Steel Rails Under Your Stacks

[sledge&wedge]

Mornin', dudes. Anyone ever used steel angle iron or c-channel as rails under a stack? I have free access to several 2" x 2" x 10' pieces of angle iron that I considered spanning and staking on top of some cinder blocks as a longer-lasting alternative to the cheap (free) pallets I currently get from work when I need them. They start sagging within 3 days and usually break within 6 months (luckily no stack collapses yet). I'm sure the angle iron is stout enough to handle the weight (as long as I space the cinder blocks appropriately), but I wanted to check with the collective brain of AS and make sure I'm not missing any major potential issues with using rusty steel angle iron. I figure with the angle iron being free and cinder blocks costing $1 apiece, it's worth looking into.

 

[Cheesecutter]

I've used 2" pipe before with no issues. I would sure give it a try.

 

[svk]

As long as its not in contact with the ground it sounds like a good idea. Lots of steel will shale up if left in contact with moisture depending on the quantity and quality of the elements that it is made of.

 

[Woody912]

Mornin', dudes. Anyone ever used steel angle iron or c-channel as rails under a stack? I have free access to several 2" x 2" x 10' pieces of angle iron that I considered spanning and staking on top of some cinder blocks as a longer-lasting alternative to the cheap (free) pallets I currently get from work when I need them. They start sagging within 3 days and usually break within 6 months (luckily no stack collapses yet). I'm sure the angle iron is stout enough to handle the weight (as long as I space the cinder blocks appropriately), but I wanted to check with the collective brain of AS and make sure I'm not missing any major potential issues with using rusty steel angle iron. I figure with the angle iron being free and cinder blocks costing $1 apiece, it's worth looking into.

Guessing your angle might bend if you go high enough. I cut sassafras poles, cut the ends to fit inside a cinder block and go from there. Think wood has more rigidity and sassafras is a trash tree anyway but very high rot resistance

 

[zogger]

I would think the steel is more valuable as steel. As long as you are willing to buy blocks, use those to keep the pallets off the ground, they'll last a lot longer that way. I use old railroad ties for that, just because I have them to use here.

 

[sledge&wedge]

@Cheesecutter - I'd say your 2" pipe was probably a little more stout than this angle iron, but the fact that it worked for you tells me to go for it.

@svk - Definitely no ground contact. I'm going to have them about 8" off the ground on top of the cinder blocks which should allow for both a gap between the steel and the ground, and a little extra air flow under/around my stacks.

@Woody912 - I see what you're getting at, but I can't imagine the weight I'm looking at will be enough to spread out the angle. Definitely a good consideration to keep in mind, though. Thanks. As far as sassafras goes, I'd rather not waste any tree if I can help it. Even if it doesn't present the best burn characteristics, it will still burn if I light it .

@zogger - I think the number of blocks I'd need to buy for the angle iron would be far less than what I would need to support the pallets, so that may not be the best way to go in my situation. I use the double-wide 4' x 8' pallets, and I think it would probably take 6-8 blocks strategically placed under each pallet to really brace them up (8 pallets = $48-$64), whereas I can use probably 3 blocks per 10 foot span with the angle iron and have more options for stack locations. As far as the scrap value of steel goes... The 80 mile round-trip I would have to make to the nearest scrap yard would pretty much eat up the money I'd make on the scrap .

Thanks for the input guys. If I can still get ahold of the angle iron this weekend, I will probably start working up a plan for rebuilding all my stacks.

 

[muddstopper]

I used to lay landscape timper down to stack my wood on. This year, I got a load of samll, 4x4 pallets and just laid them on top of the landscape timbers. I will start stacking wood on them this year so to early to say how it works out.

 

[farmer steve]

Steel Rails Under Your Stacks
just don't stack wood in a thunderstorm.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

What kind of area do you have your wood in that pallets only last 6 months?!

I used to stack my wood on pallets, they are out back still with other junk on them (car parts, etc). I got them when I moved in my new house in 2009, all still nice and solid.
Heck I cleaned up in the corner of the yard at the shop... junk than had been on pallets since the late 80s/early 90s, lot of those pallets were still decent. Not something I'd trust to put heavy things on and move with the forklift, but they weren't completely garbage either.

 

[cantoo]

Valley, my stacks (off the conveyor) are up to 20' high, the weight usually crushes the softwood ones pretty quick and if not I usually screw up and drive over them.

 

[blacklocst]

10 posts and no one has derailed the steel rail thread.

 

[ashtuzhed]

As long as its not in contact with the ground it sounds like a good idea.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

OP, what kind of pallets are you getting? A decent quality pallet, which can often be sourced for free will last many years with just firewood on it.

I have run into real cheap ones (we called them "grocery store pallets" when I had a warehouse job.... pretty much suited for holding a load of bread or cereal and that was it. Those aren't really made for outdoor use or with much weight on them.

The angle iron would work on blocks, provided it's decently think stuff, like 1/4" or 3/8" with a few foot span between blocks. Cinder blocks are around $5/ea here BTW!

 

[Whitespider]

Your idea is sound... it will work just fine.

I actually stack my wood in the basement on angle iron just so a little air can circulate underneath (keeps the wood from drawing moisture through the concrete, or causin' condensation). I get tons of steel for free (all sizes/lengths of angle iron, pipe, and whatnot)... basically scrap from damaged towers and such. Yeah, steel is valuable, even scrap steel... but my pile of scrap steel is even more valuable when I need a chunk to fix or fabricate something. Using it to stack wood on does not remove the value, it just puts it in use until you find (or need) a better use for it. When the wood is used, the steel is still there, and so is the value.

Personally, I wouldn't use cinder blocks though; damn things tend to sink and skew the stack. I'd likely use my welder and some redneck engineering to build a sort'a rack like thing; although anything can sink. I've grown tired of such... I stack on a vinyl moisture barrier (old vinyl siding) directly on the ground. Gettin' air under the outdoor stack is overrated... but keepin' the ground moisture way from it ain't.
*

 

[Woody912]

Your idea is sound... it will work just fine.

I actually stack my wood in the basement on angle iron just so a little air can circulate underneath (keeps the wood from drawing moisture through the concrete, or causin' condensation). I get tons of steel for free (all sizes/lengths of angle iron, pipe, and whatnot)... basically scrap from damaged towers and such. Yeah, steel is valuable, even scrap steel... but my pile of scrap steel is even more valuable when I need a chunk to fix or fabricate something. Using it to stack wood on does not remove the value, it just puts it in use until you find (or need) a better use for it. When the wood is used, the steel is still there, and so is the value.

Personally, I wouldn't use cinder blocks though; damn things tend to sink and skew the stack. I'd likely use my welder and some redneck engineering to build a sort'a rack like thing; although anything can sink. I've grown tired of such... I stack on a vinyl moisture barrier (old vinyl siding) directly on the ground. Gettin' air under the outdoor stack is overrated... but keepin' the ground moisture way from it ain't.
*

Your angle is fully supported though isn't it? He is bridging with his concrete blocks. To the OP, using sassafras or other wood does not keep it from being firewood later, it will dry just like the rest of your stack. Trash wood around here, I usually rip and split the big ones to give me a flat side for steadyness

 

[unclemoustache]

I scored a LOT of corrugated roofing material. Used it this past winter to cover my stacks (with a tied down tarp to help hold it down in the wind).
This year I'm trying it underneath my stacks instead of pallets. They are in a location with a slope running to the side, so any water that gets down there should run down the grooves to the side. Unless of course it's gummed up or gets squished flat. We'll see how it works.

 

[Woody912]

I scored a LOT of corrugated roofing material. Used it this past winter to cover my stacks (with a tied down tarp to help hold it down in the wind).
This year I'm trying it underneath my stacks instead of pallets. They are in a location with a slope running to the side, so any water that gets down there should run down the grooves to the side. Unless of course it's gummed up or gets squished flat. We'll see how it works.

I did it a couple yrs ago Unc. Not as good as one would think, better than nothing. I would still prefer having some kind of runner under it and corrugated is worth $250/ton when the market is right

 

[Whitespider]

Your angle is fully supported though isn't it? He is bridging with his concrete blocks.

Well... yeah... he'll likely haf'ta use three blocks for a 10 ft span, one in the center. He could also use three rails (or more) under a stack, depending on how much he has, to spread the weight out.
But I am speakin' from more than just opinion... these two pieces of angle (very light-duty, salvaged from a bed frame) are only supported on the very ends (about 6½ ft)... and I've had it heaped up well past the bottom of of that window many times with neatly stacked oak. It's my fire pit wood rack... and it's held-up for something close to 20 years now. I just put the stock panel on it a couple years ago so we could toss end-cuts, shorts and uglies in it.

 

[lefturnfreek]

I have a pile of split, bout 10x20x6ish with pallet side, all dumped on pallets and have had no failures.

 

[sledge&wedge]

Wow this thread got a lot of attention this weekend... Sorry dudes, I don't get on the computer much on the weekends. I'll try to hit everybody but wow this is going to take a while.