Stacking firewood on guard rail

[jolj]

I've been collecting used cement blocks for 40 years or more and have lost very few over the years to breakage. I must have about 400 or so at this point, most in 3 stacks in various places on the property.

They hold up extremely well in contact with the soil and provide for good air circulation under the stack.

Yes, I am a fan of using recycled cement blocks for stacking firewood. They are really not that difficult to move and I do move a few out of the way for stacking in the back of the woodshed. The dimension of my wood shed doesn't allow for much of a gap left at the end of the blocks but easily a couple of inches can be gained by leaving a gap between blocks. I also like that the 8 inch width of the blocks can support the ends of two rows of firewood. I make sure of course that the bottom of the rows of firewood that the wood is long enough to span the gap between rows of blocks but once the base is started shorter pieces can be easily stacked and 'odd chunks' can be dropped between rows and do not find their way to the ground.

I'm like a preacher that won't shut up about blocks for stacking firewood!

Sorry about that, and the bragging.

A couple of more photos. Each of the 8ft X 8ft bays hold about 3 plus cords stacking to over 6ft high sometimes.

Stack of extra blocks.
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Blocks moved for stacking in the rear of the woodshed:
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Woodshed from a distance:

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I have one truck load of used blocks, they do not rot, so they are good to keep until you need them.

 

[ELM]

I learned a trick from my father in law years ago. He has a dowel rod that he cut to 16 inches. He used sidewalk chalk to mark the tree before cutting. It doesn't take much time to mark and it makes it nice to know the wood is the same size.

I also use plastic pallets to store my wood on. I got them free at work.

 

[tla100]

Lets take a step back for a minute. What are you expecting the guardrail to do exactly? What's it's purpose? If you're just trying to keep it off of the concrete so that the firewood on the bottom of your stack doesn't rot so fast, then why not just lay a pair of treated 2x4s on the ground? In the off season you can wipe them down with used motor oil before you stack on them again. If you need them farther off the ground then maybe consider used RR ties. I think those cost around $16 each at my local Rural King, but that is a 2018 price.

I store my firewood in the form of logs that are 7' to 8' long and I move them with my tractor (loader with forks). My forks are 4' apart, so each stack of logs sits on a pair of RR ties that are 6' apart. Plenty of room to easily get the forks under the logs so I can pick them up and take them up to the house where another pair of ties lays in wait next to my wood splitter.

I just spent $30 each for some railroad ties

 

[jolj]

I just spent $30 each for some railroad ties

That high for ties here.

 

[sb47]

I stack my firewood via homemade metal racks and metals cages I grabbed from menards. It is just a hodge podge of a set up and I'm looking for something nicer. Tried pallets...plastic pallets too but was not much of a fan of them. I am looking at 12" wide guardrail in 26ft lengths. Anyone tried this? My wood is anywhere between 10in to 18in in length...I know but just can't cut nice even lengths. My stacks are on old concrete that is crumbly but still useable. YOu can see a rack behind the camper

I have a few of those guard rails about 15 feet each that seem to work very well for stacking wood on. They work great as long as you put the front face up so the rails don't catch and hold water. I was able to get a bunch of used treated 4x4's for free and I cut them into 48'' pieces. I use t post to divide my stacks into 48''x48'' stacks. They were free and work great and last a long time.

 

[cookies]

Think I might try putting a want ad out for old bed frame angle iron to try next year. It would last longer than the $7.00 "ground contact rated" garden timbers that rapidly rot and bugs eat. I have been using regular pallets and the really heavy duty ones more and more but they can be very cumbersome to move and get to sit flat on uneven ground tho I can get a measured cord to stack easily on two pallets put together. What I like about longer single stack rows is air flow, the wood dries out much faster and rats/mice etc do not build homes IN them but may try to live under them. What I like about pallets is you can just drop two on the ground and start stacking wood, their capacity and the way tarp dimensions really fit them well.
none of my stuff is stacked on concrete or under a structure, anything less than 2 inches thick the ground will start to swallow after 6 months and your wood will be touching grass/dirt etc.

 

[fields_mj]

Think I might try putting a want ad out for old bed frame angle iron to try next year. It would last longer than the $7.00 "ground contact rated" garden timbers that rapidly rot and bugs eat. I have been using regular pallets and the really heavy duty ones more and more but they can be very cumbersome to move and get to sit flat on uneven ground tho I can get a measured cord to stack easily on two pallets put together. What I like about longer single stack rows is air flow, the wood dries out much faster and rats/mice etc do not build homes IN them but may try to live under them. What I like about pallets is you can just drop two on the ground and start stacking wood, their capacity and the way tarp dimensions really fit them well.
none of my stuff is stacked on concrete or under a structure, anything less than 2 inches thick the ground will start to swallow after 6 months and your wood will be touching grass/dirt etc.

I started off going that route. My property line/fens row behind the house was on a slight ridge. I dozed part of it off to give me a flat area about 30' long and 8' deep and then put down about 4,000 lbs of stone to try to keep things from sinking into the ground so badly. At that point, I could get away with using scrap treated 2x4s. They still get pushed down into the ground, but it took a few years. If I were still using treated lumber for the job, I'd let it dry for a few months in the summer sun, then give it a few coats of used motor oil and let that soak in before I put them into use.

For the RR ties, I stack almost 2 cords of logs on a pare of ties and they don't sink it at all

 

[ETpilot]

This is my setup. I made 2 cattle feeders about 20 years ago. Not needed now so I repurposed one for firewood. Works well. I’m getting ready to repurpose the other one. They are 20‘ long but I’m going to cut them in half, so 4 10 footers. I can stack 2 rows 18”. They rest on cut RR ties. I’ll see if I can lift them stacked.

 

[kevin j]

I put down a pad using staves from an old concrete farm silo that I got for free. Each stave is about 3 feet long 10 inches wide and 3 inches thick approximately.