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Richie

Burning Hunk
Aug 13, 2013
157
Central PA
I have a pile of about 2 cords of chestnut oak laying on the ground. I want to stack it where an existing stack is after I use it this winter. Can it lay on the ground until March or will it start to rot?
 
You can do what you want but I.m with Scjotulman
Get it stacked asap so it will dry faster amd
not have to worry about rot!
 
Simple answer......You could do that.............BUT^^
 
Yes to answer your question but other than the stuff on the top it wont start drying for poo until it is off the ground and stacked. But it wont rot in that time. I have rounds that sit in piles and stacks for a year or more sometimes before I get to them with no problems even on the bottom row.
 
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You could at least throw down a couple limbs and stack 'em in a row until you can get to them...
 
Or if pallets are a dime a dozen spend the dime and toss the loose pile onto some pallets.
 
It takes a while for oak to get punky but the other side of the coin is it wont really dry either sitting on the ground. And it takes such a long time to season. It really is worth your while to find a permanent seasoning spot for it. It usually sits for three years drying as it is. I have my Oak stacks seperate from the rest of my firewood because its on its own schedule.
 
It is spit. I would love to stack however the only flat area on the property is loaded with about 8 cord of wood. It is hard to build a wood pile on a hill.
 
Few things make me sadder than seeing a big pile of split firewood laying on the ground. Have some respect for your fuel and yourself and figure out a way to get it stacked. If you heated your house with oil you wouldn't have a big pile of jerry cans laying in your yard.
 
Nothing is impossible architecturally. An expensive solution would be to call a landscaping company, dig out some of your hill and landscape it with stone and rock. A cheaper solution is to buy a shovel and some cinderblocks and a load of rubble. Get some string and some stakes and a couple of levels. To stack 2 cords you only need floor space of 2 plywood sheets. In later years you could build a shed in that spot.
 
It will be fine, I have done it many times (and have a split pile growing now waiting to replace wood to be burned this winter) - getting it split is the most important part. It wont season as fast in a pile but it wont rot in a few months.
 
I find it more related to how far ahead you are as to how important it is to get it all split and stacked ASAP. I have this mess in my yard that has been there are few days and will sit until I get around to splitting it and then sit in a big pile until I get around to stacking it. But I also have 20+ cord CSS with at least 1/2 that 2+ yrs in the pile and at 17% or lower MC. I will be driven by my obsession to clean up the yard before bow season much more than concern for this wood to be ready to burn anytime soon. The bigger problem I have is my neighbor dragging more dead ash trees into the lawn and replacing the ones I CSS so if I sit on this a while I wont have to fire up the saw :)

If you are in NO hurry for the wood in the pile - let er' sit.
 

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I have a pile of about 2 cords of chestnut oak laying on the ground. I want to stack it where an existing stack is after I use it this winter. Can it lay on the ground until March or will it start to rot?


Yes you can leave it on the ground. It won't rot (unless it was starting to before). But it will soak up water. And dirt. And bugs. The sooner you get it off the ground the happier you and your wood will be.
 
It's almost September already... oak splits should weather a few months on the ground 'til you've made room in your current stack area. Oak doesn't go punky very quickly.

We have a similar dilemma... all stacks are filled and there's really no room for any more. However, we've got close to a cord of red maple rounds thanks to a freak windstorm that blew out several tree tops recently. There's more to get in the woods but I cleaned up what crashed in the yard.

Stacked the rounds on the ground next to the wood pile we'll be using come fall. There's nowhere else to put it right now. As soon as there's room I'll pull the splitter out and get it all busted and stacked.
 
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