I'm not promoting soaking wood in water. It was just something I came across and thought that rain may have the same, but very small ofc, effect. I don't know to which extend BTU's take the heat from sap into consideration.
drying wood - circulate air?
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Carpenters want the sap removed or fixed (kilned) due to the fact it will bleed out and ruin a finish.
I dont believe in stacking fresh split wood. I simply throw it in a pile and leave it to its own future. Sometime before cold weather, I will stack it under one of those portable carports. Carport is 19ft long I believe and 12ft wide. This keeps the rain off. I will stack two rows lenghtways on each side of the carport, then stack side to side between the two long sides. This allows me to back the gator in the middle and load the cross way stacked wood and leave wind breaks on each side. Once eveything is removed from the center, then i start burning the outside rows. I do stack off the ground on landscape timbers, but this air space usually fills up with bark and scraps.
L-O-L
Not quite... I said tarp it after it's seasoned (if'n ya' want), so it stays dry.
I would never tarp firewood that was in need of drying.
That 100 years seems to be a big joke with some... hmmmmm??
No doubt the original tarpaulin (canvas treated with tar, sometimes wax) has been around for centuries... but it ain't waterproof, just water resistant, not to mention heavy and expensive. It would be, and always would have been, a lousy firewood cover because any standing water will drip through... and, just like a canvas tent, anything touching the "dry" side can cause the canvas to leak near immediately. My reference was to the more modern version of the tarpaulin... typically called simply a "tarp"... made from vinyl, polyethylene, and other 100% waterproof synthetics.
But I'm guessin' most here knew exactly what my meaning was...
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StephieDoll
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I couldn't agree more this Is the recipe for true seasoned wood only thing I'd add is put it in wood shed just before it starts snowing out so your not messing with frozen tarps and digging splits out of a foot of snow
woodchuck357
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When I need to hurry firewood drying along, I stack it in rows running east/west and cover the top and south side with black plastic held up off of the wood with bent poles or plastic pipe. There is a gap at the bottom edge of the plastic that allows air to come in low and flow up and out the top as it is heated by the sun. The moisture is carried away so there is no condensation most of the time, when there is condensation it runs down the plastic an drips on the ground, never touching the wood. Rain is usually blown from the southwest so the plastic keeps most rainwater off the wood. We have heavy dew much of the time, I think that would have a greater effect on wood drying here than the rain does.
I meant after seasoning. But if it will still dry a little
and stay dry.NSMaple1
Addicted to ArboristSite
You'll get more heat under the plastic if it's clear & not black. The black actually blocks a lot of the suns energy.
Only problem with clear is the sun breaks it down - unless you can find some good greenhouse stuff.
Only problem with clear is the sun breaks it down - unless you can find some good greenhouse stuff.
Roundup is the bomb for around woodpiles and chai link fence works great
Tarp or not to tarp depends on many things i don't believe it matters much in my area to use them but I know a couple years ago we had a wetter than normal summer and this really effected my wood rows they had fungus growth and started to get punky from all that humidity and moisture . I was real disappointed with my wood that year I think it comes down to your area and precipitation
Black lumber covers are thicker and FREE.
The WHITE side will reflect a lot of light, the reason anything black is black, is that it absorbs all wavelengths of (visible) light, most likely into the longer wavelength infrared spectrum too.
Clear may let more energy through, but the black will be heated up nicely by Mr Sun.
These covers are basically HD poly tarps that are big enough for double coverage on top of 2-3 cords of stacked wood.
Did I mention they are FREE???
woodchuck357
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Take a black plastic bag and a clear plastic bag, blow them up, lay them in the sun, come back in a half hour with a thermometer and check the difference in temp.
NSMaple1
Addicted to ArboristSite
On a sunny summer day, is it hotter inside a car, or inside the trunk of it?
Why don't greenhouses have black coverings?
Why don't greenhouses have black coverings?
because plants need sunlight
Which one will keep you cooler on a hot, sunny day?? An umbrella made from black plastic, or clear plastic??
Years ago (when the oldest was young) we had one of those 15 ft above ground swimming pools. I'd cover it with plastic to keep bugs, leaves, and other trash out when not being used... sometimes it would sit covered for days. When I'd fill it in the spring and cover it with black plastic it would take a month to warm up, if I'd cover it with clear plastic it would be like bath water in just a few days. Clear plastic allowed it to be used much later into the fall also... it kept the water warm even when temps dropped into the 40's and 50' overnights. The pool was always much, much warmer when covered with clear plastic.
Black plastic may absorb a lot of sun's energy, but heat rises, so most of that energy is lost through conduction/convection on the top side... the underside may warm the air (or, as in the case of the pool, water) coming in contact with it, but that air remains close to the plastic, doesn't do much to warm objects below. Clear plastic allows more of the sun's energy to pass through to strike and warm objects on the underside, which in turn warms the air around them... then the plastic traps the warm air, not the energy proper.
Place a piece of steel inside each bag before blowing them up, check the temperature difference of the steel... better yet, see which piece of steel melted through the plastic.
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Years ago (when the oldest was young) we had one of those 15 ft above ground swimming pools. I'd cover it with plastic to keep bugs, leaves, and other trash out when not being used... sometimes it would sit covered for days. When I'd fill it in the spring and cover it with black plastic it would take a month to warm up, if I'd cover it with clear plastic it would be like bath water in just a few days. Clear plastic allowed it to be used much later into the fall also... it kept the water warm even when temps dropped into the 40's and 50' overnights. The pool was always much, much warmer when covered with clear plastic.
Black plastic may absorb a lot of sun's energy, but heat rises, so most of that energy is lost through conduction/convection on the top side... the underside may warm the air (or, as in the case of the pool, water) coming in contact with it, but that air remains close to the plastic, doesn't do much to warm objects below. Clear plastic allows more of the sun's energy to pass through to strike and warm objects on the underside, which in turn warms the air around them... then the plastic traps the warm air, not the energy proper.
Place a piece of steel inside each bag before blowing them up, check the temperature difference of the steel... better yet, see which piece of steel melted through the plastic.
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NSMaple1
Addicted to ArboristSite
OK - maybe that wasn't the best illustration. But they also need heat for germination.
Why do thermal solar panels use clear glass?
I'll take that black umbrella spidey....
greendohn
firewood hack
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I stack my firewood in the woodshed as soon as I start unloading it!! 
I know, can you believe it?? The roof is barn metal with 3/4 inch ribs on top of 2x4 purlins.
The side walls are a black plastic tarp which comes from the co-op., it's used for covering the giant "ground bins" they use. Good stuff!
I roll these sides up in the spring which allows lots of air movement all summer long and roll 'em down in the late fall. It's so hot inside the shed come summer you can't breath in there. Like a kiln!! No kiddin'.
Outside stacking should be well off the ground and covered on top only, if ya' gotta' cover it. That seems to be the conventional wisdom around these parts.
I know, can you believe it?? The roof is barn metal with 3/4 inch ribs on top of 2x4 purlins. The side walls are a black plastic tarp which comes from the co-op., it's used for covering the giant "ground bins" they use. Good stuff!
I roll these sides up in the spring which allows lots of air movement all summer long and roll 'em down in the late fall. It's so hot inside the shed come summer you can't breath in there. Like a kiln!! No kiddin'.
Outside stacking should be well off the ground and covered on top only, if ya' gotta' cover it. That seems to be the conventional wisdom around these parts.
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