How to store downed trees so they last

[dman535]

This is probably a very rookie question...I have about 40 trees I need to process and want to save the firewood. I have no formal means of storing the wood. I tried some pressure treated 2x4 on cinder blocks - and it was ok. But this quantity is way beyond that. The trees are of various size and type - so the logs will not be uniform.
Any suggestions on how to stack, store or protect the downed lumber so that it doesn't just rot away

 

[Ancient One]

Off the ground and under cover to keep the rain and snow off.

Tarps and plastic sheeting are useless.

No other way to do this.

I store about 10 cords of fire wood: The wood shed has a floor supported off the ground with concrete piers (air space below). A roof with 3 tab roofing. Ends are regular house siding. Back is heavy plastic trellis for air circulation. Good overhang all around.

 

[U&A]

Up off the ground any way you can is the best you can do until you split and stack it.

Are they all logs that are limbed and skidded to one place? Are they just downed trees in the woods? Can you move them? More info please.



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[Trapper_Pete]

do you have a way to move and stack them as logs ? anything to get them off the ground also if you can keep the grass down around them

if you can sacrifice a few rounds to set 2 logs on then set the others across those logs but you need a tractor with loader to move them typically

if not make them into rounds , and get them stacked on pallets.
then get splitting and stacking with a tarp over the top.
for my rounds and wood piles that I keep at the farm until I am ready to bring them home and get them in the shed I am going to 2 high pallets it was a very wet year last year

you may want to look into bee hive piles.

 

[dman535]

I have 5 acres of property and have the means to move them after I cut the trees up. They will all be limbed. I was planning on maybe having a few piles so that I don't have to move them all over the property. I also don't want to create a risk for snaked, etc to hang out.
What makes effective cover besides a tarp? I have some used tin roofing - I guess that is better than nothing.
What is a bee hive pile?

 

[Trapper_Pete]

a round self supporting pile

 

[Trapper_Pete]

another tutorial

 

[Trapper_Pete]

another take on it but with a tarp over the top

 

[U&A]

Here are mine. They are very easy. Im on #3 right now. 8 foot diameter at the bottom. Each is a little over 2 cord easy.

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[Trapper_Pete]

I don't know how you keep snakes out of a wood pile we don't have hardly any poisonous around here and we try and do all the wood work while it is too cold for mosquitos which would make it too cold for snakes.

I have a friend who grew up in WV he said the secret to living around snakes was a yippee dog they let you know where they are then you shoot them. they always let the dog out first thing in the morning it mad a lap around the yard and if it started yipping it was his job to go shoot them.

 

[NSMaple1]

You need to get it up off the ground, for starters.

Wood will last the longest if it is cut, split & stacked (well off the ground), and put under cover. A solid roof would be the best cover (woodshed, barn), it could last indefinitely there, but tarps aren't all that bad. Mine work good & don't complain. I make them just as wide as the stack, lay it on top of the stack, then put another layer of wood on top of that. Easy & it lasts. Don't do any wider than double stacked, air needs to get at the ends.

If you can't do that, the next best thing would be to get it all down & cut to long lengths (logs), and pile those in a pile off the ground on top of a couple other ones laid crosswise first.

The worst thing to do would be to cut it all into rounds then leave them sit. Even if they are stacked, unsplit rounds will rot quicker. Either log length, or cut split & stacked. Off the ground no matter what.

 

[Marley5]

Up off the ground would be top priority in log form as any logs touching the ground start rotting, especially in the east where it rains several days a week.

Snakes ? Your gonna have them in a wood pile, species vary by region.

If I'm having a good day, I'll move the poisonous ones up the mountain but if not I shoot them.

 

[NSMaple1]

Yikes - some glad we don't have those here.

 

[cantoo]

40 trees. Cut them to a length you can move and stack them on top of the crappiest logs in the pile. Cut, split and stack enough so you are two years ahead. If you don't burn that much wood then sell the split wood for cash so you can buy logs when you need them. I don't bother covering the wood that I sell but I seldom have any older than 1 1/2 years old. I also have a nice windy semi gravelly spot to pile my splits. If you are piling them in heavy bush then I would split and sell it now.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Many people use pallets which are often found free. A good option is very course gravel or broken concrete which many times is free. If you have enough metal use it to cover maybe acquire a little more. If you have snakes or bees there are ways to get rid of them. Anything is better than just letting your supply rot away. Thanks

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I've never seen logs stacked on pallets, the pallets would not hold very many before busting apart.

We just stack them in piles about 20ft tall. Have around 500 cords here in the yard. Some of it is 5+ years old. That stuff is getting rotten toward the bottom of the pile.

Best thing would be to put a set of "runners" at a 90* and then stack the logs on that if you are worried about the bottom logs to rot.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Here logs that are five years old and older are gone and this is California. The wood needs to be cut split and stacked on pallets or some material that drains. We have Oak Fir Pine and Cedar. Normally Cedar is not firewood. Fir is OK for wood stoves. Oak can last up to twenty years. Pine and Fir will start to rot inside of two years. As soon as it is cut and split and covered it can last twenty years. Any wood that sits damp for more than a year will become infested with termites so preserve or loose. Thanks

 

[echomeister]

stack em lengthwise under tin. sorta like this.

 

[echomeister]

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

View attachment 718707

That's not logs though, that's processed firewood.