Stacking Firewood

[curdy]

I have a very large amount of wood that has been cut to 16" pieces. As of right now I have 25 4'x3' wood pallets to stack on (I have a feeling I'll need more than that too!) I don't need the wood for at least a year, so I don't need to speed dry it. I have a couple of questions:

1) Do I need to split the wood down to the size I would throw in my fireplace in order for it to dry properly? (All of it has already been cut to 16")

2) My understanding is that the moisture escapes from the flat ends where I've cut...does this mean that I shouldn't stack more than in a single row? (Single row having the cut sides exposed completely) Will the wood dry well if there is a row to the edge of one end of the pallet and another row to the opposite edge...(that would leave about 4" between the inside faces)

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3) I've never stacked wood in a pile larger than a single row 8' long and 5' high (plus that stuff was already seasoned and against a wall) Can anyone provide some pictures of large stacks and some sound advice on making the stacks stable? I have a 3 yr old son and a dog.

Thanks!

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Alot of guys will build a simple rack from 2x4's that'll hold a cord. Easy to do. I wouldn't get too worried about it. It's just firewood. Split it to the size you want to burn (might as well split it now and be done with it) and stack it. It may dry faster if you leave space between the rows, but having them stacked together would make the whole pile more stable. I say split it, stack it, cover it and burn it next year. It'll be fine.

Jeff

 

[WESCOMAN]

It will dry much faster if you split it now. As far as stacking it could be stacked real tight and it will still be dry in a year. Do not cover it though with any tarp until it is dry. Tarps trap the moisture and prolongs the drying time. As far as stacking on palletts the only way really is to criss cross unless you line all the pallets up against a wall and stack all one way except the ends. Those should be criss crossed with a piece dropped down the middle to further strengthen the ends. Hope this helped.

 

[turnkey4099]

You are correct that most of the moisture escapes from the ends. Splitting it to stove size before stacking aids drying in that there are more open spaces for air to pass through the stack. For a year of drying time before burning you can easily stack two rows per pallet.

Use some of the unsplit chunks to build walls for your rick ends. Saves all kind of time not having to "chimney" stack the rick ends.

I cut mine one year and burn the next, piling it rick to rick with no space and it dries to acceptable levels. Not as dry as it would if the air could pass freely but useable. This year I cut about 12 cord, 10 are stacked tight in ricks 7'x12'. The other two are in the round holding up rick ends.

Harry K

 

[WESCOMAN]

Also to strengthen the ends you should tie a piece of cord or very strong wax coated string to a piece of wood. That piece will be on the outer end of the stack. Run about 3 to 4 feet of the string back into the wood stack. Cover the string with peices of wood (stacking). Do this every three pieces high. That will support the outer walls very well. I too have young children and am concerned with the stacked wood giving way. Even supported I still dont let them play around the wood pile. Half of my wood is Mahogany and is ALMOST as heavy as steal (no sh*t) It is the heaviest wood I have ever handled and if that came down on them it could kill. ( I keep the Mahogany stack low). If you can try to stay under 4 feet high. Anything over that starts to get real unstable fast.

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Here we have to cover them up as soon as it's stacked because it rains so much. It'll rain all winter long and it'll just sit and soak up the water all fall, winter and spring. I keep what I can under the eves of my house, but the stuff for next year is out in the back yard by the fence.

Jeff

 

[Al Smith]

It you are concerned about the stacks falling over,just drive a fence post on the ends of the stacks.Split them to size,stackem up,cover the top.

 

[Big Woody]

I've done the pallet thing in the past and it worked OK. I found when I stacked it real heavy with big unsplit rounds some of the 1x boards on top of the pallet would break. I have also left big rounds (30+ inches) for a year or so (in a rack) and then split just before using and they were still pretty wet even when kept off the ground. Not good for getting a fire started but anything will burn when its going good and hot.

I have found the best and cheapest way to stack firewood is to use some 8 foot landscape timbers on top of cement blocks (blocks every 4 feet, timbers in a double row) . They are dirt cheap (2.50 each) , treated, pretty strong and keep the wood 10 inches off the ground. I have several racks that are 40 feet long. Just drive in a fence post on each end and your set. I usually stack it to 6-7 feet off the ground. If you level your cement blocks it is really stable if you do a decent job stacking. I have in the past stacked unsplit this way as well.

 

[luckycutter]

I have noticed that if you tarp the wood and not allow for any air flow, the wood starts to rot sooner due to mold mildew, fungus etc. The tarp provides a perfect envirnment. Stale, moist air. If next years wood gets wet due to rain, I know it will dry out again next summer.

 

[curdy]

Thanks so much for all the help! I was going to cover it, but now I don't think I will. What are your thoughts on snow? Here in the Philly area we can get a good bit. I'm assuming since the ends is where the moisture escapes the snow shouldn't matter too much...except for weight concerns.

 

[Newfie]

Cover the top and keep the sides open. I completely tarp my seasoned wood at the end of November so that snow and ice don't turn it into a big frozen unusable block. It doesn't matter much with green wood over the winter months as the temperature around here typically stays near or below freezing so the moisture in the wood isn't going anywhere anyhow.

 

[Al Smith]

This is a small stack I put up last week.This is exactly one cord,well,more or less.

 

[Big Woody]

Here is a double row of rounds I stacked over the last few weeks. It is actually almost 7 feet tall since I have added more since the pictures were taken. It is all locust except for the white pieces which are hackberry. I already had enough split and dried wood for this and next winter so this will be for 2 years down the road.

Just happens that a farm 1/2 mile down the road dozed out a lot of trees and these were some of the smaller ones. A lot of these pieces (big ones in the bottom few rows) were well over 125 lbs as I could barely lift them into the trailer. They weigh about twice what they look like they would weigh. Most pieces are about 20 inches long. I laid parallel 2x6's with 1 foot between to keep the bottom row off the ground.

I had to stack em like this since all my racks were full and I didn't want to slit it until spring anyway.

It is very stable if you do a good job stacking.

 

[turnkey4099]

Here is a double row of rounds I stacked over the last few weeks. It is actually almost 7 feet tall since I have added more since the pictures were taken. It is all locust except for the white pieces which are hackberry. I already had enough split and dried wood for this and next winter so this will be for 2 years down the road.

Just happens that a farm 1/2 mile down the road dozed out a lot of trees and these were some of the smaller ones. A lot of these pieces (big ones in the bottom few rows) were well over 125 lbs as I could barely lift them into the trailer. They weigh about twice what they look like they would weigh. Most pieces are about 20 inches long. I laid parallel 2x6's with 1 foot between to keep the bottom row off the ground.

I had to stack em like this since all my racks were full and I didn't want to slit it until spring anyway.

It is very stable if you do a good job stacking.

Makes me jealous. Here, the only locust you get is by sheer luck and rare. Last year I lost out on a whole fence row of it. Fire went through and killed them. Farmer wouldn't let me (or anyone else) harvest them due to the liability of someone getting hurt on his property. Even providing him with a "hold harmless" paper wasn't enough. They piled and burned it.

Harry K

 

[TroutBrookFarms]

Splitting before stacking surely shortens drying time, in my experience. Air circulation is crucial, too. A simple 2X4 frame is a sturdy and inexpensive way to store and dry firewood. If your firewood is cut in 16" blocks, a 12' X 8' frame will hold an even cord. I like to use pressure treated 2X4's for the skids of the frame and kiln dried for the rest. I also make the top horizontal pieces 6 or so inches longer than the bottom ones so that I can fasten the top of the frame to the shed ( or preceding frame) while leaving ample air flow between the stacks. I agree that tarping your stack will prolong drying time, but in the winter I opt to just tarp the top of the stacks in order to keep the snow from soaking into the top layers. Hope this helps.

 

[Locoweed]

Living in a dry climate means, just stack it.