Dog Kennel “Shed” Keeps Firewood Dry

Dog Kennel “Shed” Keeps Firewood Dry LIVESTOCK Dairy 17 Our fireplace provides 70 percent of our home heat so we need our firewood to be dry and ready to burn Tarping the pile when rain or snow threatened was getting old and we never seemed to get around to building a permanent wood shed “Why don’t you make a temporary shed with the old dog kennel panels and throw a tarp over the top?” suggested my wife Wendy With no plans to replace our late farm dog the 6-ft tall panels were unused The idea was sound and took only an hour or two to put into practice An octagonal concrete pad that once held a 16-ft diameter wire corn crib provided the base The 6 panels created two 15-ft long walls that extend just past the base Steel T-posts anchor the panels with about 12 ft in between Pallets laid on the pad provided air space under the firewood Four 20-ft concrete reinforcing rods were bent into wide U-shapes They slipped easily into the open uprights of the panels to provide roof/tarp support I laid a 16 by 20-ft tarp over the reinforcing rods and strapped it in place with bungee cords In addition to supporting the tarp the rods provide added stability to the walls The overlapping tarp leaves most of the sides open for airflow through the pile It provides ample protection from rain and snow and has been able to withstand 30 to 40 mph winds The new woodshed ends at the deer fence we have around our yard I placed the kennel panel with a hinged door at that end It allows me to access the 3 1/2 cords of dry wood stacked there for the coming winter Plenty of space remains at the other end to add at least another 4 cords from logs waiting to be cut up and split If Wendy’s woodshed works as expected the permanent shed may slip back down the priority list The price of this one will be hard to beat The tarp and some bungee cords were all I purchased bringing the total cost to about $40 Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jim Ruen 33750 Forster Rd La Crescent Minn 55949 ph 507 895-2229; farmshowjim@gmail com

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