How to make a shiitake mushroom log stand
This stand was built for 64 logs that are each, on average, about 3.5-4″ wide. A 16 foot stand with two sides provides 32 feet of log space. That’s 384 inches. Divide that by 64 logs and you have 6 inches of space for each log, which is enough room for mushrooms to grow out without smashing into neighboring logs.
Materials:
(Quantity 6) 8 foot 2×4 studs
(Quantity 6) 8 foot 2×3 studs
(Quantity 9) 2” double wide corner braces
(Quantity 8) 2” double wide mending plates
(Quantity 1 box) 2-1×2” exterior screws
(Quantity 1 box) 1-5/8” exterior screws
Have ONE of your 2×4 boards cut into four 2 foot pieces
Have ONE of your 2×4 boards cut into two 3 foot pieces and one 2 foot piece
Lay two of your uncut 2×4 boards flat on the ground end-to-end. Ensuring they are flush, connect them with a mending plate (or 2 for extra strength). Repeat this step with another 2 boards, resulting in two separate 16 foot lengths of boards. These are the two long sides of your base.
Using three corner braces per board (six per 16 foot side), attach a 2×3 board to the top of each 2×4 board. While the 2×4’s will be lying flat, the 2×3 boards should be lying on their sides on top of the 2×4’s, creating an L shape. I also used the longer exterior screws here to help attach these boards to each other. Remember to make the L’s on each 16 foot side face opposite directions, so that the L’s face each other when the base is completed (i.e. L ⅃). See circled portion of photo to visualize opposing L’s on the base.
You can then connect the side-by-side 2×3’s where they meet in the middle, using more mending plates.
Connect each end of your base with a 2 foot section of 2×4. This completes the base. This is also circled in the FIRST photo above.
Take your two other 2 foot sections of 2×4, and attach them perpendicularly to the inside (and center) of the 2 foot side boards of the base, using screws. Make the bottom of the vertical board flush with the bottom of the horizontal board. These are your vertical side boards. See photo.
Attach your last remaining two 2×3 boards end-to-end, using 2 mending plates (one on top, one on bottom). This is the top bar of your stand
Put one of your logs onto the base of the stand and lean it toward the center. While doing this, judge how tall you think the stand needs to be. It needs to be short enough that the shortest log is long enough to rest on the top board.
Once you have chosen a height, have someone hold your top bar in place, between your two vertical side boards, and then attach your side boards to the top bar using 2 screws on each side, and making sure that the top bar is level.
At this point, your stand is almost done, but you will notice that your top bar droops in the middle where the two boards connect. Support the middle by attaching your two 3 foot sections of 2×4 to either side, right at the junction where the two boards meet. The bottoms of these boards should touch the ground, providing support to the middle.
If you want, prior to the previous step, you could attach that last 2 foot section of 2×4 to the middle of the base (adding a third connecting board), in a flat position, and have the bottoms of the 3 foot vertical boards attach to that instead, but that’s not what I did.
However you go about things, the extra foot of height on the middle support boards, helps to lift the shade cloth up so that it hangs gently over the logs, rather than smothering them from end to end.
Happy growing!🍄
Mayetta Farms 