Stacking Question

[FIRESMOKE]

My Dad is receiver for a large farm equipment manufacturer and when he unloads steel trucks the drivers do not want to take the wood blocks back with them. He is saving all of these and piling them up in the meadow, the pile is about 6 feet tall 8 feet wide and as of last check almost 14 feet long. These blocks are mostly oak rough cut 4x4's with some mystery wood mixed in. My question is should I cut and criss croos stack with some air space in or should we leave the peices at full length and lath in between layers then cut later. I am sure if I just cut and stack tight they will not dry very well and may end up getting moldy rotted etc.

 

[aandabooks]

That wood is probably already kiln dried. I get similar wood from work but ours comes in as seperators for air compressor tanks. The best bet would be to stack it however is easiest and then tarp it. For cutting, I've found that a power miter saw works the best. Not great with a chainsaw and the unknown in the wood is hard on the chains.

 

[outdoorlivin247]

That wood is probably already kiln dried.

X2

 

[Wood Doctor]

That wood is probably already kiln dried. I get similar wood from work but ours comes in as seperators for air compressor tanks. The best bet would be to stack it however is easiest and then tarp it. For cutting, I've found that a power miter saw works the best. Not great with a chainsaw and the unknown in the wood is hard on the chains.

+1! Another possibility for cutting is a portable table saw if the boards are not too thick. You create less sawdust and electricity is dirt cheap compared to gas. A carbide blade will run for days. You do need to control the long pieces, however, as you cross cut them to avoid pinch. The CMS tends to avoid this problem, and a 12" CMS will cut thicker stock.

 

[coog]

I doubt that this stuff is kiln dried.Most pallets are not.It will dry full length just about as fast as cut, so cut when you have time.The more air that can circulate, the better.I used to cut a couple of semi loads of slightly bigger(6x8)pieces every year with my tractor powered buzzsaw.

 

[avalancher]

Kiln dried or not, I know the ones that I used to get from work where plumb dry. I used to get a dozen or so every week, and they burned good just as they are.
Almost all of them were oak 6X8, they were used when truckloads of new trucks came in.They would piggy back 3 or 4 of em together, using the pieces to lash them together for transport.
Good firewood!

 

[coog]

The ones I cut were specially made for 10,000 lb rolls of steel.They were only used one time, as I guess it didn't pay to ship them back.They dried pretty fast without bark.Heavy!

 

[FIRESMOKE]

I would have to say that they are not kiln dry. They are very heavy and very solid. I did cut a few and put them in the stove and they hissed and spit alot of moisture out. Good call with the chop saw idea. Iwas thinking of making a jig to stack them in and cut a bunch at a time but a chop saw might work out in case of nails or other unknowns. I think I'll stack them in 8' long peices with lath in between so the pile is more stable. Thanks for all the tips.