At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

I may have enough wood cut and split to finish this season. I am now working on next season's wood. I am going to create a round stack called a holz hausen. Here's an example of a picture I found on the internet.



I pulled my trailer of bucked logs and log splitter to the round stack location.



As I started making the outer circle, I noticed the outside end of the logs tended to tilt downward. As I added more logs, the tilt got worse. So I started making adjustments by cross stacking logs to fix the tilt. Here's how far I got.



Yesterday I checked out YouTube to see how other people were handling the tilt issue and realized that I may need to scrap my stacking job and start over. There appears to be a better way to build the round stack than my first attempt. I don't want my stack to fall over when it gets taller.

 

[dave1949]

I think the holz hausen in the picture would be better if all the pieces slanted down and out, not level, or down and in. That will improve water shedding. Consider that not a lot of air is getting to the wood in the center regions of such a pile.

 

[Danno1]

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I agree w Dave about the water shedding.

I also thought those were supposed to be conical (like a teepee). Or maybe I'm confusing that w something else.



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[Obed]

I think the holz hausen in the picture would be better if all the pieces slanted down and out, not level, or down and in. That will improve water shedding. Consider that not a lot of air is getting to the wood in the center regions of such a pile.

I agree w Dave about the water shedding.

I also thought those were supposed to be conical (like a teepee). Or maybe I'm confusing that w something else.
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Dave and Dan,
Here's a YouTube video called where a guy addresses this very concern. He takes apart his holz hausen after some rain had occurred to see if the wood was wet. He had built the stack one year previously.

Obed

 

[dstig1]

Most bench vises have jaws that are screwed on from the inside face of the jaws. Assuming yours does, just unscrew them, use as a template for thicker wood ones, and you are good to go. Use longer screws or countersink/bore them deep enough to reach. You could probably drill and tap it yourself as it is probably soft cast iron, if you don't have bolted on faces. Or some polyurethane glue should work well, if you just want to glue them on.

I have that same stump vise that I use in the field. No bar damage from the screw, but you don't need to torque it to death to hold the bar either. The bigger risk is when you release it, the weight of the saw causes the bar to drop straight down, banging your freshly sharpened chain on the throat of the metal vise...So you have to support it before loosening.

Obed - don't ever put your hand on the log you are splitting, like it appears in that one pic above. That is how bad things happen, faster than you can react. Even on slow hydraulic splitters. Worst case you need to hold it from rolling off, but should let go once the splitter makes contact. Even that can be a bit risky if you get distracted. From your TBM Safety:cop:

 

[dave1949]

Obed,
Stack your wood as you like. I have tried, tarped, untarped, teepee and regular piles about the size of two cords of wood. In all honesty, if you don't have to hurry the curing time, it isn't going to make that much difference in an area that doesn't get persistent rain and fog. Tarps can trap as much moisture as they prevent. Oak doesn't really begin to season until it is cut and split. Birch does better if kept dry since it rots quickly. So, the results are dependent upon the species to a degree.

I have found dampness in the center of larger wood piles, and I think the wood on the outer edges probably seasons faster than the wood inside. There is a difference between surface dampness and moisture content. Surface moisture evaporates, internal moisture leaves through cell walls. I think good air movement and sunshine are your best help. There is really no reason or benefit to sending water into the pile if you can just as easily send it out.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I agree about not tarping. I let my wood season a year then in the fall move 3 ricks into the garage and barn to keep it dry and more importantly from freezing together.

As for stacks I do 18" long pieces stacked 5' tall between two trees about 8' apart.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

I agree about not tarping. I let my wood season a year then in the fall move 3 ricks into the garage and barn to keep it dry and more importantly from freezing together.

As for stacks I do 18" long pieces stacked 5' tall between two trees about 8' apart.

Chris

 

[radioman]

I dont do anything fancy to stack my wood. I just criss cross the ends so I dont need to pound posts at ends. Put bark side up or "frown down". The only thing I like to do is stack two rows next to each other for support. I just make sure its straight by eye going up so it wont fall over as it cures.

 

[Obed]

Ice Storm