I"m looking for the pros and cons on freshly cut Oak firewood. Does the holz hausen style of stacking or the free standing style of stacking better. Which is better for the seasoning of freshly cut Oak firewood.
Here's an interesting watch by one of our own members here concerning holz hausen versus "traditional" stacking. Real world data, as I have never run such an experiment personally. Given that oak is stubborn to give up its moisture content, my own preference is to stack it in single rows wherever possible, or double rows on pallets with an air gap in between.
Two or three years of sunshine and wind with top cover to keep the worst of the rain off will be fine. Stacking in rows allows you to align the wood to take advantage of the available sunshine and the prevailing wind. It can take up a lot of room and needs end supports. You can get a lot of wood into a smaller space with holz hausens and they are self supporting. Some of the wood, on the shaded side, will get less sunshine.
Ha. The few times I bought wood I stacked it in traditional stacks outside on the driveway during the summer and then moved them into the tiny garage when burning season came around. The wood sold to me was green. Now that I stack in holz hausens, I cannot tell a difference really in drying time but there's lots of variables for that. What I will say is that the holz hausenss is way more stable. I've had only one hayden partially collapse and that was my fault for not maintaining the angle on a slope. Compare that to the traditional stacks that were more of a pain to create and also fell over many times due to wind. As simon said the hausens are self supporting and I really like that. I also like that most of the wood is shielded from rain as the top pieces shed most of the water off before it hits the pieces below. Sure the ends of the pieces on the sides get a little wet but I find that the wood gets less wet in a hausen for sure. I don't get a lot of sun since we have so many 75ft trees here so sun is not really a factor as much as wind is in the drying process. I like the fact that hausens take up way less space if space is a concern for you. If I had no worries about anything I'd go with which way pleases you the most and is easiest for you to construct. For me and my space restrictions that is a holz hausen.
I made my first two of these stacks this year. One is all Black Locust and the other is various Oaks and maybe some Cherry. So, we will see how it turns out. I am in no hurry to burn it, and it does work good for throwing all of the uglies in the middle, but I don't know if it's worth the trouble over all. I would say they are a little more time consuming to stack. You do have to take a few more pains in stacking to make sure it doesn't collapse, but not difficult once you get the feel for it. I may build another one, as I have a lot of locust cut and split on the ground right now, laying all over the countryside on the farm.
Whats a "hold Hayden's"? Is that a variable of the Holz Hausen? Ive stacked in Holz Hausens before and like it for the most part, but I wouldn't say there is a measurable difference verses a traditional stack in the sun and protected from rain. I do think they look nice.
On traditional stacks, I have been stacking with one side against my pipe fence, and then I take a wire and tie it to the fence and run it down the other side, effectively capturing it, to keep the wind from being able to blow it over, unless it a 90 mph storm or something.
Here is mine made of mostly cottonwood. The inside has a decent amount of Ash in it. All of this was split this past spring. And it mostly looks good to go for next winter, but I will probably let it season for an additional year.
Nice. I'd get some pallets under the next one you build. That will prevent some of those pieces from sucking up water from the ground. Also, if you make them slightly bigger you won't get some much of a pointy tip....it'll be more rounded = more stable!
That's just the holz out-hauzen. SD Steve - four pallets as a base in a pinwheel pattern has worked best for me.
I don’t think there is good data that it is more effective. I have noticed that what I stacked in 2019, fires up pretty quickly in the OWB. As stated before, oak may need some individual attention to dry better. I do the holsen haus for fun, and a nod to my German blood. They look kinda neat too.
I ran across an ad for these covers on Craigslist, neat but kinda pricey, $175. Firewood Cordwood Cover - general for sale - by owner
We did a square version of the hausen. Used it for some hickory we had in Jan '19 We did this one for tulip poplar in Feb '19.
Nice job Jeff!! As usual, the 2 of you always have some of the nicest stacks of wood. I like the idea of filling in the middle with chunks or splits. I stack the traditional way, and fill in between the cross stacks with the smaller chunks, or random stuff, works really well for me. I ''lace'' in pitch every now and then, so i always have it mixed in with the regular wood that's drying. Makes it handy in the fall if i need pitch, its always close at hand.
So we made two of these. 8' diamater, on a sheet of plastic cut to that size. Went to 6' tall on both. Cut a 10'diamater bit of plastic for the top. The first fell, not enough angle, so we rebuilt it, adding some more wood to it. The other one lasted longer. We got 2.5 cord in each, so yeah, saved some footprint. And it is awesome stacking the shorts and uglies inside. Having built three, I think they are easier than cribbing ends. Out wind is pretty good here...but it shifts regularly...so a stack that takes the drying wind from wherever it comes...works better perhaps than drying only when the wind is from one specific direction. That said, we have 10ish cord stacked in tripple rows straight. They're not for Use for at least another year or two. Sca
Ah, the great holz hausen debate. I assume that the whole "drying faster" take on hausen's was started by someone who wanted more likes and subscribes on their YouTube channel. There have been people who have done side-by-side experiments with holz hausens and conventional stacks, and in the end the the results show that the conventional stacks dry out a teeny tiny bit faster, but it's a negligible difference. Also, if you're going to make a big one, do it right the first time! I've posted about my hausen fail and had to restack it. What's great about holz hausens? They look awesome (my neighbors complimented me on mine) and they save on space in the yard. My hausen is just under 3 cords of red oak. Here she is covered in snow from the last storm.
