After 7 cords....this is what I get.

The cleaning looks great!

On the wood, you have received a super abundance of rain for sure. However, unless the wood is punky it should not soak up rain on the ends. I well recall one year receiving 21" of rain in 2 days. Yes, it did take a bit longer to dry that wood but within 3 days it was dry! Just a little moisture like that will not have a big effect but yes, at first you might notice some difference. I still say, cover the top of the wood and leave the sides open.

You state you had a couple cord of maple and cherry. Your shed holds 3.5 cord of wood so it sounds like it was just a bit over half full. So where did rain get in? Sides only or some at the top too? It was not full so for sure some rain did get in there for a good part of the stack.

It still does also make a difference in different parts of the country. Iowa will be much different from MA and other areas the same.

Looks like you're burning very clean.. I agree with Dennis and I do have a shelter and the wood that's stacked outside for next year is uncovered and I have found that water penetrates the stack with it uncovered and the water remains between the pieces for quite a while once the weather cools off.. Cover the top only and you should be OK.. I have nothing but tarps for top covering and they suck as the wind always rips them off or they puncture etc.. I hope to obtain something better to top cover someday to eliminate tarping my outside stacks..

Ray

Ok on the BS thing about covering your wood, most people cover it in the fall AFTER it is dry before it gets used or put in a shed to keep rain and snow off of it so what is your point? Or did you mean Backwoods Savage with the BS thing? :cheese:

Thanks oldspark. :lol:

oldspark said:

Or did you mean Backwoods Savage with the BS thing? :cheese:

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I abbreviate it to BWS to disambiguate the two.

Maybe the wood wasn't stacked bark side up. As for checked ends, those are most prominent at the start when the ends dry and shrink more than the middle. Once the middle catches up to the ends, the checks are much less prominent. Now, if the stack is exposed to frequent rain, the ends get weathered to the point the checks become permanent and are in no way any indication of the degree of dryness.

lobsta1 said:

P.S. I'm also calling BS on NOT covering your wood. I had a couple of cords of soft maple & cherry CSS 18 months ago. It was in a 4 sided open shed 14' x 4' x 8'. The shed runs N>S & catches the prevailing wind. The wood was burning fine last spring. Had to relocate the wood as I wanted to stack only oak in there for 2014/2015. When I moved that wood it was like balsa wood. Now I have to stack around the stove to dry it out. The cherry especially soaked up the water enough to close up the checks in the end. If I put it straight in the stove, water pours out & I have trouble getting a secondary burn.

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As you've found, wood is hydroscopic and New England weather can often make wood drying seem like you are trying to accomplish it under water.
If you've ever stained wood and struggled with getting end grain to match planed surfaces you know the ends act like bundles of straws.
If those ends get full of checks and splits you multiply the entry points, similar to splitting a carnation stem to increase color dye intake.
Those same splits and checks allow for increased drying back out - if they get a chance.

If you've stained pine, cherry and maple ( and probably some other woods) you may have found with wavy grains those 'straws' and pores can show up on surfaces, too and you may have used a conditioner or gel stain to block those 'straws' and pores from sucking up stain more readily than the rest of the cell structures and ending up with dark patches. Those are all water absorption/uptake points common to angiosperms. They are also entry points molds and fungi take advantage of and contribute to eventual degradation and decomposition. And moisture.

Firewood should be at least topcovered.

Just ignore those who disagree, it works for them, so what.

I don't know why it would be raining in the winter, but to me would make the most sense to cover it in the summer mainly to keep the rain off it. Once the cold temps hit around Oct it's just going to be a bit of snow and that isn't going to get the wood wet till it melts in spring.

oldspark said:

Ok on the BS thing about covering your wood, most people cover it in the fall AFTER it is dry before it gets used or put in a shed to keep rain and snow off of it so what is your point? Or did you mean Backwoods Savage with the BS thing? :cheese:

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NATE379 said:

I don't know why it would be raining in the winter, but to me would make the most sense to cover it in the summer mainly to keep the rain off it. Once the cold temps hit around Oct it's just going to be a bit of snow and that isn't going to get the wood wet till it melts in spring.

oldspark said:

Ok on the BS thing about covering your wood, most people cover it in the fall AFTER it is dry before it gets used or put in a shed to keep rain and snow off of it so what is your point? Or did you mean Backwoods Savage with the BS thing? :cheese:

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Winter is different for you than for most of us.

Can you explain? I grew up in Maine and it's the same there as it is here.... well other than winter is much shorter.

NATE379 said:

Can you explain? I grew up in Maine and it's the same there as it is here.... well other than winter is much shorter.

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It often rains in the winter.

In fact, here on Cape Cod it seldom snows at all.

Just so you know, it is 60 degrees today, and tomorow will be 62.

I have had 6 fires so far this year.

NATE379 said:

I don't know why it would be raining in the winter, but to me would make the most sense to cover it in the summer mainly to keep the rain off it. Once the cold temps hit around Oct it's just going to be a bit of snow and that isn't going to get the wood wet till it melts in spring.

oldspark said:

Ok on the BS thing about covering your wood, most people cover it in the fall AFTER it is dry before it gets used or put in a shed to keep rain and snow off of it so what is your point? Or did you mean Backwoods Savage with the BS thing? :cheese:

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I never cover wood that is still curing, only after it is ready to burn and I plan on using it that winter do I cover it, I use single rows so not that big a deal, multiple rows need top covered as they will not dry out as fast.

Dune said:

Winter is different for you than for most of us.

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You mean it's not the same everywhere?

Before I built the woodshed, I would cover my wood in late Fall which is when we typically get a lot of rain that eventually turns to ice. One year we had a wicked storm that blew off and shredded my tarps and the rain turned to freezing rain covering my wood with an inch of ice. The shredded blue tarp was frozen to the wood. It was not not fun. The birds were using the blue tarp shreds to make their nests and I was finding bits of blue tarp all over the yard for years. I switched to silver after that.

Nice shelter Lobsta! Getting wood wet now is a bad idea, I lowered my shelter sides a ways back to ensure my wood stays dry for this year..

Ray

You know after having below freezing temps for about 2 months now 62* would be nice. That is summer temps for here though! It's 2* right now.

Dune said:

NATE379 said:

Can you explain? I grew up in Maine and it's the same there as it is here.... well other than winter is much shorter.

Click to expand...

It often rains in the winter.

In fact, here on Cape Cod it seldom snows at all.

Just so you know, it is 60 degrees today, and tomorow will be 62.

I have had 6 fires so far this year.

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I call your BS and raise you a BS. The backwoods comment was a joke. I thought the cheeze face was a give away but thats just me. No way would I bring wet wood into the house and try and burn it.

oldspark said:

I call your BS and raise you a BS. The backwoods comment was a joke. I thought the cheeze face was a give away but thats just me. No way would I bring wet wood into the house and try and burn it.

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Some people here are very literal and take everything serious.. You're fine OS don't sweat it and keep your BS to yourself...



Ray

Anyhow that is good for 7 cords. I cleaned mine last year 3 times, about once per cord.

This year I am just going to clean it twice, first time will be in a few weeks, been burning 24/7 since mid-Sept. I may end up going to just once a year, will know this go around.

I was asking my old man how much junk he would get out of his chimney. This was with a homebuilt stove, smoke dragon, though burning well seasoned wood (3-4 years seasoned usually). He said it would fill about 1/2 a 5 gal pail each time. He cleaned it usually 2 times a winter.

lobsta1, now that I got my smart ass answers out of the way (sorry about that) I think that the coffee can of ash is showing you are doing everything right, the wood shed is neat and as I said before I do cover my wood after it is cured if it is going to be used that winter, sucks to get your good wood wet again. When I used to take wood into my old house in the basement where the wood burner was it only took a couple of days to dry it out.

Nate,

I have a horizontal pipe issue inside the house that I can't change and when I had my old stove into my 8 x 12 clay flue, I would get a five gallon pail of creoste chips and ash twice a year. with the new stove and six inch rigid liner, only a coffee can. Amazing!

I have always covered my wood with 6 mil black plastic. It lasts five or six years before the ice tears it up. It's heavy, but rubber roofing works great too!

Jim

raybonz said:

Looks like you're burning very clean.. I agree with Dennis and I do have a shelter and the wood that's stacked outside for next year is uncovered and I have found that water penetrates the stack with it uncovered and the water remains between the pieces for quite a while once the weather cools off.. Cover the top only and you should be OK.. I have nothing but tarps for top covering and they suck as the wind always rips them off or they puncture etc.. I hope to obtain something better to top cover someday to eliminate tarping my outside stacks..

Ray

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I agree that tarps don't work for long before they wear out or the sun destroys them. I found that out one year when my covered wood pile was soaking wet under the tarp. I guess you can use additional plastic under the tarp to help, but why bother? I use painted plywood sheets which I tie down to the platform the wood is stacked on. I know some people use rubber roofing material and some use corrugated metal. Any of those seem better than tarps IMO.