Three Cord Wood Shed-Looking for ideas

[svk]

My hunting cabin is on leased land so I am limited as to what I can build and what materials I can use for construction. The funny thing is that despite all of their restrictions, they give a completely subjective size for a woodshed as "able to hold three cords". They specify walls must either be open or slats with 50% or less of the sidewall covered. A floor is allowed.

If I build an 8X8 building with 6' sidewall below the rafters I should accomplish what they are looking for. (4x4x8x3=384 cubic foot) 384 divided by 8 divided by 8 equals 6'.

Or should I build it longer and narrower so I have frontal space and easier access to wood?

My plan is to borrow my buddy's CSM (with one of my saws of course) and mill scrounged logs into beams and wall slats.

 

[sirbuildalot]

My personal feelings are that a longer woodshed design is superior than a cube design for a couple reasons.

First,
As you noted the wood is easier to get to
Second,
You're not walking over and busting pallets
Third,
The wood will dry better if the wind can easily blow by it and the sunlight can hit it. An 8' deep shed would have 6 rows at 16". I don't think the 3rd and 4th rows would dry very well if all stacked tightly together. I think a woodshed with 2 or 3 rows max. would be ideal.

How about 4' deep x 16' long x 6' high?

 

[Big_Eddy]

I'd build it wider and not as deep, and divide it into 3 or 4 bays. 3 bays at 5 w, 5'-6' deep, 5'-6' high is pretty close to 3 cords.
Stack 4 or 5 rows deep in each bay. The advantage of more bays is that you can be filling up individual bays as you're emptying out other ones.

 

[svk]

The multiple bays and a longer building are good ideas

I would probably put semi seasoned wood in to avoid any risk of mildew from stacking green wood.

 

[Guswhit]

In my opinion, I would want a taller side wall to the bottom of the rafter as I'm getting old and fat and don't seem to duck so well anymore, but I'm 6'3". Also, I have found that if the wood that I stacked inside wasn't dry the inner most pieces tended to take longer to dry out as they don't get near the air movement to get dried. I guess I'm voting for the longer, narrower shed.

 

[svk]

How quickly wood dries is not really a concern as I do not use all that much up there, just have the fire pit and sauna. If I was going to turn the supply over every year it definitely would be.

 

[T. Mainus]

This was an 8x20 we built this year with a little 4' storage area on the end for a customer.

 

[muddstopper]

my cheap metal carport will hold about 8 cords. Ends and sides are open. If its full airflow is kinda poor, but It seldom stays full. to keep the season wood rotated, I can empty from one end this year, and the other end next year and the wood in the middle might not get used for 3 or 4 years. I think the middle wood now is about 4 years old, so its dry if I get around to using it. I have probably enough stacked outside to last me this winter so I dont know if I will haul any wood out of the shed unless its raining or the outside wood is covered in snow.

 

[doeber21]

Here are 2 that I did. I picked my size based on the size of the pallets 9' x 13' with a 6' back wall (that's how tall I am). Each roughly about 5.5 cords of wood, I think... All the materials were scrap from work after a new production line we installed. Also the same place materials came from for my OWB.

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[sundance]

I'd go longer and not as deep as noted by others. Also agree with making the sides higher. I'm 5'9 and the back wall of mine (8 x 16) is 6', front 8'. Also, if you actually expect to put 3 cords in it, figure on a couple inches per stack to accommodate over length, etc. Three 16" stacks will end up more than 48".

 

[Cody]

Here are 2 that I did. I picked my size based on the size of the pallets 9' x 13' with a 6' back wall (that's how tall I am). Each roughly about 5.5 cords of wood, I think... All the materials were scrap from work after a new production line we installed. Also the same place materials came from for my OWB.

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Those are really nice. Have you though about leaving a gap between the floor boards as well though? I want to do something like that in the carport that I store wood in but I don't want to lose 180 cubic feet of storage either.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

What about buying a container, or a semi trailer, if you do not own the property...

 

[svk]

What about buying a container, or a semi trailer, if you do not own the property...

Not allowed....I think the lease still has 50 years left (and I'm nearly 40) so I'm not concerned with what happens when it expires.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

Don't forget the floor

As Cody recommended leaving a gap, even if it's only an inch or so between the floor boards will allow air circulation from the bottom, and give any moisture from rain or snow that gets in a place to go.

Take Care

 

[Del_]

For only three cords you don't need a woodshed. Just stack in single rows and lay old sheet metal on top weighted down with firewood so it doesn't blow. I've got a friend that has about eight cords like this and has been doing it for 35 years. A fire pit is a great way to burn the pieces on the ground that get wet, buggy and decay.

 

[svk]

For only three cords you don't need a woodshed. Just stack in single rows and lay old sheet metal on top weighted down with firewood so it doesn't blow. I've got a friend that has about eight cords like this and has been doing it for 35 years. A fire pit is a great way to burn the pieces on the ground that get wet, buggy and decay.

I've been doing that racket for my whole life lol. I want a place where I can stack wood and not worry about it rotting or tipping over.

 

[sirbuildalot]

I agree a woodshed is worth having. Three cords is still a decent amount of wood. If you ever decide not to use it, the shed could be repurposed into an implement shed, a dog kennel, storage shed, etc.

 

[sundance]

I agree a woodshed is worth having. Three cords is still a decent amount of wood. If you ever decide not to use it, the shed could be repurposed into an implement shed, a dog kennel, storage shed, etc.

Some are a little tough with an open sided woodshed.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I gave forty of these racks away. Too bad, so sad.
But you could make something similar, firewood racks, and not worry about a shed.
Put a stool on top and call it a deer stand.

 

[FreedomFamilyFarms]

Bigger than what you need but the idea still stands. Access from two sides to move wood in and out of, divided in 3 bays to keep things separated, each bay uses 6 standard pallets for a floor. When they rot, they get replaced. This holds 18 cords if I stack high enough and took me and 3 friends a day to build once I had the posts set.