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Stacking my Hemlock siding

Started by beetle, April 04, 2005, 01:28:01 PM

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beetle

Hello everyone, need a little advise on stacking my 1"x8"x16' Hemlock fresh off the Mill.

The boards will be stickered with kiln dried demensional 2x2's ( 1.5 x 1.5") What would you recommend for the maximum width and height of the bunk??? Can I go 8' wide or is that pushing it? I do not want these to stain as we are going natural finish on the Barn.

Any and all advise is appreciated.. thanks much.

Jeff

Too many hobbies...not enough time.

beetle

I forgot to mention, there are 250 boards.
Too many hobbies...not enough time.

submarinesailor

Beetle,

According to Dr. Gene on the other web site, woodweb.com, 48" is as wide as you want to go.  We made the mistake of going much wider on our first try at drying popular and MOST of it had black mildew on it.  Bunch of mice and snakes too!!!  >:( >:( >:(

subsailor

beetle

Snakes are good...they keep the Mice down.
Too many hobbies...not enough time.

Doc

If'n you get more of dem snakes lemme know. They make good housepets, and scare off the door knockers.

I like big spiders too! And lizards....lets not forget them.

Teaching a dog to fetch a paper is easy. Teaching an Iguana to fetch the dog withthe paper.....now thats doing something!

Doc

Jim_Rogers

The industry standard for stacking lumber is usually around 48" wide. It really depends on the fork lift at the lumber yard.
My forks are only 42" wide, so my first row is 42" then I stack my 48" stickers on this row and increase the size to 48 on the back side away from the forks.
Now if you're never going to use a fork lift this info has no point to you.
But the point about proper drying and not staining does.
The narrower the pile the easier for the air to flow threw it.
If you don't have good air flow then space your lumber in each row so that they don't touch each other.
In my 8" lumber stacks, I place 5 pieces per row (5x8=40") and leave a lot of space for air flow.
Moist air is heavy and will flow down as well as out of a stack, so I leave a good place for it to flow.
You should also, keep the stickers aligned over the support blocks and close to the end of the boards. It has been said that the board will only crack or split in the end until it reaches the first sticker. So if it's rough cut lumber then it's probably 4 to 6" longer than the even foot mark. What I do is look at the lumber and if it has one good end and one bad end I stack it so that the sticker is very close to the good end and let the bad end hang over the sticker over the even foot mark sticker. This way if the bad end cracks it's ok as it's the bad end and will be trimmed off during installation.
On a 16' pile it takes 9 stickers per row as I stick every 2' on center.
Here is a drawing of a lumber drying base:




Hope this helps.

Jim Rogers



Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Minnesota_boy

Beetle,
It depends a great deal on where you are located and when you begin the stack.  By sawing in spring and fall when the weather is cooler, I can make a stack 8 feet wide with no mold problem if it out in the open with good airflow.  By June, the temperature has gotten much warmer and the humiodity is up making mold a much bigger problem.  In September, the humidity and temperature have both begun to fall and wider stacks again will work.  In late June and July, a board will begin to mold while you are carrying it to the stack, well almost.  :D

Of course, the location is the key.  I'm in the northern part of Minnesota.  If I were in Florida, then the situation changes.  Even a couple hundred miles to the south the climate is enough different as to affect how lumber dries.
I eat a high-fiber diet.  Lots of sawdust!

beetle

Well..after two solid work days cleaning saw dust off each board, stickering, stacking and a small fortune in store bought 2x2's, it is done 8) and now I cross my fingers and keep a close eye on the pile.
Too many hobbies...not enough time.

beetle

Is there value to appling sealer to the ends of these 1x's ?
Too many hobbies...not enough time.

beenthere

Probably not much value to add now, but if it was added when the logs were first cut, there would be more, IMO.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Jim_Rogers

Wouldn't hurt them any.........
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

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