First time holz hausens....how long will they last?

[kbrown]

Well, I have no clue as to how to build a holz hausen, but since I have an abundant supply of maple, I thought it was worth a try. Started the third one this past weekend; have to go back and stack what I split the rest of the day. Since it's not at my house, I don't get much time to work on it. The maple was cut last fall and stacked all in 10-12' log lengths, but I am starting to wonder if it will go bad before I can buck it all. Anybody have an idea about how much wood is in each stack? They are about 5' diameter and just about 6-7' tall. Love the fact that you can throw all the cut offs in the center! With the supply I already have at home, we don't anticipate burning this for another two years. Will it last that long or should I start thinking of selling off some?

 

[red oak]

Well, I have no clue as to how to build a holz hausen, but since I have an abundant supply of maple, I thought it was worth a try. Started the third one this past weekend; have to go back and stack what I split the rest of the day. Since it's not at my house, I don't get much time to work on it. The maple was cut last fall and stacked all in 10-12' log lengths, but I am starting to wonder if it will go bad before I can buck it all. Anybody have an idea about how much wood is in each stack? They are about 5' diameter and just about 6-7' tall. Love the fact that you can throw all the cut offs in the center! With the supply I already have at home, we don't anticipate burning this for another two years. Will it last that long or should I start thinking of selling off some?


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As to how much is in each stack, I used the formula for volume of a cyliner and got about 118 cubic feet. Consider that it is not all wood so lower that a bit, so maybe 4/5 of a cord or so in each. If the middle goes all the way up to 7 feet you could say it's a full cord probably.

As for how long the maple will last, I'm not sure exactly, but I would definitely recommend getting it off the ground and somewhere dry if you could.

Those holz hausens look good, I'm getting ready to build one myself - never done it before either. The kids saw one recently and wanted me to build one, so we'll all work on it together. We'll use yours as a model!

 

[blades]

Looks like they are on concrete, so should not be a problem. I had one set up 20x15x10 ft for two years mixed wood on asphalt, no problem stuff on the bottom was as good as the top. getting ready to do it again for 2015 winter. By the way it was not in a particularly ideal position as it would end up in the shade at least 1/3 of the day. Wind was ok most of the time though which is more important. It would work better if you set it up on a bunch of pallets, that way there would be better air flow from bottom to top.

 

[ScotO]

I'd hate to build any holz hausens......I like the way they look so much that I'd hate to burn any of the wood from one!

 

[firefighterjake]

Nice first attempts -- very nice actually.

I tend to build at least one each year . . . mostly because I get bored after awhile of building the traditional stacks and I find it enjoyable to build at least one . . . and while there are no real benefits for me it is a conversation piece . . . and confirms to family, friends and neighbors that I have gone over the edge.

I'm not really sure how much wood would be in your holz miete . . . I figure mine are equal to a cord, but I stack on four pallets set down next to each other so the radius is about 8 feet.

Typically I build them up . . . and then tear them down the following year. The one I built last year is still standing for this coming year as I didn't need to tear it down . . . a shame really since there is some nice locust in that stack. I suspect it will be fine for another year as it is off the ground on the aforementioned pallets.

 

[albert1029]

I've only made this small one. I'll build a big one this year.

 

[Wood Duck]

I think yes, maple will last a lot longer than two years as long as it is stacked off the ground. When you build holz hausen make sure the outer ring of splits is sloped inward. It looks like some of your outer ring is not sloped enough. In my holz hausen I sometimes see parts of the outer ring bulging outward as splits shift outward on the splits below them, which is possible only when the splits below them aren't sloped inward enough.

A 5 ft diameter circle has an aea of 19.6 sq. ft, and if you have stacked 6.5 ft high that means you have 19.6 x 6.5 = about 128 cubic feet of wood. A cord is 128 cubic feet of wood stacked 'tightly' so if you have stacked tightly you have a cord. If not you have a little less than a cord in each stack.

 

[CageMaster]

if i had the room that is how i would stack

 

[golfandwoodnut]

You can see my trophy one (that is gone now) in my avatar. It was a 10 foot diameter one and could be several cords (8 foot high). It was on pavement and would last as many years as you would want. The bottom pieces will still attract some water being on cement, but no problem. They are a great conversation piece and painful to tear down.​

By the way are you sure they are only 5 foot, they look a bit larger than that. If so you have more wood than you think. I heard in a 4 pallet one you can get about 2 cords, and looks about your size.

 

[Jack Straw]

Very nice....I cheated and used a fence

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, I have no clue as to how to build a holz hausen, but since I have an abundant supply of maple, I thought it was worth a try. Started the third one this past weekend; have to go back and stack what I split the rest of the day. Since it's not at my house, I don't get much time to work on it. The maple was cut last fall and stacked all in 10-12' log lengths, but I am starting to wonder if it will go bad before I can buck it all. Anybody have an idea about how much wood is in each stack? They are about 5' diameter and just about 6-7' tall. Love the fact that you can throw all the cut offs in the center! With the supply I already have at home, we don't anticipate burning this for another two years. Will it last that long or should I start thinking of selling off some?

Kbrown, I know not why you would be worried about that wood going bad on you, especially after only 2 or 3 years. Looks like you have soft maple and we cut a good amount of that too. It will get extremely light within a year and very dry. However, that wood will not go bad for many, many years. We've kept soft maple for 7 years or more. Burns great but does not hold the fire quite as long as other hardwoods. btw, this also makes some of the very best kindling. I love making kindling out of soft maple using the hydraulics. It is amazing how fast you can make a pile of it.

 

[kbrown]

Good to hear about the maple Dennis; cuz there is still A LOT left to buck. There was a total of 10 maples taken down; some had been growing for over 60 years. Happen to know that because my Dad had planted them when they started to build on the property. I just took a guess on the diameter, it may be more/less on one or two of them. I am really amazed at how much conversation it starts - gets the neighbors out and talking! LOl

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Kbrown, here is one more little tidbit on the soft maples. They are one of the rare ones that will dry in log form! We many times will cut soft maple during January-March for the deer. They love the buds and will clean up several trees in one night. So when we have a hard winter, we give them treats to help them through the worst of the winter, which is late winter. Leave them 2 years and the whole thing will be dry and actually some will begin to turn to punk by then. Still good enough for firewood but leave them 3 years and one may as well leave them in the woods. Cut them up right away, split and stack them and you have wood for many, many moons without going punky. Danged pretty leaves in the fall too.

 

[Jack Straw]

Man Backwoods you are a wealth of knowledge, and I need all the help I can get...thank you!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Don't worry Jack. I too need lots of help.

Ha, my wife just read what you wrote and said I'm nothing but an old *%^#$%^^.

 

[adrpga498]

My HH's only last 2 years . Then they crumble into the woodstove. I approve this message.

 

[walkerdogman85]

I would like to build one sometime. Are they hard to build? And do they take up more space than just stacking?

 

[Poor Doug]

They aren't too tough to build, just takes a bit longer to stack.
Mine is on 4 pallets, 7'W x 7'H. Not sure how much wood it contains, maybe 1-1/2 cord?
Center is a good place to dump your uglies, smalls, beer cans, etc.
Bottom line, it just looks cool.

 

[keninmich]

Poor Doug.......thats just showin off!

 

[firefighterjake]

I would like to build one sometime. Are they hard to build? And do they take up more space than just stacking?

First one or two takes a bit more time than a conventional stack as it is a learning process in figuring out how to angle in the splits and stack in a circle . . . but it's not rocket science.

In theory you can stack more wood in a smaller space . . . but in reality I think that's only if you go up to the point where you start to need a step stool or ladder to stack the wood -- and for me personally, I don't want to stand on a ladder to build or take down one of them so I keep mine relatively short.

As Poor Doug mentioned . . . there are a couple of other benefits as chunks and uglies can just be tossed into the middle instead of waiting to stack them on top of a conventional stack . . . and of course there is the "way cool" conversation piece.

 

[CT-Mike]

Here is one my son and I built about 3-4 years ago. It is on a 9-pallet grid and ended up being about 10' tall and 10' in diameter. Doing the math comes in just over 6 cords.

 

[iskiatomic]

Hey, Poor Doug. It does not look like the roof of that holtz is comeplete? What's the story?.....Don't give me the same ole, dad, doug, dad, doug, dad, doug story again..........


KC

 

[Poor Doug]

It's in the works. Need a patient person to hand me slabs while on a step ladder.
Still haven't found that patient person yet.

 

[firecracker_77]

Here is one my son and I built about 3-4 years ago. It is on a 9-pallet grid and ended up being about 10' tall and 10' in diameter. Doing the math comes in just over 6 cords.

Nice stack and good looking dogs

 

[firecracker_77]

I'm building a mini Holz. That does it!