Stacking Logs for Firewood

[crazyal]

I used pallets for a year or so but they rot pretty quickly and then just become a mess. Now I use pressure treated 2xwhat ever. Usually Home Depot will have some in their cull lumber box for real cheap.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I'm gonna say something that may surprise you: You do not want stacked stems neat and orderly. They are much easier to cut up when askew as opposed to neatly stacked where one log after another gets in the way of your sectional cutting. I purposely stack my stems this way as it speeds the process for me. You'll notice they are staggered and tilted. I first noticed this on the job and how sloppy piles got cut up faster than neat ones. Everyone's different with different ocd quotients they must adhere to. By the way, these are on old railroad ties

I have to agree with you here, having spent a lot of time recently cutting logs out of a pile that was stacked by an excavation service. There are several advantages to a messy pile. First, it is easy to get a hold of one end of a log to pull or roll it out of the pile. If you have a cant hook or a peavy hook, you won't easily get a hold of a log that is nestled in with a bunch of other logs, but if its end is sticking out, you can get a grip on it. Second, if a log is cross-wise with another log, you can often see-saw it very easily because it will tend to be balanced on its midsection. This will allow you to move a big log by hand that you could never lift if it was not teeter-tottered. Third, if you can't get a log out of the pile at all, you can just start cutting rounds off the free end until it's light enough to move.

If you have a grapple and can easily place the logs wherever you want them, then stack them neatly. But if you will be breaking down the pile by hand later, a messier pile may be better.

As for the suggestion to stack them in rounds: I wouldn't do it, but that's just me. I hate, hate, hate having to stack wood more times than I have to. I cut logs into rounds and leave the rounds in big piles that I dump out of the bed of the truck and then pile up with the loader. Then I split the rounds out of the pile and stack the split wood as I go. Seeing the messy pile of rounds motivates me to get splitting, whereas if they are neatly stacked, I tend to forget about them and then they're not ready to burn when I need them.

 

[arrow]

I have to agree with you here, having spent a lot of time recently cutting logs out of a pile that was stacked by an excavation service. There are several advantages to a messy pile. First, it is easy to get a hold of one end of a log to pull or roll it out of the pile. If you have a cant hook or a peavy hook, you won't easily get a hold of a log that is nestled in with a bunch of other logs, but if its end is sticking out, you can get a grip on it. Second, if a log is cross-wise with another log, you can often see-saw it very easily because it will tend to be balanced on its midsection. This will allow you to move a big log by hand that you could never lift if it was not teeter-tottered. Third, if you can't get a log out of the pile at all, you can just start cutting rounds off the free end until it's light enough to move.

If you have a grapple and can easily place the logs wherever you want them, then stack them neatly. But if you will be breaking down the pile by hand later, a messier pile may be better.

As for the suggestion to stack them in rounds: I wouldn't do it, but that's just me. I hate, hate, hate having to stack wood more times than I have to. I cut logs into rounds and leave the rounds in big piles that I dump out of the bed of the truck and then pile up with the loader. Then I split the rounds out of the pile and stack the split wood as I go. Seeing the messy pile of rounds motivates me to get splitting, whereas if they are neatly stacked, I tend to forget about them and then they're not ready to burn when I need them.

Josh you bring some good informational aspects as to whys of this. I would also say to the average lay guy cutting wood from stem piles is to be very careful how high you think you want this pile. These things can be treacherous to actually be on or under. If you have equipment that is picking out the logs before cutting that is one thing. If you are cutting directly from the pile, I'd make multiple piles only 3 or 4 ft high.

 

[arrow]

Here's what I decided to do:

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/209943-3.htm#post3889813

Well bless your heart S but that would make me nuts to do. On the flip side, that's why a guy like me would call on a guy like you if more exacting info would be needed on anything more exacting.

 

[Lou66]

You could just rick them,, we did that a lot when I was a kid,, the only heat or cooking we did was with hickory,, sometime oak.. but mostly hickory,, we would cut down around 20 trees in the winter for next year.. take three of the trees and chain the small end together, then walk then up in a tee pee stand,, laid the rest of the trees again those three,, base to the ground small end up,, it would help the tree to stay dry and not rot,, plus you didn’t have to pick it up off the ground where snakes like to lay.. lol.. later we got electricity and propane,, we were in tall cotton then.. we raised peanuts by the way,, still had an outhouse and a well.. Lou

 

[vtsnowedin]

I would use three logs. They are not sacrificed as you will saw them up when you are done some time. Use logs long enough to stick out of the pile on the side you want to saw from. Put the thickest one in the middle and the others about five feet on either side. Then when you go to cut up your logs you can roll the top log from the pile with your tractor or a cant hook working from the end of the pile (for your safety) out onto the skid logs where you can work on it about waist high. The high log in the center will reduce pinching but you will have to saw the blocks between the two outside skids part through until they begin to close up then when you have the whole log part through roll it a half turn and finish them. This keeps the log up off the ground while you are sawing it and away from any pallet nails or concrete blocks that will dull your chain. Clean up / split/move your blocks out of the way before starting the next log. I do go at the ends of a pile first and saw off any blocks that are a handy height and in position to saw with my feet on the ground but other then that it doesn't take much longer to roll out a log, mark it for block length if needed and hew off any gobs of muddy bark to save chain filing time.

 

[joshuabardwell]

These things can be treacherous to actually be on or under. If you have equipment that is picking out the logs before cutting that is one thing. If you are cutting directly from the pile, I'd make multiple piles only 3 or 4 ft high.

It's true. Honestly, I think a lot depends on the nature of the pile. The pile I've been working on has been mostly trunks, about 10-12' long; the tops have been piled separately by the excavation service. This is a whole different situation than, for example, if these were freshly felled trees, where there might be branches or other trees under a lot of tension. The pile of trunks is not perfectly neat, but with a little care, I can usually identify a "free" log that can be easily rolled off the pile. I always try to identify a log on which no other logs are resting, to avoid a cascade effect. I spend a lot of time studying the pile and thinking about which should be the next log I free, and what is going to happen when I push on it or roll it.

If I can, I roll from the side of the pile, using the cant hook, so that any unexpected rolling goes away from me. The worst is if I have to climb up onto the pile to get a log free. I'm very, very careful to try to pay attention to where I'm standing and to make sure that the log I'm freeing is going to roll clear of the pile without affecting any of the other logs. Again: if I'm uncertain if something is safe, I try to fall back on cutting the sticking-out ends off of logs until they are light enough that I can easily move them. This is not totally benign, but since the ends are sticking out, there should be nothing resting on them, and so cutting them off shouldn't have too much effect. The main danger here is using the chainsaw in tight quarters, where nose contact and kickback may be a concern. Also, I have to be a little careful not to get hit with the rounds as they drop off and roll off the pile, but that's not too hard.

 

[s219]

Have to be logged in to that site to see the pic.

Here we go:

 

[dave1949]

Here we go:

View attachment 313896

Thanks. That looks good to me. Cutting rounds from that should work fine. There is even room to make a small undercut to avoid pinching on the down cut.

 

[muddstopper]

Here we go:

View attachment 313896

To much handling for me. By the time I stacked that up, I could have had it cut into fire wood.

For logs, I just lay a couple down on the ground and then turn the rest 180 degrees and stack on top. I usually use the FEl to pick up one end when I get ready to buck, but I sometimes just use a canthook to roll a log out of the pile and will buck it with it resting on top of my runner logs. Keeps the saw out of the dirt that way. I hate bucking wood in piles. Seems you are always stumbling around on rounds you have already bucked.