Planning wood for the next couple years....

If it were me, I'd get that stuff cut ASAP. Then I would split it smaller than normal. Rather than stacking it inside a shed, I would lay down some poles on the ground to stack the wood on. It would be best to have maybe 5" above the ground for the first tier.

Make sure you stack the wood so the wind will hit the side of the stack! This is most important. If you can get both sun and wind, so much the better but wind is the most important.

Stack in single rows. Do not try to stack it really tight and neat. You need air circulation. Stack no more than 4' high. Lots of room between rows; I'd go 5-6' between the rows. I also would cover the top of the stacks but whatever you do, do not cover the sides or ends. Remember, you need air circulation and you also have to evaporate all that moisture. This is why it is important to stack outside. Move it into the shed next fall, maybe in October or November.

However, now that I've stated that, with your shed having open sides it might work. It can depend somewhat on the location of the shed. If it is close to other buildings and you won't get air circulation, I would not store it there. Also, if stacking in a shed like this you would tend to stack the rows close together. That won't work.


Also keep in mind that even though these trees are dead, they can still have lots and lots of moisture in them. Oak gives up its moisture very, very slowly too.

Good luck.

+1 on what Backwoods said

+2 to what Backwoods said.

+3
snag the trees with the smallest amount of branches and maybe even bark falling off, they should be the oldest ones

cut , split and stack in phases or smallish batches in case you have to stop for some reason


and I'd get it cut, split and stacked before worrying about a shed.

Here in oklahoma the excessive heat of summer and dry windy winter cures the wood pretty quick. I cut some green stuff down in July, split and stacked in September, Burned in November and december and it was just fine. I cut more green wood down in September split and stacked it in November and burned it through this month and aside from being a little tough to start it burns great. I've checked the chimney for any buildup of creosote and although there is some shiny stuff at the very top the inside of the pipe looks clean enough. I am burning fresh cut green stuff mixed in with what's been dried for the last few months now and as long as I'm burning hot it hasn't been any problem. I'm going to get it cut and stacked this spring in anticipation of next year. Will have 5 ricks burned by the end of the month.

climb.on said:

Thanks guys. I'm hoping to get started very soon. The "shed" I was thinking of building would just be a shed without walls (roof only). I guess the problem with that is to keep enough air circulating around the piles inside it. I am trying have a good plan so I don't moving the wood My property is heavily wooded and we don't get much sun or wind especially in the summer when everything is leafed out. I wonder if I stacked my piles under a lean-to type shed and installed a ceiling fan set to run on low 24/7. Is that crazy?

I have a pretty big firebox on my fireplace (3.4cu/ft or about 26"w X 14"d X 16"h) and the wood I had this year was cut on average at about 18" long. So this year, in order to fill the firebox for all day and all night burns, I would find shorter 12"-14" pieces and load them North/South next to the 18" pieces loaded East/West. Now for the future that I was thinking I should cut/split longer pieces in the 24" range that would fit my stove better, so I don't load both directions. I'm thinking I would get longer burn times this way, as well? If I cut/split shorter pieces (~14") will that increase my dry time significantly? Does burning a full firebox loaded north/south cause faster hotter burns (not what I am after).

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We changed to loading n/s in the Lopi Liberty and with loading in sugar maple we can get 10 hour burn times without the air being closed all the way. The big reason we changed to loading n/s was we don't have to worry has much about the wood rolling into the glass plus we think we get better burn times.


Zap

+4 Back woods savage... That's how I would do it..

Backwoods Savage said:

Also keep in mind that even though these trees are dead, they can still have lots and lots of moisture in them. Oak gives up its moisture very, very slowly too.

Good luck.

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Found that out recently. I'm out of good wood and running low on crappy stuff and have been hunting. A friend of mine cleared some property about 3-4 years ago and had the trees piled up. Although most of it had rotted enough to lose it energy, the big oaks were still fine. To my surprise when I bucked them and started to split some they were still plenty wet inside even after 3-4 years. I have about 3 cords of oak in either rounds or splits but am learning that it will be two years before it is 'really' ready.

I try to stay no more than 3 rows deep and kind of loose when stacking. Had it deeper a couple times but it hampered drying a lot. Tarped just the tops year round and made sure the tarps were in good shape so the rain wasn't just running right through them.

I've been using tarps, but will be switching to multiple shed set-up. I just hate pushing the snow off of the tarps all winter. I'm mulling over 2-3 winters worth wood split up under 3 or 4 sheds in various locations relatively close to the house, but not too far from the woods. Mrs. Jeeper suggested doing away with tarps - she's a keeper!