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weight on sticker stack

Started by brdmkr, August 24, 2007, 09:35:37 PM

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brdmkr

I generally only get to cut on Friday evenings and Saturdays. Normally, I pull all of the weight (concrete blocks and slaps) off of the top of my stack on Friday, saw up a long or two, add the lumber to the stack, and then pile the weight back on.  Saturday morning I repeat.  Today, I sawed about 240 bdft of pecan, I stickered as I cut, but then thunderstorm was on me, so I did not put the weight on the stack.  This got me to thinking about the necessity of adding weight to the stack when I will be away for 12 hrs at most.  Will this cause any significant problem?  If not, I may start doing it as a matter of practice as stacking only to unstack the following morning can take up to an hour if I am sawing on shares and making 2 stacks.
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

MikeH

 I often will cut and leave wood pilled up for a week or so with just a tarp and some wood to hold tarp on. Then when I have a great big pile I have my kids help me sticker it. Thats with hardwoods(oak), I think some softwoods need to be stickered right away.

metalspinner

Maybe try some ratchet tie-downs while you are working on the weekends.  A loop on each end should keep things in order for a short time .
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Part_Timer

I second the ratchet straps.  I have the 2" wide ones that I tie logs down to the trailer with.  Just loosen them add to the stack tighten things back up. 
Peterson 8" ATS.
The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

DanG

Keeping the sun off of it is probably more important that early in the drying process, Mike.  I've noticed that the denser hardwoods don't start trying to move around for a while if they're in the shed.  I think you'll be fine to just unweight it once for the weekend.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Just keep in mind that if you don't un-weight and re-weight and un-weight and re-weight
that Pecan lumber as often, you won't be able to eat the Pecan pie as often, EITHER!

Phil L.                           (This is, in fact, a serious comment!) :D
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

brdmkr

Today I cut 16' 2x6 SYP.  The stack was about 5' high.  I think I could eat the whole pecan pie without any detriment!  I'm glad I only cut 7or 8.  I was actually kinda glad to hear thunder and call things to a halt ;)
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

brdmkr

Oh, I meant to add that it didn't seem to hurt a thing leaving the stacks without weight overnight.  I may do that a little more often in the future.
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

Kelvin

Yes the sun is the big problemt, but also stopping the wind from drying to quickly.  When i leave stacks unstacked for awhile i leave them dead stacked and figure they aren't drying , so they aren't moving and can be left a week or so with no problem covered from the sun.  Once you sticker they start to dry and if i'm not mistaken most drying defects, especially checking on the surface, happen when it dries to fast right at the begining and is not noticed till it really opens up in the kiln.  So the loss of the weight, while its covered wouldn't be such a big deal, you could delay drying by not allowing the wind through the stack with a plastic tarp and be even safer.  Otherwise, i wouldn't think it such a big deal. 
KP

David Freed

   I dry mostly white ash and soft maple; sometimes poplar, cherry, hickory, oak, etc. The only lumber I ever used any weight on was sycamore. I dried about 12,000 bf, 3,000 bf per kiln load for a customer that was using it for drawer sides. With 1000 lbs on 8' tall stacks, boards on the bottom of the stack would sometimes twist, raising up 1" or more above the sticks. Boards in the middle and top of the stack would do the same or worse. Lots of unusable boards. The customer finally switched to white ash because the sycamore wood twist after planing if he didn't use it immediately. I was glad he did because I was having to throw out so many boards, I wasn't making any profit. Other than that, I don't have enough trouble with twisting or cupping to bother with using weight.

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