Got a bit stacked.

[Woody Stover]

I've been jumping out there to get in a couple hours of splitting here and there, when I can dodge the rain.
Stacked the Silver Maple I scored in this thread (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/minor-score-and-a-little-homework.103808/) and added some dead standing Red Maple that a neighbor cut down recently. I'm giving him some Red Oak in trade, as I have tons of Oak, but need dry wood now. I didn't split this small and stacked it in a double-row but I'm pretty sure that, getting it stacked this early, it will be quite dry come Fall. About 1.4 cords, all told.

OK, so it's not the prettiest stack you'll see on here, but any stack of quick-drying wood is lookin' pretty good to me right now, with all these hungry stoves nipping at my heels! Silver is on the right, Red on the left. I stuffed all the chunks in there with the rest. Got a pretty solid base under this. If this was Oak or BL, I probably would have put a couple of bricks under the center of the pallet beams to keep the pallets from sagging in the middle. I don't think it'll be an issue with the lighter soft Maple...
In the background are stacks of BL, Hickory, Red/Black Oak...and green White Oak. Will be the 2014 season before I can burn any of that, probably 2015 for the Oak.

A purty split of Red:

 

[Hills Hoard]

looking good!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Woody, you should be okay on the maple for this fall. That was a nice way to make a trade.

 

[Woody Stover]

Woody, you should be okay on the maple for this fall.

Ya, Dennis, I feel real good about having it stacked this early; It'll get the full benefit of the Spring winds. A little chilly here today, mid 30s, but dry and windy.

That was a nice way to make a trade.

A win-win for sure. I get quick-drying stuff and he gets some good Red Oak heartwood instead of the slab he's been getting from his BIL's mill.

Low 20s here tonight. We're having a stove block party tomorrow AM. He's never seen the Fv in action; Then we'll fire up his BBF with some Black Oak heart.

Hmmm, that reminds me...about time to listen to 'Black Heart Inertia' again.

 

[firefighterjake]

"OK, so it's not the prettiest stack you'll see on here. . ."

I'm of the opinion . . . function over form. I stack wood to dry out the fuel which I will then burn to keep me warm. I'm trying to season my wood, not be on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens for the best looking stacked wood. I think it's a fine looking stack of wood . . . and beauty is in the eye of the beholder,right?

 

[Woody Stover]

I'm trying to season my wood, not be on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens for the best looking stacked wood.

You mean 'Better Stoves and Harmans' right?
Hardly anyone sees my stacks but me and if they do, it's probably no more than a glance, so as long as I like the way they look it's all good. Besides, looks are only skin-deep; I see the inner 'radiant' beauty.

I'm going to add to this stack with more Red Maple that some folks down the road (where I got the last load of Red Elm) want me to clean up.

 

[CHeath]

Will you trade me some for some new Oak? I can email it to ya lol. Need Dry wood!

 

[PapaDave]

OK, so it's not the prettiest stack you'll see on here,​

Agree with Jake. The only reason mine are relatively straight is because I don't want them falling down before I burn 'em, not because I'm vying for a "pretty stack" award.
I c/s/s some "soft" maple late last year (almost 2 cord), and hope to burn some of it next winter.

 

[Woody Stover]

Will you trade me some for some new Oak? I can email it to ya lol. Need Dry wood!

Sure; Five cords Oak to one cord of quick-dry.
The quick-dry is like gold to me right now. Got a medium-sized Cherry waiting down the road as well, but that stuff didn't seem to dry quite as fast as the Soft Maple last year. I'll also get some of this dead Ash around here put up pretty soon. I think I'd better split that a bit smaller than I did the first batch of Ash I stacked.
Later, when I'm ahead on dry Oak, etc. I probably won't go out of my way to get the soft Maple like I am now. We're also facing the arrival of the EAB. When that happens it'll be a steady diet of White Ash for the stoves.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Agree with Jake. The only reason mine are relatively straight is because I don't want them falling down before I burn 'em, not because I'm vying for a "pretty stack" award.
I c/s/s some "soft" maple late last year (almost 2 cord), and hope to burn some of it next winter.

No worries about that soft maple Dave. I've cut some in March and burned it the following fall. It dries fast! It is also one of the few woods that will dry in tree length! I've posted before that we sometimes cut soft maple during a hard winter so the deer get the tips of the soft maple. They love them. Then if I leave those trees lay, we find that it is best to get them within 2 years because they will all be dry and if we don't get them then they will turn punky fast.

 

[katwillny]

Nice stacks. thats a lot of BTUs right there. Boy what wouldnt i give for a flat yard. Im all hills. The only flat surface i have is under the deck. I try not to put too much wood there for fear of termites.

 

[Woody Stover]

Boy what wouldnt i give for a flat yard. Im all hills.

Lot of ravines here but I can still find some pretty flat areas between them.
I'm experimenting with 'terracing' across downslopes so that the prevailing wind hits the stacks better; The downhill edges of the rows of pallets have concrete block under them to level them off.

 

[HDRock]

"OK, so it's not the prettiest stack you'll see on here. . ."

I'm of the opinion . . . function over form. I stack wood to dry out the fuel which I will then burn to keep me warm. I'm trying to season my wood, not be on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens for the best looking stacked wood. I think it's a fine looking stack of wood . . . and beauty is in the eye of the beholder,right?

I was thinking the same thing stacking today, all I need is to get it so it's not leaning, get it done, let it dry,burn it up