Holz Haufen (hauzen) or straight rows of wood?

[Todd]

I did an experiment a couple years ago to see which dried faster, a HH or straight rows. I found little or no difference between them. I was a little worried about the wood inside the HH drying, but it did just fine. If you don't have the space to store firewood a 8'x8' HH will give you 2.5-3 full cords. The HH is cool lookin but I found straight rows 6.5' high work best for me.

 

[mainemac]

Archer 292

That looks beautiful.

As a scientist I can appreciate a controlled trial. Check the wood at 3 6 9 and 12 months to see the water content from each.

Now if you could have it blinded by inviting a friend over to measure the wood from "A" pile and "B" pile you could publish
in Nature !


Tom

 

[Todd]

I did an experiment a couple years ago to see which dried faster, a HH or straight rows. I found little or no difference between them. I was a little worried about the wood inside the HH drying, but it did just fine. If you don't have the space to store firewood a 8'x8' HH will give you 2.5-3 full cords. The HH is cool lookin but I found straight rows 6.5' high work best for me.

looks like that roof will dump rain on the HH=not fair?
ive seen conical woodpiles where the wood is vertical & i wonder if the vertical helps gravity drain moisture from the wood.

Actually there is a rain gutter on there, so runoff isn't a problem.

 

[grizzly2]

Until I got on this forum a few weeks ago I had never seen a holtz hausen. Neet Idea. must be German or Amish in origin. I would love to be able to dry wood without using up precious garage space. I'll have to give it a try sometime. :coolgrin:

 

[BurningIsLove]

My first HH (holz hauzen) didnt fall, about 6' round by 6' tall (at present). It was a bit of a pain to build once it got tall, as its tough to put the vertical splits in.

my primary mistake was not realizing the vertical pole w/ the centering board attached to it got knocked over slightly by the vertical splits I was putting in, so it does slowly migrate to one side, but not enough to make it unstable. I actually can use a step ladder to stand on top of it.

 

[iceman]

what about staking tee-pee style ? is it worth it? does it work as well as hh or row stacking?

 

[BurningIsLove]

It wouldnt be nearly as space efficient for a given amount of surface area. One reason alot of people choose to spend the extra time building a HH, besides the obvious good looks, is that they might not have the equivalent space for racks.

 

[Vic99]

Going to take a crack at making one of these chipmunk condominiums in the next couple of weeks. Just scored nearly a cord of white birch from a neighbor after yesterday's high winds.

 

[d.n.f.]

So are you basically sacrificing the first row as it is in ground contact and will be wet?

 

[moondoggy]

So are you basically sacrificing the first row as it is in ground contact and will be wet?

no, you still should use pallets or something to keep it off the ground.

"no wood shall die rottingly!"

your only sacrifice is time when you keep having to build it when it falls...
i think my next haul i need to try the HH stack.

 

[dac122]

Maybe its just me, but the Holz Haufen looks like a better place for critters (down inside) than a typical stack. I have a big problem with wasps, hornets, bees and mice.

Any experience with critters?

 

[Vic99]

Hence the name, Chipmunk Condominium.

 

[archer292]

I just got a call from a friend of my wife. Seems he just had a 150 ft maple dropped and wants it gone. I see another HH on the horizon. I have a few questions for anyone who has built these before. Is it true it doesn't need to be covered? I tried to use fairly large splits with bark on them for the top of the one i have pictured earlier in this thread but I'm not convinced covering it wouldn't be beneficial. Allthough I guess a cover could interfere with the air flo. Oppinions? I also want to know what the HH builders use for the center post? I used an 8 ft straight sappling my nieghbor had just cut. It started at maybe 3 inch diameter and tappered to nothing. I was under the impression that the post was to keep track of the height not to lean against. I got it done leaning the pieces on each other, and it seems to have worked.
I'll post some pics when I finish it.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I've built a few of these. You'll do well if you ensure the splits lean to the inside as you go up with it, which means you gotta put horizontal stuff in there as you go around, you'll see once you get started.

If it's green wood I wouldn't cover it, at least until fall, and when you do cover it, you'll find just how nicely the right size tarp ties down over it, sweeeeet!

Oh, and I never used a center stake, I just stuffed as many splits and smaller pieces in the middle that I could.

 

[Turner-n-Burner]

one more vote for straight rows...

I built a Holz my first season.... Looked great. Neighbors loved it. Cars slowed down to look at it.

Raccoons started hanging out on it, and one fat f*&ker;started digging into it.... see attached. I put it back together the best I could, but the one side got more sun than the rest and dried/shrunk faster - had another blowout. That was enough for me.



-Dan

 

[stihl044]

I think I am going to try one. I am a bit limited on space, so seems like fun to try. As far as raccoons, shoot them. Archery equipment works great in town, or a Louisville Slugger, but I guess I do live in SD, some of that stuff is a little more acceptable here.

 

[archer292]

The only reason I built the first is the space factor. It holds a lot of wood in a relaively small area. I live on " trendy " Long Island, as someone put it and my plot is only a bit over a 1/2 acre so I need to take advantage of the space savings. As far as the critters go, archery equiptment does work well but it's tough to hit those chipmonks on the first shot. It's funny though, when you walk by the HH you can hear how much panic you're causing. Actually, I see more action from the birds than anything else. The point about the sun only hitting one side and it shrinking faster sounds like it could be a concern. I don't have that much choice as far as location so I guess I'll have to see what happens.

 

[savageactor7]

Archer I don't think the shrinkage caused Turners HH to fail it was the Racoons...so as you're building yours sprinkle some moth crystals in the first 3ft or so and you should be fine. btw we have families of mink that inhabit our wood and we're pretty cool with it. Never had raccoons mostly cause we have 2 dogs I guess.

I'm the guy that just bucket loads my wood into a monster long pile then makes a tent out of it late in the fall...but we live out in the country where you can get away with that.