Wood Questions

[jjhof0306]

Hi -

as I was pulling the tarp off my wood mound (the one that the truck left in my yard - my wood pile is out back, and is growing, one ridiculously overloaded radio flyer wagon at a time), I once again felt the rush of humid heat that had been accumulating all day under the tarp, and it occurred to me that it might be a better idea to leave the wood uncovered and risk a bit of rain fall then to leave the pile covered when I'm not working on it. So, question for the group - for unseasoned or semi-seasoned wood, should I leave the tarp off it to let the moisture evaporate, and risk a rain shower when I"m not home to cover the pile, or is it best to leave it covered until I can get it stacked? My wood pile has tarps over the top, but is otherwise uncovered. I do pull the tarps back in good weather to allow for better drying, but generally do not leave them uncovered when I'm not home.

Another question. Does wood continue the drying process in the deep winter? I remember as a kid my grandma would hang her sheets on her porch even in the dead of winter. of course, they'd freeze solid very quickly, but eventually they would dry. Does this happen with firewood, too?

Thanks! :coolsmile:

 

[fraxinus]

For almost all of New England, this has been a terrible past few weeks for drying - the humidity has been very high, even on the rare days without rain. A tarp above the pile which keeps off rain will help; a tarp in direct contact with the wood or which impedes air flow will slow down the drying process by keeping the humidity level near the wood high.

As far as the winter question, there was a thread about this a short time ago. My own feeling is that frozen wood dries only very slowly if at all. A sunny, windy spot will, however, have dry enough air and warm enough temperatures to promote seasoning even when the "official" temperature is well below freezing.

 

[fossil]

Firewood will season whenever the moisture content of the wood is higher than the moisture content of the surrounding air, which pretty much means all the time. Rain on a stack of wood probably does little to impede the seasoning, because it just hits the surface and runs off. The moisture in the wood that we're trying to get rid of is the moisture the tree pulled into ints own tissues during its life. Tarps are a convenience for keeping the wood easy to handle and ready to burn during a season of rain and especially snow. If you're experience a whole lot of rain, you might drape a tarp loosely over the top of the wood, but not down the sides. If the rain is occasional, you could probably just leave the tarps off altogether for the duration of the summer/early fall...perhaps longer. Rick

 

[iceman]

i have been going on off with my cover.. due to rain... but i did put a bucket and pvc under so air can get under most of it... but it still gets air from 3 sides though, next year i plan on taking up the plywood so air can get under it because of this reason i covered it figuring the bottom will stay wet with all the rain..

 

[fossil]

If the wood's stacked or piled on a solid sheet of plywood, then, yes, you should definitely make an effort to keep that from accumulating water. Folks use anything from 2" x 4"'s to landscape timbers, to saplings, to pallets, to woodsheds with raised floors to keep the wood up off the ground while allowing for drainage and air circulation. Rick

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wood that is left uncovered has a much, much better time of it allowing the wood moisture to evaporate. Keeping it covered, yes, it gets hot, but the moisture stays there for the most part. If open on the sides it will still evaporate some because of wind drafts, but evaporation is better going up then sideways!

We always leave our wood uncovered until late fall but do cover it before heavy fall rains or heavy snow, which in Michigan usually come about the same time. That allows for maximum evaporation. When we cover, we cover only the top of the pile.

Rain usually will not bother the wood pile. Wood is not a sponge and will only get wet on the outside. Usually one good drying day will take all that moisture away and most times within a couple of hours.

So, in short, leave that wood uncovered until winter. Then cover only the top of the pile. Covering and uncovering is just unnecessary work and won't help the wood in the least.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Weather report for the next 4-5 days: showers in the morning, THUNDER showers in the afternoon. See- we have some variety in weather this year.

Johnny- I have to think that this rain is causing an issue. I have started taking the tarp on and off- leaving it on this week. THis is a lot of effort for some folks, but I don't think that some of them quite get how persistent the rain has been this year. Absolutely crazy.