I'm hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year, so I was hoping to have it done by then, but it's going to be close. I almost finished the base of it today, but I ran out of daylight. I've really only been able to make progress on the weekends because of these short days. Finished splitting up the locust that I'm putting into the base. Even split up the splitting stump. Made for one of the biggest loads of splits I've ever had on the trailer. Luckily it only had to travel about 50' to the stack! Did 2 trailer loads like this this weekend; didn't get a pic of the first one though. Pretty close to a full cord! Set in the last of the "deadman" cross braces. Got most of it stacked, and snapped a couple pics before it got dark. This is about as tall as the base will be - there's enough splits left to even it out, and that's about it. 5 day weekend coming up - should have plenty of time to finish it up! Stay tuned for more c/s/s !
I was shooting for 4'. It's 10' diameter, so the volume at 4' would be 314.159 cuft. Nearly 2.5 cords. I'm at 3.5' now; just over 2 cords. About one trailer load short of a full stack...
I'd say you could probably go a little higher if you wanted, at least chest high maybe. It looks like its structurally safe.
It's already getting difficult to place the splits into the center. I'm probably going to need a ladder to complete the "roof". I'm planning to top it off with some cherry and give it a "thatched style" roof - about 3' high. Should take 2/3 cord.
Thanks! My grandfather built it back in the 50's. I think he got the design for it from his military days. That trailer has been hauling wood for 60 years! [EDIT] The pic is of an M101 military trailer.
Nice. And they certainaly are a crowd pleasure- betcha' everyone who sees it notices it and comments about it. I noticed you chose the spoke design where all the wood points toward the center. I went the other way and stood all but the outside ring vertically. I have no idea which one, if either type, works better but I found the vertical centers easier to stack. I am on the 'other side' and breaking my second one down to burn, got through about 1/2 of it today to load the porch. I like them a lot and will continue to use them. The ones that work best for me are 80" X 96" (sort of an elipse because of the size of the pallets, 40" X 48"), and stacked about 6' tall. I did not bother with the cross posts but did use small splits around the outside to keep the pitch of the outer ring inward all the way up. With the center filled with wood and the outer ring bearing against that wood, they really do make a very robust woodpile that I do not think any weather (and I live in hurricane alley) could disturb. Brian
Its got some looks from the neighbors. They think I'm building "Wood Henge" or something.. I wasn't hoping to improve the seasoning time - I plan to sit on this at least 3 years. But I do think it will dry nicely in there. Gets good air flow no matter which way the wind is blowing, and it will get it's own built-in top cover. I wanted to make it big enough that I could get a nice tight stack - I think they're stronger and look nicer. Consumed a lot of pallets though. I also wanted to try to do it without using the pieces lengthwise around the outside like most people use. I've managed to keep it level by strategically placing the ugly pieces in the outer rings - ones with a knot at one end are especially valuable for this. I'll actually split the knot right in half on those ones, so I could get 2 pieces shaped that way. So the center is mostly filled with the perfect splits, not the uglies, like most people toss in there! Didn't bother leveling the center ring, I just let it tip against the inner one. The roof will sort of "emerge" from that center ring, and build outwards. The deadmen were probably overkill, but I've heard of people using 2x4s, and I thought it would be cool to use branches instead, and make them part of the stack. Picked out 6 of them that were perfectly straight. I am having fun building it. I'll definitely build one again after I use it up.
I think it's good insurance to use them. I cut a tall and straight 4" maple and use those as cross braces. Most of the time they probably aren't needed, but you never know how the wood will shift as it dries and shrinks, so it adds piece of mind.
