An idea to help with seasoning of wood in big piles (not stacked)

[Mr Good Wood]

What if you made a tunnel that went through the center of the pile at the bottom of it out of pallets or something that was facing the west so that the wind could blow through it? That would help in drying right, warm air rises. Anyone ever try this? Results?

 

[Somesawguy]

That might work. Also, if you can keep the piles off the ground with some pallets it will help with airflow.

 

[oppermancjo]

That's a thought... Doesn't seem to far out in left field. Also doesn't seem to be like most plans to "be lazy" that usually involve more time and work than it would have to do it the "right way" in the first place.

I think it would work. Potential downside, would take up more space as compared to a regular pile and considerably more space than stacking.

 

[blackdogon57]

I was at another guys wood yard the other day. He had large farm tractor with rock forks on the front. He was able to dive into the piles (6 cord cones) and turn them over to rotate the piles. Seemed to work well.

 

[cmsmoke]

Lets us know if this works! When my stackers move out...I can see my conveyor dumping onto a triangle shaped frame with a chainlink fence over it, in a long row. On the downside, it would be hard to cover the pile.

 

[jrider]

What if you made a tunnel that went through the center of the pile at the bottom of it out of pallets or something that was facing the west so that the wind could blow through it? That would help in drying right, warm air rises. Anyone ever try this? Results?

I pile my wood in windrows and have had much better success running them north/south vs east west.

 

[Encore]

What if you made a tunnel that went through the center of the pile at the bottom of it out of pallets or something that was facing the west so that the wind could blow through it? That would help in drying right, warm air rises. Anyone ever try this? Results?

Unless you're dealing with a very large amount of wood like some of the firewood sellers around here, why not just stack it up? Once you get going it really doesn't take long and all and is honestly the most productive way (outside of a kiln) to dry wood.

 

[ponyexpress976]

How about smaller piles? That way any air flow can get deeper into the pile. Piling on a base of pallets is a must so at least some air comes up through the bottom.

 

[TreePointer]

As others have stated, getting it off the ground would be my first concern.

 

[Mr Good Wood]

yes the wood would be on pallets. it wouldn't have to be a huge tunnel just made out of standard pallets /\ a-frame ya know just make one long pile.

 

[mountainmandan]

Something I have been thinking of is laying out plastic sheeting and piling on that. I think it would make a difference regionally, but our ground is dry all summer, wet all winter. Right now I stack everything. I wouldn't mind eliminating a step.

Dan

 

[PEKS]

Stack it on Pallets, will solve all your problems..

 

[haveawoody]

PEKS,

Was going to say the same thing

Just get 40 pallets and line them up like a big floor, make sure that you have the open ends all pointing the same way so the air flows under the stack.
Then throw wood on them.
Make a removable clear plastic top cover if you like to keep the rain off.
1 clear tarp with a few grommets for ropes and ground steaks will work to keep the pile dry and allow you to pull it off when loading or unloading the pile.
Freshly rained on wood won't sell well and is bad for your rep.

 

[Mr Good Wood]

wouldn't black plastic be better? draws the heat from sun right.

 

[haveawoody]

Mr Good Wood,

Only trouble with black plastic is it gets hot and the wood under it not so hot so it can get condensation each night, also makes shade under it so if you have damp you also get shade.
Those two things can make a home for bugs.

I like clear myself to add sun to the pile, as it gets hotter near the clear plastic it tends to suck moisture from the wood and drip away from the pile.
Then wood and clear plastic are about the same temp at night so little or no condensation at night.

JMO

 

[Mr Good Wood]

Mr Good Wood,

Only trouble with black plastic is it gets hot and the wood under it not so hot so it can get condensation each night, also makes shade under it so if you have damp you also get shade.
Those two things can make a home for bugs.

I like clear myself to add sun to the pile, as it gets hotter near the clear plastic it tends to suck moisture from the wood and drip away from the pile.
Then wood and clear plastic are about the same temp at night so little or no condensation at night.

JMO

hmm, i see said the blind man.

 

[haveawoody]

Mr Good Wood,

In our neck of the wood we need all the sun we can get, what with the 11 1/2 months of winter we get LOL
Just feels like that some years

 

[Steve NW WI]

Your air tunnel should help, not sure how much, but it will help.

Back when corn was stored in wire cribs on the cob, it was common to run rings of metal wire through them for better air circulation, I have a couple here with my unused (but might be firewood storage soon) corn crib. The only drawback was it gave rats and other vermin a highway into the corn. Shouldn't be an issue with firewood.

 

[haveawoody]

Steve NW WI,

Should work as long as you don't get woodchucks, those critters can chuck wood.
Who knows how much wood a woodchuck can chuck though

 

[TreePointer]

If they chuck, they get an earful from me!