How to build a Holzhaufen

[ctlovell]

Interesting link to Mother Earth News and an article on how to build a Holzhaufen woodpile. I might have to give it a try.

(broken link removed)

 

[Cath]

Here is a recent thread on this topic.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/11355/

~Cath

 

[Cearbhaill]

That's the Holy Grail of woodpiles IMO.

I totally aspire to be able to build one someday, but don't think it is possible with our amateur splitting techniques- a splitter would give us far more evenly split splits. Our splits are so wonky it's hard to build a normal stack, much less this kind.

 

[woodconvert]

Dumb question to anyone that has "built" one....does the wood dry as good as it does in a single row type stack?. They sure look cool.

If nothing else, loosely stacked it'd make a fine ground blind.

 

[Todd]

From my experience, An HH dries wood any faster than straight rows. But if you don't have the room for long rows the HH can fit alot of wood in a small space.

 

[fish]

i second that . my grandfather tought me how tobuild one. i was told by him that the most important part is that the bark face down untill the top 2 rows wich helps the drying time and also the top rows help shed water. also the center is higher than the sides. as for drying ive used this type of stack many times and can not complain.it dried willow witch i use for kindlin in about 6 month.but in a normal stack it takes about 2 years for it to dry to a 18 percent water content. seeing that willow is almost double the water content tan ash fresh cut . i would say thats pretty good . and give the stack a try but dont give up if it starts to become unstable the higher you go. once its done its solid and good luck