Non-Tarp Wood Stack Covers: Where to Source?

[Shari]

My top pallets are just sitting up there - not screwed down or anything.

Shari

 

[westkywood]

Rubber roofing. It gets tore off buildings and thrown away. It does them a favor for someone to haul it off. I got 3 truckloads last time.. Its heavy, lasts for many years, cuts easy and its FREE...

 

[Battenkiller]

I had one tarp secured on a pile for a year as a bit of an unscientific experiment to see if I could tell any difference in drying rate (I couldn't).

Just curious, what method did you use to determine the drying rates? How long a period of time did you keep records for? Seems to me that covering would make little difference in drying rates in the beginning when the wood is very wet, but just might make a difference at the end when you are bringing it down to the final stages of dryness.

As far as covering material, you might drive around the country looking for stacks of old roofing on farms nearby. Farmers around here are pretty smart, thrifty too. Never throw anything out. Maybe you can score some beat up used metal roofing for a few bucks just so they can get something out of it. You'll need to weight it down, though. A good, strong wind can pick the stuff up and send it off like a kite.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just curious here - all you folks using plywood or other solid roofing materials. Has anyone tried screwing these types of material into the stacks instead of putting splits or rocks on top of the 'roof'? I realize that you would have to put quite a few into different splits all over the place, but it seems the weight would help keep the roof down and would be less likely to slide off from sheer force of wind thus requiring the wind to actually lift the roof off. More work, but if you are going to leave it for months or years, why not?

I'm watching for some free recycle-able material of this sort to put on my stacks and am debating if I would try this approach so looking to see if it has been tried...

Slow, I have thought about doing this but have not done so yet. It seems that every year after splitting all the wood I have so many odd shaped splits or maybe some stuff I cut too long or whatever so I just throw it on top. I have not had any of the roofing blow off yet....but it has came close a few times.

 

[Slow1]

I had one tarp secured on a pile for a year as a bit of an unscientific experiment to see if I could tell any difference in drying rate (I couldn't).

Just curious, what method did you use to determine the drying rates? How long a period of time did you keep records for? Seems to me that covering would make little difference in drying rates in the beginning when the wood is very wet, but just might make a difference at the end when you are bringing it down to the final stages of dryness.

Very poor 'method' - hardly an experiment at all. I had the oak stacked green and I covered it with the tarp (stapled around the edges - looked a bit like a shower cap in a way). This had the benefit of keeping leaves from working their way in as well as keeping rain from filtering into the stack - this was a 4'x8'x5' stack that was pretty solid. I also had a few other stacks uncovered that were otherwise built in much the same manner. After about a full year I re-stacked the piles (part of my stock rotation) and in so doing I re-split pieces and stuck the MM into them to see how dry they were. I had expected to see a significant difference and I didn't really - all the oak was running around 30% whichever stack it came from.

Now mind you I don't consider this conclusive either way - there are so many areas that I can find fault in the methods in the test. For starters I didn't take good control measurements of all stacks so I don't know how much was lost in one stack vs another - it may well be that the covered did in fact lose more than the others. Also, if you were to look at where my piles were the covered stack was more under cover (less sun) than the others so that could certainly make a difference. Split sizes were not normalized (as a whole the covered stack had larger splits and many rounds). Then of course the wood came from different trees and was split at different times etc... However, I still had expected (hoped?) to find a 5-10% difference in drying rate. What I did walk away from it knowing is that the red oak was certainly not going to be ready after 12 months stacked in that location and in that manner. I re-stacked that pile into single split rows with space (small though it is -about 12") between them and am leaving it for another year - I also have re-split it all to my preferred size and cut all of it down to 16" length (some was 24") so it should be ready for next year... (oh and it is now uncovered).

As far as covering material, you might drive around the country looking for stacks of old roofing on farms nearby. Farmers around here are pretty smart, thrifty too. Never throw anything out. Maybe you can score some beat up used metal roofing for a few bucks just so they can get something out of it. You'll need to weight it down, though. A good, strong wind can pick the stuff up and send it off like a kite.

I may have to try this - although not a lot of farmers too near me, very suburban around here. If there are farmers near me they have managed to blend in well. I'm watching CL to see what comes up although not sure what key words will hit for me - roofing, siding, etc.

What is very important for me is appearance. Since all my stacks are very visible to neighbors and from the street I have to keep things looking as good as possible. All my tarps (when I use them) are brown. I stack as neat as possible to be sure nothing is an eyesore. I don't know how many supporters I'd have if someone were to try and go after my burning/stacks/etc in the town as I don't see others around me who appear to be 24/7 burners.

Thus recycled materials as great as they are would have to be in good shape and not look like scrap. How I secure them is important - screwing them to the top of the piles is better than tossing anything on top to 'just hold them' as that simply has a different 'look' than a clean line. All my stacks are on the property line so I can't make sheds out of them either (offset requirements). If I were to build sheds and follow offsets then I'd have no yard and likely have stacks too close to my home for comfort for risk of bugs. Can't have it all when living in small lots eh?

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I liked the idea of the rubber roofing material. I have a flat roof for my office building and my roofer keeps wanting me to replace it. It is big bucks so I have been putting it off and making repairs for now. However I did ask him if he ever had good scraps and he said he does all the time and next week was replacing a rubber roof that was not that old. He uses them on his stacks too. Sure enough he called and I got a truckload and I might get more. This stuff looks ideal, you can easily cut it to size, ideal water repelent, strong but flexible enought to mold to the shape of the woodpile with a littler overlap to keep the water off the sides better. I will post pictures when I get them locked and loaded.

 

[WoodPorn]

GOOD SCORE!!
Make sure you support the middle or rain/snow WILL sink it right down in between the rows (unless you stack single row)

 

[golfandwoodnut]

GOOD SCORE!!
Make sure you support the middle or rain/snow WILL sink it right down in between the rows (unless you stack single row)

Good idea, I guess I could go a couple of rows higher in the middle (most of my wood is on pallets). We got a big rain last night so I will probably get started this evening. Some of these pieces are big enough I could probably even put a roof over my Holtz Hauzen. That would be interesting, but might ruin the look. I never considered myself that green but I guess this is a good form of recycling.

 

[WoodPorn]

I thought the idea behind a Holtz Hausen was to create a chimney effect and draw the air in and up through the center (theoretically). If this is the case the rubber may not be a good idea. I could be wrong,.......... just ask my wife!

 

[oldspark]

65 mph winds today here, would turn metal roofing into an "odd job" (Goldfinger) hat!

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I thought the idea behind a Holtz Hausen was to create a chimney effect and draw the air in and up through the center (theoretically). If this is the case the rubber may not be a good idea. I could be wrong,.......... just ask my wife!

I was thinking of putting on the HH after the wood is already seasoned and waiting for its firey death.

 

[firefighterjake]

I thought the idea behind a Holtz Hausen was to create a chimney effect and draw the air in and up through the center (theoretically). If this is the case the rubber may not be a good idea. I could be wrong,.......... just ask my wife!

I've built two Holz Mietes . . . and personally I would be skeptical of any type of "chimney effect" happening . . . now in terms of providing a unique way to store a decent amount of wood in a small foot print . . . sure . . . but I'm not so sure that the chimney effect is happening here.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I am with you Jake. Never saw any smoke coming out of my HH chimney. Now when I build one I find the center is a conveinent place to throw the odd sized pieces etc. You cannot beat the look of HH if it is built right, but chimney efffect, don't bother to stack vertical in my opinion.

 

[firefighterjake]

I am with you Jake. Never saw any smoke coming out of my HH chimney. Now when I build one I find the center is a conveinent place to throw the odd sized pieces etc. You cannot beat the look of HH if it is built right, but chimney efffect, don't bother to stack vertical in my opinion.

I do the same . . . my chunks, punks and uglies go into the center hole . . . nice way to "stack" them.