How to effeciently stack firewood?

[esshup]

My buddy is in a quandry. He's building a large pole barn, with an apartment above it. He has a LOT of wood on the place that came from storm damage and it's slated for firewood. Wood burner upstairs and downstairs in the pole barn. There's so much that it won't all fit into the lean-to that he's building. But, that's not the quandry.

He's planning on building an enclosed lean-to on the South side of the pole barn. 12' wide x 68' long, 10' to 12' high. The long length runs E/W. Inside dimensions would be 11'x66' and still have some wiggle room. Right now it's still in the planning stages, but so far there are plans for a couple of sliding doors (either 7' or 14') on the South side, a 10'x10' roll up door on the East side, a service door to access the area from inside the pole barn and possibly a door on the East side. Lots of ventilation up high. There is woods to the West and South of the building, but the doors on the South side can still be accessed by a tractor. East side is where the driveway is. Concrete floor.

Now comes the quandry. What's the best way to stack/store wood inside of the lean-to? He's got a tractor with a set of forks, and a pallet jack. So, putting the wood on pallets is a possibility, but I don't know how to utilize the height of the lean-to without having the wood on the pallets tip over.

The next question is how do you load the lean-to so you can use the wood first in first out?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Cheesecutter]

I have a 30x16x9 lean to I use for wood storage. I divide it into 3 10 foot sections. I stack it floor to ceiling, back to front, criss-crossed on the ends. One thing to keep in mind is if you stack up against the walls the wood will settle and push the walls out. I'm not sure how to stack skids in there unless you could fine warehouse racking.

 

[066blaster]

i would do 2 rows on each side 6' high and a path down the middle would get about 20 cords in there. it wouldn't be fun getting it out though. unless you always pull from one end. or 2 rows on one side and 1 on the other, would leave you 5 foot for small tractor, or wheelbarrow, or something down the middle.,

 

[greendohn]

first in first out can be a hassle for my shed. It's 16'x25' with an 8' sliding door in the middle of one wall.
Not only first in first out but I also try to segregate my good woods, ie. hedge, pecan/hickory, locusts from the average wood, ie. ash, walnut, cherry,,
DOORS!! the best solution I have come up with is more sliding doors. I should have put a dual sliding doors on the front and maybe sliders on both ends.
You can make sliding doors pretty much weatherproof and about any size you like. It hasn't really been enough hassle for me to start framing additional doors yet but it's something I have thought about.

 

[autoimage]

make sure the stacks have good airflow through them I packed mine too tight when first built and the stuff in the middle hissed out moisture after 2 yrs of being in there

 

[GeeVee]

Stackage Smakage.

Ought to be thinking about a dumbwaiter to send splits upstairs.

 

[NSMaple1]

If it goes in dry, FIFO doesn't matter. And it's possible to put one pallet right on top of another with a FEL, long as it's piled decent.

 

[Philbert]

Hope he's planning real good fire escapes for an apartment over a pole barn with several cords of firewood stacked inside or next to it - not just a path through the pole barn.

If he wants to rotate the wood, the easiest way is to palletize them in cages that he can move around - sometimes you can find these used.

Philbert

 

[Joesell]

I have all my wood stacked in metal totes. The totes are 4' High but I stack it over the top to about 6'. If you only stacked to the top of the tote, you can easily double stack them, and if he got a fork lift, he could triple stack them.

 

[cre10]

Do you guys have pics of the metal totes and cages you put wood in?

 

[Cheesecutter]

Do you guys have pics of the metal totes and cages you put wood in?

something like this
http://rockford.craigslist.org/fod/4331050331.html

 

[066blaster]

something like this
http://rockford.craigslist.org/fod/4331050331.html

That would get expensive. Maybe he could stack it all outdoors and a month before winter move a winters worth of seasoned indoors. Then all summer you could use the space for other things. That's alot of space to just fill up with wood with a cement floor and all.

 

[Philbert]

That would get expensive.

He didn't ask for the cheapest way to do it. Within his constraints, it's a reasonable method. Cheaper than a conveyor.

Sometimes these types of containers can be found used, depending on where you are. Google 'used pallet containers', 'used bulk containers', and 'used super sacks'.

Corrugated cardboard ones are cheap. Plastic ones are available. Sometimes an auto parts manufacturer closes a plant and the metal ones are sold for scrap. Sometimes plastic chemical tanks have their tops cut off and work as bins. Fabric super sacks can also be used.

As long as he has a forklift, it is an option.

Philbert

 

[esshup]

Unfortunately, no forklift, just forks on the tractor and a pallet jack. But, you guys are giving me ideas to pass along. The whole south side of the lean-to could be designed with sliding doors, so the sections could be loaded from outside when they get emptied out. Leave a walkway between the pole barn and the palleted wood in the lean-to. There will be a service door in the side of the pole barn to get to the lean-to without having to go "outside".

And yes, there will be an outside stairway to upstairs.

 

[lefturnfreek]

Kids stack efficiently when told they should do it if they wana be warm this winter and would like to be inside enjoying it....

 

[Joesell]

I'll get a pic tomorrow of the totes I use. I see them all the time for $40 each. If your patient, you can get them for $20 - $25 each. It might seem expensive, but to me it's worth it to be able to move a 1/2 cord at a time from the drying area to the wood burner.

 

[Jules083]

As of right now im stacking rounds outside on pallets, I'm almost 2 years ahead. So they are dry. Under my porch is basically a lean-to for this purpose, so here's a picture of how I stock it.

Pallats 2 wide, haul the rounds to the splitter and let them pile up. As it goes just move the splitter back and add more pallets. Splitter stays under the porch. I can store over a month's worth of wood here, but usually whenever the main pile isn't snow covered I'll replenish the porch. It works good for me except for the mess. In th spring I just spend a few hours cleaning the bark up and hauling everything to the burn pit.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[GeeVee]

Reinforcing wire for concrete slabs makes fast cages on standard wood pallets for a handful of fence staples and some hog rings.

I will look for AS Member CANTOO 's recent post somewhere else on an unrelated topic that has one in the picture.

 

[GeeVee]

On the right hand side, pallet with some wire mesh....

 

[Joesell]

I forgot to get a pic today but I found this one on Craigslist. I just yank the plastic tank out and use the cage.