Stack 'em up

Principle 11: Use edges and value the marginal


I've got a lot of timber left over from the deconstruction of the old house as well as other material that I had collected along my travels. It's been taking up a substantial part of the backyard and finding what I need for other building projects has been a real challenge. Time to get organised...


Unused timber from demolition of original house stacked in backyard
I'd collected a number of metal poles from a local demolition job that I wanted to use to build a rack to stack the timber in. The poles were of slightly different lengths, but all around two metres long. I wanted to keep the height and not bury them too far into the ground so I decided to dig to the level of clay and lay a couple of bricks to create a solid base, rather than a deep hole and use concrete. With a slight slope in the landscape I figured that I could use the longest poles up the back and the shorter ones up front without the need to cut any of the poles.
I purchased two metal pole clamps from a rural supply store (A$30) which was fixed to the first two poles, helping to brace them. The rest of the poles were held in place using clamps while cross-beams were fixed using long 10mm thick bolts. Drilling through the poles was a challenge, so learning how to sharpen drill bits with a bench grinder is a handy skill for such a job. Further bracing was added by fixing metal tape diagonally along the back face, while the roof was braced using corrugated iron.
Finally the rack was stacked with all like timber next to each other, making it much easier to see what I have to work with. Now the timber takes up about 3m2 along the back fence instead of half the backyard.

Foundation holes dug out to clay layer and bricks used to create a solid base

Metal poles clamped into position before fixing

Rafters, battens and bracing added

Timber rack stacked up to the brim

Comments

I love the look of this timber storage rack - very neat and practical, and a great use of resources! I want to build a similar structure for storing/seasoning my firewood.

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