If you can’t get all your wood off the ground should you......

I've got all my wood for this year stacked on pallets and ready to burn. However, I've ran out of pallet space and I'm still cutting some logs I got delivered and I've got some downed stuff to cut up back in the woods.

I really don't want to get more pallets and look like the Beverly Hillbillies so, am I better off doing the following:
1. Leaving the wood in log form and get to it next year?
2. Cutting it into 19" stove sized chunks and piling them up?
3. Split up the stove sized chunks and pile them up (then stack them next year)?
4. It doesn't really matter as it's just wood after all?

I'm mainly concerned with the wood rotting....

Stack on the ground you might get some very little rot in 1 year and it will be contained to the bottom row.

catch a tree trimmer thats got a big load of chips he want to get rid of. Most of em need a place to dispose of them anyway. spread them out about 3 to 4 inches and pile your wood on top of them. Ive been doing that for years. we just into a pile of oak that been split and put on top of thr chips. It was clean, dry, no dirt or rot.

Use a couple of pressure treated 2X4's. Lay them down then stack the wood on top of those. KD

I have gravel in my shed...

Gravel works great.

I think wood stacked on pallets looks a lot better than wood on site in any other form. If you don't have the width for a pallet what about cutting them down to fit only one row? If you don't want to split this year you could just stack rounds.

MarkG

Yeah - cut the pallet down to half and you really wont even see it

I have a very similar problem! My "this winter" supply (mostly locust) is cut, split, stacked and covered and ready now. I bought in mid July a tri-axle load of mixed hardwood logs that the driver (my stepbrother) said was fresh cut. This load was set on some locust logs I had, so nothing is on the ground. The problem is I'm now convinced this load was sitting around the header for some time as there is very little bark on any of the logs and some of the birch is alreadt soft and starting to go punky. There is a fair amount of white and yellow birch that I'm concerned about because this wood will not be burned until next winter.

What to do with it? I've started picking out the birch and chunking it up and stacking the chunks but as I get deeper into the log pile I find another and another birch log. I'll stop when there is only oak and maple in my log pile.

The question of the day is will logs especially brich last longer as logs, covered stacks of chunks or covered stacks of splits?

I'm nearing the point of having 2 years of stacked and split wood if I keep this up.

Another option I have is to unstack all my this winters wood (95% honey locust) and mix in some birch that is ready for this winter. Unfortunately, I have wood stacked in three seperate locations based on pecking order which makes it hard to mix on the fly....add 8 splits of locust from this pile to my wheel barrel, walk down the driveway and add some birch and some oak from here and then head for home. in 2 feet of snow. Lots of walking.

People be careful with large wood transactions, get right in there and inspec your load before it's unloaded. I bet my step brother would have not been too pissed off if I turned that load down and waited for something greener.

I always wind up with a good amount of splinters and chips from the splitting operation - so I just rake those into a row, level, and stack the split wood on top. Never had any trouble with rot of the actual wood - although I don't tend to have wood set around for several years either.

go buy more pallets. I get there here for $3 a piece.

I'd go with option #3...that way your wood is seasoning.

btw I just pile my wood up on pads of gravel and sometime in the fall use tarps to make a walk in tent. Looks OK if your out in the country. No dry rot and much time saved by not neatly stacking. When your splitting and throwing it up...your done with wood handling. No landslides either.

You are correct saw dust... guess I was to lazy to recommend a tent frame made out of ash saplings...cause that's what I do. The wind blows threw from either end...no plastic touches our wood.

btw ash is the best wood to do this with cause it'll bend a lot before it breaks. that's what farmers used to use for their bulging hay wagons.

They are free around here....businesses cant get rid of them fast enough.

Scott, evidently from your post, you have a woodlot. So, why are you messing with pallets? Just go back into your woods and cut some small poles (we use 3-6" diameter stuff). Cut into 8' or 10' poles and lay them down on the ground, then stack your wood on top of them. It takes only two poles per row doing it that way and there are no pallets to show or mess with after removing the wood. Next year, cut up those poles into firewood and cut some fresh ones or just use the old ones again until they rot.

There you have it. A simple solution. Something you can get from your own place. No messing with those pallets. You can tell that I am definitely not a fan of using pallets! If that is all you can get, ok, but the poles are simpler, less hassle, looks better and saves you dollars to boot.

Ditto Backwoods savage, that's what I do too. Good way to kill two birds, thin out the saplings that need to be removed anyway. and Looks nicer than pallets + no loose nails to step on down the road. And best of all FREE.

Could you burn the birch at the begining and end of this year and if you have left over harder wood just save that for nexted year?

You talkin to me?

Yea, that's the plan for now. I do like the idea come winter of always having a mix of wood in the stove so I think I'll burn all my crap first and last. I don't really want to be all done working on wood yet as fall is the best time to work. So what to do with that log pile, cut it up and stack/split it for next year or leave it for spring. I know the right answer would be to get everything I have cut split ans stacked now and then come spring get a new load and start over.

I'm cutting mine right now, when its a bit cooler I'll rent a splitter for a day. Any thing I don't splitt this year
will be a reason to buy a splitter. I'm thinking about putting gravel down and piling my wood instead of stacking.

I have fairly easy access to free pallets, so that's where I have ended up for my first year. I do have designs on a woodshed, possibly this Fall. One thought- for those having access to Locust, that type is very rot resistant, I hear. You could stack on pairs of Locust limbs, so long as the ground isn't so soft that they sink in and bury themselves.

One of the keys to productivity using a gravel pad is to do your splitting by it. As you split and throw the wood up it interlocks...you end up with way high piles cause by using the gravel pad piling method you eliminated many of the other drudgery wood handling steps. Once you grasp it's potential the pads grow each spring cause the wood pile grows like a virus...almost. The whole ordeal just becomes so much easier...at least by half imo.

How thick of a layer did you use?

Years ago I would excavate, lay fabric and fill to ground level. Now as I expand I just lay fabric on the ground and lay 4 to 6". I try to crown it in the center, at the side I shave it down to ground level so I can mow around it. Water just goes threw the pad. I'm thinking one pad is over 30' long now at 15'wide.

John when you start throwing that wood up there after splitting and see how high it gets and know it's the last time you'll handle it ...you'll never stack again. Good luck brother.

I dont know, In Ct ,it rains ,a whole lot. Rain sunday,rain tues,rain fri ,sat & sun.

I do know rounds left out in that stuff may start rotting within 18 months & definately in 24 months. Thats why I have two wood sheds, one inside the house & one outside the house.

I used to have 3 woodsheds but I filled one of them up with a huskee 22 ton log splitter ,6.5 hp b&S;engine. awesome piece of equipment ,I did all my splitting 4 the whole year in 3 weeks flat. Now my wood has been inside curing for 2 months & its beginning to dry out quite a bit, should be ready for winter burning with 4 more months of drying. i got 1.5 cords inside
with 18 months cureing, so i will have some nice hot burning splits to sacrifice to the flame gods .