Drying firewood in a pile?

[triathlete123]

Is it effective to dry firewood in a pile?

 

[Red Elm]

Is it effective to dry firewood in a pile?

Not really, little or no air movement through it.

 

[Circle B MN]

 

[olympyk_999]

if you got a loader to turn the piles often then yes...if not then no

 

[cantoo]

Depends on where it is, how high the piles are, type and size of splits, type of burning appliance, location and length of time. I dry mine in piles off the conveyor but I also use an OWB so not real worried about it. Works for me but might not for the next guy.
What part of the small place called Canada are you from? Piles in a bush will rot before they dry.

 

[triathlete123]

Depends on where it is, how high the piles are, type and size of splits, type of burning appliance, location and length of time. I dry mine in piles off the conveyor but I also use an OWB so not real worried about it. Works for me but might not for the next guy.
What part of the small place called Canada are you from? Piles in a bush will rot before they dry.

I'm in Northern Ontario. The ground is frozen and there is close to a foot of snow on it, so it's too late to start to build a wood shed. I thought I might get a head start on a pile of logs for burning next winter. Buck and split them now, for I won't have time to do it in the spring or summer when I'm building my house. I thought that if I just threw them in a pile, as I see some people do, that they will dry out to some extent.

 

[olyman]

I'm in Northern Ontario. The ground is frozen and there is close to a foot of snow on it, so it's too late to start to build a wood shed. I thought I might get a head start on a pile of logs for burning next winter. Buck and split them now, for I won't have time to do it in the spring or summer when I'm building my house. I thought that if I just threw them in a pile, as I see some people do, that they will dry out to some extent.

nope..only the splits on the outside of the pile...

 

[flotek]

Only if you like burning wet rotting wood covered in fungus . That's what the bottom of a big pile will give you . Wood is like a sponge

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Yup, been there, done that, got the tee shirt and wore it out.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

I'm in Northern Ontario. The ground is frozen and there is close to a foot of snow on it, so it's too late to start to build a wood shed. I thought I might get a head start on a pile of logs for burning next winter. Buck and split them now, for I won't have time to do it in the spring or summer when I'm building my house. I thought that if I just threw them in a pile, as I see some people do, that they will dry out to some extent.

Can you stack it on pallets? Or pile it in 4 pallet squares? Neighbor does that and seems to work.

 

[Marshy]

Getting it off the ground it key. The pieces on the ground get funky and the pieces in the center of the pile won't dry as well but for the most part they will dry some. If your only option is to put them on the ground then try putting some branch/limb wood down first.

 

[olyman]

Getting it off the ground it key. The pieces on the ground get funky and the pieces in the center of the pile won't dry as well but for the most part they will dry some. If your only option is to put them on the ground then try putting some branch/limb wood down first.

anything below the tops row of splits, will rot if left unbothered....seen it once tooo often. no air movement...and in canadia,,it dont get extreme hot like down here...

 

[Marshy]

anything below the tops row of splits, will rot if left unbothered....seen it once tooo often. no air movement...and in canadia,,it dont get extreme hot like down here...

That may be true. In NY that is not the case and we can make piles and leave it there in a pile for a year if you like (hardwoods). The bottom pieces might be wet but generally wont be punk.

 

[olyman]

That may be true. In NY that is not the case and we can make piles and leave it there in a pile for a year if you like (hardwoods). The bottom pieces might be wet but generally wont be punk.

even with hardwoods,, you wont get away with that here...........I split a bunch of white oak I had,,stacked neatly in rows.. and I still had white mold growing on it... and it was NOT punky to start with.............

 

[jrider]

Works great in my climate. Key is full sun and wind exposure.

 

[Marshy]

But a little bit of white mold isnt punk, I'd bet the wood was still solid.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I had a pile like that a few years ago. The top ~2 feet was pretty dry, deeper in sort of dry and toward the botton was a moldly mess. Was during a summer that we had almost no rain and up to 85* temps too (not normal for here)

Works great in my climate. Key is full sun and wind exposure. View attachment 474585

 

[olympyk_999]

The top ~2 feet was pretty dry, deeper in sort of dry

anything below the tops row of splits, will rot if left unbothered

I don't know who to believe...helpppppp!!!!

 

[SS396driver]

I pile up what don't fit into my barn . Guess I'm to lazy to stack three times. Outside barn to basement. Gray wood is oak cut last fall out all winter than all summer Its on pallets though and they don't last more than a year or two

 

[cantoo]

I drop them off the conveyor onto scrap pallets. Birch will go punky but not the maple or ash. Only sits for a couple years though and gets full sun. I have 100's of windmills around me so maybe they dry the splits better? It's not gonna dry in log form so if you have the time I would git r cut and split now. In the right spot it won't rot by burn time next year.