I've tried everything from chalk lines to "T" squares to 4 irons to get my stacks to look as good & straight as many member's here. Not much success yet, still trying. What's your secrets to the perfect stacks?
No secret and no perfect stacks here. One should never forget the main idea is to stack the wood in such a way that it will dry nicely and no rot. It also should be stacked fairly solid because freeze/thaw still takes a toll, but if it is stacked right, it should still stay up. I can't really recall trying to make a stack look pretty but they aren't necessarily sloppy either. But there are some members on this forum who must take lots of time to make a really neat stack.
Had one fall over a few years back One problem was it was 5' high Main cause was over about 6 weeks, we'd had a series of earthquakes & during a good jolt, part of the stack finally couldn't take it. Now I lean the row toward each other to where they touch at top. Helps stability + reduces s the snow in the middle.
I've had 4 fall over since we starting burning, my problems have been stacking in areas that are not level, I usually use pine needles for leveling but they only last so long. I have some Beech that was stacked in 2010 that might go this winter, if the middle stack goes we might have four NY face cord down or part of it, it will get burned next heating season.
Lotsa near perfect stacks on here. All I know is mine are good enough to dry and stay standing, and that's all I need
My stacks are far from perfect. I stack a few rows together and try to get them to lean against each other. I also don't crib the ends, so my stacks look more like a trapezoid than a cube or rectangle. They will not win any contests for sure. But since I don't know of any that give cash rewards, I'll stick with what works.
I lean them inward too Dave.. Not pretty but much more stable! If they don't fall down then they are pretty to me
Great looking stacks as usual dave, even when warped a bit. Tell me thats a sluice box in the second pic.
You could use one of those helicopters with the big ole circular saws that the power companies use to trim power line cuts
I've thought of stacking against a sheet of plywood to get a nice flat wall. Some day I might actually make the effort. I'll go push mine back sometimes when they start leaning and they invariably do.
Right on the mark those nice pretty stacks don't burn any better or make more heat, but I must admit they sure do look good.
My old boss had straight stacks on his Kenworth, I thought that's what this was about. Anyway, I can make mine straight and don't worry about it.
My wife does most of the stacking, she feels it's her job so who am I to complain? That being said, it all ends up as ashes. All that matters to me.
Kinda It's for garden "Gold" For screening done (cooked ) compost I mixed several loads of HM in with my compost . HM was on a gravel pad,the guy loading got a lot of gravel. So I screen it to get out rock & stuff.
Seriously though, I make a little extra time to stack straight because of the length of the stacks. I put a little northward lean in 'em now so that once they start shrinking, they end up fairly straight upright by the time they get used. I'm gone through a few variations, and what I do now seems to work well, and I've only had a little of a couple stacks fall because the posts broke. The newest stacks are only 12' long to maybe help avoid some of the bow that develops in the middle of a drying stack. I eyeball the posts to line 'em up. Haphazard stacking seems like an invitation to having firewood on the ground instead of in a stack getting dry. I've seen that happen.
