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Thread: Do you weight down your lumber?

  1. #1

    Do you weight down your lumber?

    I have read in multiple places that weighing down your stacks does not prevent cupping. Yet it seems like common practice.

    Do you weigh your stacks, and if so how much weight per area?

  2. #2
    I have weighed down green lumber. One caution I would note is that if the weight is not concentrated over the stringers, it is possible for the boards on the top of the stack to develop a pronounced bow. I got around this by topping the stack with expanded steel or anything else that will distribute the weight while allowing the lumber to breathe. Hope this helps.

  3. #3
    I have been thinking about building a pallet, and weighing it down with some sidewalk panels removed from around the house. Noticed that the lumber in my pile is straighter where it is lower in the pile. Have taken to using pallets to stack wood, and then set one pallet on top of the other as high as possible. At least the lower stacks are straight, so seems like a good idea to weigh your pile down.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    New Hill, NC
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    2,568
    Weighing stacks will definitely help minimize cupping. The ideal weight is 250 psf.

    The weight should be concentrated on the stickers.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matthew Curtis View Post
    I have read in multiple places that weighing down your stacks does not prevent cupping. Yet it seems like common practice.

    Do you weigh your stacks, and if so how much weight per area?
    I always put weight on the top. The weight of the upper part of the stack is on the lower boards. I carefully align the stickers on each layer, put stickers on the top board, then usually some pine 3x3s crossways on the stickers, and put concrete blocks on top of the 3x3s. This concentrates the weight exactly on the sticker. I never calculated the weight; usually two blocks over each sticker for a 4' wide stack.

    Everything I've done this way has dried straight. Well except for 8/4 and 12/4 persimmon (american/white ebony) which cupped even with weight, probably due to its density, strength, and high shrinkage rate. Cherry, walnut, and yellow poplar seem easy to dry flat without much weight. I never weight eastern red cedar, it simply won't warp. These are short, about 4' long, maybe 20+" at the widest.

    cedar_P9064287es.jpg

    JKJ

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