My first woodpile - all maple splits and cross-stacked on two 4x4 pallets together for a perfect 4x8x6' high rectangle. The splits I can see look to be seasoning great, but I wonder how the splits on the inside of the cube are drying. Anyone stack like this?
Newbie Wood Stacker
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I have a buddy who stacks about 4-5 cords this way, he doesn't go up to 6 feet. he's never had any issues with wood being green, which is surprising since the spot his wood is in only gets a few hours of sun.
jpl1nh
Minister of Fire
It will certainly dry eventually. If its in full sun and good breezes, much faster than in shade and calm. By winter of 2008-2009 it will be perfect no matter what. This year?? questionable, especially the stuff at the bottom in the center. In full sun and wind, it will be moderately well along, especially top and outer pieces. If you are in a position to be putting up wood for two years ahead, I think you're all set. For me, I would stack green very loosely, just pile it, or stack it in single rows, all of those in as good a sun as possible to season it most of the way before I started cord stacking it. I always feel it's better to season it more rather than less. Some people too, have had problems with their neatly stacked green cords falling as they really started to dry out due to shrinkage. That may or may not be a problem for you. :bug: But after all your hard work, I certainly wouldn't undo it!
That's how I stacked mine. I don't know if it will dry or not by this fall. This will be my first year burning wood. It was cut down last spring and split and stacked this May and June. I know the pieces I can see are already mostly grey. I have three stacks. Two are six feet high and one is four feet high. They don't get alot of sun and they are covered.
I was thinking of buying some slab wood this week and stacking it loosely in the sun. Will this dry by this fall? That will be 5 months.
I was thinking of buying some slab wood this week and stacking it loosely in the sun. Will this dry by this fall? That will be 5 months.
jpl1nh
Minister of Fire
While I don't know the relative drying speeds of each variety of wood, some varieties dry faster than others. Oak takes a year or longer. Beech can be easily ready in 6-8 months. The smaller it's split, the faster it dries. The shorter the log length, the faster it dries. Obviously the more sun and wind, the faster it dries. Covering only the top of your pile to keep the rain off will help a little. If you can, uncover it completely on sunny days. Depending on the size and variety of wood you have, the slab wood might possibly be ready by December, stacked very loose in full sun and protected from rain when necessary. One other thing to keep in mind is that even if your wood is not optimally dry, you can still use it. You will not get as much heat from it since a fair amount of heat energy will be lost in evaporating the remaining moisture from the wood. You also will need to inspect your chimney more frequently for creosote buildup. But mostly seasoned it will still burn. A few chunks of nice dry wood will help an almost dry piece burn better. Vermont Castings even recommends that you make sure some of the wood you use in overnight burns in their cat stoves is not too dry to slow the burn down! Meanwhile this is a great time to be looking ahead to the 2008-2009 burning season and getting some wood now that you know will be well seasoned for then.karl said:
The debate about covering piles has been going on for a long time here. I keep my piles uncovered in the hot months and cover just the tops when it gets to burning season.
Thanks to all for the replies. I possibly will not need to touch the wood this season as I have about 2 cords of seasoned wood that'll be dry as could be in a wood shed in a couple of months and 1.5 tons of these biobricks I caught on the cheap. Just in case, because this is my first year burning, I was hoping the cube wood would be OK if needed.
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
Bluelaker said:
I would tend to think that if you top cover your cubes, then by the time you burn your existing supply you should be in pretty decent shape to burn the cube wood. It might not be perfect, but hopefully you would be approaching spring so it won't be as critical either.
Gooserider
Bill
Minister of Fire
I got a load of slab wood about two month's ago and it was very wet and very heavy. I cut and stacked it right away and it's drying very well and should make it as kindling this year. Slab wood stacks so tight with the flat surfaces that I don't think the air gets through the rack as well as splits. The mill I got it from said if I remember correctly that it's 50% water, it was a lot of work to cut up, move, and stack.
wg_bent
Minister of Fire
I stack on pallets, and I found that you really need to put air space between the piles. Also, I covered my piles, and I found that using plastic, even with wire fencing on top resulted in puddles what eventually blew a hole in the plastic which leaked into one spot, soaking that spot. Soaked wood in the middle of an 8x8x6 pile does not dry well.
This year all my piles are uncovered. I'll cover them around late August and see how that works. Some of the real veterans like Eric and Elk do it this way and those guys have like 60 years of wood burning between them. I'm sure their technique is pretty good at this point.
My next change is to stack in rows, not square pallets. My biggest problem is stacking in the sun. Sun = visible = unhappy wife.
This year all my piles are uncovered. I'll cover them around late August and see how that works. Some of the real veterans like Eric and Elk do it this way and those guys have like 60 years of wood burning between them. I'm sure their technique is pretty good at this point.
My next change is to stack in rows, not square pallets. My biggest problem is stacking in the sun. Sun = visible = unhappy wife.
adrpga498
Minister of Fire
Warren,
Have you considered trying stacking via the Holz Huasen method. Not an eyesore for wifey & neighbors saves space too.
Have you considered trying stacking via the Holz Huasen method. Not an eyesore for wifey & neighbors saves space too.
wg_bent
Minister of Fire
thephotohound
New Member
carpniels
Minister of Fire
photohound is right. WHat a lawn
!
The wood row is nice too, I have to admit. But I wish my lawn was 1/4 as nice as that lawn.
JEALOUS!!
Carpniels
!The wood row is nice too, I have to admit. But I wish my lawn was 1/4 as nice as that lawn.
JEALOUS
!!Carpniels
SCFA said:
Hey, I think I played that course one time. My slice bounced off of the wood fence and played that dog-leg left perfectly.
Many years ago I read in a stove & wood related book that the fastest way to season green wood was to cover it with a thick, "clear" plastic. They said this allowed the radiant heat of the sun to penetrate the wood pile and super heat it since the heat is trapped by the clear cover. Said that the curing time on the wood was cut in half. Never tried it yet. Has anyone else?
Stickburner
Stickburner
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
stick burner said:
Well my newer woodshed has a roof made of clear corrugated plastic, and seems to dry wood faster than some of the "uncover" advocates here claim. On sunny days I do sometimes see condensation on the underside of the roofing material, so I would suspect that it might give some solar gain benefits. I would imagine a clear plastic sheet might do the same, although I would wonder how they get rid of the moisture that is driven out of the wood? My feeling is that if you are going to cover (which I think is a good idea) then you should only top cover the stacks - don't let the cover go more than a foot or so down on the sides. That way you get whatever solar gain is there (probably a good bit in your area) and have the ventilation needed to carry the moisture away.
Gooserider
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