Steel Rails Under Your Stacks

[sledge&wedge]

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.

It's a combination of the pallets I'm getting and the natural moisture content of the soil in my yard. The pallets are what I would call mid-grade. They are stout enough to handle heavy loads when they are brand new, but all of them I can get are well-used. You mention not trusting your old pallets to handle heavy loads... I'd say a 4 foot deep stack of wood that is roughly 6 foot tall is a pretty heavy load.

EDIT: The angle iron I can get is good heavy wall stuff, and I'm planning to use 3-4 supports per 10 foot span.

 

[sledge&wedge]

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.
*

I actually thought about the cinder blocks some more over the weekend and thought the same thing... Not sure what I'll do yet, but you make a good point. I had to stack wood in a hurry last fall (just bought my house in October and started my pile from scratch) so I didn't have time to put down a good moisture barrier under the pallets. Now I've got a roll of .125" x 36" x 80' rubber belting from an old conveyor that I plan to lay down under the stacks this summer. Hopefully that will help in "keepin' the ground moisture way from it."

 

[sledge&wedge]

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

View attachment 415636

Failure to me is when the pallet is sagging bad enough that stacks toppling over seems to be coming soon. You don't have to worry about that with your setup.

 

[sledge&wedge]

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.

View attachment 415509

Now we're on the same page. I don't have enough angle iron to make three rails per stack a viable option, but three blocks = $3, so...

 

[TeeMan]

I have mine stacked on treated 2x4's and those sit on concrete pavers which are all on top of gravel. I thought that the gravel was enough but at the back of my piles at the bottom there was a small termite issue. I moved all the wood, sprayed the area with some concentrate (burned the infested pieces which were maybe 2 wheel barrel loads at most) and re-stacked everything to get them off the ground. It was not fun but I am glad to have them off the ground and some air passing underneath now.

I would give your idea a try seeing as it should work fine. Another friend of mine uses plastic pallets we get at work for free. Never had any issues there.

 

[lefturnfreek]