seasoning in a pile instead of stacking

[4acrefarm]

I am getting a load of mixed hard split and delivered this summer. It will be used for the 2011-12 season. It will be dumped on pallets, so it will be off the ground. Do I need to stack it or can i just leave it in pile? Also should I put it in shed this winter or leave it out? I do not use tarps so it is either or. My shed is open on south and mostly closed otherwise. I would leave it there till needed in winter 2011 I am cutting and stacking other wood so I would like to take the easy way out on this batch
Thanks

 

[jeff_t]

If you've got the room and don't mind looking at, leave it, especially if it's already off the ground. If it's red oak, I might stack it and hope it dries a little better.

 

[smokinj]

I find that the middle of a pile will not be that seasoned and when you get to that point is when it is very cold out...You sure could wait til spring and stack it then.

 

[LLigetfa]

For years I lied to myself and said it will dry just fine in a heap. When it came time to move it into the shed, I would set aside the wetter stuff for the next year if'n I had the space for it. I've since resigned myself to stacking it twice, first in outdoor stacks and then later packed into the shed.

 

[thewoodlands]

I am getting a load of mixed hard split and delivered this summer. It will be used for the 2011-12 season. It will be dumped on pallets, so it will be off the ground. Do I need to stack it or can i just leave it in pile? Also should I put it in shed this winter or leave it out? I do not use tarps so it is either or. My shed is open on south and mostly closed otherwise. I would leave it there till needed in winter 2011 I am cutting and stacking other wood so I would like to take the easy way out on this batch
Thanks

I left hard maple in the woods in a pile and the middle never did get seasoned, so I learned my lesson and I stack it.

Zap

 

[firefighterjake]

Seems to me there are a few folks here who do the heapen hausen method of seasoning wood . . . as for me however, like others, it seems as though the wood on the outside seasons quite well, but the wood inside not so well . . . for me it's worth the time to stack the wood . . . then again I enjoy stacking wood.

 

[oldspark]

If you like bugs mold and wet wood leave it in a pile however ifyou want it to be nice and dry you had better stack it.

 

[bsearcey]

If you like bugs mold and wet wood leave it in a pile however ifyou want it to be nice and dry you had better stack it.

+1
I had about 2.5 cords of red oak in a pile that was split this past March. I was going to leave it there for a season and then stack it. Around the end of May I started poking around in the pile and all of the wood that was just under the outter layers had begun to get a blue/green mold all over it. Some of the out cambium actually started to look a little punky. It's all nice and stacked now and looking really good. If you have the room I would stack it.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Ask yourself this question-your wife just did a load of wash; would it dry better in a big pile on the floor or hanging on a washline? Same difference with wood....

 

[webby3650]

Ask yourself this question-your wife just did a load of wash; would it dry better in a big pile on the floor or hanging on a washline? Same difference with wood....

I'll have to remember that one!

 

[SolarAndWood]

Depends on your site. I live on a windy ridge with good sun and my big ole heap does just fine. However, it does get stacked under a roof a year before it gets burned.

 

[iskiatomic]

Short and sweet............................STACK IT!



KC

 

[savageactor7]

We pile our wood on gravel spread over a moisture barrier. It's a real labor saver...but we're many years ahead. The only wood we stack is punky stuff...junk wood demands special handling.

 

[firefighterjake]

Ask yourself this question-your wife just did a load of wash; would it dry better in a big pile on the floor or hanging on a washline? Same difference with wood....

Good point . . . but I guess I'm going to have to get some better clothespins . . . everytime I try to hang my splits on the clothesline they just keep falling off.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Ask yourself this question-your wife just did a load of wash; would it dry better in a big pile on the floor or hanging on a washline? Same difference with wood....

Clutter is picturing a wire rope clothesline with small splits individually pinned up using furniture clamps- they're swaying gently in the breeze... the sky is blue with white, puffy clouds floating by, birds are happily chirping, and samba music plays faintly in the background...

Cut Chemist- The Garden
(Listen about 1:50 into this cut and it goes Bossa Nova. Strangely addictive- like wood burning.
And I don't like hip hop- but I like this one. Great music to watch wood dry by)

Oh, the 'sampled' artist is Astrud Gilberto, singing "Berimbau". Here's a translation of the (Brazilian) Portugese- It's all very deep, like the zen of wood burning, I suppose...
Berimbau

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Well, you guys could always put 'em in the clothes dryer! :lol:

 

[btuser]

The important thing for me is to get the wood, regardless of when I stack it. I don't trust the "semi-seasoned" or "seasoned 1 yr" claims. It starts to dry when it shows up at my house, so if it sits in a pile untill I stack it then its doing something.

 

[Swedishchef]

It seems I may have a slightly different opinion.

As we speak, I am drying 4 cords of wood that were dumped off at my place by a dump truck, 2 loads (after I loaded the damn thing by hand!). I asked the driver to spread it out slightly when dumping. Here's my reasoning:

When your wood is spread out in a 1-2 foot high heap (dumped by a truck), the wind will get through it all. There are lots of holes in it (mine is on pallets/ sheets of plywood with holes in it). The sun hits DIRECTLY onto a larger surface area, hence drying the top pieces of the wood and some of the bottom quite quickly. The sun hits DIRECTLY all day on the entire visible surface of wood. The Sun pulls the moisture out of the wood. wind blows it away, repeat. Just like human skin, hence we have a wind chill factor: small layer of moisture/heat on the skins surface gets blown away by the wind and is then replaced. It makes us feel colder than it really is. I know some people who have the space and lie ALL of their wood out, 1 piece deep all over their big ass backyard/driveway (all stones, no grass or dirt to retain water and rot the wood). It dries in 1-2 months depending on the amount of sun. This year has been great for drying. Today they are calling for a high of 80 F, UV index of 8, 15-25 MPH winds.

For example, where my new wood was sitting was directly in the sun before I moved it. It's all sugar/rock maple. ALL the wood on top is now PERFECTLY dry. HOwever, that pile was short and high therefore the wood underneath has not been affected yet. When I took my wood home, my current piles are long and only 2 feet high. I will stack it in 4 weeks and by then most should be dry. Whatever isn't should be by the winter time.

When you stack wood 4 feet high, etc etc. The sun will mostly hit directly on the top pieces. Earlier in the day, some sun can hit the sides but at high noon, that's all over and done with. Some people stack the rows too tight, no sun gets to the sides or along the length of the wood, hence it can take time to dry.

Ideally, everyone would spread out their wood, 1 piece deep (not stacked at all) on a paved driveway for 2 months and it would be done. HOwever, those possiblities are up there with meeting the Easter Bunny and having a date with the tooth fairy.

Andrew

 

[Battenkiller]

Well, you guys could always put 'em in the clothes dryer! :lol:

Well, y'all know I use a microwave. :roll:

 

[LLigetfa]

Direct sun hitting the wood is overrated. Having wood close to the ground will likely be affected by ground moisture. Place an iron bar in a chest freezer for a while and then stick it in the ground. You will see there is a blanket of humid air close to the ground. Google the words air dry lumber off the ground.

Heating the air to reduce RH and good air movement works well.

 

[Swedishchef]

I would not say it is over rated. I would certainly not put it directly on the ground, I would put it on some sort of pallet, 2x4s, etc.

You can't convince me that wood sitting in the sun is overrated: UV rays cook skin and will do the same to anything sitting in the sun. Compare it to shade. Let's say you have one vehicle in the direct sun and the other in the shade, which one has a higher surface temperature? Then with some wind blowing through, it wicks moisture away from the wood more quickly.

I would have to say that wood not sitting in the direct sun will certainly dry, however, I think the sun does accelerate the process.

According to woodheat.org " Stack the wood in separate rows in an open location where the summer sun can warm it and breezes can carry away the moisture"

However, this is not always possible.

A