opinions needed for processed wood left in a pile

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7

700renegade

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Nov 20, 2008
153
NE Wisconsin
I normally hang out in the 'boiler room' ( I have a Vigas gasifier ) but wandered over here for advice.

I have about 30 cords of 3-yr old red oak and shagbark hickory in 8.5' logs stacked up behind the barn, plus another 40 cords logs I cut labor day weekend ( elm, ash, oak, boxelder, you name it ). 70 cords total which should be a 10 year supply for me. I hired a processor to come in this weekend to cut/split it, as I can never find time. He runs an 8-way wedge and can do up to 24" logs. He will pile it up using the elevator off his processor onto the old concrete slab behind the barn. Will probably have to move the processor a couple times as the piles will be pretty big.

The processor guy claims it will last 10 or 15 years in the pile on concrete.

What advice do you have for dealing with the wood once it's in the piles?

Do I need to plan to pick it up after a certain timeframe to stack it under a roof, or will I be OK long term on the pile? Could I let it season for a couple years, then cover it with a huge tarp? Should I put a line of pallets running the length of the piles to assist in getting some air under there?

Right now my plan is to load up 20+ chemical totes ( the 300 gallon kind with the steel frame - I cut the top out of the plastic liner ) every fall and store them in the machine shed. I'll run a few into the workshop (where the boiler room is) as I need them during winter. This way I really only need to 'stack' one time (when I fill the totes at the pile). If I get really lazy and had the space I could just fill them up loose with the skid-steer and never stack a bit.

This is in NE Wisconsin by the way.
 
Dont know anything about boilers but I just posted a thread about how I use the tote cages for my wood. I just take the tank all the way out, I think it gets more airflow this way. Pat
 
Only problem I fore see is air flow to the middle of the pile and even though its going to be on a slab, if said slab isn't pitched couldn't water pool under causing rot?
 
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Oh wow how nice would it be to have about 100cages ready so the processor could just convey the wood rite in the totes!!!! Slap me I"m dreaming!! ;lol
 
Reckless said:
Only problem I fore see is air flow to the middle of the pile and even though its going to be on a slab, if said slab isn't pitched couldn't water pool under causing rot?
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Cement is pretty level but I can't say I notice water standing for very long. plenty of cracks in it now sprouting weeds.
I thought about putting entire pile on pallets, but I don't think I can come up with enough to do it, and it will spoil my ability to scoop up the firewood with a skidsteer or volvo front loader. Maybe two parallel rows - 8' wide by length of pile would be helpful. I'm not sure how much PITA it is for him to move the processor so it's a linear pile instead of a couple huge cones. he has his own grapple arm on the machine, so it's no tinkertoy model.
 
I think it would be best to stack it, which will provide much better air flow and minimize the number of splits that are on the ground. If you can stack and cover all the better. Wood will last a long time on concrete, but I think Box Elder or Ash that is on the concrete in the middle of the pile will be rotten in ten years.
 
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Wood Duck said:
I think it would be best to stack it, which will provide much better air flow and minimize the number of splits that are on the ground. If you can stack and cover all the better. Wood will last a long time on concrete, but I think Box Elder or Ash that is on the concrete in the middle of the pile will be rotten in ten years.
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Stack 70 cords? Doesn't sound like much fun to me at all. Maybe stack for 2 years out to ensure your good and then do a couple every year just to keep up.
 
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I don't know if I would use 70 cord of wood in a lifetime at 3 or 4 cord a year. I guess I would split some to sell if A good price. I definitely wouldn't split it all. You have left 40 cord I split. It would last longer I split for sure. Not sure how a boiler type burns though.
 
700renegade said:
I have about 30 cords of 3-yr old red oak and shagbark hickory in 8.5' logs stacked up behind the barn, plus another 40 cords logs I cut labor day weekend ( elm, ash, oak, boxelder, you name it ). 70 cords total which should be a 10 year supply for me. I hired a processor to come in this weekend to cut/split it, as I can never find time. He runs an 8-way wedge and can do up to 24" logs. He will pile it up using the elevator off his processor onto the old concrete slab behind the barn. Will probably have to move the processor a couple times as the piles will be pretty big.

The processor guy claims it will last 10 or 15 years in the pile on concrete.

What advice do you have for dealing with the wood once it's in the piles?

Do I need to plan to pick it up after a certain timeframe to stack it under a roof, or will I be OK long term on the pile? Could I let it season for a couple years, then cover it with a huge tarp? Should I put a line of pallets running the length of the piles to assist in getting some air under there?

Right now my plan is to load up 20+ chemical totes ( the 300 gallon kind with the steel frame - I cut the top out of the plastic liner ) every fall and store them in the machine shed. I'll run a few into the workshop (where the boiler room is) as I need them during winter. This way I really only need to 'stack' one time (when I fill the totes at the pile). If I get really lazy and had the space I could just fill them up loose with the skid-steer and never stack a bit.

This is in NE Wisconsin by the way.
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Well, that is a pretty good amount of wood for sure and no doubt this is why you have decided to hire the bucking and splitting. However, with this being a 10 year supply, I would seriously consider doing the bucking and splitting myself simply because you do not need it all right away. Even if it takes you 3-4 years to complete the job, you could save yourself several dollars.

I have never been in favor of just leaving wood in a heaped up pile. It will not dry worth a hoot and you will for sure risk some of it rotting before you use it, especially with the time frame you are looking at.

With some of those logs, are some rather small? If so, that is what to lay down to stack the rest of the wood on. Or you can simply cut more logs and cut them to the length you need. This would work well to get the wood raised off that concrete which you for sure need to do.

For using the totes, for sure it would still be best to dry the wood before you load the totes. Air circulation is the biggest factor here and without it, wood dries super slow if at all.

In addition, NE WI is well known for plenty of cool and wet weather so you need to keep this in mind for the drying.

Tarps are usually a poor covering but are better than nothing at all. Something solid works well or even some rubber roofing material which sometimes you can pick up free or at least low cost when someone is replacing their roof.

Good luck.
 
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Paulywalnut said:
I don't know if I would use 70 cord of wood in a lifetime at 3 or 4 cord a year. I guess I would split some to sell if A good price. I definitely wouldn't split it all. You have left 40 cord I split. It would last longer I split for sure. Not sure how a boiler type burns though.
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Well, 4 cord per year, 70 cord would last less than 18 years. That is a short lifetime. ;)
 
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Backwoods Savage said:
Well, 4 cord per year, 70 cord would last less than 18 years. That is a short lifetime. ;)
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True. I guess I'm thinking of the wood, not oak but others rotting before you could burn it.:confused:
 
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Backwoods Savage said:
Well, that is a pretty good amount of wood for sure and no doubt this is why you have decided to hire the bucking and splitting. However, with this being a 10 year supply, I would seriously consider doing the bucking and splitting myself simply because you do not need it all right away. Even if it takes you 3-4 years to complete the job, you could save yourself several dollars. quote]!
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Here is how I look at it - I spent a weekend this summer repairing a crashed snowmobile and turned $4000 into $6500. I can take $2500 cash profit and hire the guy to process 8 years worth of firewood for my boiler ( at 6 cords per year ). The next 8 years I can find 100 things to do on a weekend more profitable than heaving 20" rounds thru a splitter - all in the comfort of my warm shop.

Whenever I do a fuel cost comparison, I use $100/cord for the wood and $50 for the processing as my baseline. In my case I got the 70 cords 'free' but it's delusional to not assign a cost to it. The only exception would be if one had their own woods and considered it part of property maintenance instead of a source of BTU.

Now, back to our real issue about the wood pile........
 
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I'd buck and split it all, stack the stuff I need for the next 3 to 5 years or so, put whatever else I can into whatever barn or shed I have, to keep it dry, and sell what's left. Selling 40 cord at $200/cord would give me $8,000. I could buy a whole bunch of firewood down the road with that money, or do whatever else I wanted to with it.
 
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To keep the bottom dry don't pile snow up against it and keep some 'drain trenches' cleared out in the snow around it that will allow any water to drain away from pile. Don't let an ice dam form that will cause water to pond or flow back under. Learned that the hard way with my first house that had a grade level basement door next to a rather flat driveway. Foot+ of snow then a heavy rain and it all went into the house.
 
ansehnlich1 said:
I'd buck and split it all, stack the stuff I need for the next 3 to 5 years or so, put whatever else I can into whatever barn or shed I have, to keep it dry, and sell what's left. Selling 40 cord at $200/cord would give me $8,000. I could buy a whole bunch of firewood down the road with that money, or do whatever else I wanted to with it.
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Yes, something like this.

I'm pretty sure you will lose some to rot if you let a heap that big sit for that long. - I'd sell some of it. If not now, next year. You could likely do well selling cut, split & seasoned wood a year or two out. Cut & split green wood goes for around $200 around here.
 
Might want to consider a carport-style tin building (roof) over the entire pile of wood, or at LEAST put a 3-5 year stack under roof.........just my opinion.
If it were me and I was going to leave it in a giant pile, I'd DEFINITELY want the rain to stay off of it and the air to be able to get to it. One of those tin-roofed carport thingies would probably be ideal. A small investment for a heap of fuel like that IMO.
 
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If I had the money Id go with the carport or a similar idea and get as many pallets as I could, Id just stack wood on the pallets here and there when I had some free time, maybe a couple cords at a time, or hire some kid to do the stacking and get it all off the ground and onto pallets, every year I'd move what I need under the carport.
 
70 cord, HOLY S#IT, ... give some away before it rots, will you truly "ever" burn that much?, please forgive me but I'm sure there are people Screaming for wood, you could help them emensley!
 
Yes, I definitely want to see some pictures of 70 cords of split wood. It'll be Firewood Mountain.
 
I'll try to snap some before/after pics and post them. Apparently that is of interest around these parts.

I was bringing home about 15 - 20 cords a day from my farmer friend's woods. Was hoping for more but it was in the 90's labor day weekend and I only had my 16 yr old neighbor boy to help. Still 100+ cord standing out there my friend wants me to take so he can turn it into a corn field. Maybe I will consider pulling more out this fall, as I could net about $2000 per day of cutting if I sold it as split firewood after a year or two.
 
Dave USCG said:
70 cord, HOLY S#IT, ... give some away before it rots, will you truly "ever" burn that much?, please forgive me but I'm sure there are people Screaming for wood, you could help them emensley!
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My memory may not be exact any longer but when I joined this forum I'm sure I had over 20 cord split and stacked. That has been long gone! 70 cord is a lot but it is not a lifetime's worth of wood. Shoot, we've split close to 300 cord with our hydraulic splitter in a little over 20 years.
 
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