Seasoning the odd balls, chunks, and left overs

Make a bin, toss em in. Season away.

I stack them on random pallets, it'a their turf. Use in spring & fall, always a constant supply.
It's the kinda stuff I don't even cover, just let it be

I usually use them to build up
On the top of the racks to make them curve for water drainage
Not to worries
About how pretty it is I'm the only one
Looking lol

I build a pallet box, one on bottom then all 4 sides with the overlaps situated so I can put one on top. Then cover top only with plastic. I don't screw down the top so I can keep tossing more in until full. I keep Oak separate because of drying time and label the box with type, date it got full so it will have plenty of drying time. Just started another with sugar maple one of my tree friends cut way too short. I stack 24" splits or up to 30" rounds. Short ones make the stacks unstable.

This is what I put mine in and I have three of them 4x4x5 . The picture was about 3-4 years ago with a over flow. Like I said before I know have 3.

I put them inn the top of the piles. They go in the stove first, in the fall, when it's not critical to have the stove packed.

When I'm done stacking the pretty stuff, I just toss em on top.

I throw all the stubbies/uglies in a pile by my good wood. Burn it a chunk or two at a time, or use it in the firepit.

Lack of space here to dedicate a separate bin for uglies. I use the larger uglies to weigh down my cover and stack the shorter pieces one top of the stacked pile.

I have an old stone wall, secluded but gets a lot of sun. I line them up along there and they season or "cook" in a summer.

Paulywalnut said:

I have an old stone wall, secluded but gets a lot of sun. I line them up along there and they season or "cook" in a summer.

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Have some old stone "fences" in my wood lot. Toss uglies etc on top where they drain and stay dry until I come back for them

Toss on top of the stacks.

I've tried the pallet bin idea and it is nice just to dump shorties and uglies in there.

I have also made a strong effort to only burn seasoned wood. Some of those uglies are large and take longer than normal splits to season. What's the wiggle room like with burning uglies? Most of the shoulder season burning is done with air open all the way which helps with creosote build up.

I usually try to give the uglies at least a year before I throw them in. Good enough?

I stopped saving shorts and uglies, after a few years of being frustrated with the moving and stacking of them. Anything that isn't at least 14" - 16" long and straight enough to stack now goes in the fire pit with the splitter trash.

Ashful said:

I stopped saving shorts and uglies, after a few years of being frustrated with the moving and stacking of them. Anything that isn't at least 14" - 16" long and straight enough to stack now goes in the fire pit with the splitter trash.

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How much wood do you go through in your fire pit? I went my through one pallet bin last summer/fall. I am accumulating shorts and uglies at a higher rate then I can dispose of in the fire pit.

I toss mine in a shed, this has been really helpful in saving processing time. No frills no fussing. It has a 3 cord capacity. I can forget it for a couple years. It does have one issue that it has a LIFO method of cycling seasoned wood. Meaning the last wood thrown in is usually the first wood retrieved and burned. Last in, first out.

Top of my stacks

Berner said:

How much wood do you go through in your fire pit? I went my through one pallet bin last summer/fall. I am accumulating shorts and uglies at a higher rate then I can dispose of in the fire pit.

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Most of what I burn in the fire pit is shrub and tree trimmings (I generate a LOT of that in summer), bark scraps from splitting, and cubic yards of noodles from the too-large-to-move rounds that I tend to bring home. If I'm noodling big rounds, I can fill my 7' diameter pit more than waste high every day. If I'm not noodling, I might go thru most of the winter splitting season before I have to light off to make more space.

I don't generate many shorts and uglies, since I mostly just drag straight trunk wood out of the woods where I cut. All branch wood and crotches get left in the woods to rot. The ugly stuff I do have is just from trees that happen to fall in my own yard.

Most of what I burn is elm with a very twisty grain structure.
My wood stacks ARE oddballs. It's a fun game tetris meets jenga.

I try to mix it in with a pile........pile falls over........I try again.......pile falls again. I get angry, say bad things. Make sure I burn them first!!

Applesister said:

I toss mine in a shed, this has been really helpful in saving processing time. No frills no fussing. It has a 3 cord capacity. I can forget it for a couple years. It does have one issue that it has a LIFO method of cycling seasoned wood. Meaning the last wood thrown in is usually the first wood retrieved and burned. Last in, first out.

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The heck with LIFO. Set up a couple of dividers so you can "rotate your stock" on a FIFO basis.

Ashful said:

I stopped saving shorts and uglies, after a few years of being frustrated with the moving and stacking of them. Anything that isn't at least 14" - 16" long and straight enough to stack now goes in the fire pit with the splitter trash.

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When I do that my wife calls me a wood snob. Not good enough for you?

So Pauly, how well does she stack them?