Do you cover your wood if not going to use it this year?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

Do you cover your wood if not planing to use it upcoming season?


  • Total voters
    78
Status
Not open for further replies.
As long as you don't live in the tropics, the time the wood is wet from rain is neglible in the seasoning cycle.
 
not if you pack them tight. I split small and pack the stove totally full and get long burn times.
Yup I noticed the same thing but figured it was cause I had a cat stove.
 
As long as you don't live in the tropics, the time the wood is wet from rain is neglible in the seasoning cycle.

We need to run a test to settle this once and for all. :mad: I'll keep an open mind.

Who wants to sacrifice their wood to prove mass_burner wrong?
 
I ran that test too may times. And have had too many forum members come back a year or two later and say they wished to hell they had top covered their stacks that year.
 
The message I think mass_burner is trying to get across is the wood will reach the same seasoned state whether it was covered for three full years or left uncovered for the first two and then covered for the third.
 
I have stumps i leave out year round to split wood on, every few years i have to replace them because they go punky. I have splits in various places holding down tarps and such, after a few years they rot and fall apart. Anything left to the weather is going to decay over time.
 
The message I think mass_burner is trying to get across is the wood will reach the same seasoned state whether it was covered for three full years or left uncovered for the first two and then covered for the third.
Thank you, what he said.
 
I have stumps i leave out year round to split wood on, every few years i have to replace them because they go punky. I have splits in various places holding down tarps and such, after a few years they rot and fall apart. Anything left to the weather is going to decay over time.
Splitting stumps are left on the ground with no end air flow and they're rounds.

Splits on top of a tarp, again poor airflow.
 
Yeah but my covered stacks don't take anywhere near 3 years to get below 20%

Neither do mine, it's in essence what I'm saying, not the specific numbers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bholler
Neither do mine, it's in essence what I'm saying, not the specific numbers.
I know that it can work uncovered and in some areas it works very well but there really is no down side to top covering while in many areas there are several down sides to not covering
 
i think we need some university or government institution to spend millions of dollars on a study to get to the bottom of this age old question once and for all. We need definitive scientific proof :)
 
covered or uncovered is a time tested topic. Some wood does seem to rot faster then others. If its on the ground even faster.

we had an extremely wet first part of the summer but it seemed to dry out a bit.

I think I might top cover what is left standing in the field this year.
 
i think we need some university or government institution to spend millions of dollars on a study to get to the bottom of this age old question once and for all. We need definitive scientific proof
Penn states agricultural extension recommends top covering in pa at least
 
  • Like
Reactions: BSH1F
Plus one for top cover. Leaves all but stop any airflow through the stacks.
 
YES!

If you are only one year good. I have this years wood covered in a shed and next years in a shed as well. Ide rather stack it in my spare room vs stacking it out in the open. 90% of my stock is dry off the saw so no seasoning required.

If on the other hand, you are obsessed and have enough CSS'ed to sink the Titanic. Ide be yawning at the prospect of covering all that.
 
YES!

If you are only one year good. I have this years wood covered in a shed and next years in a shed as well. Ide rather stack it in my spare room vs stacking it out in the open. 90% of my stock is dry off the saw so no seasoning required.

If on the other hand, you are obsessed and have enough CSS'ed to sink the Titanic. Ide be yawning at the prospect of covering all that.
The argument here is top covering with tarps etc, unseasoned wood.
 
Each site is going to give different results, bottom line, period. North American has 8 different climate types, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, Mediterranean, grassland, tundra, alpine/mountain, desert and rainforest - now add 1,000s of different areas and different conditions you can stack wood in each one of those climates.....too many variables for a definitive YES / NO, "my way is right your way is wrong", the "Government said this" answer
 
  • Like
Reactions: bholler
Status
Not open for further replies.