Labeling Wood Piles Idea

[Cambium]

Every winter I forget what a few pieces are in the piles. Especialy when they are seasoned or the bark comes off.

I have about 5 different piles here and there and I want to find a convienant way to label the firewood that I stacked.

What method do you use? Do you draw it? Do you spray paint some ends? Do you do something like this?

I plan to stack Cherry in front of the Black Birch this week. Am I getting too fancy with the picture and the editing?

So I'm curious what you all use to remember and know what you're burning over the fall and winter.

 

[BrokenToys]

I've gotten to the point where I can tell where each piece of firewood came from nevermind the type...but my OCD is like that. I stack my firewood by species. [6-9 cords always on hand]

Please don't let me be the only one who does this !

 

[jthornton]

I don't even know what wood is in my wood pile except none seems to look like pine or cedar or the smooth bark one with the dangly balls that grows down by the creek.

JT

 

[Cambium]

I've gotten to the point where I can tell where each piece of firewood came from nevermind the type...but my OCD is like that. I stack my firewood by species. [6-9 cords always on hand]

Please don't let me be the only one who does this !

lol. I used to just throw everything in one pile then stack everyting mixed. I thought it was too time consuming to seperate. But now I get tree guys dropping off one type of tree at a time instead of mixed. So I figure its a good opportunity to seperate them.

When split pieces are seasoned and the color faded plus without a bark, I didnt think it was possible to tell.

But I guess I'm trying to label so I dont have to figure out each piece? lol

 

[angelo c]

funny, I can tell you where it came from, what it was, how long it needs before its seasoned....

just don't ask me what my wife's birthday is or our anniversary....or when the mortgage payment is due.

 

[CWME]

Instead of labeling what each stick is I would suggest maybe stacking it by BTU rating? BTU rating or time needed to season. IE oak together for two years, maple and cherry together for one etc. I generally only cut oak and beech so I don't need to label my stacks, just separate them.

 

[NSMaple1]

Labelling wood?

Separating?

Whatever happened to just stacking & burning? :msp_tongue:

 

[TreePointer]

I stack mostly by species but also have some mixed hardwoods stacks. Keeping premium species separated can get you more $$ if selling.

 

[Whitespider]

OK... well... I just keep adding to the stack until it's time to start a new stack... I don't separate, sort or mark anything in the seasoning stacks. Really though, the "species's" don't get "all mixed up"... since I cut and split it all in the woodlot before hauling it to the stacks, and load as I split, I tend to have "clumps" of different species within the stacks.

But I do categorize my home heating firewood two ways, "good stuff" and "better-than-good stuff"... and stuff that can't at least make the "good" category normally gets cut during a different time of the year and goes in the fire pit pile. The "good stuff" starts at the low end with American Elm and Walnut and ends on the high side with Ash, the "better-than-good stuff" starts at the low end with Hard Maple and Red Oak and ends on the high side with... well, anything better than those.

'Round October I start putting enough firewood in the basement to (hopefully) last all heating season ('round 7-8 cord); some of it comes from the seasoning stacks and some comes directly from cutting standing-dead. I throw it in the old coal shoot door and stack it at my leisure... "good stuff" stacked on the north wall of the old coal storage room, "better-than-good stuff" on the south wall. I wouldn't need to know the exact species of each piece as I stack it (although I do always seem to know what it is), I just need to decide which stack (category) it belongs in. And really, if a handful end up in the wrong stack (which can easily happen, especially when the 5-year-old helps) I don't get my panties all bunched-up over it...

 

[cheeves]

I burn mostly dead standing oak, so I mainly just want to know where my aged locust is come Jan. and Feb.
After last winter I uncovered some nice pin oak that I wish I would have remembered where I had stacked it!

 

[PLAYINWOOD]

I have a friend that uses a paint marker and marks the ends of the wood with a letter which corresponds with each species.
For example, A =ash , WO is white oak, RO red oak etc.

When he's away and friends baby sit his greenhouse where the burning appliances are, he has a morning afternoon and overnight recipe pinned to the wall.

2M,1RO and 1IW for overnight is an example.

I just smile....

If your wondering, every piece is cut 20 inches long, with a measuring tape.... shorts and twisted pieces are hidden in bushel baskets so no one sees them.

 

[GeeVee]

By Species?

I would think it more imprtant for a scrounger (not saying you are) to stack according to date, so you can have a clue about when it might be seasoned.

Me?

It all goes to the same pile. when ever it got cut, when ever it got split, whenever it gets burned. it goes to the same pile.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Every winter I forget what a few pieces are in the piles. Especialy when they are seasoned or the bark comes off.

I have about 5 different piles here and there and I want to find a convienant way to label the firewood that I stacked.

What method do you use? Do you draw it? Do you spray paint some ends? Do you do something like this?

I plan to stack Cherry in front of the Black Birch this week. Am I getting too fancy with the picture and the editing?

So I'm curious what you all use to remember and know what you're burning over the fall and winter.

Do you think all that lettering will stay put up in a strong wind?

 

[Genius.]

WHy not just stack the #### and when it comes winter time throw it in the fire?

 

[Greenland South]

I've gotten to the point where I can tell where each piece of firewood came from nevermind the type...but my OCD is like that. I stack my firewood by species. [6-9 cords always on hand]

Please don't let me be the only one who does this !

You have fae to much time on your hands. I'm never posting a pic of my piles:smile2:

 

[CTYank]

Cambium (OP),

Most of my stacks are 16-inchers on 1/2 cord racks, with wood of one species, processed as a batch. Makes for possible future sales. One big 1/2 cord bin, of 8-inchers to fit stove, is just tossed in. A few other small stacks of odd & kinky bits are just biding time before meeting a bandsaw on the way to the 1/2 cord bin. K.I.S.S.

My kindling is sorta-sorted by source, into shopping bags. That's stored in the attic, around 120 F in summer.

Best I could suggest to you:
Get your stacks out of the shade and out in the sunshine;
Keep grass growing next to them, to stop the spatter of mud & dirt onto the wood.
Then organize it just enough to access shoulder-season wood a/r, and to let the oak have time to dry.

 

[DexterDay]

Just burn Ash and there isn't a problem...

Just kidding. My big stack in the back is all ash. But up by the house is split by species. But that's only because I stack it as I cut it. If I cut Cherry, then cherry goes in that rack. If I cut Locust, Maple, etc..

 

[zogger]

I have pure species stacks, then mixed bag anything goes stacks. Started doing that last year. Premium wood, oak, hickory and ash for around here, all separate, as is bulk pine when I do a large tree. The rest of the stacks are thoroughly mixed, anything that grows around here. The premium wood is also further separated by bark-on, then pure heartwood, heartwood defined fior my purposes as at least one split away from the bark/outside of the tree, not just the bark fell off..

I have been walking by twice a week or so and clanking that hickory heartwood together..man, just man....I don't have hedge or locust that I can find, so that is it as my absolute best possible wood. I haven't burned any, it is graying and checked, I bet it would burn well right now, but I will let it sit a year or three more, see how it goes. It is stacked open and well off the ground and in good sun and wind area.

yes, I am at the point this year sometime I will make a small drawing/map, and throw some estimated dates on it, when a stack was complete.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I've gotten to the point where I can tell where each piece of firewood came from nevermind the type...but my OCD is like that. I stack my firewood by species. [6-9 cords always on hand]

Please don't let me be the only one who does this !

You're not alone, I know all of my wood on a first name basis. I mix the softwood (Doug fir and lodgepole), which I can easily identify even after the bark is off. I keep the oak separated, with the 2-3 year old in a locked vault.

My name is Craig, and I have firewood OCD.

 

[sb47]

I take some of my business cards and right the type of wood and when it was split and pilled, then just staple it to the pile. Use a heavy duty sharpie of it will fade and be useless.
If I know it will sit there for more then a year, I’ll use some 2” clear box tape and laminate the card.