Question of the day

[pafire]

Good morning all, After getting a load of mixture logs delivered yesterday, the question came up as how to stack it. There is a mixture of oak, ash, cherry, hickory and locust. How would you stack it, separate by species or stack it as a mixture. Just wondering as to the preferences to both.

 

[madjoe]

I always stack in a mixture. So i can burn in a mixture. That's just me.

 

[maniac ty]

Agreed if anything separate the hardest wood burn at night so that way you still have a nice cozy fire in the morn other than that mix it... that's what I do

 

[moondoggie]

I leave it mixed. (Usually)

 

[CWME]

I am a few years ahead on wood so I separate to an extent. The beech, maple, and birch get stacked together. The oak is in its own pile which is the majority of my wood. Beech and birch have not kept well for me beyond a year or so. I burn those up before I dig into the oak. I will be burning oak after my maple is gone that was cut in the fall of 2011.

 

[Ironworker]

Mixed.

 

[zogger]

Depends on if you are selling or not, plus if you want a stash of pure polar vortex wood. I separate out primo oak, hickory and cherry, some of that can be sold for heating or cooking, everything else gets put into mixed stacks. The mixed stacks will get some of the primo wood, usually the less than perfect looking pieces, the crotches and doglegs, or those that are heavy with bark. Heartwood with no bark primo stuff is all separate.

 

[farmer steve]

i keep the hickory and locust for ME and sell the rest. can't beat that PA hickory and locust.

 

[Fred Wright]

Those are fine hardwoods. I'd mix it together.

We used to cut a lot of soft maple with some red oak, stacked it as it came along. Couple years ago we started segregating wood stacks according to BTU. Nothing complex, more like the Wood Cutter's Disco: oak and other good stuff, dis go here, red maple, dis go there.

Makes it easy to pick the type of wood you need. Many a time a cold snap came and the oak was buried under a ton of red maple. Or vice versa, a warm spell came along and the maple was under a ton of oak.

 

[lindnova]

You've got all nice woods there so mixing it would be ok for me. I have a stack for old dead elm, boxelder, or anything that I would want to burn the next year. I have another stack for cherry if I have a lot of it. The rest is straight oak that may sit for a few years before I end up burning it. I usually end up selling some of the oak.

Lately the dead elms have been plentiful. I have some stacks of oak that have been sitting for 4 years. I plan to burn mostly oak next year. The dry dead elms without bark are so easy to cut and process without the restacking and dry time that it gets put ahead of the oak year after year it seems. Then a year like last year happens and I am in the woods with little snow December through February and I end up with a big stack of dry elm again. I am at the point of deciding if a tree is worth the effort to get to or if it is better for habitat lately. I have some access roads that opened up a lot of easy access in the last couple years.

Edit: It also helps to get a bigger saw. When I was cutting big oaks with my MS260 I spent a lot of time cutting. Now the 460 rips through big stuff in less than half the time. I need to spend time on other things or start selling wood I guess.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Mixed

 

[Erik B]

I only seperate my wood into shoulder wood and what is good for the colder parts of winter.

 

[cantoo]

I pile the railway ties separate so I can burn them when the wind is blowing the right way.
I cut trees by type now so everything gets piled separate. Poplar is junk but I have lots of it so when I have a big heat draw (owb) I use it up. When I'm going to be away I use the ash and the little bit of maple I have for long burn times. Dead limbs of all species get cut to 3' and are put in crates separate because they are easier for my wife to load into the owb.

 

[blacklocst]

If it's not a major pain, stack the Oak, Hickory and Locust together otherwise you'll be using the ash and cherry to boil the water out of the others.

 

[TMFARM 2009]

i separate the firewood from the other wood, its just the right thing to do!

 

[ponyexpress976]

Mine is all separated in the stacks. As you go back through the rows you'll see the order in which they were all cut down. No need to get fancy, especially for personal usage.

 

[flotek]

I stack mine in such a way as putting my most dense desirable wood( oak beech hickory ) in middle to accommodate the heating season changes ..so come January I'll have the good stuff only that provides highest longest btu for those wicked frigid nights . The soft maple cherry and elm are stacked to be used first for autumn and then last for spring where a quick hot fire is desirable ..it can be a pain to sort but this method has served me well and makes the most of my efforts without leaving us shivering

 

[TMFARM 2009]

I stack mine in such a way as putting my most dense desirable wood( oak beech hickory ) in middle to accommodate the heating season changes ..so come January I'll have the good stuff only that provides highest longest btu for those wicked frigid nights . The soft maple cherry and elm are stacked to be used first for autumn and then last for spring where a quick hot fire is desirable ..it can be a pain to sort but this method has served me well and makes the most of my efforts without leaving us shivering

that sounds like a good system.
we used to use a 20x30' barn as a wood shed. no electric so if you had to go out after dark, you usually didnt know what you were getting. lol

 

[svk]

Oak in one stack, birch and maple in another, and anything else gets stacked together.

 

[Whitespider]

If it was me, I'd toss the oak, hickory, and locust one direction as I cut/split, and the ash and cherry another direction... but I wouldn't fret over a mistake toss, or make extra work for myself.
I'd burn the ash and cherry in the early and late parts of the season, and burn the oak, hickory and locust during mid-winter when I need the extra heat with longer burns... and ya' can always still load the firebox with a mix if conditions warrant.
There ain't a wrong way... there's only your way.... it ain't like you're gonna' screw up.
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