Why is it that after I stack wood, (perfectly mind you) split or whole that after a few months I go back and the pile is ready to fall over? is it the sun on it, or drying on one side, or could it be little wood fairys trying to knock my wood over.
Also last week I was splitting Red Oak and the wife Laura was stacking in a stright row about 5 feet high, we did about a cord and went to sit by the fire and have some coffie, when we herd this noise like wood falling over, ALL FALL DOWN. she just dont get it, she cannot put a screw or nail in straight either and she still has problems with rebuilding carburators, good at a chain saw though.
Looks like you found a new wood source. They wouldn't miss a few Going over 4" it's tougher to keep them stable. I stack 2 rows & lean them toward each other, it helps with stability. A stick connecting both rows helps too.
That was a nice stack of pulp wood. We see some in MI like that too. As for the stacking, my wife doesn't stack (well, maybe occasionally a few pieces) because she can't stack worth a hoot. But with your's perhaps the 5' height was too much. We usually stack to 4 1/2' and then by fall it is usually down to 4' in height just because of the wood drying. Of course then after a full winter in the stack you have to deal with freeze/thaw which can wreck havoc on unstable stacks. If it becomes a problem one can put a long stick every so often to tie two rows together and make them a bit more stable.
I stack 5 ft high too and have run into those problems a few times. The pile drying and shrinking takes its toll on anything over 4-5 high. Becuase my space at home is limited I have to use the 5 ft high drying racks. I'm just a little more cautious in how I stack the wood now. No problems in the last few years.
It needs to have a stable foundation, like a house. I stack on pallets, so I start with some nice flat pieces on the bottom. If you were stacking on saplings or racks this might be less important. But the pieces should lay flat and not "rock". Then try to keep it plumb and level going up. It will move as it dries, but if the stack is level and has a good base you'll be fine.
Is that up in Duluth? I used to go up there a lot when I drove a truck all over the place. I feel like that looks familiar..
Yes you can see the lake Superior in the background to the right. And at the end of this pile you can see another stack of trees like this one. I was sad when I was there it was a little overwhelming how many trees there are cut down. quite the slaughterhouse for wood.
Came home last night and about 1/2 of a 2 cord single row stack took a dive. been expecting it for awhile. temps climbed up above freezing yesterday so the ice bond on the pieces let go. soon as it gets light out I will restack this morning. this was fresh cut /split elm so it has done some shrinking since first put up in Sept. additionally it gets sunbathed only on one side- which is the direction it caved into. sorry camera not here at present.
I've been told wood stacks lean toward the sun, my stacks do it all the time and I have lost a few but at 4 ft. they seem alot more stabil....
When I see one of my stacks leaning,,, I will take a piece of split wood right off the pile or get a hand mall and I hit the wood back in one piece at a time, a few pieces at the top than the bottom, and I do get that row straight again, I have walked up and used my body and hip to push a large amount straight at one time but that comes with the chance of, ALL FALL DOWN, and maybe even getting hurt a little, well if I dont get a little hurt every day than I aint working hard enough. On a very hard day of work, when I start passing out I know its break time. And from what I see, I know I am not alone in this club, hell it could be a motto.
My wife is the head stacking engineer. I lay down the pallets, pile the splits near by and she goes to work. If it was all up to me I would probably make a giant mountain and throw a tarp over it....
Yeah she is pretty good at stacking, has more patience than me for finding just the right way to lay the splits. She is a forester by training and tells me where to cut. If it were up to me I would start right behind the house and stop when I hit the back property line. I guess that isn't considered sustainable forestry...
40 degrees, I should have realized the ground may be a little bit softer today as the snow melted... Anyways, after an afternoon of splitting and stacking this occurred as I was putting the splitter away. Good thing I like stacking wood
Dats a lotta wood! All fall down. You know what they say. Practice makes perfect. I stack on pallets in long double rows. On each end I have a pallet standing up with a 45ยบ angle brace made out of simple 1x3 strapping. No making ends necessary after you have made these ends once. They hold up well. Leaning just the tops in a little toward each other does work well if you need to. My splits are so long at 22" average I don't have to worry about the piles tipping over. As long as you keep the splits level, they are sturdy stacks.
