Hey folks- Decided to really give it a go and get ahead this summer. I’m building a wood storage platform in the backyard to hold 9 cord of wood- which would cover the roughly 3 per year I use. Here’s my first load towards that effort.
I hope you get there. I've been burning wood here that's 3yrs old, for the first time, and it does make a difference. Takes space mgmt creativity, at times. It takes time just to css, then the wait. It takes a fair amount of work. Good excercise. I hope you have some wood for the next couple of years. The drying chart in "resources" will help, if needed, based on the wood you are putting up. Where do you get your inventory from? May the wood gods be in your favor.
I've been scrounging. Some of the stuff I get is from friends/ family that take trees down- but recently I've been getting in touch with arborists and landscapers and have been able to get wood dropped off. Facebook market place has also been a good resource. I've been on this site for a bit and have been making some good use of the resources, but I don't really have good wood just yet. That was a big part of deciding to get in on this longer term plan. Looking forward to getting the storage rack built in the back yard. It wont be perfect, but I'm going for it!
Looks like you have a great start! I'm sure your rack will be entirely serviceable. You will see a difference for the better in your 3 year old firewood! Also, if a hard winter comes around, you have no worries with that extra 2 years of wood.
lookin good RGrant! From humble beginnings. Looks like a prime drying spot as well. Sounds like you are well on your way. All of those are good sources and you will be able to pick and choose wood to your liking.
Congratulations. You will never be sorry for the 3 year plan! As for the wood rack, don't forget that you really don't need one. Just cut some small trees or get some landscape timbers or something similar to lay on the ground and stack on that. Contrary to what some say, cribbing the ends really is easy and that is all you need to do. Cheap, easy and it works plus when you take the wood, you are not left with anything; no ugly pallets to contend with and even no shed but it is each to their own. Here is a 3 year supply. Pictures taken from different angles. Also note what the wood is stacked on. Total cost for this wood rack was $0.00. You'll notice one pile got shorted. lol
Awesome on the solar set up. I see I'm not the only one to notice. Glad you're ramping up to the 3 year plan. Did you do the solar install yourself or have it done? We're thinking of going solar, and as much as I would love to do it myself, wrestling 30 panels up on my roof seems more like something I would have tackled 15 years ago... More power to you for heating with wood AND going solar! Wood is a great source of stored solar energy.
Regardless of where people are- their particular locations offer some benefits and come with some limitations. So philosophical lol. I'm blessed with a south-facing home with no trees impeding my roofline so I've got full sun all day. Going solar was a good move for us, especially because I was unmarried at the time and I think 31 at the time. So I was in the new house and it was something I could do. I personally didn't put the panels up there, I hired a local company. Married now, and with our first baby on the way, my wife and I decided to get rid of the old hatchback I had (I still miss it) and I got a plug-in electric car. I also use a Stihl electric saw most of the time. It's the MSE 170, but I also have a 271 for when I'm not at home and can't plug in. The big limitation I have is my yard has a short but steep hill in the front, so all the wood I get back to the house needs to be hauled up the hill, through the gate and into the back yard. The whole yard is small .15 acres- so space is limited. I like the timbers being laid down- when I can get my wood cut to predictable lengths I'd like to go with something like that, but as it is I've got wood cut to all sorts of ridiculous lengths. A good buddy of mine who's in his 60's (and has never been wrong once, if you ask him) helps me cut and sometimes he cuts log lengths seriously 5 or 6 inches long. Ridiculous- but he's helping me and not really worth the argument. A buddy of mine that runs a sheet metal fabricating business dropped off some serious pallets. They're 10 feet long and some of them are about 4 or 5 feet wide. So I busted them apart and pulled the nails out of them so I'm going to build my rack out of those in the back yard. I've got some planning to do.
I get my pallets from a sheet metal company out of Branford. Been doing business with them for many years. They get some nice 3'x8' hardwood ones ive dismantled to burn at times. I use mostly 40"x48" size for stacks. Sometimes ill make 48" cubes for shorts/nuglies. RGrant try contacting mrfancyplants as he has a similar logistical problems with hills and smaller yard. Maybe he can give you some ideas.
I went through this big push a few years ago myself, the bulk of it is linked in the thread link in my signature. I used to stack on 4x4 timbers I got for free from Facebook marketplace, by searching for people getting rid of cedar fences. The fences make great kindling. I kept having stacks fall over from frost heaves so I came up with these racks. Out of the almost 18 cord I have stacked, only one section fell over this winter, and that was from the blocks sinking into the mud during this pathetic excuse for last winter. Simple pallet firewood rack It's a great feeling to know I have another year or two of wood CSS currently, so my back isn't against the wall for the coming year, even if I get stuck in a lock down and can't get out and cut, I'm still all set. Good luck with the scrounging, it never hurts to ask, I've gotten some great scrounges by cruising around looking and posting on local Facebook pages.
Looking good RGrant ! One word of caution from my own experience. Be very mind full of the gaps in the pallets if you step on them. Very easy to get your foot caught, twist an ankle in them. Many years ago my mother broke her ankle that way while stacking wood. Looking forward to seeing the progress pics!
Looking good. Great start. If you have any extra boards, close in the gaps on the floor some, that will also make your floor stronger.
buZZsaw BRAD T.Jeff Veal Redneckchevy That's exactly what I did! Good advice. And these things were pretty big. They're from a sheet metal manufacturer and are 10 feet long, about 4 or 5 feet long. I busted up about half of them to make use of in a couple of different ways. One way was to build these racks- the other was to cut them up and burn them both in my stove and out in the back when having parties.
