Bottom of the Stack

[k9brain]

I'm starting to burn through some of my wood and noticed something strange. It seems like the wood from the bottom of the stack doesn't burn as well as wood from the middle or top. Does anyone else have this problem or is it all in my head. My next step should be to pull the MM out and check.

As you can see the stacks are on pallets, I've kept the weeds away and they get sun for most of the day. I know there's not a lot I can do about this, just wondering.

 

[LLigetfa]

Ja, that's just how it is. There is a moist blanket of air close to the ground. You can often see it as condensation on lower portions of metal siding or cars in the early morning. When I move my outdoor stacks into the woodshed, I set aside the stuff that's low to the ground for overnight burning.

 

[Woody Stover]

I think that the air also moves more slowly closer to the ground, even if it is bare ground. I just looked at my stack of Black Oak, and the wood at the top exhibits more checking.

 

[Danno77]

It's not just you. When burning, I've always started at one end and worked towards the other. What you REALLY should do is work top down. Which, BTW is opposite of how you should stack. I'm not necessarily convinced that the bottom of the stack is less seasoned, but might have more surface moisture since rain on the stacks trickles down and dries off a little slower.

What say you woodshed owners, is the bottom of your stack wetter than the rest?

 

[wooddope]

Now you know why the wood in the stacks need to be rotated (IE bottom to top and top to bottom) at least once during the summer. Twice is preferred.You probably didn't realize exactly how much work this wood burning addiction can be! ;-P

 

[Danno77]

Now you know why the wood in the stacks need to be rotated (IE bottom to top and top to bottom) at least once during the summer. Twice is preferred.You probably didn't realize exactly how much work this wood burning addiction can be! ;-P

Don't forget to switch ends, too. If your splits run E/W, then you need to restack with the east end pointing west and then back next time you restack.

 

[bogydave]

I put down some landscape cloth under the pallets, to help with the moisture that comes up out of the soil & to kill the grass & weeds.
I use to cover the top with ply wood, to keep the rain, snow melt etc , from dripping down thru the pile, bottom gets the wettest & least air circulation.
It all helped.
I built a basic wood shed, open all sides, bottom is gravel then fabric then pallets. Lot better results.

 

[maple1]

Higher off the ground you can get the wood, the better. A few cinder blocks go a long way to improving the situation.

After doing that, I don't think there's any way I could talk myself into all the work involved in all the restacking being talked about - I'd live with what little bit of extra dampness there might happen to be.

 

[NH_Wood]

All of my wood sits at least 3 years in the stack, up on pallets. Bottom is as good as top - it's all about TIME and conditions at the site - good wind/sun = GOLDEN! Cheers!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I'm starting to burn through some of my wood and noticed something strange. It seems like the wood from the bottom of the stack doesn't burn as well as wood from the middle or top. Does anyone else have this problem or is it all in my head. My next step should be to pull the MM out and check.

As you can see the stacks are on pallets, I've kept the weeds away and they get sun for most of the day. I know there's not a lot I can do about this, just wondering.

This is why stacking wood where it gets wind is more important than stacking where it get sunshine. The only time I've ever noticed the bottom row as having more moisture is when I've stacked wood directly on the ground. For that, we just saved that wood and stacked it on the top of next year's wood. Oh, I would not recommend to anyone for stacking directly on the ground but we can get away with it sometimes so long as there is no grass but only bare yellow sand.

 

[red oak]

Now you know why the wood in the stacks need to be rotated (IE bottom to top and top to bottom) at least once during the summer. Twice is preferred.You probably didn't realize exactly how much work this wood burning addiction can be! ;-P

Don't forget to switch ends, too. If your splits run E/W, then you need to restack with the east end pointing west and then back next time you restack.

Have to disagree with this one - I don't like stacking as it is, let alone if I had to do it 2-3 times! When I get to the bottom of the stack I let that sit for awhile, sometimes in the basement or under the deck. Usually it's only the very bottom for me that I've noticed is a little wet, but after a couple of weeks in the open it is usually okay. In the meantime I pull from the top of the next stack for awhile. I would just live with a few wet pieces rather than restack several times.

 

[LLigetfa]

What say you woodshed owners, is the bottom of your stack wetter than the rest?

My woodshed has a concrete slab floor and as such is less affected by moisture coming up from the ground. That said, it is still not as dry. In my shed my stacks are over 9 feet tall, so when my stack gets short, I use it to stand on to reach the top of the next stack. As I mentioned, I will take from the bottom for overnighters.

 

[Danno77]

Now you know why the wood in the stacks need to be rotated (IE bottom to top and top to bottom) at least once during the summer. Twice is preferred.You probably didn't realize exactly how much work this wood burning addiction can be! ;-P

Don't forget to switch ends, too. If your splits run E/W, then you need to restack with the east end pointing west and then back next time you restack.

Have to disagree with this one - I don't like stacking as it is, let alone if I had to do it 2-3 times! When I get to the bottom of the stack I let that sit for awhile, sometimes in the basement or under the deck. Usually it's only the very bottom for me that I've noticed is a little wet, but after a couple of weeks in the open it is usually okay. In the meantime I pull from the top of the next stack for awhile. I would just live with a few wet pieces rather than restack several times.

You know we were joking, right?

 

[Needshave]

[/quote]Have to disagree with this one - I don't like stacking as it is, let alone if I had to do it 2-3 times! When I get to the bottom of the stack I let that sit for awhile, sometimes in the basement or under the deck. Usually it's only the very bottom for me that I've noticed is a little wet, but after a couple of weeks in the open it is usually okay. In the meantime I pull from the top of the next stack for awhile. I would just live with a few wet pieces rather than restack several times.

You know we were joking, right?[/quote]

Some people just can't sense sarcasim. I run into it all the time with my sense of humor.

 

[Danno77]

Some people just can't sense sarcasim. I run into it all the time with my sense of humor.

The Internet makes it hard and sometimes I don't add a smiley face or a wink or whatever might help...

 

[LLigetfa]

Some people just can't sense sarcasim.

Some people can't master paired quote tags either.

 

[Danno77]

Some people just can't sense sarcasim.

Some people can't master paired quote tags either.

Or smileys

 

[LLigetfa]

Some people just can't sense sarcasim.

Some people can't master paired quote tags either.

Or smileys

Touché :red:

 

[Wood Duck]

I can unsarcastically say that I have the same problem with wood that is more than two years old. The bottom stuff still burns OK, but never as well as the wood on top. I've been stacking junk wood on the bottom to keep the better wood farther from the ground.

 

[red oak]

Some people just can't sense sarcasim.

Some people can't master paired quote tags either.

Or smileys

Touché :red:

Sorry - I should have known! But some people do obsess about their woodpile!

 

[Blue2ndaries]

Sorry - I should have known! But some people do obsess about their woodpile!

People on THIS forum obsess about wood piles??? Never...

 

[Blue2ndaries]

What say you woodshed owners, is the bottom of your stack wetter than the rest?

Will let you know next year when I get near the bottom of my current piles. But I don't expect any difference as my woodshed is open all around and has a raised floor, 4"x8" beams on concrete piers w/landscape cloth below the entire footprint of the shed, which should provide lots of airflow.

 

[Duetech]

If you are not so vertically challenged and have a ready supply of pallets you could try double stacking your pallets to gain a little more air flow below the wood. Or... :lol: you could make your stacks shorter so that there would be less difference in the burn rates from top to bottom. :roll:

 

[oldspark]

Stack in a single layer in a single row. :cheese:

 

[Danno77]

Stack in a single layer in a single row. :cheese:

But then they will all be on the bottom row!