Done for now!

[rdust]

Finally have everything split and stacked, I have roughly 10 cords give or take a little. I have some dead ash tree's lined up that I'll be taking down soon in hopes of having some more wood that will be good for this year since most of what I have now will be less then ideal come the cold weather.

Poplar:

2 cords two rows stacked on pallets, mix of oak, silver maple and a cl mystery wood:

5 cords here all hardwood, oak, ash, hickory. About 2/3 cord of oak stacked along shed:

Almost 2 cords of silver maple, had to stack these in the back of my yard to get it out of the way.

 

[webby3650]

Good looking stacks, although, I forecast within 2 months some of them will fall casusing a domino effect, I hope not but it is very likely! Can you show us a pic of your mystery wood? It has been a while since we have had a heated discussion. :lol:

 

[BrotherBart]

Nice looking stacks. But the word "done" is not in a wood burner's vocabulary. ;-)

 

[rdust]

Nice looking stacks. But the word "done" is not in a wood burner's vocabulary. ;-)

Thanks, I had to put the "done" in case the wife is looking over my shoulder! ;-) I have another cord waiting for me on my brothers lake property, his wife is due any day now though so I'm not sure when I'll pick that up.

 

[rdust]

Good looking stacks, although, I forecast within 2 months some of them will fall casusing a domino effect, I hope not but it is very likely! Can you show us a pic of your mystery wood? It has been a while since we have had a heated discussion. :lol:

The 5 stacks on blocks have been stacked for a while, I walk by them on a regular basis and straighten them up. I figure they may fall at some point, I spaced them pretty good in hopes of getting my best chances of good sun/air flow.

I don't have any pictures of the mystery wood, it wasn't much wood so I never bothered.

 

[webby3650]

If they made it this long your doing great! This the first year I have had much trouble with leaning stacks, I put a skid on edge in the middle of the stack and secured it with t-posts, working great. Good luck and looks good!

 

[North of 60]

Nice organized work my man.
N of 60

 

[Birdman1]

Dude nice pics.
Gotta know about the wood on blocks, did you stack it so fast that the grass didn't get to grow
or did you weed whack under the stacks :cheese:

Kudos on the lawn too bro mine is, hmn lets see umm not so nice.

 

[LLigetfa]

The 5 stacks on blocks have been stacked for a while...

I too was looking at how the grass is around and underneath those stacks. You must have geese on the payroll to keep it trimmed like that. I've got foot tall grass against my stacks that the mower can't get.

There are three 9 foot tall rows left over in my shed from last year that have put on quite a lean. I've been banging them back but they keep creeping forward to the point I had to put in braces to hold them. The other 3 cord I put in the shed with the redesigned slots this year so far have stayed plumb. When I put in the last 3 cords, the stacks will have nowhere to fall to.

 

[ikessky]

I probably am really done for the year, but I keep telling my wife, "I don't know how much I really have. I'll have to measure the piles. Then again, you really can't have too much."

Good looking stacks. I can guarantee that mine aren't that straight.

 

[rdust]

Thanks guys! I try to weed whack around the stacks every other time I cut the grass to keep the weeds down. The grass and weeds are usually dead by now, we've had a lot of rain this year so it's staying somewhat green.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I hope my wife doesn't see those pics, they are beautiful. If it can't be mowed from a seated position, it doesn't happen. And stacking, that doesn't happen either until October.

 

[maplewood]

A thing of beauty. Thanks for the pictures.
Happy burning!

 

[rdust]

wood against structure aint good=bugs, carpenter ants?

It's a shed! I'm not worried, I plan to move some wood into the shed before the snow flies to keep it dry. No different then people putting wood in a wood shed.

 

[wendell]

I thought I was done too as I am now two years ahead with a good start on the year after but then realized that since fall is right around the corner, this year no longer counts as a year ahead so now I'm behind again.

 

[LLigetfa]

No different then people putting wood in a wood shed.

OMG, you mean a woodshed made of wood (maybe even Pine)? I made my woodshed out of wood. The wood was stamped SPF which I think stands for Spruce, Pine, Fir. Is it going to fall down?

 

[wendell]

Yes, after it is struck by lightning because you used pine.

 

[iceman]

wow! what good loooking stacks!

 

[wendell]

LL, I know you've talked about this somewhat before but as I'm thinking about my firewood today, I'm realizing that I need to create another area for stacking so I have room for a minimum of 12 cords on my property so there will never be a split that enters the stove that hasn't been split and stacked for a minimum of two years.

The question I'm trying to get to is, if your hardwood has a minimum of 2 years stacked, how close can the stacks be and still know that the pieces in the center will be ready to burn? I appreciate rdust's work but I don't have that much room. If I create 3 stacks (3 years worth so there is always room to add more wood without blocking more seasoned wood), 6H (assuming it will shrink to 5)x18Wx6D, I will have 4.2 cords/stack if the wood is stacked tight together. Will that work? And actually, I will need to make them a bit bigger to allow for years where I am burning more softwood.

What do you guys think?

 

[LLigetfa]

My shed is 10x20 and I pack it in tight but I don't put the wood in green. The wood seasons outdoors all Spring and Summer first. I recently redesigned it so that I can stack two rows tight together at each gable end and three rows tight together in middle, leaving a few feet of air space between the middle and end rows. I will, late in the Fall, move my outdoor seasoned wood in to fill those two spaces.

I buck my wood to 20 inches so my outdoor stacks on pallets fit two rows deep. Most pallets are around 40"x48" so depending on which way they are oriented and depending on the length of splits, you can fit two or three rows tight onto them. I think three rows tight is OK. I would not pack them in tight 6 feet deep, not green anyway. I've said it before that if I were to build another shed, I would make it half as deep and twice as long, so 5'x40'. That would give me four compartments of 5x10.

 

[SolarAndWood]

The question I'm trying to get to is, if your hardwood has a minimum of 2 years stacked, how close can the stacks be and still know that the pieces in the center will be ready to burn? I appreciate rdust's work but I don't have that much room. If I create 3 stacks (3 years worth so there is always room to add more wood without blocking more seasoned wood), 6H (assuming it will shrink to 5)x18Wx6D, I will have 4.2 cords/stack if the wood is stacked tight together. Will that work? And actually, I will need to make them a bit bigger to allow for years where I am burning more softwood.

What do you guys think?

If you can get away with it, I think splits should stay in a big pile until the October before the season you intend to burn it. It goes right off the splitter into the pile, no risk of toppling or dominoing, loosely piled, easy to add onto, etc. LL's stack around the pile keeps it looking much more tidy if appearances are an issue. I kind of like the random sampling of all the wood scrounged from the area in a heap.

My shed is a 5 x 30 overhang stacked 8 or 9 feet high on the leeward side of the house that I can drive the tractor right up to.

 

[Wet1]

S&W;,

My only concern about the large "piles" or "heaps" is the moisture contained in the center. I would think (and I have no experience to back this) the wood in the center would remain fairly damp from rain since it receives little or no sun light and/or wind. Thoughts? Also, what is under the pile to keep the bottom layer from rotting?

You appear to split a little thinner than I do based on your picture, many of my splits are twice as thick. Then again, I'm about 5 years ahead at this point so I have time on my side.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

rdust, good work. It will pay you good dividends.


Wendell, you should be able to stack 3 rows together and still have them season okay as long as it is in the stack 2 years. I've even stacked it much deeper than that with no problems. We have one stack right now that has 14 rows; but they have been there for about 5 or 6 years.

 

[SolarAndWood]

S&W;,

My only concern about the large "piles" or "heaps" is the moisture contained in the center. I would think (and I have no experience to back this) the wood in the center would remain fairly damp from rain since it receives little or no sun light and/or wind. Thoughts? Also, what is under the pile to keep the bottom layer from rotting?

You appear to split a little thinner than I do based on your picture, many of my splits are twice as thick. Then again, I'm about 5 years ahead at this point so I have time on my side.

I haven't experienced issues with moisture in the center of large heaps in the 3 years I have used them. The heap is on asphalt/cinder that is pitched at somewhere around 5%, so it drains well. I certainly wouldn't want a heap or a stack for that matter in a low, wet, no sun, no wind location.

I have a couple cord left from last year still in the shed and then another couple cord in a heap from last fall. This heap was started in early April after removing the propane tank that used to sit there. It probably won't be burned until at least February and as much as fits will be stacked under a roof in October. Half of it probably wont be burned until 10/11. The biggest advantages of the heap for me are the amount of work to make them and the height you can achieve without worrying about them toppling. Both are key for me as I am short on both time and space.

At the camp, I have a very different strategy as it is on the North side of a mountain, is right on the storm track off Lake Ontario year round and generally has snow pack well into the spring. Everything there gets split and immediately stacked in a well ventilated shed that has paved driveway right up to it for easy year round access. If I only had room for a 40x30 shed at home...

 

[rdust]

rdust, good work. It will pay you good dividends.

Now if I could only convince you to sell me a couple cords of your seasoned ash I'd be all set for this winter! ;-)