Started the new stack for 2014 (only small, don't get too excited)

[Hills Hoard]

More work on the pallets and wood pile for 2014. a few comments and questions i would love some feedback on...

1) ive used steaks at the end because the wood is twisted and crap and was from a scrounge cut too short.hard to stack..
2) i think the twisted and crap wood is some sort of pine...
3) i split and stacked thinking that the wood might be good for starting the wood heater the same way im using cedar....
4) can someone please let me know if pine is worth using for starting wood heaters or if its a waste of time.....
5)will pine block the chimney?
6) thanks in advance....here are some pics cuz i know you all like pics...

 

[Defiant]

Nice work, stacking wood sure makes you thirsty What no Fosters?

 

[bogydave]

Nice stack

Pine is fine.
Some areas all they have to burn is pine & they're still alive

I use (spruce) pine here for shoulder season. Burn a few cords per year.
I like to season it 2+ years but good to use after 1 year.

 

[NortheastAl]

It's a good start. Nice and solid looking pallets. I really should use pallets myself.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

More work on the pallets and wood pile for 2014. a few comments and questions i would love some feedback on...

1) ive used steaks at the end because the wood is twisted and crap and was from a scrounge cut too short.hard to stack..
2) i think the twisted and crap wood is some sort of pine...
3) i split and stacked thinking that the wood might be good for starting the wood heater the same way im using cedar....
4) can someone please let me know if pine is worth using for starting wood heaters or if its a waste of time.....
5)will pine block the chimney?
6) thanks in advance....here are some pics cuz i know you all like pics...

1) I'd use stakes rather than steaks but even better to crib the ends negating the need for stakes or posts.

2) OK

3) Yes, it will work very well just like cedar.

4) Yes, pine is fine.

5) NO. That is an old wive's tale. So long as you dry the pine it will burn just like any other wood. Well, it might burn a bit faster so keep that in mind for the draft setting. Generally most folks don't like to burn full loads of pine but many out west and up north do because that basically is all they have. They get along just fine the same as those folks who only have cottonwood to burn.

6) You are welcome and thank you too.

 

[Hills Hoard]

haha. Thanks for the feedback guys. I should get some close up shots for a proper wood ID. But from what i'm hearing i'm feeling a bit better about the wood.

My vision for this stack is to run the whole length of that fence line. There will be a lot of hoarding this winter!

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

we all start somewhere. i am using my first stacks now - they are 4 pallets long with 2 rows to a pallet and i only stacked 4 foot high.

I now stack 3 rows to a pallet and they are 7 feet high. i am running out of room.

I also remember my first stack was against 2 trees the first big wind and down they came. i thought i had plenty way more than i would use ~ 1 cord i now have at least 10 times that and still looking for more.....

 

[Hills Hoard]

I also remember my first stack was against 2 trees the first big wind and down they came

i wouldn't be surprised if this new (2014) stack comes down in the wind. The wood was really twisted and hard to stack. I probably shouldn't of stacked as high as i did...my other main pile for this winter is much better wood stacked strong.. but still not 7 foot high....thats tall

 

[paul bunion]

Looks fine to me. Make sure you keep the uphill side of your pallets free of leaves and debris. Otherwise you will lose the benefit of free flowing beneath your pile, which shouldn't be underestimated in drying and keeping the bottom of your stack dry.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

I only pick up pre-cut scrounges - i have to split it and then try and stack it. My stacks are all over the place too. The way i have found that works the best is to put some of the bigger splits on the bottom with a small gap from the previous row. i then try to lean the stack into the previous row (gradually.) this means the will never fall over but the drying time will be increased greatly. Here's a pic from when i first started about a year ago - i will try and take one this weekend. I now have about 24 rows of 4 pallets wide. It looks like 1 big pile.

 

[Hills Hoard]

Fantastic Auzzie. And there are some of those pallets you mentioned.

 

[lumbering on]

i wouldn't be surprised if this new (2014) stack comes down in the wind. The wood was really twisted and hard to stack. I probably shouldn't of stacked as high as i did...my other main pile for this winter is much better wood stacked strong.. but still not 7 foot high....thats tall

My stacks came down like dominos during a winter storm. Now I only stack 4 feet high, a foot off the ground, for a total height of 5 feet.

Most of my wood is scavenged, pre-cut to sizes from 12 to 21 inches. The stacks are ugly as a result.

I just started using t-post stakes at the end of the stacks with the junkiest wood, the stacking goes much faster as a result.

 

[USMC80]

I too just started using t posts, work great

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I heard they are going to outlaw using t-posts for stacking wood.

 

[Hills Hoard]

I heard they are going to outlaw using t-posts for stacking wood

Do you want to know whats even worse?....They aren't even t posts....the t posts i had were too short so i just used thin wooden stakes my wife uses in the vege patch..

I will get t posts this weekend and replace......

 

[Hills Hoard]

So more progress on my 2014 stack. There are a few bits of nice eucalypt added on the end but what im really excited about is the score from last night....12 pallets sitting on a dudes lawn down the road. We have hard rubbish coming so he was throwing them out. Time to start filling them up!

 

[thewoodlands]

More work on the pallets and wood pile for 2014. a few comments and questions i would love some feedback on...

1) ive used steaks at the end because the wood is twisted and crap and was from a scrounge cut too short.hard to stack..
2) i think the twisted and crap wood is some sort of pine...
3) i split and stacked thinking that the wood might be good for starting the wood heater the same way im using cedar....
4) can someone please let me know if pine is worth using for starting wood heaters or if its a waste of time.....
5)will pine block the chimney?
6) thanks in advance....here are some pics cuz i know you all like pics...

Sav missed 1 thing, I bought all the "steaks" it's grilling season. Nice start H.H., it all adds up.

 

[Woody Stover]

I heard they are going to outlaw using t-posts for stacking wood.

I don't particularly like the look of t-posts either, but a couple of rows stacked on pallets looks fine to me. If you try to start a second petition about pallets, I don't think that one is going anywhere...

i know you all like pics...

HH, did you dig the trench exclusively for the pallets or does it serve some other purpose? If just for the pallets, that sure seems like a lot of extra work. If I have to stack across the side of a hill, I just terrace the pallets flat by putting an extra brick or something under the downhill side of the pallets...

 

[Hills Hoard]

yeah, i dug out the hill just for the pallets...what i was aiming for was a raised pad for the pallets to sit on top of that was always drained and dry.....no grass or rain etc....i also thought that if i dug out the hill like i did it would create more flow in the high side....looking back i think you are spot on woody, i could have just propped the pallets up with bricks or something, but it only takes 5-10 min to level out enough room for a pallet and will just keep doing that as the wood pile grows...

 

[Hills Hoard]

progress boys.....i stacked all of my new yellow box today....absolutely stoked....the pile is finally looking respectable....

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

congrats on the stacks. They look very nice - very familiar type of wood they look very nice and neat my only concern is when you get the wood we get and try and stack it it isn't very stable due to the nature of the size and shape of the splits. If you leave it that high you will be ok if you try to go much higher it could fall over. its happened a few times to me - but it wont happen again!!

 

[Hills Hoard]

congrats on the stacks. They look very nice - very familiar type of wood they look very nice and neat my only concern is when you get the wood we get and try and stack it it isn't very stable due to the nature of the size and shape of the splits. If you leave it that high you will be ok if you try to go much higher it could fall over. its happened a few times to me - but it wont happen again!!

You are not wrong. You really need to think about where you place each bit of wood and try and get them to nest in a bit.. I wouldn't stack any higher than what I have gone here for that reason...i will be watchign with interest during the first really strong winds..

 

[thewoodlands]

I heard they are going to outlaw using t-posts for stacking wood.