Multiple stacks of wood...facing the wind or parallel to the wind?

[onedog]

Whats the consensus on whether to place your stacks facing the wind or running parallel to the wind? Reason I'm asking is 2+ years ago, I placed 7 stacks in the field to dry and positioned all 7 facing the wind with approximately 12" between the stacks. All stacks were in full sun. Started bringing the wood home this past summer and found that the logs in the first 2 stacks were pretty dry from top to bottom and end to end, but starting with the 3rd stack, the logs closest to the ground and situated in the middle showed very little cracking on the ends and certainly looked to be a lot fresher cut. This area would receive the least amount of wind and sun.

So, I'm now starting to place stacks parallel with the wind so it runs along the face of the stack thinking the entire stack will dry more evenly. Like my inner wood, am I all wet on my thinking?

By the way, it was 100% hedge and was stacked on the ground. Your thoughts?

 

[iceman]

even if you turn the stack you will find some spots are better than others.... all of your wood shld be dry.... i have wood stacked closer than tht .... the bark falls off, its light and burns great... the outter pieces are prolly at a lower mc but it all burns great... if you can try giving it more than 12" 24-36 would be perfect but if you cant do it dont worry also when you bring it in from the field stack the stuff you are worried about in a way tht it will be burned last (maarch-april) because it will continue to dry during the winter... also you mentioned stacked on the ground, if possible use pallets or something that allows air under itas tht makes a huge diff

 

[Backwoods Savage]

If you get the wood stacked off the ground, that will help a lot in drying. Stacking wood so the wind hits the side of the stack is always the best way to go.

If you have only 1 row of wood cut at 16" and stacked at 8' long. Stack it one way and the wind hits 16" of the row. Stack it the other way and the wind hits 8' of row. I'll take the 8' distance for more drying. In addition to that, with the wind hitting the end of the logs or splits, there is space between each one for air to move through. Not so much if the wind hits the end of the stack.

 

[NitroDave]

I have stacked both ways......

I end up with drier wood with the stacks parallel with the wind. I think the wind running down the stacks, kinda syphons the moisture out both ends. This is in a low sun area though..... YMMV.

 

[Georgiadave]

If you stack so that the north wind blows through the stack, you will have less vermin therein.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Whats the consensus on whether to place your stacks facing the wind or running parallel to the wind? Reason I'm asking is 2+ years ago, I placed 7 stacks in the field to dry and positioned all 7 facing the wind with approximately 12" between the stacks. All stacks were in full sun. Started bringing the wood home this past summer and found that the logs in the first 2 stacks were pretty dry from top to bottom and end to end, but starting with the 3rd stack, the logs closest to the ground and situated in the middle showed very little cracking on the ends and certainly looked to be a lot fresher cut. This area would receive the least amount of wind and sun.

So, I'm now starting to place stacks parallel with the wind so it runs along the face of the stack thinking the entire stack will dry more evenly. Like my inner wood, am I all wet on my thinking?

By the way, it was 100% hedge and was stacked on the ground. Your thoughts?

Here is the order in which one should decide where to stack wood

1) Ingress and Egress. Where wood is stacked has to be easy to get to and from.

2) If your wife wears the pants like many on this board then it goes where ever she says.

3) Last, and certainly least, is sun/wind exposure.

 

[Valhalla]

I have stacked both ways......

I end up with drier wood with the stacks parallel with the wind. I think the wind running down the stacks, kinda syphons the moisture out both ends. This is in a low sun area though..... YMMV.

Fully agree with both ways. At least I'll be batting .500 if I guess wrong!

The wind finds its way from mostly all points on the compass.
The sun makes it's usual daytime path, except when it is snowing,
raining, cloudy or dark!

 

[Apprentice_GM]

I'm also curious to know the answer to this, as I have the space to place wood rows either way.

I'm running a Holz Hausen vs Wood Row experiment to see which is better for seasoning, and I actually have one wood row running north-south and the other wood rows running east-west, in an attempt to figure out which works better for my area.

I have a weather station which logs temps / humidity / wind direction & speed so I'll know the "prevailing" winds as well when determining which direction is best

 

[Valhalla]

Open stacking with air space between the splits should work
for all methods. The weather vane rooster on my barn tells me
the wind blows from all directions now and then.

Trying to determine the best compass orientation of stacks seems far less
important to me than property layout, location, sun and water runoff.