"show us your woodpile" photo contest

[MattB]

Results are in and up on our website. Check them out. We got some great entries, and will do it again next year.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[savageactor7]

A low maintainance hasty wood shed.

Doesn't look like much in that zoom photo but that's 2 1/2 - 3 years of wood under that 40x 20 tarp...the wood sits on a 6" gravel pad and is 'piled' 12' +-.

 

[raybonz]

A low maintainance hasty wood shed.

Doesn't look like much in that zoom photo but that's 2 1/2 - 3 years of wood under that 40x 20 tarp...the wood sits on a 6" gravel pad and is 'piled' 12' +-.

Great way to store wood for short money! Very good idea for an inexpensive way of covering up your supply... I think a heavy duty silver tarp would last longer at least with all the wind I get here!

Ray

 

[LLigetfa]

Good idea with the A frame. I thought of doing something similar but with a rope between two trees but then the trees died from my leaning the wood against the bark. Thought of leaving the dead trunks like poles but SWMBO vetoed it right quick. Blue was a BIG NO NO too for aesthetic reasons and eventually even silver fell out of grace. Was eying up camo netting at one point.

 

[savageactor7]

Oh thanks guys. Here's the pile we're using this year...it's smaller, the tarp is 20x30, it's about 7-8ft high in the center so you can walk in with a wheelbarror after awhile. Ray is right about the tarps, back in the day I got a good 2 years out of them maybe a 3rd with mending. Now the gromlets fall out after a week... so next year I have to upgrade to heavy duty. I'll do silver, we're out in the sticks so I'm mostly looking for function over looks.

 

[myzamboni]

Savageactor7, you should get some of these for tarps: http://stores.ebay.com/PointOne-Premiums_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsxQ3asstQQtZkm

 

[LLigetfa]

Here is an old photo of my woodshed and beside it, the remnant of one of my old tarped woodpiles. I would lay down long skinny logs spaced for airflow and then build a floor out of more skinny 5 footers perpendicular. the two ends were large stacked rounds with skinny 5 footers cross-piled between them. I then topped them off with more long skinny logs to form the roof and drape the tarp over it. In the summer I folded the sides up to let air through and lowered them in winter to keep snow out. It would hold 3 cords and I had two of them. The woodshed holds 12 cord.

 

[savageactor7]

Savageactor7, you should get some of these for tarps: http://stores.ebay.com/PointOne-Premiums_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsxQ3asstQQtZkm

well thanks I went in and that's the material I want..."5x stronger than HD tarps" they advertise. Only fly in the ointment is they don't have gromlets...and I've been lashing with gromlets forever and believe it or not they don't have our 2 critical sizes. 30x20 and 40x20. Anyway that link got me thinking about the thickness in mills so it's a step in the right direction.

 

[fossil]

It's easy to install grommets yourself. You just need the tool. Punch a hole wherever you want, then position the two halves of a grommet, give the upper part of the die a rap with a hammer, and you're done. Buy the tool sized for the grommets you'll be using. Nothin' to it. I've done it in canvas to re-cover patio chairs. My dad showed me when I was a kid when he made covers for his boat. Rick

EDIT: Here's an example of a decent kit:

http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-2-Inch-Grommet-1260-4/dp/B00004T7VZ

 

[LLigetfa]

There are several products that you can use without making holes in the fabric. They work like garters for nylon stockings.

 

[savageactor7]

Rick that tools good for replacing gromlets but to put them in every 20" on a huge tarp could be time consuming but that good to know. LLigetfa's on to something with those tarp holders...hell with them I could even hasty repair my current tarps...never heard of them LLigetfa, thank for the heads up. Next year thicker tarps or tarp like material are in order.

The thing I like about tarps is that they are simple to throw up and relativly inexpensive...but now even buying a half way decent tarp is becoming an effort. I just feel bad for taking tarps for granted all these years...they did a good job and that was that.

 

[LLigetfa]

What I like about the tarp holder is that when you fold a big tarp in half, there are no grommets on one side and the other three sides most of the grommets never line up but it doesn't matter. The poor mans way is to stick a pebble on one side and tie a string around it from the other side. It's just too hard to find pebbles under three feet of snow.

 

[raybonz]

Rick that tools good for replacing gromlets but to put them in every 20" on a huge tarp could be time consuming but that good to know. LLigetfa's on to something with those tarp holders...hell with them I could even hasty repair my current tarps...never heard of them LLigetfa, thank for the heads up. Next year thicker tarps or tarp like material are in order.

The thing I like about tarps is that they are simple to throw up and relativly inexpensive...but now even buying a half way decent tarp is becoming an effort. I just feel bad for taking tarps for granted all these years...they did a good job and that was that.

I bought these when I bought my heavy duty silver tarps and I couldn't make them fit with the heavy tarp mat'l.. Maybe they work OK with the lighter tarps...Try before you buy too many..

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93740

Ray

 

[savageactor7]

Ray do you know what mill strenght your silver tarps are...and did you lose any gromlets yet? And thanks for harbor freight link too earlier I registered on the EZ grabit page but after shopping it refused to recognize my shopping cart. I try again tomorrow...or maybe I'll stop at HD/Lowes.

 

[raybonz]

Ray do you know what mill strenght your silver tarps are...and did you lose any gromlets yet? And thanks for harbor freight link too earlier I registered on the EZ grabit page but after shopping it refused to recognize my shopping cart. I try again tomorrow...or maybe I'll stop at HD/Lowes.

I have only one tarp grommet loose so far (not at the corner which are reinforced) and this a tarp suspended 12' and subject to heavy winds.. They are very sturdy and GooseRider mentioned them to me a while back as they are what he uses too.. Here is a link on the tarp specs:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=30871

Here is a link for the NY store locations:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/retail_stores.taf#NY

Ray

 

[myzamboni]

Rick that tools good for replacing gromlets but to put them in every 20" on a huge tarp could be time consuming but that good to know. LLigetfa's on to something with those tarp holders...hell with them I could even hasty repair my current tarps...never heard of them LLigetfa, thank for the heads up. Next year thicker tarps or tarp like material are in order.

The thing I like about tarps is that they are simple to throw up and relativly inexpensive...but now even buying a half way decent tarp is becoming an effort. I just feel bad for taking tarps for granted all these years...they did a good job and that was that.

Actually, if you mark where you are going to put the grommits, you can literally bang out the grommiting very quickly. what I don't like about the plastic grommit/hook things being posted is plastic gets brittle over time in sunlight.