How to leave split wood outside.

Hello all,

I currently have my unsplit wood outside and my split wood in the woodshed or in my basement waiting to go into the burner. I only stock wood in the basement in the winter. It seems to me that I am handling the wood too much. If I were to split it right off the truck and pile it up outside, then move the seasoned split wood to the woodshed in the spring to stay dry for next winters use, I could eliminate one handling of the unsplit rounds. I pile all my unsplit up neatly and don't just leave it in a pile.

My question is, how long will split wood last in the weather unprotected and what would I need to do to protect it from rotting so it would last longer? I keep a sizeable amount of wood in the yard at any one time. Would thinking about investing in a sizeable woodshed be the way to go? Space in the yard is really not an issue nor are building permits.

Matt

How long it will last without rotting depends on the species of wood. I stack mine 4" to 6" off the ground, uncovered. I have alot of hedge and locust so rot is not much of a concern..

Mostly oak and elm on pallets. Occasionally some hickory when I can find it. I am currently looking for hedge but more for camping. I have had some locust and have a source for another 5-6 loads anytime I want to go cut it.

Matt

Stack it on dunnage and only cover the top of the pile so it don't get wet, try to keep the roof covering (whatever it is) a few inches from the top of the pile. It works good here and it is wet here a lot. I would stack it right where I split it, saves time.

What clarence said,

I use pallets for under the stack, unsplit or split, and a tin roof over the stack, that equals good airflow and keeps it dry so no rot occurs.

Wood may last for years that way.

So I wouldn't need to worry about the back or front? Just let the rain and snow blow in. I usually keep about 3 total years on wood in the yard at one time. I'm just getting tired of lifting the full rounds 3 times before they are split.

Matt

aandabooks said:

So I wouldn't need to worry about the back or front? Just let the rain and snow blow in. I usually keep about 3 total years on wood in the yard at one time. I'm just getting tired of lifting the full rounds 3 times before they are split.

Matt

Click to expand...

Not to worry about the sides, most that hits will drip off, what does sink in, won't go far and will dry out the next dry day.

I pile mine in my 'wood yard' (where I work it up in the pasture) and fill the woodshed in the summer from the previous years cuts (currently I am working piles 3 years old). I don't bother with pallets, etc, just stack on the ground. Haven't lost any to rot, just dirt on the bottom layer. I figure if I did loose any it would only be the bottom layer anyhow and it isn't worth the extra trouble and stumbling over pallets to keep that from happening.

Harry K

Build the Woodshed

No time here to fool with handling butts more than needed from the stump.

The pole woodshed from 'scrap' +/- 8" DBH spruce or fir is no big deal. Make it any size you want, base the poles on concrete deck supports on cleared ground, scrap dimension lumber from a mill for bracing and "open" sides and rear, fibreglass roof, pallet floor--inexpensive and goes up in a day. No pics but Google "woodshed" for simple plans.
Roof is 9' front to 6' rear, 8' deep, 20' wide for ~ 4+ split cords packed tight. The rest of the firewood -- another cord or so--goes into the hall woodshed next to the house and small piles under plywood next to the door.

We winter cut, pile the butts next to the shed for splitting. No way to not handle those butts 3X: bucking at the stump, loading, unloading, splitting. I don't like to skid logs for firewood: dirt. Hey, that's four times. But you do get a fine body out of it. You do want a good body ? :monkey:

no 3.09 fuel oil for me

There's 8 cords in the long stack, it's a double row of 2' long wood, 48 ft long, 6 ft high in the center tapering to 5 1/2 ft on the ends. In front is an extra cord & half of slabwood. This was all split this past spring, covered on top only.

Well I've been doing some research on shed designs and ideas on the internet. Also been trying to recall the way that I have seen some of the better ones built. Here's what I've come up with:

I think that my ideal size would be 20wx8dx8h sloping to 6. That would be enough to hold 8.75 cords. Two winters worth.

Option 1 would be basically what logbutcher is talking about. The way it sounds I could probably get that done for around $50.

Option 2: Just go buy everything in dimensional lumber and build like normal. Run 2x4 horizontal to form walls with large spacing for air flow. Due to the amount of treated lumber this would involve, around $400-$500.

Option 3: Guy at work suggested this because this is what he built. Everything the same as 2 but use cattle panels for the sides. Excellent air flow and he attaches tarps to the panels during the fall/winter to keep the wood good and dry. These are sold in 16' x 5' sizes.

I kind of like the idea of #1 because of the cost savings but using the cattle panels for sides instead of scrounging around for saw mill castoffs. There is a sawmill place about 12 miles from me but they also sell mulch so I don't think they would be throwing anything out.

How long would a shed like that hold up with the tree in the ground with concrete do you think?

BTW Mike Van, that is a nice looking pile of wood. How long to burn all of that off?

Thanks,
Matt

Come spring Matt, that pile will be pretty much a memory - And I start all over - This pic. is a shed I made this spring for my maple syrup operation, it hols a cord & a half. I'd like to do the same type thing for the big pile, but never seem to get around to it, so it just gets covered with those old roof panels, etc. everyyear.

nice wood shed

Mike Van -

That is one nice 'open' wood shed. You mention using it for your maple syrup work, and also for wood since you knew what it could hold... Just wanted to say that your design is exactly what I was thinking about, doubt it will look as good as yours thought... Nice Job !!!!

My Maple pile

This is all I do for wood pile protection, and it keeps the wood dry for anytime
usage.

I use a wood rack similar to Mike Van's but less expensive and labor intensive. Obviously it won't last as long but easy to repair. See the following thread post #18 for pictures and a description of how to build it.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=46554&page=2&highlight=wood+rack

Kellog, that'd work fine - Someday i'd like to have some of those 50' long 4' wide for my main pile - The old metal panels work, but sometimes even with weight, the wind takes them off. Nothing better than dry wood.

MikeVan,

Yep dry wood is the the only wood for burnin'.

I would not make my rack design longer than 12 feet because the roof ridge will sag and the electrical conduit will bend. But you could make five of them 10' long for the 50' you need. If you want them 4' wide that works too but you need a little more wood and a larger trap (about 10' x 12' cut in half 10' x 6'). Make sure you keep the Mrs. on your good side 'cause she will have to sew 5 x 10' of tarp. It'll set you back a few pennies but you will have decent racks.

Nice wood shed...

I have been trying to design a shed that will allow the proper drying of at least 45 face cord (18 to 22 inch lengths) at one time, that won't cost more than my house.

I have been just stacking it outside, on 2x4's that I collect from a local place that throws out a lot of pallet material, with wire fence "stakes" at the ends, to keep it from rolling off the ends. My starting pile is about 17 feet long, and 4 feet tall at the ends, and 6 or so feet in the middle.

Each progressive stack sees the middle get a foot or so taller, until the pile becomes 12 feet tall...then I start making them shorter as I work out towards the last row, which finishes off roughly the same height as the first row.

There are several problems with my method:

First of all, the middle of the pile does not get great ventilation.

Secondly, the pieces on the 2x4's eventually get into the dirt, as the weight of the pile compresses the lumber into it.

Thirdly, the piles sometimes collapse, and create work to re-stack them. My 13-year old daughter does a lot of the stacking, while I am splitting, and tossing in her general direction.

Finally, when it comes time to move wood into my 35 cord wood room in the house, I have to wait for several dry days in a row, or the wood mildews, before I use it all, sometime in late April, or early May. Being someone who suffers from mildew and mold allergies, you can well imagine that I would like the wood to be dry when I move it indoors.

Some thoughts to consider: The largest "temporary" building I can erect in my township is 120 sq foot - as tall as I want. Even then, it has to be built posts in the ground, with the bottom sides of any lumber 12 inches from the ground. Why the township encourages woodchucks, skunks, and river rats is a mystery to me...

My calculations tell me that if I leave minimal space between rows of firewood, cut at 22" max, then I could erect a series of 6 x 20 wood "sheds", that accommodate three rows as high as 8 feet each, meaning I would need to have a minimum of 3 of these, for one year's worth of fuel....and to do it right, three more for the next year's fuel, which I would be splitting and stacking, while the first 45 cords was curing.

Such structures are not an inexpensive undertaking, unless I can come up with a design that does not rely on expensive materials. It would be all too easy to spend thousands of dollars on materials for these, at the local Lowe's, or Home Depot. Since I am not a stock-holder in either company, I am looking for a better alternative.

All constructive ideas are appreciated, no matter how far-fetched. Brain-Storming is a powerful tool, that I have come to enjoy in my after-youth.

Thanks,

SiSafe

I do not understand why you would want to cover the wood? I am not saying it is wrong, I just dont understand. I stack my wood on 4" landscaping type bricks [they are free] about 4 feet tall stack. I keep 5 or 6 face cords. Depending on the wood I dry it for 1 or 2 years uncovered, in October I move about 1/2 a face cord to my garage, even if it was wet with rain it dries in a few days. I keep 3 stacks in my garage and when I use a stack i replace it. The only rotten wood I have ever seen was oak that had been stacked for 4 years, it was in a friends stack, he keeps about 10 face cords and only burns about 2. I think if you fell the tree, then buck it, split it and stack it within a week or so the wood will last a long time stacked well off the ground, uncovered.

cuttin,

you are probably right for the spring and summer. It is likely no different to cover the wood or leave it uncovered. In any event the cover should only be over the top and not on the sides.

In the fall leaves get on the wood and hold rain water keeping it from drying and maybe even making it wetter.

In the winter you have to cover it or you will be fighting snow and ice all the time at least in our part of the country. Also when the snow and ice melt it will soak into the wood due to the slow nature of the snow melt and the three feet of snow that will be on it.

The arguement about covering wood or not is an age old one and many threads have been devoted to it. My experience is stated above. I'm sure you will find many more opinions.

Most oak, red especially, just won't dry left outside. Take a piece from an uncovered pile, a year, 2 years, split it, you'll see it's still wet inside. All that moisture has to burn off in the fire before you get heat out of the wood. Some woods like white ash & locust have very little moisture to begin with, they aren't so bad. Like Kellog said, the leaves fall into the stacks, snow melts into them - Like the TV commercial said "you make the call" I just like mine as dry as it can be.