Hardwood Storage Time

If the wood is kept dry and in a low humidity environment, or is kept in an oxygen-free environment, the wood may well last longer than any equipment in which it will be burned. Witness logs submerged in deep, cold water; or sealed in tombs. And with that, these are two recommendations as to where you might store your wood!

The majority of the wood I used last winter was 18 year-old beech. It was split and stacked on pallets with metal roofing on top of it. I had parked it behind some other stuff and hadn't got to it until then. It was dry and burned very well. Easy to start with a few splints of softwood kindling.

Look at some of the buildings in Europe with hardwood beams and rafters; centuries old. As long as the roofing holds up and keeps the wood dry it will outlast us.

Black Tupelo should burn as well as walnut, elm or Douglas fir, about in the medium range of btu's per log, according to the chart I'm looking at, somwhere in between hard and soft woods. Supposed to be valued by wood carvers too, so maybe the tree is worth something other than as firewood.

Mike

Ravenvalor, I'm moving your thread over to the Wood Shed, so that all the experts and wannabes over there can take a shot at it. In my experience, if the wood's kept away from its archenemy, moisture (in any significant form), it'll last for frikkin' ever and be perfectly burnable. Rick

Even if you stack the wood outdoors it will keep well. The key is to keep it up off the ground and cover the top of the stack. That is all that is needed. We use small logs or saplings mostly to stack our wood on as they are plentiful and the only cost involved is my time cutting them. The wood doesn't need to be high off the ground but just so it does not come into contact with the ground. You can easily keep it this way for well over 10 years and I would not hesitate to leave it 20 years if need be. I know we've burned wood that has been stacked well over 10 years. The only caution though is that if the wood is punky to start with, it just won't keep. If we run into any punky wood, we just throw it into one of the low spots in the woods or on one of the brush piles.