The absolute best way to pile wood up on.

Pallets are always breaking and varmints end up living under them....sure there free. But washed gravel is so much cleaner.
 
We have a 5" base of traffic bond (stone) with treated 2x4's or 4x4's laid on the stone and then piled up the wood to a height of about 5'. The 2x2's and 4x4's are what we had on hand. Our pile is not as pretty looking as some others here but since this was the first year that I was fully in charge of the wood I am quite pleased with what I was able to do. In the picture, the pile is covered with a camo tarp that comes down about 2' on the sides.

Shari
 

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For temporary piles I would just go out back and cut some tall skinny Poplars. I would lay down long Poplars spaced apart and then build a floor on top of them out of more Poplars laid perpendicular.

On my permanent shed, I poured a concrete slab. I really like the stability of a slab.
 
Highbeam said:
I'm a pallet man myself. Lots of air flow under it.

That is my dream woodpile!! I don't have enough patience to master a work of art like that!
 
I vote for pallets, if there is a regular and available supply, since they do not last too long if uncovered.

A large crushed stone base is nice for a shed, only if your budget and back permits!

I admit to have never tried using pallets in my shed. Maybe next year.
 
I use plastic pallets. If you can get them there really worth it.
 
Look, you said you're building a covered shed right? If it's going to be pretty dry in under there, I'd do stone with the idea that I'd concrete it sometime. If you do stone, and it ain't good enough, you can always put pallets in there right?

Remember you gotta walk in and outta there all the time, pallets are ankle twisters for sure.

I don't have a wood shed, stack my stuff outside, on pallets, or runs of 2x4's.
 
Wow, this must sound like blasphemy, but I've always just raked up the chips, bark and small splinters of wood that accumulate round the splitter and stacked the wood on that. I couldn't see paying for stone, blocks, 2x4's ect. to save one row of free wood. What ever you put down is going to be covered with bark and wood chips soon anyway, and I agree with ansehnlich1 - pallets inside a closed structure sound like an ankle twister waiting to happen.
 
cozy heat said:
Wow, this must sound like blasphemy, but I've always just raked up the chips, bark and small splinters of wood that accumulate round the splitter and stacked the wood on that...
I do that with my outdoor loose Summer piles where they await their journey to the shed in the Fall.
 
cozy heat said:
Wow, this must sound like blasphemy, but I've always just raked up the chips, bark and small splinters of wood that accumulate round the splitter and stacked the wood on that. I couldn't see paying for stone, blocks, 2x4's ect. to save one row of free wood. What ever you put down is going to be covered with bark and wood chips soon anyway, and I agree with ansehnlich1 - pallets inside a closed structure sound like an ankle twister waiting to happen.

It's way too wet here to stack wood on the ground. I'd probably do it in Kansas.
 
Jersey Fire Bug said:
Adios Pantalones said:
Pallets.

Stop posting that obvious photoshop Job, Highbeam- you aint foolin nobody :)

He fooled me !!! Lol

It's disgusting how nice Highbeam's stacking is. I'm wayjealous.
 
myzamboni said:
Jersey Fire Bug said:
Adios Pantalones said:
Pallets.

Stop posting that obvious photoshop Job, Highbeam- you aint foolin nobody :)

He fooled me !!! Lol

It's disgusting how nice Highbeam's stacking is. I'm wayjealous.

Agreed.

That is 1/4 mile of wood!
 
I scored some of those 12"x12"x4" decorative cinder blocks. Excellent. I wouldn't have bought them, but they're the right size and still let air move through.
















Damn you, Highbeam.
 
We started out using these to build our wood stacks (we were new to the whole firewood burning thing this year):

41TAZDNBJ1L._SL500_AA280_.jpg


They are made by Finley Products Inc. FYI anyone looking into getting something like this try ordering the shelf links kit they make instead of the firewood racks. The firewood rack product comes with 2 pc. for $10 vs. the shelf links kit that comes with 6 pc. for $15. They are the same thing just a different color. All you need to supply is the 2x4's. We picked up the shelf links kit at a local Lowes after ordering them through the local store online.
Shelf links kit:
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So we built 6 racks and had them full with seasoned dry wood. About two cords (more than half gone now):

IMG_3713.jpg


The kits are basically little tee beams you put together with 2x4's. You can kind of see one of the tee's in this pic:

IMG_3716.jpg


Then we got another delivery of @ two cords. I also had about a cord of scrounged wood that didn't fit in the fancy racks so I said hell to building/buying more racks and went with the pallet + fence post method. It's working out quite well. The pallets we got for free and the fence posts were pretty cheap at HD. It's not as pretty as some of the stacks I've seen here but it does the job.

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IMG_3718.jpg


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I hope with a little more practice and better cut wood I'll be able to make them look a bit nicer next year. I'm definitely going to stick with the pallet + fence post design. It is much easier to throw together and a hell of a lot cheaper. Plus I can expand it or reconfigure it with out a big hassle.

Mike
 
savageactor7 said:
^ Very clean operation Mike.

Thanks Savageactor7. I'm still envious of some of the other stacks I've seen on here and I want to get mine looking nice and streamline like those.

I have always cleared a path around to house for safety reasons but I'll say keeping the stacks clear sure does add some time to the snowblowing! I tell myself It's well worth it to be able to drag the sled out there and bring in the wood for the week with out climbing through a foot of snow.

Mike
 
Running a snow thrower in tight spaces like that can be a challenge. If the snow isn't too deep, you can turn off the auger and just plow it until you're clear of the pile. I have knee deep snow everywhere and in places like that, it would drift in as high as the woodpiles. Also, with the cold temps we get, that poly would shatter into a million tiny pieces.
 
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