Halp! someone's stealing my wood!

[PNWBurner]

Actually, I think it's just shrinking as it dries.

But everytime I look at my stacks they seem a tiny bit lower. I'd say there's maybe 5-10% shrinkage between green/dry wood.

Or maybe the wood burglars are sneaking in at night!

 

[smokinj]

Just brought a load in and topping off the stacks. Mine doing the same thing...lol Makes room for more!

 

[jeffoc]

Dang woodchucks!

 

[Blue Vomit]

Actually, I think it's just shrinking as it dries.

But everytime I look at my stacks they seem a tiny bit lower. I'd say there's maybe 5-10% shrinkage between green/dry wood.

Or maybe the wood burglars are sneaking in at night!

see... shrinkage isn't always a bad thing! ;-P

 

[woodchip]

Wood really does shrink quite a lot when it dries.

Quite a few people round here used to keep their axes damp, if the wooden handles dried out too much, they could work loose and be dangerous.

 

[CTYank]

Except it does NOT shrink along the grain. Okay, a tiny percentage.
Just radially and tangentially.

 

[Elderthewelder]

Actually, I think it's just shrinking as it dries.

But everytime I look at my stacks they seem a tiny bit lower. I'd say there's maybe 5-10% shrinkage between green/dry wood.

Or maybe the wood burglars are sneaking in at night!

Yeah, we are finally getting a little sunshine around here to make that happen, And when i say a little sunshine I mean a little. Think we are hitting the high 60's here lately, calling fro rain later in the week. we did have two 80 degree days while back that helped my woodpiles

Luckily i have 3 cord seasoned for the upcoming winter already, and 3-1/2 more cord stacked and in process for 12/13

 

[BrotherBart]

On the old forum years ago there were wars over wood shrinkage. Thankfully not anymore.

 

[Wood Duck]

My holz hausens were about 6 ft tall at the edge when I stacked them and they shrank about a foot in the first year. They were more impressive when new, but they're more useful now.

 

[smokinj]

My holz hausens were about 6 ft tall at the edge when I stacked them and they shrank about a foot in the first year. They were more impressive when new, but they're more useful now.

Pic's or it never happened? :cheese:

 

[granpajohn]

Yeah, we are finally getting a little sunshine around here to make that happen, And when i say a little sunshine I mean a little. Think we are hitting the high 60's here lately, calling fro rain later in the week. we did have two 80 degree days while back that helped my woodpiles

Luckily i have 3 cord seasoned for the upcoming winter already, and 3-1/2 more cord stacked and in process for 12/13

Coldest April-June on record for Washington (117 years of record)
(Should be a chart below)

 

[Woody Stover]

So, can you tell how dry your wood is by how much the stack has shrunk? Would some woods shrink more or less than others?

Coldest April-June on record for Washington (117 years of record)

Could be yet another sign of global weirding. :cheese:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've never kept track of how much different types of wood shrink but that might be a good experiment. I do know that I usually stack the wood 4 1/2' high or thereabouts and it will be below 4' by fall.

 

[Fsappo]

I watched a tree grow to see how fast it went. Then I had to go to the bathroom.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

As George on Seinfeld says, "There was significant shrinkage Jerry".

 

[Slow1]

Every time this comes up I wonder... If I want to be 3-4 years ahead and I burn 3 cords per year, does this mean I have to stack up 3 1/2 cords now to have 3 cords left by time I burn it due to shrinkage? So.. if that is true then I start considering BTU/Cord green-vs.-dry and have to consider there are more pieces of dry wood/cord (once you fill in the space for that shrinkage) so you add more BTU's right? So it isn't just about the water leaving, but more wood heading into the cord... then normalizing the whole thing... makes my head hurt.

Anyway, my piles are shrinking too... I hope the wood is getting good and dry. It seems to be. I'll have 2 1/2 year old oak to burn next winter, that's not too bad. I'll also be burning some Ash that has been stacked for one year but was was standing dead so I hope it burns well enough - it sure seems dry now and has the better part of the summer left. I figure that is better to burn than 1 year old oak (next best alternative). But that pile of Ash doesn't seem to be shrinking much at all....

 

[WES999]

Perhaps you could just re-split the splits, the increase in volume would make up for the shrinkage. ;-)

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Actually, I think it's just shrinking as it dries.

But everytime I look at my stacks they seem a tiny bit lower. I'd say there's maybe 5-10% shrinkage between green/dry wood.

Or maybe the wood burglars are sneaking in at night!

Hmmmm. . . . I'd say you stacked the wood on soft ground and it's settling

 

[Kenster]

my piles are shrinking

Glad to hear this. Was it the Preparation H that did the trick?

 

[Kenster]

My stacks tend to shrink unevenly. I really have no choice but to stack my splits back on the edge of our woods. They get sun from mid day to dusk and they get winds from all directions except from the East - and we have very little Easterly winds here. So, the stacks shrink on the ends toward the sun and the prevailing winds which causes them to lean over. I'm always having to go restack or at least try to shove them back into an upright position before they fall over.

Thoughts and suggestions?

 

[Blue Vomit]

My stacks tend to shrink unevenly. I really have no choice but to stack my splits back on the edge of our woods. They get sun from mid day to dusk and they get winds from all directions except from the East - and we have very little Easterly winds here. So, the stacks shrink on the ends toward the sun and the prevailing winds which causes them to lean over. I'm always having to go restack or at least try to shove them back into an upright position before they fall over.

Thoughts and suggestions?

I hate that! Dam leaning splits! I'de burn them if I were you! :cheese:

 

[Kenster]

I hate that! Dam leaning splits! I’de burn them if I were you!

'zactly what I'm thinking!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Every time this comes up I wonder... If I want to be 3-4 years ahead and I burn 3 cords per year, does this mean I have to stack up 3 1/2 cords now to have 3 cords left by time I burn it due to shrinkage? So.. if that is true then I start considering BTU/Cord green-vs.-dry and have to consider there are more pieces of dry wood/cord (once you fill in the space for that shrinkage) so you add more BTU's right? So it isn't just about the water leaving, but more wood heading into the cord... then normalizing the whole thing... makes my head hurt.

Anyway, my piles are shrinking too... I hope the wood is getting good and dry. It seems to be. I'll have 2 1/2 year old oak to burn next winter, that's not too bad. I'll also be burning some Ash that has been stacked for one year but was was standing dead so I hope it burns well enough - it sure seems dry now and has the better part of the summer left. I figure that is better to burn than 1 year old oak (next best alternative). But that pile of Ash doesn't seem to be shrinking much at all....

Spoken, or written like a true engineer! :cheese: