How's Your Wood Pile Looking?

[BSH1F]

 

[ReggieT]

Here is a mixed bag of pin oak, water oak, hedge, black locust, cherry, bradford pear, pecan.
Pecan & Cherry are separated for my smoker...

1st pic is in my driveway & the 2nd is in the back-yard.
Any guess's on how many cords total??

 

[MuskokaSplitter]

Mostly soft maple. Nieghbor didnt need the wood.
so in I went with an overkill of 6 saws lol.
That wood was all mine. Haha.

 

[MountainHigh]

I've been reading alot about how they are made and how they are supposed to work. I think more people arnt trying it because you don't know the results of what you did for months. Anyway, i didn't have a master drawn out idea behind this and I'm still tweaking it but like i said you don't know if you're doing something good or really bad for a couple months. Alls I did was

loosely stack the wood on skids alternating direction each row, next I kept it square until about 4' high. Then, i placed some on top to give it a little peak in the middle. Finally, got 6 mil plastic from one end to the other and had it up about one foot off the bottom. Folded the ends like a Christmas gift and walked away for 4 months. August 1st I pull the sides up and just have the top covered. Today i got 20% on median size and 24% on my big all nighters.

Interesting .... Do you find that dries the wood faster than if you just covered the top, and left the sides open? I think you definitely need lots of sun all day to make that work, otherwise the moisture might get trapped under plastic as there's not much airflow.

 

[MountainHigh]

Here is a mixed bag of pin oak, water oak, hedge, black locust, cherry, bradford pear, pecan.
Pecan & Cherry are separated for my smoker...

1st pic is in my driveway & the 2nd is in the back-yard.
Any guess's on how many cords total??

If you palettes are roughly 4'x4', then two palettes lengthwise, stacked 4' high would be about a cord (4x4x8). Not sure about your back yard.

 

[ReggieT]

If you palettes are roughly 4'x4', then two palettes lengthwise, stacked 4' high would be about a cord (4x4x8). Not sure about your back yard.

Can't recall...but I'm almost positive the backyard is 4 pallets

 

[BSH1F]

Interesting .... Do you find that dries the wood faster than if you just covered the top, and left the sides open? I think you definitely need lots of sun all day to make that work, otherwise the moisture might get trapped under plastic as there's not much airflow.

Yea i don't think it would work if the Temps under the plastic were not extreme, for the first month the plastic is soaked underneath and it all drips to the bottom of the skids. I think the wind blowing thru would keep the Temps down. Once i didnt see moister under the plastic anymore in the sun i pulled the sides up. I just bought a moister meter so I'm not sure what it was after i pulled the sides up. I did notice over the winter months you can keep the air around your wood Pile around seasoning Temps 50-70 until about 35-40 deg. With no wind and full sun, which can extend the time your seasoning so your pile isn't just a frozen chunk for 4 months.

 

[thatguy83]

Still working on my pile

 

[ReggieT]

Still working on my pile

Mighty fine looking pile!
Pallets are a necessity...

 

[ReggieT]

Interesting .... Do you find that dries the wood faster than if you just covered the top, and left the sides open? I think you definitely need lots of sun all day to make that work, otherwise the moisture might get trapped under plastic as there's not much airflow.

Down here I never cover mine...even with impending rainstorms...long summers full of heat...do a more than formidable job.

 

[hupte]

Man that's getting on the low end of return on investment! I figure I probably save about $4k+ burning about 10-12 cords. Except for last year when I ran out of burnable wood Don't know if it'd be worth the work to do twice as much wood.

well that estimate of dollar savings is for heating my house only. once i put in the owb i started heating the 1200sq ft shop too. and i've noticed that the shop takes about 30-40% more wood. so average 35% of average 23 cords =8.05 cords. so thats 14.95 cords per year to save an average of 5k. also i keep the thermostat set at 75 degrees in an old drafty farm house, as opposed to 55 degrees when i was burning propane so its hard for me to give a fair comparison. please correct me if my math is wrong.

 

[woodman6666]

Here's one of my piles

 

[woodman6666]

Here's one of my piles

 

[jhoff310]

Mine's looking like a wood pile should...cut split stacked and seasoning. In all seriousness though, I'm sitting pretty good. I have a bunch of ash, maple, walnut, and some shoulder wood (pine and boxelder). I have around 6 cords of honey locust and 2-3 cords of mulberry I can raid if things get too bad. All in all I have around 14 cords in the backyard

Jeff

 

[Toddppm]

well that estimate of dollar savings is for heating my house only. once i put in the owb i started heating the 1200sq ft shop too. and i've noticed that the shop takes about 30-40% more wood. so average 35% of average 23 cords =8.05 cords. so thats 14.95 cords per year to save an average of 5k. also i keep the thermostat set at 75 degrees in an old drafty farm house, as opposed to 55 degrees when i was burning propane so its hard for me to give a fair comparison. please correct me if my math is wrong.

Not bad then. OWB explains it and then a heated shop too wood be worth the trouble

 

[MechanicMatt]

Getting there. Tried another shot at the Haulzhausen

 

[stihly dan]

A lot smaller now that I have begun stocking the basement.

 

[Aber28]

 

[MechanicMatt]

lookin good aber!

 

[Cambium]

Can't wait to try the Apple & Black Birch & Cherry which been sitting for a year+ now under green tarp. This will be mid season burn(Dec-Jan) Pile to left of it will be end of season (Feb-April).
Oct-Dec will be some ash, Hickory and scraps I have which I just moved closer to the house getting ready





Mix stuff under here will be for either second half of season or next years burn.