Keeping wood dry in winter?

I wouldn't worry about covering it at all the first year. At least not in a reasonable climate. It's not going to rot and the surface water dries pretty quickly. You'll find that except in a torrential rain only the top third will get wet anyway. It's the water inside that you have to get rid of. Best way to do that is to split it, stack it with something under it to keep it off the ground and have it in single rows in the sunniest, windiest location you have available. Been working for me for a long time.

i have the old "leaky tarp issue". it keeps 90% of seasoned wood dry, but I'm actually just considering just getting rid of the tarp all together. if your wood is really properly seasoned then surface moisture is just that. its water on the surface. i use a 2 intermediate phase with my wood. first, i store about 3-5 days worth on a wood rack under my porch, then i move about a day at a time to an indoor wood rack that is in the same room as the stove. by the time i get to the a piece of wood that was "wet" off the the pile, its bone dry. is it better then a good wood shed? no. but it works.

I always get some moisture when I tarp the pile on my deck. My wood is c/s/s way out at the back on my yard, left to season uncovered. I bring my wood up near the house in the fall. The wood there now was c/s/s in the summer of 2012. As others have mentioned, there are several sources of moisture. Sometimes I just try and just top cover which mostly eliminates the trapped moisture, but then blowing rain and snow gets into the pile. I have a small log holder inside, and try to bring in enough for 2-3 days at a time, so the wood thaws and the surface moisture drys out somewhat before actually burning. Before we get any appreciable snow, I usually wrap the pile up good, which of course traps more moisture....if the wood is actually dry, its just surface moisture, and not much to worry about.

What is your procedure for testing with the moisture meter? Logs season at an incredibly slow rate, so much so, that the time between cutting down the tree and cutting it to length and splitting it doesn't count as drying time. If you had log delivered in May of 2014, got it c/s/s in July and July, in general, that should be good wood for winter 2015-6.

However, wood burns regardless of moisture content, just a matter of how well. If you want to optimize burning, meaning maximize heat output and minimize creosote build up, you need to season the wood, uncovered or top covered, much longer.

Couple things.

Orient your pile so the end of the pile (not the ends of the splits) is facing prevailing winds. i.e., the wind blows across the ends of your wood rather than into them. That way wind driven rain won't get into the side of the pile, it will just hit the end face of it. Much less wet in the pile.

I use tarps the same width as the pile - I lay it out on top of the wood, then pile another layer of wood on top. Tarp stays put. Wood on top dries out fast. No other fasteners needed. Using pallets under the tarp might let more air under the tarp, but it also lets the wind get under them & send them flying. I had to go out a couple days ago & re-set one of the two pallets I had laid on top of a pile just to get it off the ground. Hopefully it will stay put with the extra wood i put on it.

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I wouldn't worry about covering it at all the first year. At least not in a reasonable climate. It's not going to rot and the surface water dries pretty quickly. You'll find that except in a torrential rain only the top third will get wet anyway. It's the water inside that you have to get rid of. Best way to do that is to split it, stack it with something under it to keep it off the ground and have it in single rows in the sunniest, windiest location you have available. Been working for me for a long time.
End Quote.

This guy gets it. You don't need tarps, any cover at all. Get it stacked off the ground, in a windy,sunny area, walk away.

Picture of walk away..


Next step,design and build shed, put 2 year old dry stuff from walk away in shed..

My design, I used google sketch-up..




My design, don't need any sort of ventilation for the wood, that's why we dry it first..


Haul wood in house




park and burn..only go outside long enough to fill wagon.5 days worth. It's cold.







Last step, replace wood taken from walk away, to be put in shed a couple years from now. Rinse and repeat..

30cal said:

Quote
I wouldn't worry about covering it at all the first year. At least not in a reasonable climate. It's not going to rot and the surface water dries pretty quickly. You'll find that except in a torrential rain only the top third will get wet anyway. It's the water inside that you have to get rid of. Best way to do that is to split it, stack it with something under it to keep it off the ground and have it in single rows in the sunniest, windiest location you have available. Been working for me for a long time.
End Quote.

This guy gets it. You don't need tarps, any cover at all. Get it stacked off the ground, in a windy,sunny area, walk away.

Picture of walk away..


Next step,design and build shed, put 2 year old dry stuff from walk away in shed..

My design, I used google sketch-up..

Last step, replace wood taken from walk away, to be put in shed a couple years from now. Rinse and repeat..

Click to expand...

Off-topic: Can you send me some dimensional plans for this? It looks awesome! I have a similar idea, just only one firewood side.

I would top cover your stacks and forget they exist until next year. Maybe look into bio bricks for this year? Don't frustrate yourself trying to burn wet wood. All the effort you put in will be worth it next year.

I think top covering depends entirely on the local climate & conditions. Mine is top covered now but it won't be when next summer gets here.

maple1 said:

I think top covering depends entirely on the local climate & conditions. Mine is top covered now but it won't be when next summer gets here.

Click to expand...

Agree. In many cases (perhaps this is the case for the OP?) it might be unnecessary or even detrimental. But there are times / locations / circumstances where it can help. I know in my case, especially in the fall my stacks will turn into a soggy mess of maple leaves with early snow / heavy rains and that thick soup works it's way down into the stack. I throw some old plywood on top (have used old pallets on top as suggested here by others) and tarp over that (top only). Also agree about ground water - that will bite you.