Should I Cover?????

[slowp]

Oh dear Whitespider...you need to visit our corner of the country. Don't move here, but you can visit. We live in a cool, damp, drizzly climate. Think moss. Think green stuff that even grows on our vehicles if parked outdoors and not washed frequently. Mushrooms are a commercial crop here, and if you do not cover the tops of your woodpiles, seasoned or green, mushrooms is what you'll get. Your wooden picnic table will not dry out until July, and will sprout moss and even mushrooms if deteriorated enough.

My small brain is capable of recognizing that we have different climates in our country and world that require different methods to season firewood and keep it seasoned. What works in Arizona, won't work here and likewise, what works here may not be suitable for Ioway. Why we even have to de moss our roofs, which I need to do if we get a dry spell. Our perpetual drizzle has begun, the sun will be a rare sight. Time to get out the happy light.

 

[Mastermind]

I've yet to figure out the multi quote (if we even have one now) so I'll try to address all I've read.

The wood is a mix of hard maple, oak, and hickory.

I've been bumping around on some of the stacks to prevent further listing. For that, I use a sledgehammer.

I use most of the test wood we cut gets burnt in a firepit. The grandkids make smores and cook hotdogs regularly.....

Here's an old pic of the benches and firepit.....

 

[Whitespider]

Oh dear Whitespider...you need to visit our corner of the country.

Naw... no I don't... I believe ya'.
Up at the lake home in Minnesota the roof is in perpetual shade under the pines, and moss grows grows on it... we spray it with bleach to kill it (cheaper than other chemicals), and hose it off after a few days.
Moss itself pulls moisture from the air and holds it... stuff just won't dry-out under moss.

 

[stihl sawing]

I keep mine under a lean to I built off the side of the barn, the sides are open for air to get in but it's covered so no rain can get in except when the wind blows hard.

 

[zogger]

Stuff for next year or farther away, uncovered. Stuff for this current year, once I start burning, is top covered and uncovered depending on the weather. if it says clear cool etc for the next week, I roll it back, rain for the next week, roll it over and only reach in and take out as needed.

uglies pile I am burning from now, uncovered. I start with nice handfulls of crispy branchwood and bark chunks, it burns hot and fast and even if a main burning chunk is damp on the outside, half an hour on the wall behind the stove and it is dry again, before it goes in.

Once into full all day long heating, we keep three days worth inside, and rotate as we burn. the wood is dry before it gets into the stove.

Sometimes I will resplit wood on an as needed basis to get more heat from the same chunks, but not too often.

Regular daily visitors on firewood forums I think tend to be a bit more picky than most folks on firewood..because it is either necessary as heat, and/or they sell it, and the aspect of doing it leads to becoming more involved with it and experimenting, etc..and as a hobby. Need it and hobby for me.

Makes no sense to 99.999% of humanity...

..ya I know it is a matter of much guffawing and ridicule elsewhere on the web, how to stack, covered/uncovered...(LOL, I think youz knowz wherez iz one place it iz laffed at..), but..we all have our particular peculiarities...like people who get their cars detailed (WTF???), drops tens or hundreds of thousands in "racing" this or that wheeled contraption (WTF???), watch big huge guys in designer skin tight leggings beat up on each other for possession and geographical location of an oblong air filled leather bladder (LOL double WTF is that all about!!!)

If your wood burns without excessive smoke and creosote buildup, that's good enough, whatever you are doing is good enough. It isn't that windy here, so rain wetness on the wood tends to take more than a few minutes to surface dry out...other places, uncovered all the time is fine as it will air dry fast no matter what.

Best bet, to me, my opinion, is a bonafide real woodshed, open sides, with just a roof, so the wood never ever gets wet, and it has full air flow. I ain't gots one, just stacks, so some covering is useful for me.

 

[Trx250r180]

i think it depends on region ,this pile of logs was decked for firewood a couple years ago ,last weekend ,i started digging into it ,almost every log was getting punky and starting to rot ,it will still burn ,but it is not solid ,this pile was stacked pretty tight ,maybe if more air got to it it would have lasted longer


http://www.arboristsite.com/communi...3/?temp_hash=94de12f3e2b9af858d17d4d43c680962

 

[svk]

We've always covered with tarpaper. Keeps it dry and lasts for several years. Plus the black color sucks in the heat and keeps the pieces underneath it really dry.

Up here wood never really dries unless it is covered. I will leave soaking wet just split wood out in the summer sun but thats it.

 

[svk]

I've yet to figure out the multi quote (if we even have one now) so I'll try to address all I've read.

The wood is a mix of hard maple, oak, and hickory.

I've been bumping around on some of the stacks to prevent further listing. For that, I use a sledgehammer.

I use most of the test wood we cut gets burnt in a firepit. The grandkids make smores and cook hotdogs regularly.....

Here's an old pic of the benches and firepit.....

That is a beautiful collection and cool fire area too!

 

[Coldfront]

I cover the top, and I am glad I did or my wood would never dry. It rained about every other day the whole month of Oct. and now in Nov. I have snow on top already.

 

[steved]

My parents bought a metal carport to use as a wood shed...cheap, quick install. Seems to work alright, holds about eight cords or so.

I have open stacks, and cover mine because of the remnant tropic systems...recently added a shed for some of it, just because I had it. I use clear plastic on the open piles.

I cover just the top in the spring summer, then cover the entire pile starting with the first tropical storm system. I'm one that has bad luck with rain...maybe its the timing? Those late season tropical systems that drop 15 inches of rain in less than a week, followed by cool weather with little to no sun seem to cause me grief...the wood never dries back out.

 

[Mastermind]

Trying out the new multi quote system......

I keep mine under a lean to I built off the side of the barn, the sides are open for air to get in but it's covered so no rain can get in except when the wind blows hard.

I remember your wood shed "Mad Dog".

Stuff for next year or farther away, uncovered. Stuff for this current year, once I start burning, is top covered and uncovered depending on the weather. if it says clear cool etc for the next week, I roll it back, rain for the next week, roll it over and only reach in and take out as needed.

uglies pile I am burning from now, uncovered. I start with nice handfulls of crispy branchwood and bark chunks, it burns hot and fast and even if a main burning chunk is damp on the outside, half an hour on the wall behind the stove and it is dry again, before it goes in.

Once into full all day long heating, we keep three days worth inside, and rotate as we burn. the wood is dry before it gets into the stove.

Sometimes I will resplit wood on an as needed basis to get more heat from the same chunks, but not too often.

Regular daily visitors on firewood forums I think tend to be a bit more picky than most folks on firewood..because it is either necessary as heat, and/or they sell it, and the aspect of doing it leads to becoming more involved with it and experimenting, etc..and as a hobby. Need it and hobby for me.

Makes no sense to 99.999% of humanity...

..ya I know it is a matter of much guffawing and ridicule elsewhere on the web, how to stack, covered/uncovered...(LOL, I think youz knowz wherez iz one place it iz laffed at..), but..we all have our particular peculiarities...like people who get their cars detailed (WTF???), drops tens or hundreds of thousands in "racing" this or that wheeled contraption (WTF???), watch big huge guys in designer skin tight leggings beat up on each other for possession and geographical location of an oblong air filled leather bladder (LOL double WTF is that all about!!!)

If your wood burns without excessive smoke and creosote buildup, that's good enough, whatever you are doing is good enough. It isn't that windy here, so rain wetness on the wood tends to take more than a few minutes to surface dry out...other places, uncovered all the time is fine as it will air dry fast no matter what.

Best bet, to me, my opinion, is a bonafide real woodshed, open sides, with just a roof, so the wood never ever gets wet, and it has full air flow. I ain't gots one, just stacks, so some covering is useful for me.

Great, well thought out post.......no need to defend our oddities though. We all have them.

i think it depends on region ,this pile of logs was decked for firewood a couple years ago ,last weekend ,i started digging into it ,almost every log was getting punky and starting to rot ,it will still burn ,but it is not solid ,this pile was stacked pretty tight ,maybe if more air got to it it would have lasted longer

You live in a rain forest huh?

That is a beautiful collection and cool fire area too!

Thanks, 90% of those saws are gone now........I sell and trade a lot. The fire area is still there though.

 

[mainewoods]

I cut a bunch of 3 or 4 inch saplings to stack the piles on, and cover just the top of the pile with a standard 3' wide roll of clear plastic sheeting. It is surprising how much drier the wood is with that little piece of covering, and the wind still blows through the stacks just fine.

 

[windthrown]

I was gonna add that you should have and moisture barrier and your wood up off the ground. O/w it will stay wet at the bottom and sink, and then your stacks will heave. I put plastic, poly tarps, or tar paper down on the ground under my wood stacks. W/o a water barrier moisture wicks up from the ground and keeps the bottom wood damp. I use 4x4 pallets to stack the wood on. Use pallets with widely spaced boards to allow air to flow to move up from the bottom through the wood (natural air convection). I used some tight plank pallets last year on one cord stack and the wood is still "damp" (more than 25% moisture) at the bottom this season, so I am going to burn them and replace them with loose planked pallets. I have also used PT lumber and cedar posts on the bottom, but pallets work better for air flow and stack stability.

As for covering, the drier your wood is, the better it will burn and the more heat you will get from burning it, in any type of stove, fireplace or boiler. I cover all my wood as soon as it is split and stacked. I also cover the sides of my stacks this time of year with all the rain that we get. I get 80+ inches of rain here a year... glug glug glug. It is coming down really hard here right now.

 

[artbaldoni]

As it gets split

Ready to burn - Tarp on top only.

 

[windthrown]

Nice wood stacks there... that is how I cover mine in summer here (Harbor Freight silver tarp?).

I like the OWB too, but they are considered to be soooooooooooooooooo evil, and are banned in Orygun and Warshington now.

 

[mainewoods]

That's a damn fine looking wood pile. {"thumbs up"}

 

[windthrown]

Oh yah, and MasterMind don't forget to...

 

[Dirtboy]

I cover just the tops with plastic and let them season for almost 2 years . Just before heating season and the big rains come, I bring out the tarp and "tent" them over the top for the wood I'm burning that winter.

 

[Typhke]

We've had more rain in the last 7 days than we had in November last year and the year before combined. I have got most of my wood covered, just on top with heavy tarps or tent tarps that were laying around. I've got some cords uncovered that was split 2 weeks ago and still needs to be stacked, wish I covered it before 2 weeks of rain started.

If you get a lot of rain, I would cover the top, otherwise leave it uncovered.

 

[HD2010]

I leave mine uncovered.