Woodpile pictures.
Apr. 13th, 2026 09:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI had a busy weekend of playing woodpile. I took some pictures because a freshly-stacked woodpile looks nice and I was proud of my efforts.
Here's an overall view of the woodpile with my trusty 06 Ranger in the background:
This picture illustrates the full size of the woodpile, so that you have some idea of how much wood "a winter" takes. Folks have asked. A winter, here, at temperatures I enjoy in my house, takes two full racks of wood. (The complete woodpile in ready state is 4 racks thick. Two are for "this year" and two are for "next year". It's very easy to see, right now, the "this year" wood and the "next year" wood because of the color differential.)
The pile is stacked about to shoulder height on me (I'm 5'7" tall) when it's fresh though it sags a bit and shrinks a bit as the wood dries and contracts. The Ford Ranger is on the driveway and it's several inches higher than the woodpile. I put the uglies on top because they do not stack well.
And here's a 3/4 view so that you can appreciate the fact that there are two stacks of new wood, not just one:
The wood is stacked on rails made of assorted things (treated 4x4s, metal square things from... somewhere, etc. set up on bricks to keep the actual woodpile off the ground. My woodpiles do not usually fall over, though the "this year" pile looks unstable and I might have to restack it because the lean is getting worrisome.
I do realize that stacking the wood up off the ground creates habitat for snakes, but since I don't do much with the woodpile in snake-friendly seasons, this is not an issue. By the time I want to build fires and stuff, the snakes have all departed for winter hibernacula. I've been doing it this way since about 1997 and it's not been a problem yet, so... meh. Stacking the wood up off the ground really helps keep it from drawing damp and rotting before it can be used. The benefits outweigh the risks, for sure.
I awarded myself some brownie points for being so industrious on the woodpile front over the weekend and then I got to thinking... how many brownie points do I need to have in order to redeem them for a brownie? Where do I do that? Do I get a chocolate-y square thing with walnuts that rests in the intersection of cookie and fudge or a small household-utility style of fae?
I have questions.
Here's an overall view of the woodpile with my trusty 06 Ranger in the background:
This picture illustrates the full size of the woodpile, so that you have some idea of how much wood "a winter" takes. Folks have asked. A winter, here, at temperatures I enjoy in my house, takes two full racks of wood. (The complete woodpile in ready state is 4 racks thick. Two are for "this year" and two are for "next year". It's very easy to see, right now, the "this year" wood and the "next year" wood because of the color differential.)
The pile is stacked about to shoulder height on me (I'm 5'7" tall) when it's fresh though it sags a bit and shrinks a bit as the wood dries and contracts. The Ford Ranger is on the driveway and it's several inches higher than the woodpile. I put the uglies on top because they do not stack well.
And here's a 3/4 view so that you can appreciate the fact that there are two stacks of new wood, not just one:
The wood is stacked on rails made of assorted things (treated 4x4s, metal square things from... somewhere, etc. set up on bricks to keep the actual woodpile off the ground. My woodpiles do not usually fall over, though the "this year" pile looks unstable and I might have to restack it because the lean is getting worrisome.
I do realize that stacking the wood up off the ground creates habitat for snakes, but since I don't do much with the woodpile in snake-friendly seasons, this is not an issue. By the time I want to build fires and stuff, the snakes have all departed for winter hibernacula. I've been doing it this way since about 1997 and it's not been a problem yet, so... meh. Stacking the wood up off the ground really helps keep it from drawing damp and rotting before it can be used. The benefits outweigh the risks, for sure.
I awarded myself some brownie points for being so industrious on the woodpile front over the weekend and then I got to thinking... how many brownie points do I need to have in order to redeem them for a brownie? Where do I do that? Do I get a chocolate-y square thing with walnuts that rests in the intersection of cookie and fudge or a small household-utility style of fae?
I have questions.
