Covering Firewood?

[Snap]

I have always been a skeptic about not fully covering firewood and am trying to understand how only covering the top of the stack makes it unaffected by get pretty winter's rain, snow and ice storms. I know that if I leave our covers open the ends look to get pretty wet.

We have a new batch of green wood to split and pile up and I am trying to understand the theory of not covering it all up.

 

[lknchoppers]

Cover it all the way to the ground, the air can't get to it. It traps the moisture in and the moisture from the ground stays under the cover too. It's not going to be drying when it's raining anyway. Sun comes out, a breeze, dry air blows through it and the drying begins. Get some tin and make a roof big enough to keep it dry if you get a lot of rain and snow.

 

[NSMaple1]

If you orient the stacks so the end of the stack - rather than the ends of the wood - point into prevailing winds then you won't get as much rain driven into the stacks.

The effect that a tarp over the whole business has with respect to holding the moisture in (the ground is a constant source of moisture) and keeping drying breezes out way overpowers the effect it has in keeping rain out of the sides.

No tarp on the sides = fast drying the sides as well. Tarps to the ground is just not a good idea. Extra especially when its over green wood. Top cover only.

 

[muddstopper]

Had a buddy that thought he would store his wood inside his small green house. No rain, lots of heat. His theory didnt pan out. Green house created a lot of humidity inside. Water beaded up on the plastic and dripped down n his wood. The wood molded and sprouted mushrooms. Generally just made a big mess of his wood. Completely covering a wood stack would have the same effect.

 

[lknchoppers]

I leave everything uncovered and just cover what I am going to use if we get a lot of rain predicted, but it really depends on the climate.

 

[CentaurG2]

We never cover firewood and it does just fine. Stack it on hardwood pallets and try to keep the bark up. The more wind and sun the wood receives the better and faster it will dry. Cover it too tightly and it will rot as the moisture cannot escape.

 

[Snap]

Guess I'll stack it in a line up on runners to clear the ground and leave it naked through the winter.
I saw an interesting video on circular holz hausen stacking but a followup test showed that it didn't season as quickly as a conventional line stack. The advantage seemed to be that much wood can be piled in a limited space.

 

[JeffHK454]

I tarp the 6 cord for the upcoming season around mid October just to keep it dry and the snow off it..I have no interest handling it wet. My wife feeds the wood burner more than me and that would be all over if I expected her to go dig logs out of a snowy stack...she’d walk in and turn the gas furnace on and tell me to get bent!

 

[farmer steve]

Had a buddy that thought he would store his wood inside his small green house. No rain, lots of heat. His theory didnt pan out. Green house created a lot of humidity inside. Water beaded up on the plastic and dripped down n his wood. The wood molded and sprouted mushrooms. Generally just made a big mess of his wood. Completely covering a wood stack would have the same effect.

I've been considering using my Greenhouse for wood storage. 30x72. It has anticondense plastic on it and 36" exhaust fan. It gets 130* or more in the summertime. I'm not sure if I would put green wood in there.

 

[Snap]

I tarp the 6 cord for the upcoming seasons around mid October just to keep it dry and the snow off it..I have no interest handling it wet. My wife feeds the wood burner more than me and that would be all over if I expected her to go dig logs out of a snowy stack...she’d walk in and turn the gas furnace on and tell me to get bent!

I can relate to that.

 

[panolo]

Had a buddy that thought he would store his wood inside his small green house. No rain, lots of heat. His theory didnt pan out. Green house created a lot of humidity inside. Water beaded up on the plastic and dripped down n his wood. The wood molded and sprouted mushrooms. Generally just made a big mess of his wood. Completely covering a wood stack would have the same effect.

I've been considering using my Greenhouse for wood storage. 30x72. It has anticondense plastic on it and 36" exhaust fan. It gets 130* or more in the summertime. I'm not sure if I would put green wood in there.

I built a 7x25 green house with the sole purpose of drying wood. I see the ends of fresh splits starting to crack in just a couple days. I pulled a sugar maple split I stacked in there around July 1 and tested it this past Sunday. I had 13% on the outside and 20% on the inside. It pegged my meter at 40% when I stacked it in there. Some of the ash I have in there is 10% in the fresh split portion. I upgraded my fan about 3 weeks ago so the airflow is better. My fan runs from 1pm to 6pm. I have registered temps as high as 151 degrees in there. The only moisture I get in there is a little condensation in the morning. I used a true clear greenhouse plastic so the durability on it is supposed to be great.

I have 3 vents on one end and all my stacks have a hole in the middle to pull air from the vent that is positioned in the middle of the stack. I will be changing a couple things next year when it is empty. I will be laying a tarp on the floor over my tar paper to get a complete 100% vapor barrier from the ground up. I will also be putting a base of gravel around the outside edge to ensure that I can't get any moisture from there.

I am going to be conservative and say that I will get 6 cords in there. I have no doubt that when I start burning in 4-6 weeks that it will be plenty dry. Next year I will have it filled by May and I am going to dry red oak and see if I can cut the dry time from 2 years to a few months.

I have a couple hundreds bucks into it. It's made of cattle panel, treated 2x6, and green house plastic.

 

[Snap]

I have a couple hundreds bucks into it. It's made of cattle panel, treated 2x6, and green house plastic. View attachment 674566

Does that framework make it through winter?

 

[sb47]

I leave mine uncovered till it fully drys. Then I just cover the top with some tin to keep water from getting into the center of the stack. Once it's fully dry, it takes a lot of moisture for an extended period of time for it to soak in.
Blowing rain and extended rain it's better to cover the whole stack, but you have to uncover it as soon as it stops so it doesn't trap moisture. Freezing rain or snow is not an issue until it melts.
Because a lot of people say soaking bbq wood will make it burn longer so I soaked some dry splits for several hours in a bucket and then cut it on the chop saw. The moisture only penetrated 1/8 inch and that was mostly on the end grain.
I'm sure the kind of wood makes a difference to. Some soak water like a sponge and others not so much.
Ever notice after it rains the sunny spots dry first.

 

[panolo]

Does that framework make it through winter?

It will. I was more worried about the plastic but I did my research on it. Lots of folks in harsher climates with more snow than we get use it. Found out yesterday that it withstands hail just fine.

 

[Marshy]

It will. I was more worried about the plastic but I did my research on it. Lots of folks in harsher climates with more snow than we get use it. Found out yesterday that it withstands hail just fine.

Nice contraption.

I go for simple and stack my rows in full sun basically in the middle of a field. It will have been stacked since early spring, some since last fall. It doesnt get covered until its moved from the field up to the house in mid/late September before the fall rain. The remaining wood for next year remains uncovered through winter.

My plans may change as I want to mill some beams and make a lean-to with metal roof to stack in. Just need some time.

 

[svk]

Up here wood will only season uncovered IF stacked in full sun. In partial sun it will rot before it will season if not top covered.

I threw a tarp over a loose pile a few times and it dried well the stack but every piece that touched the ground was dry but dry rotted as well.

 

[user 122190]

I sometimes cover seasoning wood for the winter and sometimes I don't. Summers are warm and dry enough that wood to be split in Sept and stacked for the winters burn is fine either way.

 

[svk]

I sometimes cover seasoning wood for the winter and sometimes I don't. Summers are warm and dry enough that wood to be split in Sept and stacked for the winters burn is fine either way.

I was amazed to hear how little rain you guys get. My grandpa is on Flathead lake and they routinely receive a fraction of an inch of rain per month in the summer.

 

[Marley5]

Many years ago I completely covered my wood supply " once was enough " not only did it not season but drew in a horde of mice and snakes.

 

[svk]

Many years ago I completely covered my wood supply " once was enough " not only did it not season but drew in a horde of mice and snakes.

One of the few instances where snakes are more preferable.

We frequently find garter snake skins in our piles. Mice occasionally build a nest right under the cover.