Storing Green Firewood

[kubota00]

I like to pile green wood rather than stack it. I build a three sided crib out of pallets and after its split just throw it in the crib and cover it (not the sides just the top). I find that even very wet red oak dries in three to four months. Wood that I split this fall I will burn by February. That’s another thing I try to split so that I can grab any piece of with one hand, size seems to be a factor in drying time. I keep the area under the bottom pallets clear of leaves and debris so the air can circulate. Also I watch the conditions of the covers, if they leak and the wood gets wet. I find that tarps I find at Home Depot only last a year and they are pricy 12X16 is about $30. I would be interested know how others store wood.

Dave

 

[Wet1]

I'd like to see a moisture reading from the inside of one of those (3 month) seasoned chucks of red oak. My guess is the inside is still at 35%+ after 3 months. I've never seen or heard of any red oak drying naturally to 20% in that short amount of time.

 

[Richard_]

go to harbor freight for cheap tarps , 11'4"x15' for $16.99

 

[J.W Younger]

I'd like to see a moisture reading from the inside of one of those (3 month) seasoned chucks of red oak. My guess is the inside is still at 35%+ after 3 months. I've never seen or heard of any red oak drying naturally to 20% in that short amount of time.

I burn cherry cut as late as sept. in my shop stove by dec. Sometimes i burn red oak cut as late as aug. by late jan. with very little or no hissing or boiling out the ends.The owb will burn anything so i kinda judge how well seasoned it is by the shop stove.

 

[woodbooga]

I prefer that the wood I plan to use in the upcoming winter to be stacked to maximize sun exposure and air circulation.

I do have a pile of recently-split green wood from several felled living trees in a pile. The pile will sit until the spring when I stack it for 2009-10's burning. In its place will be a pile for burning 2 years down the road.

 

[STLfirewood]

I would just make a hinged top out of some 2x4s and some fiberglass tin. That would work the same and last a long time. It wouldn't cost much either.

Scott

 

[boostnut]

Last week I took the advise of another board member (Cruzer??) and bought a tarp from these guys http://stores.ebay.com/PointOne-Premiums I've got it cut into to the sizes that will work best for me and put some grommets in the corners. These are tough, waaaaaay stronger than the "heavy duty" garbage from TSC, Lowes, Home Depot.....

 

[Wood Doctor]

I'd like to see a moisture reading from the inside of one of those (3 month) seasoned chucks of red oak. My guess is the inside is still at 35%+ after 3 months. I've never seen or heard of any red oak drying naturally to 20% in that short amount of time.

:agree2: I must agree with Wet1 on this one. Oak, locust, mulberry, and hackberry all have one thing in common. They reward you in spades when you let them air dry no less than nine months. Try to rush them and they say, "Forget it, Charlie." Then they hiss like a mean snake at you. I try to let these four species go for a year. Then they burn hot as a $2 pistol.

 

[flewism]

I'm just starting to cut and split and stack wood for the winter of '09-10. The only difference that will take place is this winters wood will get covered and the wood for next year will stay uncovered until next fall. I also get a lot of sun and we are wide open to the wind. I covered this years wood ( 5 cord) for the first time last Thursday and uncovered it today as the heavy rains are over. I have a 1/2 cord worth of white oak in rounds and 3 med/large ash to drop that will be the start of next years wood.

 

[CharlieG]

I found that stacking neatly lets the wood dry naturally with good airflow, not found in piles. Also, when its time to bring inside, its easier to pick off a neat stack than a pile. I've done both, so thats my opinion .

 

[Wood Doctor]

I found that stacking neatly lets the wood dry naturally with good airflow, not found in piles. Also, when its time to bring inside, its easier to pick off a neat stack than a pile. I've done both, so thats my opinion .

:agree2: And, when you stack it like this, it dries even faster and requires no supports on the ends:

 

[coog]

Best, fastest, method I've found, and the neighbors don't complain

 

[bluequill56]

Best, fastest, method I've found, and the neighbors don't complain

I've always thought that method of stacking was interesting and might try it. Is that just one layer thick? 'Bout how much you get in one of those stacks?

I must be lucky - my neighbors don't complain about all the wood. But then again most of them are dipping into my stash pretty regularly. Especially on the really cold nights....

 

[Soilarch]

I've always thought that method of stacking was interesting and might try it. Is that just one layer thick? 'Bout how much you get in one of those stacks?

I must be lucky - my neighbors don't complain about all the wood. But then again most of them are dipping into my stash pretty regularly. Especially on the really cold nights....

^^^^X2

Don't mean to hijack, but I've got my stuff stacked all facing one way 3 logs thick on pallets or a layer of 'dotty' elm. Will 'thinning' it to 2 logs thick stacked higher make a noticeable difference? It gets afternoon sun and logs runs north-south. (A North or South wind blows between each log.)

Over half of it's hickory so I'm not too concerned, but the oak....the oaks got me scared.

 

[flewism]

So far I've been stacking our wood in single rows. 5 rows , 28' long 3' in between rows for mowing stacked 4' to 5' tall equals 5 plus cords. Now this configuration was based on the heavy duty pallets I've gotten, but they are small 20" wide, 3.5' long (8 x 3.5= 28'). It gets all the sun/wind available throughout the day, as our ground is 300' wide and wide open. I cut at 15-16" lengths. I also have a quantity of 42", 48" square pallets that I'm going to start using, and plan on double stacking on these. My goal this fall is to have 5 more full cord cut split and stacked on these pallets for next year.
I've been processing some firewood in smaller quantities for the last 10 years for our open fireplaces, but only using wood to heat with 2 years so I'm still learning about this also. Last winter we went through 3.5 cords in our insert.

 

[coog]

I've always thought that method of stacking was interesting and might try it. Is that just one layer thick? 'Bout how much you get in one of those stacks?

I must be lucky - my neighbors don't complain about all the wood. But then again most of them are dipping into my stash pretty regularly. Especially on the really cold nights....

The stack is 7' in diameter and 7' high.It is about two cords.The center is full of vertical pieces (mostly unsplit, smaller pieces), which helps to create a convective flow through the stack.I usually put a story pole in the center that has marks on it.It allows me to track the "shrink factor" as the drying occurs.When the pile gets down to around 5'4" it is dry.The last one I did, with green Bur Oak, took 5 months.This one is dead Black Locust; it had better be dry (drier, at least) by December.
I live in a city.You would be amazed at what people will complain about.

 

[bluequill56]

I think I'll give that a try! Something different, anyway.

I'm surprised it shrinks - guess I never thought of that.

 

[bluequill56]

^^^^X2

Don't mean to hijack, but I've got my stuff stacked all facing one way 3 logs thick on pallets or a layer of 'dotty' elm. Will 'thinning' it to 2 logs thick stacked higher make a noticeable difference? It gets afternoon sun and logs runs north-south. (A North or South wind blows between each log.)

Over half of it's hickory so I'm not too concerned, but the oak....the oaks got me scared.

I'd just go two deep. One is even better. Anything that will get more sun/wind to each piece will speed things along.

I'd worry more about your hickory than the oak. Hickory will rot quicker and is more susceptible to insect invasion. Oak is pretty resilient.

 

[juanboy2k]

Green Oak

Well ...Not sure if there's a separate thread for the wind damage Sunday's catastrophe as yet affecting cinci/dayton area, but here are shots of one ancient white oak that I get to cut up (yay!).

It was damaged at the base by ants so it's no wonder it didn't withstand the 60-70 mph winds.

Was huge and glorious though up until about 2PM Sunday.

At any rate, my plan is to use this for 2009-2010 at the earliest .. maybe even later, as I have hackberry and red maple on hand from June that hasn't even been split ... just stacked rounds.

For this stuff, I'm not even cutting it to length, just leaving the limbs 6-10 ft. Otherwise, the bigger rounds will get cut to length, and the stacked.

Any suggestions on how to best take this bad boy down?

I've never had the opportunity to work on something quite this large...

 

[Madspeed]

how do you guys stack your 'logs'? I've been stacking my 3-4' long logs in a pile about 5-6' high and about 30' long. Will stacking tightly like this air out okay?