Show Us Your Wood Cribs and Fuel Storage!

[Dan Deter]

Spinaker I need a new round for splitting on, and unfortunately don't have any need to cut more wood for a while still. I need a tree to just fall out in the woods that I can cut the bottom of the trunk off of....

[Panhead John]

I got tired just lookin’ at all this! 😳

[Spinaker]

Give it a go, it will change the way you split wood for sure. Just try to get the largest round you can, to mount the tire on, and you will be good to go. Huge rounds won't fit in the tire, but you are more inclined to split those on the ground anyway and then place them on the chopping block. Dan Deter

[Dan Deter]

I like the tire idea...hardest part of splitting wood for me is picking it back up off the ground...

[Spinaker]

More progress was made this weekend on the Holzhausen. Friday night I started filling the interior of the circle with more knotty, long or curvy pieces of wood. I had some pretty stubborn and nasty pieces that I was more than happy to chuck into the middle. (In my earlier days, I would have kept chopping those into oblivion just to get a win.) I have about 8 inches of space between the pallets the wood is stacked on and the ground, so I should get plenty of airflow. As you can see, I stacked all the wood with the bark facing down. The idea here is that as the moisture leaves the wood during the drying process, it will not be trapped by the bark. (I try to remove all the bark from most pieces anyway, if I can) Doing it this way, moisture can more easily flow up and out of the stack. According to the book I have been reading, this stack creates a chimney effect; with air rising through the middle and drying the wood stack as the air rises. Plus, let's be honest, it is pretty damn cool to look at. I got tired of just stacking wood into a bunk or into a face cord stack. So this has been a rewarding and satisfying to build. I am really happy with it so far. There is truth in the idea that chopping and stacking wood gives you instant gratification. A lot of the stress and anxiety of the day seems to disappear when you are focused on chopping and stacking. This has become a safe haven for me. (just like BBQ) A place to go when I need a break from everything going on around me. It is just me, the wood and my axe. (Ripley hangs out too, of course)

I stacked the round to about 5 Feet and then really started to fill the middle. It is amazing to see how much wood the Holzhausen will hold. I would estimate that I split about 2 cords of wood this weekend in order to fill the sides and the middle. I split a good mixture of ash and oak. There was a little bit of boxelder mixed in there too.

The tire helps to hold the split pieces on my chopping block so I do not have to bend over after every swing. I secured the tire to the chopping block and four screws, so it will not slide off the stump. This is a game changer if you are splitting a lot of wood. (Info: The tire is a 275/R18)

I am going to use the bark pieces pictured below as the roof. These are off cut bark pieces that I chopped from large oak and ash rounds. The bark pieces are water proof and it should help to shed water from the top of the Holzhousen. I was originally going to use a metal roof, I and I might still do that, but I am going to try to go the traditional route and use the wood as a roof for now. I will stack them on top as if they were shake shingles, that should work just fine.

I need to add a few more pieces to angle the pile up from the sides. I will do that by adding a few more rows to the walls. However, instead of having the pieces leaning down towards the center, I will start to angle them upwards, towards the middle, as the middle pile grows. Then I can add the wood shingles to the top.


I won't be able to get down to work on it tonight, but I should be able to get some more chopping done on Tuesday night. I am looking forward to seeing how it looks when she is all done. I will post more results when I make more progress. Still more wood to be split down there!

"...what is most likely going through my mind as I address the chopping block these days-the idea that what I'm about to do connects me with history. It reminds me of who I am, and where I come from." -Roy Jacobson

[Spinaker]

I am glad you are enjoying it, Kathryn. It has been fun and rewarding to build. I should be able to crack a lotta logs this weekend!

[fzxdoc]

I'm really enjoying watching your Holzhausen take shape, Spinaker . It sure looks like a lot of work. But if, as you say, it's therapeutic and you feel gentled out when you stop for the night and head for the house, then it will be well worth it.
Me, I get tuckered out just looking through those photos!

Kathryn

[Spinaker]

Long day at the office, I got home late but I was able to get a couple of hours of splitting done. The holzhausen is really starting to take shape. I put in some cross members that should help to stabilize the stack. Although I feel like it is really solid so far. The a gain I am only half way up.

[Spinaker]

That is interesting. This is not sugar maple, it is silver maple. (950 -Hardness.) Lower sugar content than a sugar maple tree and not nearly as hard. (Hard Maple is about 1450.) If dried properly, it should not put your fire out, it should burn very well, in fact. Like oak, it must be seasoned properly to burn well, since it is so dense. Alan Brice

[RlsRls]

I see ya got the PK360. Looks clean, compared to mine! How long you had it and how you like it? What do you do the most on it?

[Alan Brice]

I guess your rock hard maple is quite diff from our sugar maple? Our maple is pretty sucky for fires and even smoking. Some maple here will put your fire out n suck up all the heat.

[Spinaker]

Just did some recon on silver maple down in the river bottoms. I have a few widow makers in the field. We harvested this section two years ago, and I was hoping this would have fallen by now. I am going to run a long rope on the tree closest to me in this photo. ThenI can pull that tree back with the skid. That should allow the other large truck on the right to slide down. with me well out of the way. All of the tree in this stand are about 50-80 ft so there is tons of wood to be had!


After all of that is done, then I can come back down and get to work making rounds. I love this silver maple, It is relatively softer than other hard woods, but it grows pretty straight, and thus splits easily. This small section of this stand has been standing dead for a few years, so it should be good and dry. And this stuff looks great when it is cut into rounds and I get it all stacked up and have it ready to be split.

[Panhead John]

It’s kiln dried wood chunks I buy in the bag, I’m not much of an outdoorsman. 😂

[Spinaker]

I mean you have more smoking wood stored up than 98% of the general population, so it STILL counts. Just like smokers......it can be an old kettle or a massive Jamba trailer rig, either way you are still making smoke!

The wood you are placing in those totes must be very dry in order to not release moisture in that heat. I suppose if it did happen, you could always drill a few holes in the lids to let moisture escape if needed. For the record, that is how I used to store my smoking wood too.

[Panhead John]

Spinaker No problems with mold. The main reason I bought the ones with lids is so I can stack em, and to keep out dust etc. You’re very kind to comment on my tongue in cheek post…..🤓 I’ll bet it was hard to come up with something to say about it….😂