Straighten a twisted 6x6 post

[Mack 880]

Here’s the final where I’ve turned off the water supply to the soaker hose. Now I’m going to let it sit for a few days and dry a bit with the weight on them.




Total of the final weight is 130 pounds, so 520 lb/ft of torque to provide the rotational force to "untwist" this particular 6x6x16'. The other 6x6x16' took about half that weight to untwist.

 

[Mack 880]

Here is a picture of the soaker hose that was underneath the towels:

 

[Mack 880]

And here is a picture of the end grain of the post that twisted so severely:

 

[Mack 880]

And this end grain picture is the post that twisted the least.

 

[Mack 880]

Where I have the "V" indicated I going to run a stress reaction relief cut down the length of the post to negate the twisting force. I'll start the cut six inches from the end on one side, and conclude the stress reaction relief cut six inches from the other end.

I'll cut straight down the center (set depth of cut to max on my circular saw - about 2.5") to sever the "rings" and separate the fibers to lessen the twisting force from side to side. Then I'll fill in the cut with asphalt crack filler and mount that side of the post facing inside to the next post.

Since these are skids for a shed, they will have the floor joists, rim joists, etc., placed on top of them and I don't envision any issues with load bearing at all due to the stress reaction relief cuts.

 

[Mack 880]

The stress reaction relief cut as indicated above will remove most of the reaction stress from the twist and allow the use of this piece without further concern regarding the future twisting potential. Here's why:




Source:

Tree growth stress and related problems (Published: 29 June 2017)​

 

[Mack 880]

If you look at this illustration:



And compare it to the wood I have pictured:



It is very easy to see why the wood twisted so badly.

 

[Mack 880]

Also, if anyone is interested in this here is another article regarding this:

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsif.2016.0550