Best Way to Get Ahead?

[Saddle Mander]

I have 2-3 years of stacked wood.

But in the woods behind my house there are a lot of Sandy blow-downs. Most are off the ground.

Would I be ahead to:

+ Leave them there for a year or 2?

+ Cut them into rounds now, stack them on pallets, and split/stack them next year?

+ C/S/S this spring and start the seasoning process?

 

[TreeTangler]

Get them cut, split, and stacked now! Many woods will rot in a couple years laying on the forest floor. Not to mention they do you little good in tree form in the woods.

 

[Saddle Mander]

Get them cut, split, and stacked now! Many woods will rot in a couple years laying on the forest floor. Not to mention they do you little good in tree form in the woods.

They aren't on the floor. The root balls and tops are keeping the trunks 1-3 feet above the ground.

If I split and stack now (which I am willing to do) will they be punky in 3-4 years when I'm ready to burn them?

 

[brewmonster]

Tree Tangler is right. Get 'em bucked, split, and stacked as soon as you have time. Get the splits off the ground. Got any pallets? In our climate, the wood will dry, not rot, if you can cover it in a way that allows good air circulation. I put pallets on top of the stack and cover with a tarp that just covers the top, with a little drape to shed rain.
Do all that and you will have primo firewood three years from now when you're "ready to burn them."

 

[mainewoods]

They won't be punky if you stack them off the ground, either split or as rounds. You didn't say what kind of wood it is, hardwood or softwood. Hardwood will last many years split and stacked. Even longer stored in a wood shed or barn. Pine, not so long. Best to split, stack and use it within a few years.

 

[blades]

CSS asap, debarked even better stacked off ground on pallets or something with a vapor barrier under that and top covered. the softer hardwoods like Birtch, SilverMaple, Aspen will go punky quik otherwise.

 

[Bushmans]

I agree with above. CSS Move to a wood shed after a few years and it will last a very long time!

 

[Iska3]

I split everything at least once so it can dry out. Logs that are not split will mold and rot from the center out. I've had oak logs stacked in the woods (between two trees) for several years. The key is to have air flow on the wood and keep it off the ground.
We had firewood stacked in the wood shed for over 10 years and finally use the last of it this fall during hunting season.

Think of your firewood as a stack of lumber.... Keep it dry and off the ground.... It will last for years.

 

[NSMaple1]

Haven't heard yet what kind of trees.

If they truly are resting off the ground now, I'd be tempted to leave them that way until the winter or very early spring before I was going to use them - then process & stack off the ground right after splitting.

I did that with some blowdown spruce this past year - didn't hit it until this past spring. It's burning great right now. It had been blown over for 2-3 years. I think if it had been sitting for 3-4 years C&S, it would have been in worse shape - unless I could have gotten it all in under cover for that whole 3-4 years.

 

[alleyyooper]

With them off the ground you are fine to leave them be for a year or two. I have dead Ash still standing that have been dead for about 5 years. Ones I cut this winter are as solid as the ones I cut the first year.

Al

 

[haveawoody]

All depends on what they are.
If they are softwood even not touching the ground the roots will pass lots of moisture to the rest of the tree so open to rot.
Hardwood can do the same thing but most do pretty ok and avoid rot setting in.

General rule is softwood cut and split ASAP.
Hardwood no giant rush.

Everything cut and split will begin to dry from that day on, in log format very little drying is happening.

IMO at least get it all into rounds since rounds will begin to dry, split softwood ASAP and split Hardwood when you can.

 

[mainewoods]

My neighbor had his land logged off and the crew dropped some big red oak over his property line onto mine, and left them where they fell. Neighbor didn't want them so I hooked on to them and hauled them out. They laid there for almost 5 years, cut off from the stump,with tops still on. Some of the bark had fallen off but most was still attached. If it wasn't for the fact that bare wood was showing, it was hard to tell that they had been down for 5 years. I cut them up and found absolutely no rot any where in the tree. Some of the best oak I ever burnt. Split easy and was dry enough to burn quickly ( 6 months stacked). The limbs were bone dry and solid. You could tell the difference between the trees being held off the ground by the tops and laying on other trees, and the ones laying on the ground, by a wide margin. I frequently drop hardwood trees and leave them to be picked up later. Sometimes it's a year or more before I finally haul them out to the landing. Never had one rot or get punky yet, and a surprising amount of moisture has been removed by the time I process them. Pick up a 4 ft. stick of fresh cut wood and compare it to a stick of downed wood, of equal size and species, and you can tell the difference. The key is no ground contact, and most times the tops left on the tree takes care of that.

 

[Saddle Mander]

Oak.

Sorry for not mentioning this in the beginning. A lot of it is oak. And almost none of it is actually touching the ground.

 

[CTYank]

Oak.

Sorry for not mentioning this in the beginning. A lot of it is oak. And almost none of it is actually touching the ground.

Don't be easily misled by that. The roots are the tree's water pump.

 

[Saddle Mander]

The roots are the tree's water pump.

Even as root balls? (I'm just trying to learn here.)

 

[blades]

Trees are like ice bergs 1/3 up 2/3 under

 

[mainewoods]

Was there leaves on the trees last fall? I've seen trees growing in a horizontal position with the root ball torn out of the ground many times.

 

[Dirtboy]

If you have the time now, cut-split-stack-repeat. Stacked off the ground & top covered it will be like a fine wine getting better with time.

 

[haveawoody]

Saddle Mander,

Ahh that makes it easy.
Red oak cut it and split it ASAP.
Red oak holds water like softwood does, but unlike softwood red oak takes a long time to loose it.
2 years after it's split and stacked before it's ready to burn.
White oak no big rush, but keep in mind that even white oak will need 6 months or more after splitting to be ready for the woodstove.
Split and stacked today it would be late September before it's ready.

I stack red for 3 years and white for 2 years before I burn it.
IMO that is the best those two oak types will burn in the woodstove.
Before those drying times they will burn but not be as good as they can be.

 

[Poindexter]

If there are any birch in there, you need to get the bark opened up. Search on "stripe" or 'Striping" here, I have heard it call "zipped" or "unzipped" in other places.

Anyway, just run the tip of your blade up the log from stump to fork. Cut just deep enough to get through the bark, you should see white sapwood instead of dark brown inner bark at the bottom of the cut. Now you got a year. As water gets out through the slit you cut the wood inside will shrink away from the bark, and then the bark will spread open protecting the naked log from wet dirt.

Birch is the only wood I know of that needs this, but its the only bark I know of that they make canoes out of. A great thing to find near hunting camp is a windblown birch, just zip it open and have dry seasoned wood at camp next year.