Distance between wood stacks

I need to start stacking the wood I have split and am wondering how far apart my stacks should be. I'm REALLY tight on space so need them to be as close as possible but obviously need them far apart enough so the wood dries. I'm stacking green elm and hoping that this wood won't be used until 2010. The stacks are under a pine tree so there is more shade than would be ideal.

What do you guys think?

Short on space? Try stacking a holz hausen. Worked well for me.

Cut the pine down and burn that too. It is not quite that critical. I stack my wood on old pallets, to keep it off the ground. Time is the most important factor.

If you need maximum drying, then single rows are the best way to go. If you must stack them next to each other with space being a problem then I'd leave a foot or two between. Whichever way you go, make sure you stack it loosely. Don't try to be super neat. Stack it loosely so air can go through the stack.

However, I still stack mine right next to each other and don't worry about it, but my wood has several years to season.

Hi wendell if you're short on space just go with a couple 4" between rows.

I suppose another benefit to stacking close is that if you have a melt down with one row it may just lean into the next row...as opposed to falling ,gathering momentum and bringing more than 1 row down.

How many rows do you plan to stack next to each other? If 3 or less, I'd leave about 6 inches. Consider stacking higher rather than adding more rows. The stuff closer (within 2 feet) to the ground doesn't get as much air and what little air it does get has more moisture from the ground. Beware that green wood shrinks a lot and so a stack can easily topple over. Salt in a few longer poles that tie the rows together.

I generally don't stack green wood. After the wood is split, I loose pile it in the middle of a clearing where it gets lots of wind and sun all Spring and Summer. Late Summer I then move the wood into my shed that has a concrete slab floor and I pack it in really tight, stacking it 9 feet high. Mind you, I try to keep a 2 year supply in the shed so it has plenty of time to get the last bit of moisture off.

For the last 30 years I've stacked firewood on pallets, 16"long, 3 rows deep, jammed against each other so my piles are 4' deep about 4' to 5' high and 4' to 24' feet long. I cover them with old metal roofing so rain never touches them. I never burn wood that hasn't been stacked like this less than 2 years. It's always bone dry.
This is not the way to dry it the fastest, but if you're not going to burn it for a couple years anyway, it takes the least space and it works great. Stack never fall over unless my dogs dig out a chipmunk under a corner of a pallet.

Before I built my woodshed, I too stacked three rows tight together but rather than pallets, I built my own bases. I cut long skinny Poplars the length of the stacks and laid them on the ground spaced apart. Then I cut 5 foot lengths and laid them perpendicular to form the floor. The good wood got stacked on top with some 5 foot poles laid in to tie the two ends together. I would top off the pile with long skinny Poplars the length of the stack to form a roof and drape a tarp over it.