Holz Hausen on Plastic Tarp?

[WarmGuy]

I'm going to build a Holz Hausen, and am wondering whether I should put an old plastic tarp under it.

Thoughts?

 

[velvetfoot]

I've been doing that for my stacked wood. It's on somewhat of a hill so it does drain. I'm of the opinion that it keeps the bottom rows generally better since it isolates the wood from the ground but I haven't been doing this long enough to come up with a scientific opinion. I posed a similar question here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/4129/

 

[adrpga498]

I built my HH's on top of pallets. I thought it would help with the air circulation. Not to sure if I want plastic as a base, could hold moisture.

 

[Gooserider]

I would agree, I don't think a plastic sheet would make a good base for a wood pile unless you had enough of a slope to be really certain it would drain. Otherwise it would be like building your pile in a kids wading pool. Possibly you could use plastic and put some pallets on top of it, but I don't really think it would help....

I'd consider building an H-H myself, except that the Wiki article on how to do it never got finished (Hint)

Gooserider

 

[budman]

What about on a gravel base may be 3 or 4 inches.
If you don't want to make a mess of your yard you can use landscape fabric

 

[scfa99]

I would think the gravel base would be ideal.

Anyone have any experience with building a Holz Hausen on a hilly surface. My backyard has a bit of pitch, enough that once or twice a year my stacks lean and fall over as they dry out. I'm hoping if I can build a solid Hausen maybe I can avoid restacking (oh how i hate to restack). Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Highbeam]

Would there be a benefit to reinforcing the HH from the outside with say metal T-bar fence posts and/or a wrap of the sqare mesh field fencing? You wouldn't want to prevent settlement but a bit of reusable fence wrap might keep the stack upright.

 

[WarmGuy]

Thanks for the tips. I'll be putting it on the bark and other wood chopping debrist that sits on top of some gravel.

 

[Gooserider]

If you have gravel would it be possible to reshape the hill slightly to create a flat surface for the wood piles? Possibly bring in an additional load or two to build up the low side? You will do far better to have a flat surface to begin with rather than trying to stop a pile from falling over when it's built on a slope.

I would also still try to build the pile on pallets even with the gravel just to get the air circulation from underneath - that can make a big difference in drying time, or so I'm told.

Another approach to "leveling out" your hill might be to overlap the edges of your pallets to create sort of "terraces" or "steps" that would compensate for the slope. This might make it harder to calculate you stack size, but if it keeps the stacks from falling over that might be worth it.

Gooserider