Well I'm giving it a shot. Just got started stacking the silver maple I scrounged from the tree dump. I hope I'm doing it right. Also after picking up a few pieces of maple this morning while I was out with the dogs, I came across these. I'm thinking a crabapple. What do you guys think?
You got it. As long as it is solid and doesn't rock. The absolute best thing to make end cribbing out of is big rectangular splits. You can stack them up like Legos.
Good work there Schlot. They look like they will hold up fine. Another thing you may try, if you have not, is to put a pallet standing up at the end of your row with a couple of pieces, one on each side, of scrap wood boards at a 30-40 degree angle and a few nails or screws to hole it in place. Then you can stack away and not spend time finding just the right pieces and making sure the ends are just right. Both ways work well.
Good ideas guys. Looking at the picture I need to redo the top. It sure takes some extra patience in finding the right pieces.
Schlot, you have the right idea. Just a little change will work wonders for you though. Looking at the cribbed end, if you draw a line straight up from the end of the pallet, you will see that your ends are actually tilting out. That is bad because they will one day give out. If you do not stack it straight up, then make it tilt inward just a little and all will be well. The only other thing I don't like on the ends are stacking with the bark down. I've always had much better luck with the bark up. Of course the reason is if the bark is down, it can roll a bit and that is also why we don't use rounds on the ends. Well, we do fill in with some small rounds sometimes but the key pieces are the outside pieces in each row. Make sure those 2 inside pieces are smaller than the outer ones and it will be strong. One more thing is to look at the next to last row at the top. Both end pieces should be turned around; face the flat edge to the outside. And notice that outside piece how it is already rolling. That is a weak spot. Soon you will be building these without giving it hardly any thought and that is when it gets nice. Enjoy the learning.
Looking good Like said, a little inward tilt makes it more stable 4' high it a good "max" height for single rows.
If you have a decent pile of splits it usually not too hard to find nice square or rectangle pieces. If you are splitting bigger stuff its easier to get those nice pieces for the ends. I just sort through as Im stacking and put the good end pieces together and stack the cribbed end like Dennis said. And spread the rest out across the row.
