Stacking on a hill

[Narf]

I recently bought a ranch house equipped with a wood stove in the basement and a fireplace on the main level. The front yard is level, as is about 20 yards off the back of the house. Then there is a 6 foot retaining wall fallowed by a wood lot on a 30 degree slope. I would like to stack my wood behind the retaining wall, but foresee problems with blocked wind and stacks falling over. Anyone have any experience stacking wood on a hill? And what are your thoughts on wood behind a the retaining wall? My other option is the side of my house, but my neighbor has an awesome garden and I really don't want to block the view. Thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[kennyl70]

can you stack it long ways down the hill? if so a post for support would hold the long run of wood. I think u can make it work.

 

[Narf]

I like that idea. I honestly hadn't even thought of it. I hear it's best to keep the wood off the ground. What are some methods for doing this and is it necessary?

 

[kennyl70]

if you can get a few pallets they r the best to stack on. if not, u can use saplings, just cut them and lay them down in a row and stack the wood on them. i even use old barn tin, i lay it down and stack on top of it. whatever u can find to not have direct ground contact. keeping your wood off the ground is very important, otherwise u lose the bottom row to rot. and thats just time and energy of yours wasted.

 

[cptoneleg]

30* is a pretty good slope, but I do stack mine down or up hill on 4x4 landscape timbers, and level the timbers so so. Also put T post on each end with a small rope from post to a split in center of stack, and this is 1/3 cord of wood

 

[bogydave]

I like that idea. I honestly hadn't even thought of it. I hear it's best to keep the wood off the ground. What are some methods for doing this and is it necessary?

Off the ground is a must !
Many here use pallets. Usually easy & free to scrounge.

I double row with a space between the rows for air

You gotta stack wood on your place that works best for you.
Off the ground, A single row, In an open field running N/S so sun hits both sides in a windy area would be golden.
I don't have that so I do what works for me on my property & the wife says it OK too

 

[kennyl70]

bogy is right what works best for you. but off the ground...... yes.

 

[weatherguy]

I use pallets and did something similar to cptoneleg, I dont think you'd want to stack it against the wall as the wind wouldnt get to it on both sides and thats what really dries the wood.

 

[4fire]

No trees to stack between? I lay whatever I have (treated lumber, old decking boards, scrap wood, pecker poles) between my cedar trees and stack my wood on it.

 

[red oak]

I stack on a hill similar to yours. I use longer logs or saplings to keep the wood off the ground. I make the stacks so that they lean against each other, and it's been years since any have fallen over. Some of the stacks I want to lean uphill, so I use thicker logs on one side. So it can be done it just takes a bit of planning with your stacking.

 

[ColdNH]

My stacks are on a hill, not 30 degrees tho, probably closer to 15-20 degrees. what I did was cut up 1 pallet into L's and then cut up another pallet in half, this gave a level stacking surface on a hill (if that made any sense at all), You can see the pallets in the bottom of this picture

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I like that idea. I honestly hadn't even thought of it. I hear it's best to keep the wood off the ground. What are some methods for doing this and is it necessary?

Probably the cheapest method and it works great. The poles under the wood are just saplings we cut in the woods. When the wood is gone you can reuse the poles. Not as ugly to have stacked or laying around as pallets after the wood is gone.

 

[cptoneleg]

Probably the cheapest method and it works great. The poles under the wood are just saplings we cut in the woods. When the wood is gone you can reuse the poles. Not as ugly to have stacked or laying around as pallets after the wood is gone.

View attachment 80059View attachment 80060

Yep I agree the only reason i'm using the 4x4s is I got lots of them free

 

[kennyl70]

Free 4x4's r always a good thing

 

[WillyB]

Stacking firewood on a slope is a topic that gets addressed from time to time. I've read a few threads. This is the most recent one I found on hearth.com so I thought I'd build upon this one. I just had a few cords topple like dominoes. It is a painful lesson. I guess I have something to learn. I continue to ponder a couple of questions.

• Pallets? A lot of people seem to like them as foundations for their stacks. My concern is, don't these rot and/or deteriorate when placed on the ground outdoors?
• Stack Perpendicular or Parallel to the Slope? - I see people doing it both ways. Often, the choice is determined by what works at the particular location but some locations afford either option. Should either direction be an option, is one better than the other?

 

[Montanalocal]

I have almost all steep ground. The pictures below show how I stack. I have all completely dead dry wood when I cut it, so I have no issues with drying, and stack everything as tight as I can. Also I live in a very dry climate, so I can get away with just putting a one inch cedar fencing board underneath, or even piling on the ground and sacrificing the bottom layer.

I first put a stack between the two trees shown. Then I piled stacks up against the downhill side to buttress it. Then in the second picture I just start to run stacks uphill. This is what I use from yearly.

 

[EODMSgt]

Check out newstove's picture for an option (last post on the page).

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/wood-pile-on-a-slope.34851/

 

[redmanlcs]

I don't see the need for anything under firewood to keep it off the ground. Indeed the first layer that is on the ground gets wet and punky, but the rest is just fine. In my opinion stacking your wood on something only really protects the bottom layer.

I stack mine on a slope. I use the crisscross method to make a vertical stack that I use to hold up the rest of the stack. I use the small rounds that I only split in half and selectively pick ones that will give me a slight lean up the hill and stack the rest against it.

 

[Montanalocal]

I agree redman that in many places there is no need to go to great lengths to keep wood off the ground. However, in my situation, the reason I put the cedar fencing boards under is to keep the bottom splits from freezing to the ground. In the summer, when we get rain, the ground underneath turns muddy, and the weight of the stack above pushes the bottom layer into the mud. Then in winter, when we can go for months with temps below freezing, the bottom layer is tightly griped by the frozen mud around it and will not be able to be lifted, making walking across it to get to the back of the stack difficult.

 

[Montanalocal]

Yea, crisscross stacking is great. One thing I do is to put a small split vertically down the center of the stack. It really helps stiffen it up.