Cover the wood pile or not ??

[bbc557ci]

I'll bet this subject has been beat to death. But .............

I live in snow country and am having next seasons wood delivered next week. I don't have an inside facility big enough to shelter 14 FC (face cords) so I gotta stack it outside. I plan to stack it in 3 or 4 rows and leave about 6 feet between rows, so I can get the 5 foot mower between the rows. I figure too, good spacing between the rows will enhance the drying as that will let the sun and wind get to all the wood.

So, what say you ?

 

[begreen]

What kind of wood?

Cover the top only. Orient the stacks so that they get the prevailing winds blowing through them. Keep the bottom row off the ground. Do that and you should be ok for next season, depending on the type and dryness of the wood.

 

[Vic99]

I agree. Cover the top. Wet wood is a major pain during burning season. Maybe in the summer, leave the top unconvered IF you get good sun. When in doubt, cover it.

 

[bbc557ci]

What kind of wood?

Cover the top only. Orient the stacks so that they get the prevailing winds blowing through them. Keep the bottom row off the ground. Do that and you should be ok for next season, depending on the type and dryness of the wood.

BeGreen -

AFTER starting this thread I did a quick search and found a thread covering this very subject. What a dumb-azz I can be :red:

Any ways, yesterday the guy dropped 2 face cords. The wood is a mix of hard Maple, Hickory, Ash, some Cherry. Mostly 16-17 inch splits. Weather is going to cool down a bit so he's bringing the rest Monday or Tuesday after the yard hardens up a little.

I'm thinking, get some 4 mill clear polly and cut it into +,-2 foot wide strips. Put the strips on top of the pile/s and weight it down with...... someting. I figure the polly should last a couple of years.

Sound like a plan ?

 

[begreen]

Sounds ok, but get the 6mil poly, it will last longer.

 

[bbc557ci]

I agree. Cover the top. Wet wood is a major pain during burning season. Maybe in the summer, leave the top unconvered IF you get good sun. When in doubt, cover it.

Yep, I found out quick wet/unseasoned wood is amajor PIA. We don't get killer sun in central NY. But I'm in the hills and wide open so there's most always a steady breeze. I'd guess the wood will season well with no problem. Might leave it uncovered in spring and summer, then cover in the late fall.

Thanks

 

[bbc557ci]

Sounds ok, but get the 6mil poly, it will last longer.

Will do - Thanks

 

[Henz]

I use old metal roofing..way better than any plastic.

 

[bruce]

plastic will only last 1 yr in the sun before it shreads better off buying good tarps

 

[Highbeam]

I used the black plastic this year. My stack was two rows deep so the 10 wide plastic was doubled over to make a 5' x100' long tarp. The five foot width allowed about a foot of overhang down each side of the 4-5 foot tall stack. My stack was about 60 feet long oriented east west in a wide open pasture for maximum sunlight exposure. I like the plastic because it is cheap and flexible, easily restrained with string. In the open there is a lot of wind and most any hard material would be blown away. I figure I can just buy more plastic if I can't reuse this year's sheet. The black plastic should be more resistant to UV and so far mine has remained flexible.

I stacked mine in the spring and let it cook all summer. Covered the top in September before the real rains hit. Plan to do the same this year.

 

[cmonSTART]

My grandfather suggested roofing paper for the cover. It sounds like a great idea, better than the tarp I'm currently using.

 

[bbc557ci]

Well, the wind around here would take metal roofing off pretty quick.

Good tarps would be great but I think I'll have two rows about 60 feet each, spaced about 6 feet apart. To cover only the tops, I'd either need to slice the tarps up, or buy several and fold them to size. Just not practicle for me $$ wise.

Felt paper or rolled roofing would probably last a year or so but I think it would get brittle and tear when I lift it to get wood. And the stuff would be a PIA to get rid of when it's time.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, but the least expensive and most effective in the short term would seem to be a heavy poly that I can cut to size. Then weight down on top of the stacks.

If I ever get the time, money, and ambition all at the same time, I'll build a wood shed

 

[Highbeam]

Unless you build a woodshed that is 60 feet long you will loose out on the superior drying that your long rows provide. It is easy to build a shed that can be filled with a cube of wood of the same volume as your long rows but how will air and sun get to the middle of the cube?

 

[milner351]

do you have a company near by that throws out a lot of pallets?

I pounded galvanized fence posts into the ground, then slid pallets over the posts to form "walls" to restrain the wood piles up to 6ft high.

I use old railroad ties to get the wood up off the ground, but a friend uses old pallets - whatever you can get cheap is a good thing.

I have a limited area to stack wood, so my piles have to be tall.

I've been thinking allot about covering - I like the long poly idea - flexible cheap and easy.

 

[billb3]

I've done the poly on top.
Just held down with a top layer of splits.

The bottom of the pile will get the faces wet (maybe more) with wind driven rain, but it will be good enough for those Summer thunderstorm downpours.

Maybe the wind here, but I've never had any luck with blue tarps . The wind just tears them to shreds if I try to cover the sides of the piles. I've tried tight straight down and tied off at an angle - more like a roof. Gone.

I've also tried piles between trees and on a windy day the trees must swing back and forth just enough to knock the pile over. Restacking gets lame quick.

Right now I've got just enough plywood cut offs to keep on top of my stacks. Odd ball stump rounds and junkier pieces on top to keep them from blowing away.