There is a thread in which someone had a stack to lean and fall. That got me to thinking about stacking wood and if there are different thoughts on how to stack wood. I have just started so getting some information up front may help me to avoid mistakes. My first stacks of wood I stack the entire stack crisscrossed because it made the stack self-supporting. I stacked as high as I could reach which would be around 210 cm and made it twice as deep as the length of the wood splits. I have yet to make any sort of wood crib.
I normally will throw 2 pallets down, stack 2 rows and crib the ends, usually 4ft tall or just under so that I have almost no worry of falling stacks. The reason I only stack 2 rows when I could easily fit three is because of the size of the galvanized steel roofing I use to top cover it. 2 rows on 2 pallets means only 1 piece of steel is needed and I don't have to slope the stack any particular way to keep the water out of the stack. I however have plenty of pallets and room to put them, so if space is an issue this might not be best
I've never had one fall yet, though I've got one that I think would have had I not jammed a pallet against it for additional support. I think the root of that problem is that the pallet is disintegrating. I've started building some of my own pallets - and given the 7' skid length on this one, I dont think it will ever sink very much. And I think that's the primary cause of most stack tippage. So I think it starts with a good foundation. Then I like to "crib" my ends - partially for looks, cost (nothing), and because I think it can be more stable than t-posts. I like to reserve my straightest pieces to use in them, but once you get a couple levels high, sometimes a crooked piece that's shaped just the right way can bring everything level again. If you want them really really sturdy, make sure the splits sit flat and aren't "tippy" when you place them; and if they are, shim them up with some kindling. After the cribs are up, I fill in the middle with splits running the "normal" way. Holzhausens are fun too. But it took me a couple months to stack this one up. I didn't want to set any splits "tangent" to the ring as you'll see in many of them. So I sort of had to "custom" split many of the pieces, so I had plenty that were fat at one end and narrow at the other. The knottier pieces were actually really handy for that - probably if you had a really gnarly yard tree, you could build an excellent holz.
The only holz hausen I have seen done here locally was on the old foundation of a corn crib. They just followed the outside edge of that concrete pad and made a large one.
For what it is worth, I've stacked wood since I was a little boy so that means almost 70 years that I've been stacking wood. So far the record is doing quite well because I've had only one stack fall in those 70 years and still don't really know why that fell but I suspect some foul play. Below is that stack that fell. Below is how we normally stack. Lay down 2 small saplings that we cut in the woods. Size not that important here but in wet areas I'd say it would be good to get a minimum of 5" off the ground. Stack on that, cribbing the ends. Stack to 4 1/2' in height and our rows are 9 to 9 1/2' in length. The stacking is usually done in April and we just leave them as is until around Thanksgiving or early December; before snow piles up. At that time we top cover using old galvanized roofing. We simply throw uglies on the top of the roofing to hold in place. Then we leave the wood that way for 3 years or more before buring it. We've not found a better way to do it yet. The Holtz do look nice but they take a lot longer to build and a bit more of a problem as you start to un-stack it when taking the wood to the house. It has been said that this method hastens the drying but that has proven to be false. The only benefit is that it looks different and some love the way it looks. One other drawback is that, contrary to what some have stated, it does take more space to stack like that.
I've seen that here, in Nebraska, too. Also have seen them just fill a corn crib up with splits using a loader.
I do it like Mr Curry does. Not the holzhausen, but the cribbed ends and stack between style. It works well. Kimberly , I think it's funny that you refer to heights in centimeters when you show you're from Virginia. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just funny.
i stack on scrounged skids sitting on the concrete apron around what used to be a swimming pool. we filled the pool in this year. after it settles there will more room to stack where there used to be water. cribbed ends and filled in with less perfect splits is also my method.
I worked this up today. Take care on the two outside splits of each level of cribbing that they dont rock and are slightly taller than the ones you put in the center. I can stand on mine and they will hold for the required three years time.
