That's my thought. At the very least, I would cut some of each and see if there is any difference at all. I burn E-W my Equinox because I find find it easier to load that way and the burn times seem to make no difference, even though I could load NS.
Stacking issues
- Thread starter Oldman47
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I am cutting for an "ideal" length based on the stove manufacturer's recommendation. I figure once I have tried it their way is plenty soon to go out and try things on my own. Meanwhile I will be doing some tile work this afternoon to prep the location where my stove goes in my new house.
jeffesonm
Minister of Fire
Ashful
Minister of Fire
My Jotuls take 22" splits E/W, or 12" splits N/S. I burn E/W. There is really no advantage of burning N/S, if it requires going to 12" splits.
splitting 12 inch long rounds is twice the work of splitting 24 inch ( unless you have a splitter that can't do 24" )You have to cut to length sometime. It's not more or less work.
I'd consider three rows on 40x48 pallets though, if you can get your hands on some pallets.
I'd consider three rows on 40x48 pallets though, if you can get your hands on some pallets.
If you really want to go with 12 inch splits, I would suggest larger splits. They should dry fine with the wood that short. I have many times built a 16 foot long five foot high stack from large 12 to 14 inch splits, split from the bottom rounds of my larger diameter trees, which my tree professional refuses to cut to longer length for my stove because he says they will be too hard to split. On my in excess of 30 inch DBH trees, the bottom few rounds are always around 12 - 14 inches. Stack the bottom three feet or so with large rounds, and then you can put much smaller stuff on top of that, and the stacks should stay just fine. Be very certain that you are stacking on level ground, though. I just cross stack the ends. Don't use any supports. Stack those short splits on pallets.
Tomorrow I will go and measure the distance between supports on my one and only Woodhaven rack. If they are close enough together to support twelve inch pieces, that would be an easy solution for you. The rack isn't cheap, but you'd have it forever. At 16 feet by 12 inches by a little over 5 feet, you'd get half a cord per rack. Comes with a very good top cover. Even if you need slightly longer wood, if you put a row of 16 inch splits on the bottom and 12 inch splits on every subsequent row, the rack would work well.
Personally, I would not want to toss my wood in a bin. Be a pain getting the wood out. Much faster if the wood is nicely stacked.
Tomorrow I will go and measure the distance between supports on my one and only Woodhaven rack. If they are close enough together to support twelve inch pieces, that would be an easy solution for you. The rack isn't cheap, but you'd have it forever. At 16 feet by 12 inches by a little over 5 feet, you'd get half a cord per rack. Comes with a very good top cover. Even if you need slightly longer wood, if you put a row of 16 inch splits on the bottom and 12 inch splits on every subsequent row, the rack would work well.
Personally, I would not want to toss my wood in a bin. Be a pain getting the wood out. Much faster if the wood is nicely stacked.
I have to wonder about the mfr's notion of "ideal". Doesn't seem "ideal" to have to do that much more cutting to get to 12" N/S compared to 16" E/W. Why do they recommend a N/S load?
Ashful
Minister of Fire
akkamaan
New Member
Buy one or more (3 and you can have one in the middle and 1 on each side) of these $10-$12 steel wire screens 48"x96", stack your 12" logs on both sides. Bind the two sides together with som steel wire. Now you have a solid 24" stack. The will last "forever". 
![[Hearth.com] Stacking issues](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fnorthofseven.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F05%2Fwm48_4.jpg&hash=40b3b52df76b7fd75f8acac97c674167 "[Hearth.com] Stacking issues")
Aren't we all deep down? Some just get er done!Oh look... he's one of those woodshed guys, now.
akkamaan
New Member
Or install permantly a section of a 4-6 ft tall chain link fence, and stack on each side of that. Tie both sides of stacked logs together steel wire, every 4-5 ftBuy one or more (3 and you can have one in the middle and 1 on each side) of these $10-$12 steel wire screens 48"x96", stack your 12" logs on both sides. Bind the two sides together with som steel wire. Now you have a solid 24" stack. The will last "forever".
roof it if necessary with a cpl sheets of cheap metal roofing secured with a cpl logs...
Woodhaven racks: from the outside of one bottom support to the outside of the opposite bottom support is 11 1/2 inches.
akkamaan
New Member
![[Hearth.com] Stacking issues](/talk/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-na.ssl-images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F61V89hISmUL._SL256_.jpg&hash=6c737bc4681082f4d0c9920b916d9e74 "[Hearth.com] Stacking issues")
OldLumberKid
Feeling the Heat
Have a metal rack almost identical to Woodhaven . Even though the distance between the runners is around 12 inches it still requires something around 14 - 16 inches minimum on bottom — with some overhang at each end for stability of stacking, since wood is not always even, especially axe-split. I ended up with a bunch of smaller pieces somewhere along the line, and those I stack toward the top. All the longer pieces saved for the bottom and the sides.
[Unfortunately no insert yet for a variety of reasons. So fireplace for now so obviously I have some flexibility in size of pieces, although it prefers 12-14 inchers to start.]
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