# Stacking vs. piling wood - how much difference in space?



## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 14, 2010)

Yes, I know it's been discussed, but searching just got me a bunch of posts in the 5 word thread and a few other oddballs. 


So, stacking neatly vs. just piling it up: How much more room does it take to pile a cord vs. stacking a cord?

I'm planning to build a woodshed, and I'm thinking of making it long & narrow (8' wide) and putting a door on each end, and just piling it in there. This would save a ton of time. The shed will be built with pallets (walls and floor), so there would be plenty of airflow.

Another advantage of piling is that I can toss my shorts in there with the rest of the wood. I won't need another "chunk bin". I have a lot of this because most of my wood is already cut to oddball lengths, so I have to trim it. I wind up with a lot of good firewood in short chunks. Way too much to just give away!


Whatcha tink?


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## LAH (Aug 14, 2010)

Mark piling is great. It does take up more room. If memory serves a stacked cord is 128 cubic feet. A tossed cord is 170-180 cubic feet. Like I said if memory serves.

I like the two door plan. Put in one door, take out the other. Change doors each season so you burn the older wood each year............Creeker


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## J.W Younger (Aug 14, 2010)

I had a stack fall near the end of last years heating season.The woodshed was near empty anyway so I just started tossing it in the shed since they were calling for more rain..Now my shed can hold 2.5 cord stacked and still have room for some of my furnace tools, but tossing it in the stack would barley fit.
I say to be on the safe side you need a shed 2 times the cord space stacked you use, if piled.


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## Ohiowoodguy (Aug 14, 2010)

A "thrown cord" of 16" firewood is 180 cubic feet, 18" is 195 cubic feet, 14" is 160 cubic feet. Search "thrown cord" and you'll find references from OSU and a few eastern states.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 14, 2010)

LAH said:


> I like the two door plan. Put in one door, take out the other. Change doors each season so you burn the older wood each year............Creeker





Yep, that's the plan!  I'm going to make each door a dutch door, with solid hinges and latches. Wood fence type latches, or the like. Heavy duty. That way I can pile up against the door almost to the top of the shed, and when I need to start hauling wood out, I do the top first (Stand back!), and take out what I can reach, then open the bottom door.


Sounds like some good numbers, folks. That's what I was looking for! Thanks to all!


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## Wood Doctor (Aug 14, 2010)

Marc, I think that saving space is not really the crucial issue here, even if you have lots of land space to build big piles of wood.

The wood dries faster and doesn't rot in the center of a pile if you stack it. More important, after last year's lousy wet winter, most people found out that the wood is much easier to remove from a good stack than it is from a random pile that's completely covered with snow and ice.

In short, you have to eventually vend whatever you collect.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 14, 2010)

Well, the idea is to put a roof on it, so no snow and ice to deal with. I'd be sizing it for one winter's worth of wood, and build a second one for next years, so the wood wouldn't have time to rot.

Besides, it would have airflow from underneath as well as from the sides, so I'm thinking it won't have a rotting problem. I'll have a pallet floor, and it will be raised up on cinder blocks with heavy plastic on the ground to keep the ground moisture in the ground (not in my wood!), so there will be plenty of airflow from below.


The nice thing is, if I size it for piling, and find it's not working out, I can always go back to stacking.


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## smokinj (Aug 14, 2010)

Wood shed I would take the time to stack it..


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## carvinmark (Aug 15, 2010)

[QUOTE=BlueRidgeMark; That way I can pile up against the door almost to the top of the shed, and when I need to start hauling wood out, I do the top first (Stand back!), and take out what I can reach, then open the bottom door.

I like the double door idea!


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## savageactor7 (Aug 15, 2010)

We throw our wood on the pile while the splitter goes to the return cycle. I happen to split small so I can throw up to 12 feet.

No way anyone could stack a free standing file of wood 12' without a chance of a catastrophic failure. But in a pile may only harmlessly landslide a few splits.

However Mark doesn't mention how high his shed will be. I guessing from the other dimensions it wont be high ...like a pole barn.

Best bet for Mark then is to *stack* his wood for max capacity.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 15, 2010)

savageactor7 said:


> We throw our wood on the pile while the splitter goes to the return cycle. I happen to split small so I can throw up to 12 feet.
> 
> No way anyone could stack a free standing file of wood 12' without a chance of a catastrophic failure. But in a pile may only harmlessly landslide a few splits.
> 
> ...





8 feet high. That's the size of the pallets - 4' x 8'. With pallets for floor and walls, I'll have plenty of airflow, even in a shed.


No question that stacking is the most compact. I was trying to find out how much storage I would lose if I toss instead of stack. I'm trying to weigh the benefit of not stacking (time saved) against the cost of needing a bigger shed.

Then there's a safety issue. If I stack 7 feet high, and a stack falls, that ain't good. Like you said, a pile doesn't fall over the way a stack can.

Since a lot of my wood is crotch pieces, it doesn't stack very nicely, either. I'm doing well to get 4 1/2 feet before they start getting unstable, so I just might wind up with BETTER capacity in a shed piled to 7 feet high or so.


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## zipper1081 (Aug 15, 2010)

Mark I lined my wood shed with 4x8 pallets. I works great but the ones on the floor tend to get broke when you throw wood in on them.


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## ct greenman (Aug 15, 2010)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> Yes, I know it's been discussed, but searching just got me a bunch of posts in the 5 word thread and a few other oddballs.
> 
> 
> So, stacking neatly vs. just piling it up: How much more room does it take to pile a cord vs. stacking a cord?
> ...



I have the same deal with the chunks of small wood. This shed,shack,lean too thing holds about 3.25 cord and cost $70 for plywood and 2x3's and Thompson Waterseal.


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## LAH (Aug 15, 2010)

When you get her done Mark, send me a picture....................Creeker


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 15, 2010)

zipper1081 said:


> Mark I lined my wood shed with 4x8 pallets. I works great but the ones on the floor tend to get broke when you throw wood in on them.





Yeah, I'm thinking about how to avoid that. One thing I plan is to add slats between the existing ones so there's less of a gap. (I will leave some gap for air circulation.) That alone will help. AND, the pallets I've scrounged have 3/4" oak slats - they are not wimpy at all! 

I also plan to reinforce the runners. I'll double them up with treated 2x4s screwed into the existing ones. Roof will be a conventional slanted roof. That's where the only real expense is.





ct greenman said:


> I have the same deal with the chunks of small wood. This shed,shack,lean too thing holds about 3.25 cord and cost $70 for plywood and 2x3's and Thompson Waterseal.




Nice setup, ct, and cheap! 




LAH said:


> When you get her done Mark, send me a picture....................Creeker



I plan to photo-journal the whole thing, start to finish. Like they say, if there are no pics, it didn't happen!


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