Stacking long lumber in a tight space

[WV Sawmiller]

   Well I learned a new technique to stack long (14' in this case) lumber in a tight space. I have a 5' add on to my barn with permanent crossbars built in to stack lumber. The bottom row even has the stickers permanently attached. It will hold a 4' wide stack with the barn wall on the back. It has a very low front head bumper you have to watch carefully when you stand up. I had 308 bf of mostly 1X12X14 boards from my last Whatcha sawing post I had not stacked and stickered yet. I cleared out the bottom deck to use for them. 

    I slid the first 1X14" board into place using the old Jakeism and not lifting the whole board at one time. Once it was down I slid the next 3 boards pretty much in place on top of the first board using it as a track then bounced and rocked them into place.

    My next challenge was to get the stickers in place and not knock them out of  place when I put the boards in. What I came up with was sliding the next 1X14 board in on top pf the first row then standing it on edge against the back wall. Then I put the stickers in place and pulled the on edge board over onto the stickers. After that I used it as a track to slide the next boards into place till the row of boards was complete. The weight of the first board held the stickers in place so they were not knocked out of line. When I finished stacking I pushed the stickers the last couple inches over against the wall, pushed the boards tight and placed and stood my next board on edge on the last finished row and stood it against the wall and  placed the next row of stickers into place and repeated.

   This technique allowed me to place the long heavy boards by sliding them in from the end and placing the stickers and minor straightening of each row from the outside.

   Sorry no pictures but i hope the explanation is clear.

[SawyerTed]

Stacking alone does present challenges.  I use a similar technique of sliding the next board on top the previous one then flipping it into place.   Getting the first board in place does require placing it from the side of the stack.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   Yeah when I am stacking in a more open area I will often put a light/narrow board down first then use it to slide the wider, heavier boards until the row is complete then put down stickers and start over.

   Thinking about it I can see where it would make sense to keep a 1X4 handy, lay it down to hold the stickers in place, use it for track till you got a partial row, then remove and set the 1X4 aside, complete the row and repeat using the lighter 1X4 over and over.

[jpassardi]

Yes, stickering alone isn't much fun as they get heavier. I've done oak 1.5" thick and 16' long. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Stacking alone does present challenges.  I use a similar technique of sliding the next board on top the previous one then flipping it into place.  Getting the first board in place does require placing it from the side of the stack. 

Ted,

  In this case the boards were longer (14') than the distance between the uprights (10') so they had to be loaded from the end. Sliding the heavy board in on top of the last row, standing that board on edge against the wall temporarily, then placing the stickers from the side and turning the board over on top of the stickers allowed me to place the stickers where needed and kept them there while I slid the next several boards in on top of the just stacked boards I'd slid in from the end. The load of boards was on my tractor forks so I did not have to pick up but the one end on any board.

  Having the wall or uprights at the back of the stack allowed me to stand the first board on edge while I placed my stickers and the weight of the board when pulled over flat held the stickers in place and the board was the track to keep from bumping and moving the stickers out of line.

  It was not real easy but it was way easier than trying lift and maneuver the heavy boards between the uprights from the side.

[SawyerTed]

Nothing like a challenge!  I understand in this specific  situation side access wasn't workable.  We would have handled it similarly.  

[mudfarmer]

Nice work WV, definitely the best way to go about it.

Stacked, unstacked, restacked, unstacked, etc etc a lot of lumber this way in an old dairy barn and there is some poor sucker still doing it today. Center aisle open and used to pull hay wagon running gear full of lumber. Stall rows on either side of center aisle are where the lumber got stacked, and not in the direction a forklift was useful  Everything from 8' to 12' spun 90* off the wagon and into a stack in one of the side rows. Exactly the way you did it 

[WV Sawmiller]

Muddy,

  Yep, same here. To make space for this 308 bf of 14' long, wide heavy boards I first had to move a dozen or so odd cut 9' long 3.5" X 1" boards left over from a custom job. They were dry so I made space in a bin in my newest pole barn - the one I spent last year putting a floor and vertical bin storage spaces in. I found just enough room for them. Then I moved a dozen or so 12' long 2X4's and a handful of 2X2X12' strips. Then I loaded and stacked the new boards as described in the OP.

Basically I had to move and restack 3 smaller stacks of boards to make space to stack this one.