Firewood -- tactics (strategy thread below)

Bob in SD · Jan 17, 2017

Didn't want to hijack the thread below, but wondering about [b:654c4848f0]how[/b:654c4848f0] to easily burn wood that is 1 1/2 years old.

Right now it gets cut and split, then stacked out in the woodyard. Typically to sit out for part of a summer, all winter, and all of the next summer uncovered. Long about the second fall it gets picked up and moved into the woodshed, rotated with any leftovers from last year so oldest burns first. Then every month or so several pickup loads are moved from the shed to a small covered rack up by the house. Then a couple of times a week some of that it brought into the house. That's a lot of messing with the wood before it gets burned.

I do like letting it sit over at least one summer, but am trying to figure a way to cover it where it is first stacked to avoid the trip to the woodshed. I think it dries better out in the air than sitting in a three sided shed but do want it covered the year I burn it.

I've thought about movable roofs that I could slap sides on during the winter, or using a tarp (suspect it would last one season, but not two?), or ....

Any thoughts or suggestions?

HALGETIT · Jan 17, 2017

My dad always claimed burning wood warms you 3 times. once when you cut. Once when you stack it. Once when you burn it. letting it season over a year outside is good. we always cut tree tops from woods after about a year or two. After woods was timbered. so setting outside in weather should not do much damage if stacked.

hd6gtom · Jan 17, 2017

as long as it is not soaking wet it burns well. Some of mine is 3-4 years down.

Brian G. NY · Jan 17, 2017

(quoted from post at 19:20:29

I've thought about movable roofs that I could slap sides on during the winter, or using a tarp (suspect it would last one season, but not two?), or ....

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I cover the tops of my wood piles with cheap HF tarps and can usually get two years out of them.
Cover the tops only; leave sides open so air can move thru and sun can shine on the pile. What little rain and snow gets on the sides of the piles hardly affects it.
A trick I learned a long time ago is using old tire chains to hold the tarps down. They have sufficient weight and fit the contour of the pile. There are about 6 full cords in this pile (double row) which is about 2 winter's worth for me. Unfortunately, I started this winter with only about 2-1/2 cords!

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Of course, a nice permanent wood shed like my S.I.L.'s is my eventual goal.

db4600 · Jan 17, 2017

4 times if you count the splitting part... then there's carrying out ashes...

Russ from MN · Jan 17, 2017

I built this shed a couple of years ago, I like it real well but it only holds about 5 cords, so I have thought about building another. I cut and split the wood and stack it on pallets with HF tarps on top only, so the wind can blow through. When the shed gets empty then I carry the pallet over with the forks on the tractor and stack it in the shed. If the shed was bigger I could just stack the pallets with the tractor, but it's kind of tight. If I build another I will leave the back open too so first wood in is first out. I took the piece of tin off the back to do that. We spend the winter in AZ so we only burn 3-4 cords ourselves but I sell a few cords. I do stack rows of wood and cover only the top just like Brian, but I nail the edges of the tarp down with plywood squares.

syco 1 · Jan 17, 2017

i use an elevator drop into bins move into place with forks boards are removable on 1 side, also built a wood proccessor no stacking.

RLA · Jan 17, 2017

This is why I have 10 wood wagons, went I load & rank it on the wagon
it means it will fit in the window I throw it threw & also fit into the
wood stove. I park the wagons out of sight in the summer months, none of
it rots near the ground & bugs don't seem to bother it much. Save handling
another time. I do move the wagons in the fall closer to the house so they
can be moved to the wood room window when the snow is 40" deep.

4wdtom · Jan 17, 2017

I like to cut and stack it and let it dry for at least a year. I cut mine 2" long and cover most of the 4" high stacks with refrigerator doors I have picked up over the years. Rain or snow that gets on the ends of the wood doesn't seem to matter. I stack on old rails I have around, some 2x4x some 4x4s etc. and these I put on stones to keep them 4 or so inches off the ground. Metal roof panels would work for covers too. They might blow off easier too. Most of the refrigerator doors don't seem to blow of even in a good wind although I am in a bit of a valley with a lot of tress around so I don't get wind too bad. Dry wood is nice, the fire lights easy and is easy to keep going. A good air tight stove will control the burn rate so it can't burn too fast.

JD Farmer · Jan 17, 2017

The best thing I have come up with for covering was an 8' wide cut off piece of fiber laid plastic. It was used for liners in the oil fields for the ponds to catch any spills.
I took those 8'x 30' pieces and stapled them to the top of my wood piles which were stacked 3 pieces wide. The sides hung down about a foot and so I stapled on the ends of the cut wood. Worked perfect and the wind wasn't an issue if the staples were 1/2" long.
I got several years of use out of them and just yesterday burnt the last piece of them that was pretty well used up.

Pete in Holland MI · Jan 17, 2017

A friend who heats with wood has learned a neat storage trick.

He built an area where he can store piles of wood 16' long x 5' high, and several rows in this configuration. The 4x4's in the ground support a shed roof structure with a mild slope, but covered with transulcent fiberglass panels instead of sheet steel. Keeping the rain off the wood is paramount, but has found allowing the sun to bear down on the wood in the summer really speeds up the drying process.

mtny · Jan 17, 2017

I get oak 4x4 s from skids that are ten foot long and stack on those 5 or 6 foot high. I scavenge rubber roof scraps that are 3 or 4 foot by 10 . Use them to cover just the top , works well. That black rubber will last year's.

Ivan in Mich · Jan 17, 2017

I leave mine in pole lengths until Aug ot Sept when I cut it to length. Then I stack the years supply into my wood shed which holds enough for the year. If I would have to stack any out side I use the blue plastic that they shrink wrap boats with cut into strips a little wider than the wood pile, leaving the sides open. You can get the covering from any boat place when they take it off the boats in the spring for free.

JDBRIDER · Jan 17, 2017

I got some used rubber roofing and cut it into strips 4 feet wide. I stack it about 5 feet high with the stacks about 2 feet apart. I drape this over the rows of stacked wood. This keeps the rain and such off while letting plenty of air get to the wood.

Jim in NC · Jan 17, 2017

I cover mine with old roofing tin or aluminum not good enough to use as a shed roof after it is split and stacked. It has a few holes but keeps most of the water off. I use pieces of firewood to hold tin down. I will have several rows of wood in a stack. It becomes a portable shed. As I use wood the tin comes off.

Dachshund · Jan 17, 2017

I stack mine on pallets, then tarp it. I get tarps from the local lumber yards - the ones that lumber is covered with when they get it. I usually dig them out of the dumpster, unless I ask them to save them for me.

Bob in SD · Jan 17, 2017

There's a pile of either roofing or side panels left over from a metal building that was built here just before I moved in. Using some of those would be a bonus.

Bob in SD · Jan 17, 2017

Which way do the tire chains run? We have lots of wind/blowing snow here. Pretty sure if I didn't cover the sides I'd have a solid mass of snow
with some wood chunks in it.

Bob in SD · Jan 17, 2017

Is the wood banded to the pallets, or are you that smooth? I've got a good permanent shed. I was remembering your setup when I made the OP, but was thinking you moved the shed over the stack somehow.

s,mac · Jan 17, 2017

The wood I cut green is unloaded from the pickup in a pile. We do this in the spring and let dry all summer. I don't stack any wood to much time and effort nor do I cover it. We have three types of oak here. Blue oak grows on the hills very slowly and dense and puts out a lot of heat. Black oak is also good burning wood. Valley oaks grow very large and a long life put it takes a lot of wood to keep the house warm. It is good warm weather wood. We burn about four cords a year. Stay warm Steve

Adirondack case guy · Jan 18, 2017

I block and split all my wood up in the woods and load it into my wood trailers. I bring it hone and stack it into my attached woodshed. I have doors that I can leave open during late summer summer for air circulation. During the heating season my wood is nice and dry and I don't even have to step outside to bring wood from stack, to boiler. My woodshed holds 20 cord of wood. I burn around 14 cord each year.
Loren

4wdtom · Jan 18, 2017

I see I said inches above when I should have said feet.

ss55 · Jan 18, 2017

Burning wood pellet or corn requires much less labor than burning cut wood because the fuel can be handled in bulk. There would probably be a good market for stoves that burns wood chips. Has anyone seen or used one?

BOH · Jan 19, 2017

I cut mine to size in the spring and leave it in the woods. In September I haul it home to split and pile by the outdoor boiler. I cover the piles with old screen belt cut in strips to cover 2 rows.

bison · Jan 19, 2017

I cut down 30-40 standing dead jack pines every fall, block it up in stove lengths,load it in the 1/2 ton, stack a whole winter supply(8-9 full cords) in my heated attached garage and split what is needed daily, the stuff is bone dry from the get go and gives lots of heat with very little ashes....no need to season it.

Brian G. NY · Jan 20, 2017

(quoted from post at 03:44:12 01/18/17) Which way do the tire chains run? We have lots of wind/blowing snow here. Pretty sure if I didn't cover the sides I'd have a solid mass of snow
with some wood chunks in it.

I run the chains lengthwise. I cut my wood about 22" and there are 2 rows. I run the old tire chains the full length of the pile, each set as near to the outside as possible. I have never had the tarps blow off in a windstorm. BTW, it has taken me a few years to accumulate all those old chains, mostly free from garage sales and friends who know what I use them for.
Believe it or not, blowing snow is not usually a problem at all.
I think the wind currents keep the snow away from the stack.
A couple of years ago I got a whole bunch of rubber mats that had come out of a restaurant kitchen. Paid 20 bucks.
They are about 18" wide, 1/2" thick, have "nubs" on one side and are perforated. They are quite heavy and they conform to the top of the pile just as the chains do. I still would like to build a real woodshed tho!!

Firewood -- tactics (strategy thread below)

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