Wood Storage near a creek

[swagler85]

So I am running out of space to store wood without using up my yard. I can store there if I have to but would prefer not to. I have a great place I can put the firewood that is on a flat just above the creek in my backyard. About once every few years this area will flood with about a foot of water. Not fast moving and is usually gone in a day. I stack on pallet racks so I can carry them with the tractor. This would also help keep them in place if it did flood. My question is if that were to flood how would that affect seasoning for a few of the bottom splits to be underwater for a few days. The wood that would be going there now is oak that will be setting there for at least 2-3 years.

 

[pen]

Can you think of any place you could get a bunch of free used concrete / cinder blocks from to use to elevate the stacks?

Even then, you are still putting a bunch of time / effort at risk.

Tough one.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I would not advise it. However, you have a good way of moving them so if you could move them before the flood then there should be no worries. On the other hand, if the water is up just for a day or two (no more than 2) the wood would probably be okay. I say that because we've had wood laying in water for weeks but still the wood is okay (mostly ash).

 

[bogydave]

If you are running out of space, what other choices do you have?
A day or 2 should just make the bottom few splits need to wait a while longer
but all the above water stuff should be good to go in 2 - 3 years

Hope it don't get high enough to float the wood away

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I do not think it would be a problem, have you ever seen the loggers that pull logs out of the river. The wood is just fine,even preferred. As often said wood is not a sponge. White Oak would be the best to store as I understand it they used it for ship hulls as it repels water. Red Oak supposedly can let a little back in. Your experimenting will tell the story.

 

[Gasifier]

You could stack several pallets on top of one another. They are free. Then place your "bins" made out of pallets on top of that. As long as everything is level, and if not you level it out, it should keep your bin up and out of the water. The pallets will dry out when the water goes down.

 

[Shane N]

Find 3 chunks of oak with similar current moisture content. Split one and take a reading. Grab a 5 gallon bucket. Put the other two chunks of oak in it and fill it with water. Let it sit for 3 days. Take the chunks out. Let one sit for a couple weeks, split, and measure the moisture. Let the other sit for a few months and do the same. That should tell you how it'd work.

I'd guess it'd be fine, but I'm a scientist at heart.

 

[billb3]

Logs eventually sink as water displaces the air in the cells but this process can take years and decades, not your problem with a day or two under water.
Your concern would be water level high enough to dislodge the stack and cause it to float away.
A three foot stack should contain sufficient mass to stay put.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Maybe not the best idea. About 4 years ago while kayaking on the Ohio River by our home, my wife and I found about 3 cord of nice 18" oak and hard maple splits spread along about a 5 mile section of the KY side of the river bank and some still floting down the river. We loaded our yaks with splits, man did we look crazy, then got a friend with a pontoon boat to help us pick up all we could find. We split the wood with our friend for the use of his boat and fuel. I still wonder what the guy who lost the wood thought when he saw his hard work and winter heat floating away after a rain storm.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Logs eventually sink as water displaces the air in the cells but this process can take years and decades, not your problem with a day or two under water.
Your concern would be water level high enough to dislodge the stack and cause it to float away.
A three foot stack should contain sufficient mass to stay put.

Hey, could you translate those hieroglyphics please?

 

[billb3]

Hey, could you translate those hieroglyphics please?

Merry Christmas

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Merry Christmas

Well of cerntainly!! What else could it be at this time of year!! But how does it translate???
Merry Christmas to you and to all