I broke down and covered this year's stacks.

[lowroadacres]

Well, there is now rain and snow in the forecast for the next two or three days.

With that in mind I ran around like a mad man this morning and put my simple plan for covering stacks into play. We have a number of sheets of simple wood paneling from a salvage job a couple of years ago. They will not last more than a year or two and they were going to the garbage anyway so onto the piles they went with a few splits on top to keep them in place.

The stacks for next year are still making the transition from pile to stack and given that they have a year to be ready I am leaving them be for now.

 

[soupy1957]

The covers on my wood piles are only on top, and I'll drop the sides when I hear of a nasty Nor-Easter storm of rain or snow.........otherwise, I'm letting the wood have as much air as I can for now.

The temps are turning warmer this week (or so they say) so I've not fired up the stove for the last couple of days, and cheated a couple of times with the furnace, overnight on the weekend.

-Soupy1957

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Soupy, I have never seen even one good reason for covering the sides of a wood pile. NorEaster or not, that rain will not be driven into the wood (wood ain't no sponge). If anything, covering the sides of the piles will make things worse (if tarping, then condensation) while if left open the wood can still continue drying.

 

[lowroadacres]

I can't see covering the sides of a stack. With the way I have the stacks covered we have an overhang that will make a difference as well. In a dream world I would have a wood shed with enough room to dry wood and to store the seasoned wood but last time I checked dreams were not yet in place

 

[firefighterjake]

Can't say as I blame you . . . if you're starting to burn more it makes sense to me to keep the stacks dry . . . when I had wood stacked outside in my first year of burning I was starting to cover the tops around now . . . the wood may only have surface moisture . . . but it is always easier to light up wood that is completely dry.

 

[Skier76]

I covered mine yesterday before we headed back to the flatlands. They've been uncovered since being stack single row back in the spring.

 

[billb3]

If you've ever had a REAL noreaster blow water and snow into a pile and then freeze so that you need a sledge hammer to knock the splits out of the icy mess you start covering things. Maybe not everything, but the next week's worth or month's worth of wood anyway. I've used an old car hood propped up against the side of the stack that the snow drift got into last year. Course, car hoods aren't very big any more and don't weigh much.

 

[oldspark]

If you've ever had a REAL noreaster blow water and snow into a pile and then freeze so that you need a sledge hammer to knock the splits out of the icy mess you start covering things. Maybe not everything, but the next week's worth or month's worth of wood anyway. I've used an old car hood propped up against the side of the stack that the snow drift got into last year. Course, car hoods aren't very big any more and don't weigh much.

+1

 

[firefighterjake]

Hmmm . . . we get Noreasters up here . . . heck we occcasionally get a blizzard or two . . . never bothered to do anything but top cover . . . snow and ice usually wasn't a problem . . . sometimes had to use one split to knock others apart . . . and had to bring some in to thaw the ice off the splits . . . one reason for my woodshed . . . but it wasn't a real big deal.

 

[PapaDave]

Good job on covering the wood.
I used tarps until I built my shed, and man oh man, what about a 4 year pain in the azz.
Foot and a half of snow on top, and then the temps would warm up, melt some of the snow, the tarps were leaky, and next thing you know, tarps are frozen to the splits.
We've had some pretty good rains the last 2-3 days, and I can see already that the shed will keep even the stuff in the front from getting TOO wet. Actually, so far, none of it has gotten wet...........yet. Winter isn't here, so all bets are off until I see what happens in the dead of winter.
Some folks talk about aesthetics, and how they don't like the idea of a shed in the yard where it can be seen. I say, 'ta heck with that, it looks a LOT better than all the ( 16-17) stacks I had out there for 4 years. Maybe my wife will help me paint it to match the house or something, but even as it sits, not an eyesore.
Kinda' need to cover THIS years wood anyway, eh?

 

[muncybob]

I hoped to have my wood shed built this year but not looking as planned. Wife called me at work today wanting to know if she should cover any stacks due to rain in forecast. I said sure, cover the oak, ash and cherry but forget about the maple(since it's not seasoned anyways). I was grinning while I said this as I knew she would just cover everything to be on the safe side. Glad she called though! I think she was returning the favor for the barn duties I did yesterday.

 

[soupy1957]

I'm hoping NEXT Spring, to have a shed for my wood. Then "no tarps." (Yea!!)

-Soupy1957

 

[billb3]

Hmmm . . . we get Noreasters up here . . . heck we occcasionally get a blizzard or two . . . never bothered to do anything but top cover . . . snow and ice usually wasn't a problem . . . sometimes had to use one split to knock others apart . . . and had to bring some in to thaw the ice off the splits . . . one reason for my woodshed . . . but it wasn't a real big deal.

Quite possible it happens to me more often because of my location below the snow/rain line that usually sets up between Boston and Worcester. We'll often get rain, then snow, then rain again, quite often ending up with no snow on the ground, and a slushy frozen mess everywhere. Drive 10 miles North and there will be a foot on the ground. Kinda nice otherwise unless you own a snowmobile. Then you gotta also own a trailer.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hmmm . . . we get Noreasters up here . . . heck we occcasionally get a blizzard or two . . . never bothered to do anything but top cover . . . snow and ice usually wasn't a problem . . . sometimes had to use one split to knock others apart . . . and had to bring some in to thaw the ice off the splits . . . one reason for my woodshed . . . but it wasn't a real big deal.

Quite possible it happens to me more often because of my location below the snow/rain line that usually sets up between Boston and Worcester. We'll often get rain, then snow, then rain again, quite often ending up with no snow on the ground, and a slushy frozen mess everywhere. Drive 10 miles North and there will be a foot on the ground. Kinda nice otherwise unless you own a snowmobile. Then you gotta also own a trailer.

That would make sense . . . I would much rather have all snow vs. snow/sleet/rain mix . . . worse storm we ever had here in Maine was a sleet/ice storm due to the mild temps.

 

[Chargerman]

I tarped my stack last week because of the rain over the weekend. Now a large storm is coming through this week. Once this storm passes through the wood is going to be moved inside for the burning season.