My first Holz Huasen (Mietz)...and thoughts/ideas

[bsearcey]

I've pretty much finished my HH except for some touchup on the roof. I really like the look, but it was definitly harder to build than standard stacking especially when it got over my head. Interesting enough the thing is so stable I was able to stand on it while working the top. Things would have gone alot faster if I had someone to hand wood up to me. Anyway like everyone else has said I seriously doubt any faster drying times with it, I just wanted to stack one for the experience. But man that thing just keep eating wood. I thought I had more than enough wood to make it, but I actually had to take some wood not intended for the HH to help finish it off. I'm going to take some measurments on the the finished stack to try and get as close as possible the FT^3, but just off the top of my head numbers gave me about 300ft^3 (not accounting for airspaces).

While I was stacking I began to think about the updraft idea and thought...what if you put a piece of 2" pvc pipe up the middle and connect a blower to the bottom of the pvc to push air through it constantly. This should help facilitate the drying. Then you get into using power, which while I doubt it would use a whole lot, it still kind of defeats the purpose. Unless you had it running off of solar power, but then you don't get air flow at night. While I was stacking and pondering this and other useless and random things I kept hearing my heat pump kick on to cool my house down . Then I had the proverbial light bulb over the head moment and thought...man when this thing turns on it blows a lot of air out of the top of the unit. Could I put some sort of box or shroud over it and pipe that air into the perforated center tube of an HH stack or two to help speed up the drying process. Well I know I could do it, but would it be worth it? That's my question to anyone who cares to answer. Also, knowing next to nothing about heatpumps would putting a box or shroud over the top affect the unit in a negative way?

Thanks guys.

I'll post a pic tonight of the HH.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Just stack the next HH around your outdoor unit. It's hot air too, so should dry the wood faster... post pics.

Ian

 

[Beefie]

Were is the :camera:. We have to see what you have before we can recomend anything.


Beefie

 

[bsearcey]

Pics

Ok...here are some pics

View attachment 146739

View attachment 146740

View attachment 146741

It won't be possible to stack around the heat pump unit because it's too close to the house. I'll load some more pics with it and where I think the placement could go. I did check the temp of the air coming of the top and it was 109. Alot hotter then I thought...good point.

 

[bsearcey]

heat pump blower idea

Here is an artists rendering of what I thought could work for using the heat pump to blow air through a couple of holz hausens. Like I said I don't know anything about these systems (except it would cost alot to replace), so that is why I'm curious if anyone on the forum would know if capping the top of the unit would cause damage.

View attachment 146747

 

[vincem77]

Nice HH. I wanted to build one this year but maybe next year.

Your heat pump idea wont cause damage. However the more you limit the airflow, the less efficient the cooling unit is.

 

[Doingitwell]

Ok...here are some pics

View attachment 146739

View attachment 146740

View attachment 146741

It won't be possible to stack around the heat pump unit because it's too close to the house. I'll load some more pics with it and where I think the placement could go. I did check the temp of the air coming of the top and it was 109. Alot hotter then I thought...good point.

It's a little hard to tell from your pic's but I'm guessing you have 3.5-4 cords there. I'm referring to the center pile that you're standing on. Excellent job by the way....noticed you have the Fiskars SS displayed proudly!!

Let me ask you this, why such small splits?

Thanks for the pic's and post. :rockn:

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Nice HH. I wanted to build one this year but maybe next year.

Your heat pump idea wont cause damage. However the more you limit the airflow, the less efficient the cooling unit is.

I guess my sarcasm failed to show in my post, I wasn't serious...

Ian

 

[savageactor7]

Hi bsearcey if Richmond is as humid as the Newport News-Williamsburg area I'd avoid HH's and stack wood like the natives do...unless you have plenty of time to let 'em season.

They sure do look good though.

 

[bsearcey]

Thanks for the replies. That would be no good to reduce the efficiency of the HP. I guess if I could figure out a way to size the piping so that it does not restrict the air it could still work. I'll need to think about it some more and maybe make a few calls.

Let me ask you this, why such small splits?

I didn't think I split them that small. In fact while I was building I thought that going even smaller would help with the stability of the structure, but I already had a majority of the wood split at that point. I did split some kindling size stuff to go on the roof. Again I thought I could get better coverage by going small.

I guess my sarcasm failed to show in my post, I wasn't serious...

Yeah...after I responded to your post I read about your nature.

Richmond is as humid

It's crazy humid here especially lately with the periodic storms we've been getting. While I was building I was thinking about this. I did notice that when I was standing in the middle of the stack during the building phase I could feel air moving over my legs. I don't know if it was an updraft or just my imagination. We'll see. About 95% of the HH is tulip poplar so it will either dry quickly or rot quickly. I'm definitly going to be checking things out though. Hopefully I'll be able to check on the inside of the stack without having the thing come down on top of me.

 

[vincem77]

I did notice that when I was standing in the middle of the stack during the building phase I could feel air moving over my legs.

Grab some incense or something else that smokes to figure which way the air is flowing. I'd be curious to find out.

 

[bsearcey]

Will do. Although I'm still bummed about the HP idea probably not panning out. With the hot air coming out of that unit I could probably season 6 cords of red oak in a few months.

 

[angelo c]

I'm thinking that the pile of "fermenting" wood will produce some heat on it's own. The natural rising action of the heat will cause the air to circulate up through the center "breather" as long as you have it off the ground (like you do) on pallets you should be fine. Leave it be this year and see what happens, if it don't work any better then the regular pile/stack method then don't use it next year. My guess is it'll will be just fine and allow you to get much more verticle use of space for stacking and thus be a good thing. I would have marked a few pieces and weighed them and marked a few in the regular stacks and see if there was a difference in a few months. Good luck looks like a fun conversation piece for the neighbors. they must think you're certifiable !!!!

 

[vincem77]

If you had a cooling unit like this you could just stack the wood right on top.

On a more serious note, I wonder if black weed barrier fabric could be used to produce more heat and encourage airflow. Most weed mat allow air/water to pass through.

 

[bsearcey]

black weed barrier fabric

I thought about putting black plastic over the top like I do on my regular stacks, but the weed barrier might breath better. Should cause the top of the stack to get hotter thus causing more of an updraft. Also would help limit the amount of rain infiltrating. That roof is definitely not water tight.

 

[curmudgeon]

Looking good,I built two last year and both are pushing apart at the last foot or so at the top.like an inverted cone.If i build another i will band it. fun to build, but i came to the conclusion round stacks are Gods way of telling me i have to much time on my hands.

 

[bsearcey]

I'm considering wrapping mine with chicken wire. The thing feels very stable, and I went around and tried to fill in larger voids by wedging in smaller odd shaped pieces to try and avoid a blowout. Plus with two small kids running around the yard I just think strapping or chicken wire would be a small investment for my piece of mind.

Time is definitely not something I have a lot of, that's why I end up splitting and stacking at night after the kids are in bed with the flood lights on

 

[bsearcey]

Final calcs

I measured the stack. Bottom diameter is 8 feet, top diameter below the "roof" is 7.5 feet, and the height is about 5.5 feet. This gives me a volume of 259 ft^3. I guessed on the top roof cone for height at about 0.8. That gives me a roof volume of 11 ft^3. So a grand total of 270 ft^3 or 2.1 cords. Not surprising since I know it took 4 truck loads to bring it to my house, but still kinda seems low for the amount of effort it took. I was messing with some really big poplar though so that made the splitting (all by hand I might add) tougher, and not being able to really set aside a block of time to really work on it non-stop made it seem like alot more work.

 

[bullittman281]

how big is the dolmar on proud display? Did you get lucky and find a home depot one? Inquiring minds are curious.

 

[bsearcey]

how big is the dolmar on proud display? Did you get lucky and find a home depot one? Inquiring minds are curious.

Its a home depot 6401. Scored it for $141.

Here's my post when I first got it.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=141904

I see you have the BB. How do you like it? I'm thinking of going that route, but just a little hesitant. Definitely upgrading with either the OEM or BB.