How to keep the stacked wood straight?

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Hey Whitespider,
Nice job photo-shopping the grass around your wood stacks:tongue2:
Really? How did you do it? That is some nice grass!!!!!
With all that stacking my place would be pure MUD MUD MUD.

The bottom shot should be made into a puzzle for guys like me when it is too cold outside....
SO, I can still make some nice wood stacks and be a Candy A$$

Seriously NICE stacks Whitespider.
In fact, Everyone of the photos are impressive...
 
I just cross stack it on the ends, no problem

2.75 cords cherry and start of 3.5 cord of oak
View attachment 216698View attachment 216699

BTW - don't stack rounds vertical grain, it holds too much water.

Hello pickupporter,
Those free-standing stacks blow me away!!!
NICE STACKS!!!
I find it hard to believe that cherry and oak only has value as firewood???
I guess that shows the NuB in me????
I suppose the price of milling is so high that we are destin to have particle-board furniture.
in boxes from wally world./?
 
Well I cannot offer a whole lot regarding the OP's question as I am a 2 - 3 nights per week fireplace burner, so I use the pre-fabbed tubular steel firewood racks available at your local hardware store or home center. However seeing all the photos here of some of your handy work makes me want to post a few that I have seen here or on the net.

Whitespider -- you are in a league of your own -- those are mighty fines stacks, and as others have said almost to nice to dismantle and burn. Would "woodhenge" be an exaggeration?

One of my favorites -- clearly labor intensive but the end result is just cool.

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Hedge and TomTrees -- these two are for you and others that work in mass quantities of firewood. The first I have seen here and elsewhere. The scale an proportions are amazing. The second I found on the web and according to the caption was taken in Switzerland. Either option would require a scissor lift or other mechanical means to achieve the total height -- so that just means more toys!


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Great thread -- rep coming your way :cheers:
 
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Pintony,
All that wood came off my yard and the neighbor's yard, in each tree I hit some steel. That's why the sawmill guys usually won't go near the stuff.
 
I find my stacks always seem to lean one way or another as they settle and dry. However, if they start to lean to where I am concerned about them falling, I just hip bump them back straight and that seems to work. I don't plan on entering the stacks in the state fair.
 
I find my stacks always seem to lean one way or another as they settle and dry. However, if they start to lean to where I am concerned about them falling, I just hip bump them back straight and that seems to work. I don't plan on entering the stacks in the state fair.

I sometimes take a piece of wood and tap on the ends of pieces to re-plumb a leaning stack, move each piece in a couple inches and work around the stack. Then I have less chance of knocking it over. You can also take a pole/log and wedge it in to the stack at an angle with the other end in the ground, this helps for a temporary brace.
 
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Example of how much pressure builds over the years on "end supports". I put in those RR ties and cross bar supports to prop 2x4 against to hold up the end of my ricks. First year of use was around the early 80s. Mistake one was to put the RR ties in plumb - they should have been leaned _in_ toward the ricks so the pressure would tend to ease off as the piles settled. First year of use they were pushed way out of line and each year they go farther even after adding extenstions to the top bars to makethe 2x4s lean in.

Also an example of how it will push out heavy rounds used for the same purpose. The left hand stuff is just about ready to fall over, was put in there about 4 or 5 years ago.

The area back by the garage blew the top bar right out of the rr ties and the ricks collapse as you see.

As did my new used dog!! I got a rescue dachsy Saturday. Sunday he wouldn't go out of the house. Monday I was working on the splitting/piling, quit and looked for my used dog. He was happy as a pig in crap running around up there on top of the garage. Just spent an hour putting up wire netting (can jsut barely make it out) across that gap so he can't use that convenient ramp to get up there. I also have a couple have ricks that he could use to get up on the right hand piles - from there it is only a step across the retaining wall into complete freedom.

Harry K
 
Whitespider is an alien!
I do single stacks up to 8' high and space them 4-6 inches apart so they are alittle flimsy and whobbly.
It pisses me off too and a coincidence that I restacked a couple of rows last night because I couldn't bare looking at it no more.
Uniform pieces do help alot.
 
I find my stacks always seem to lean one way or another as they settle and dry. However, if they start to lean to where I am concerned about them falling, I just hip bump them back straight and that seems to work. I don't plan on entering the stacks in the state fair.

That's our problem. Sometimes it's up to 8 years before we burn and they shift if stacked straight as the middle weight starts pushing it out over time. I now stack with heavy leans on piles I know will be there a while. Sometimes takes 3 ricks before you get it straight and have to do 2 ricks at the same time. I stack with a gap and fill the gap as well. This is the one I'm doing today and has a little over 2 ft of in lean. Doing this I have yet to have one push out.

We store everything under roof for years so no need to single row it for air drying.

MVC-020S_9.JPG
 
That's our problem. Sometimes it's up to 8 years before we burn and they shift if stacked straight as the middle weight starts pushing it out over time. I now stack with heavy leans on piles I know will be there a while. Sometimes takes 3 ricks before you get it straight and have to do 2 ricks at the same time. I stack with a gap and fill the gap as well. This is the one I'm doing today and has a little over 2 ft of in lean. Doing this I have yet to have one push out.

We store everything under roof for years so no need to single row it for air drying.

MVC-020S_9.JPG

I love wood piles AND old barns!!!

If I kept wood in the barn that long, something tells me I'd run into a family of skunks every other row...
:bad_smelly:
 

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