Stone as a base for firewood stacks???

[StubornDutchman]

Anyone have experience using stone/crushed rock as a base? I'm not having any luck finding free pallets. We have several rock piles scattered around the farm. I was thinking about relocating some to my firewood storage area and then getting some crushed concrete (or whatever small stone is the cheapest) to smooth/level out the base. Appearance is not a concern, only functionality.

I'll be cutting/splitting for at least the next couple years, working up over 250 tops left from last springs storm damage. Any cheap suggestions will be appreciated. Good thing I'm retired now. This is going to be a full time job for a long, long time. That goodness for the tractor/FEL!

TIA,

Don

 

[darkbyrd]

I'd be a little concerned about holding moisture at the base of the stack, moreso with crusher run than clean gravel. But when I don't have pallets I don't let that hold me back, I just stack the bottom row on top next year's wood.

 

[Woodomaker]

I put down a layer of 1" - limestone in my wood shed......packed it....and it does a good job keeping the bottom row dry.....And when it's empty it is easy to rake out bark, wood chunks, etc.

 

[StubornDutchman]

This will be long term storage. Even tho I'm cutting for my woodstove and my niece and nephews OWB's There is probably more than enough wood to last well over ten years. I've already got next years wood C/S/S plus a start on 2013/2014 and haven't put a dent in the tops yet. There are a lot of trunks the loggers didn't take as well. I am going to lay down some trunks crosswise and and use the FEL to stack as many trunks as I can off the ground for later. That section was such a pretty woods, it still turns my stomach to see the devastation out there.

 

[darkbyrd]

This will be long term storage. Even tho I'm cutting for my woodstove and my niece and nephews OWB's There is probably more than enough wood to last well over ten years. I've already got next years wood C/S/S plus a start on 2013/2014 and haven't put a dent in the tops yet. There are a lot of trunks the loggers didn't take as well. I am going to lay down some trunks crosswise and and use the FEL to stack as many trunks as I can off the ground for later. That section was such a pretty woods, it still turns my stomach to see the devastation out there.

It's always a shame to see what the loggers leave behind, even more when you know what it looked like before. Most of what we got was clear cut 8 years ago, only a few nice big trees left, and very little I want to cut just to burn.

 

[SPDRMNKY]

I have 4 inches of 1" in the lean-to where I stack my winter's wood...bottom row stays dry, and the gravel is nice to work on

as long as you sort your drainage out properly, I think your plan will work just fine

 

[joshua mason]

i have alot of experience with crushed stone, i do alot of road work. i wouldnt think the crushed stone would do very well. once it is compacted and sealed the water will lay on top of it if you have any low spots. 57s or 2s may be a better option if you are going with stone. they will not hold water on top. with that much wood, can you come up with some decent limbs to lay out and stack on.

 

[Guido Salvage]

When my brother and I built the woodshed at my mother's house 30 years ago we put crusher run on the ground. Due to the slope of the land we leveled the left and right sides and used highway guardrail to hold back the upper side. Since it is covered and on a slope water is not a problem and I just rake the bark and scraps out.

At my house I stacked wood under my deck using some cedar logs I milled to 4"x4" as runners. Kept the wood off the concrete and allowed air circulation and they will not rot.

 

[603doug]

Used 1 1/2 " crushed stone about a foot deep in my wood shed and it works great. We use stone for drainage all the time and as long water can not pool and you rake the bark up each year it has been fine

 

[genesis5521]

Anyone have experience using stone/crushed rock as a base? I'm not having any luck finding free pallets. We have several rock piles scattered around the farm. I was thinking about relocating some to my firewood storage area and then getting some crushed concrete (or whatever small stone is the cheapest) to smooth/level out the base. Appearance is not a concern, only functionality.

I'll be cutting/splitting for at least the next couple years, working up over 250 tops left from last springs storm damage. Any cheap suggestions will be appreciated. Good thing I'm retired now. This is going to be a full time job for a long, long time. That goodness for the tractor/FEL!

TIA,

Don

Hi Don:

I don't use pallets. I build my own firewood racks using treated 2 X 4's. Most of my racks sit in a field, right on the ground, and last forever. I pay less then 2 bucks for a treated 2 X 4. You could easily splice the bottom stringers together to make these racks as long as you need. These racks keep the wood off the ground and allow air space underneath. You'd be surprised at how much wood you could stack with 50 2 X 4's. I have 30 or 40 of these racks and I'm always making more.

Don <><

 

[zogger]

This will be long term storage. Even tho I'm cutting for my woodstove and my niece and nephews OWB's There is probably more than enough wood to last well over ten years. I've already got next years wood C/S/S plus a start on 2013/2014 and haven't put a dent in the tops yet. There are a lot of trunks the loggers didn't take as well. I am going to lay down some trunks crosswise and and use the FEL to stack as many trunks as I can off the ground for later. That section was such a pretty woods, it still turns my stomach to see the devastation out there.

Well, it sucks but you are making lemonade from the lemons you got served up. Tradeoffs. You'll get years and years ahead for your heating needs, plus, wiped out forest like that grow back dense and hold ten times the wild critters, so you'll have plenty of rabbits and grouse and whitetails etc for the freezer as well.


And being retired, you'll have plenty of time to go hunting!

 

[StubornDutchman]

Used 1 1/2 " crushed stone about a foot deep in my wood shed and it works great. We use stone for drainage all the time and as long water can not pool and you rake the bark up each year it has been fine

This is pretty much what I had in mind. I can use some of the field stone for edging and filler. There is a clearing that is high ground that I plan on using for storage. It's just that all our farmland is heavy clay and gets awful muddy. I like to separate all my stacks to maximize air flow.

 

[StubornDutchman]

Hi Don:

I don't use pallets. I build my own firewood racks using treated 2 X 4's. Most of my racks sit in a field, right on the ground, and last forever. I pay less then 2 bucks for a treated 2 X 4. You could easily splice the bottom stringers together to make these racks as long as you need. These racks keep the wood off the ground and allow air space underneath. You'd be surprised at how much wood you could stack with 50 2 X 4's. I have 30 or 40 of these racks and I'm always making more.

Don <><

I like your design. I just saw your pics in another thread and plan on making up a couple for use inside the pole barn that is attached to the farm house. Those would be great for nasty weather.

 

[StubornDutchman]

i have alot of experience with crushed stone, i do alot of road work. i wouldnt think the crushed stone would do very well. once it is compacted and sealed the water will lay on top of it if you have any low spots. 57s or 2s may be a better option if you are going with stone. they will not hold water on top. with that much wood, can you come up with some decent limbs to lay out and stack on.

I'll be on the lookout for some. I have used a few for end posts. I'm too cheap to buy T-posts unless I have to. Not sure what 57s or 2s is but assume they are just larger stones. My nephew has a small dump truck and there is a place about ten miles from here that sells all kinds of rock, stone, and such.

BTW: How do you guys get multiple quotes in one response?

 

[dustytools]

I'll be on the lookout for some. I have used a few for end posts. I'm too cheap to buy T-posts unless I have to. Not sure what 57s or 2s is but assume they are just larger stones. My nephew has a small dump truck and there is a place about ten miles from here that sells all kinds of rock, stone, and such.

BTW: How do you guys get multiple quotes in one response?

#57 stone is 1" and #2 is roughly 2" to 3" stone. Neither of which have dust for packing and will drain really well.

 

[StubornDutchman]

#57 stone is 1" and #2 is roughly 2" to 3" stone. Neither of which have dust for packing and will drain really well.

Thanks to all for the responses.

 

[lrig0550]

Smaller Field Stone or Milled Asphalt

Like others, I use small field stone to keep my firewood off the ground. Seems to work fine for me. Also, I have access to milled asphalt that was removed from the highways at no cost other than hauling. An elevated pad of the asphalt about 4 inches thick also works well for me.

 

[darkbyrd]

I must be the only one on here using 8" X 16" cement blocks.


........so I'll say it again. Nothing beats cement blocks!


Some of mine are over 50 years old.

That's probably why they are still holding up! "They don't make them like they used to...".:msp_thumbsup:

 

[greendohn]

i have a concrete floor in my wood shed. water running off the surrounding area can be a problem so i stack my wood on landscape timbers. they are cheap, last forever and can be moved out of the way for cleaning up after the firewood has been removed.

 

[mikereynolds]

Out here in the California desert, it only rains four times a year so I just put the piles on the sand...but a thick bed of rocks should do just fine.