I store my firewood in a covered lean-to on the side of my shed. It has a
wall and fencing on three sides, but the front is open. Originally I
stacked my firewood side to side, but this made it difficult to add new
green wood as I was using up the older dry wood. So I started stacking
the firewood front to back in rows. Unfortunately, this meant the front
end of the stacks had no support. Since a lot of my firewood consists of
small trees or round limbs, it was hard to stack the wood and not have it
roll away. I had installed pavers on the ground many years ago to reduce
dirt and insects, but this made it difficult to install any kind of
vertical support for the firewood. My solution was to build firewood
racks that function a lot like bookends.
Easy Project
This is a very simple project built from a couple of
pressure treated 2x4's, some scrap 1x4's, and a single 2x2' for some
cross bracing. I just used the materials I had on hand, which helped to
clear out some of the lumber I've been hanging to. I used a miter saw to
cross cut the boards, but this could easily be built with a handsaw and a
drill.
I simply cut two 45" uprights and a 30" base. Then I screwed the upright
to the base about 20 inches from one end. I squared it up and screwed a
1x4 to the side to offer diagonal bracing. After cutting off the excess
bracing, I cut some 2x2's to tie a couple of these assemblies
together.
We have a small woodstove so I try to cut my firewood around 14" in
length. I made my firewood racks about 12 inches wide to accommodate our
shorter logs, but you could easily make these wider by cutting longer
crossties.
I was actually surprised how well these worked. The weight of the
firewood on the base keeps them from sliding, and the diagonal brace
really holds back a lot of weight. Best of all, they are not a permanent
support. I can reposition them as my firewood supply changes. I could
even put a couple out in the yard if I need more storage space. They are
fairly inexpensive to build, so I can easily build more if I need them.
