wood stacking idea im trying

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Lynch

Lynch

Member
Dec 13, 2010
192
northern maine
its nothing to drastict but all the wood i have split this year i have been putting bark side up, and the idea behind it is that the bark would repel the water and gravity would help it drain "down" the water in the wood that is.

just something i have been doing dont really think or know if it would make a deferance or not but its not much of a task to keep bark side up.
has anyone else done or tried this.

makes the pile look kinda uniform to. kinda looks like snake scales going up the pile in a way. if ya know what i mean.

anyways just a thought. so i posted it now you can laugh at me or say yeah yeah that makes sence lol.
 
There have been many discussions about this, and in theory that is not a bad idea. However, if you just cover the tops of the wood it really is not going to matter. Also I don't really think it matters if wood gets wet, the idea is to get the water out of the wood, I do not believe there is much reabsorption. Main thing is to keep the ice off of it when you need to bring it inside. I do like to put the bark side up on the top of the stack, and generally will put the bark side up whenever I can. Some pieces do not even have any bark.
 
By habit I stack bark up, but it just seems to stack neater that way. Every time I try different the stacks look terrible.
 
hummmm seemed back when the XO stacked she'd leave the bark side up.
 
I've always stacked bark side up as well . . . I don't think it makes much of a difference myself . . . but it makes me feel good and lets me get in touch with that little bit of OCD I harbor deep within.
 
If/when laying down the first course directly on the ground, I would place it bark side down so that the dirt would stick to the bark which would peel off anyway and take the dirt with it. The rest however always goes bark side up. I do think it makes a difference and not just for validating my OCD.

The outer side of the bark is more absorbent than the inside and some rain will get trapped in the bark and slowly release it. Better in the bark than in the wood. The inner part of the bark prevents the water from migrating to the wood. If the bark is on the bottom, it can trap water between the inner bark and the wood. Now rain normally just runs off of wood like water on a duck's back and doesn't really have time to soak in but if trapped in between the wood and the cup shaped bark, it has time to soak in.
 
LLigetfa said:
If/when laying down the first course directly on the ground, I would place it bark side down so that the dirt would stick to the bark which would peel off anyway and take the dirt with it. The rest however always goes bark side up. I do think it makes a difference and not just for validating my OCD.

The outer side of the bark is more absorbent than the inside and some rain will get trapped in the bark and slowly release it. Better in the bark than in the wood. The inner part of the bark prevents the water from migrating to the wood. If the bark is on the bottom, it can trap water between the inner bark and the wood. Now rain normally just runs off of wood like water on a duck's back and doesn't really have time to soak in but if trapped in between the wood and the cup shaped bark, it has time to soak in.
Click to expand...

My OCD agrees with all this!!
 
well im glad there are some other people that dont think its crazy.
so i guess ill keep stacking it this way.

plus i figure it only can be a plus if not much still seems like it would be
 
That stack behind me and my girl is bark up.
 

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Needshave said:
That stack behind me and my girl is bark up.
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What a nice stack of wood. Oh, and daughter too. I have always put the bark up as well.
 
Bark up here too.
 
I tend to use the "whatever" method. It works for me.


KC
 
I have never thought about what way the bark is when I stack wood. Lately I have been blessed with pretty big Oak rounds, so very few of my splits even have bark on them.
 
Bark down (gasp) except on the top of the stack.

I wonder if evaporated water would tend to move more upward.
 
I have always stack bark side down - read on a thread somewhere that the wood dries faster. I guess it probably doesn't matter that much - I am not OCD so maybe now my stacks will look even more haphazard...
 
To anchor the ends of my stacks the splits have to go bark up crisscrossed. In the stack I go bark up next row down the rounds fit in better that way. On top of stack goes tin or plywood to keep rain off. Well seasoned wood sheds the water anyway.
Will
 
i stack bark up but recently read that it dries faster bark down. im staying with bark up.
 
Bark down, except for the very top row. But my property is fairly steeply sloped,l and I have to use very short (14 inches) splits, so stability outweighs everything else and putting the curved side down makes things fit together more solidly. Few things more maddening than having to restack a row that falls over.
 
Don't you debark your wood?
 
CTBurner said:
Don't you debark your wood?
Click to expand...

Yikes! When it's green? Why? It mostly falls off when it's seasoned long enough, and at that point I will debark anything that's still hanging on if it's thick bark before I bring it in for the stove.
 
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