Woodpile stacked

[SPED]

Well I was shooting for the end of january to get it all stacked up, and by the 31st I had all but 3 wheelbarrow loads stacked. By my quick calculations I got about 372 cu ft, so i'm only 12 cu ft short(bought 3 cords), which is plenty reasonable for stacking, if I stacked it again i'd probably be off by that much. Finally, I found a wood guy who delivers what he says he will. Only taken me 4 years to find him And at 160/cord green, it's one of the best prices around too. I would say I had to resplit between 5-10% to smaller pieces which also seems pretty reasonable to me. I'll try and get some pics up this week of the piles, since i'll be hanging out down there staring anyway ;-) Still gotta cover it all up, I think i'm gonna throw some pallets on top of the stacks and staple the tarps to that to let air flow over the pieces on top too. Man nothing like a big ol woodpile in the yard.... I am now officially a woodpile lurker.

 

[ChrisN]

Sounds like you've got a good start on next year. If it was me, I'd leave it uncovered until next fall, a month or so before you start burning. I think it dries much better this way. Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[swestall]

Sounds like you are on top of it. I have a great system for stacking. I buy the wood a year or two ahead and have them dump it. Then I wait for some opportunity like August, November or Christmas break at UCONN and get my daughter to stack it for the spending money I'd have to give her anyway.

Agree with the idea of leaving it uncovered; but I take the cover off in the early spring as the snow sitting on it just sits on it all winter; with the thaw/freeze/thaw we've been having I think its better covered during the snow...my 2cents only....

 

[SPED]

Yeah I'm leaning towards that hybrid idea right now, the cover it now and then leave it for the summer/fall. It's warm here now and no snow sitting it since the thaw, so I'm gonna try and cover it before the end of the week, when it might snow again. I'm gonna shoot for getting my next batch in sept/oct timeframe, try and get a lil more ahead each year eventually be 2 yrs ahead. Can't wait to see the 6 cord woodpile. Good idea on someone else stacking it, my oldest is only 5, and although he's eager..... he usually ends up playing with the dog .... Now if I could just teach the dog to stack.......hmmmm

 

[RedRanger]

Sped: good to hear you aren`t gonna cover the sides, just the top. I think the wind blowing thru it dries it even better than the sun. FYI-I have to take 2 cords out of my woodshed that I put in last spring,not drying worth a damn. Gonna put them in a sunny and breezy place and only cover the tops and then move them back into the sheds in the fall. Twice the work,"but twice the heat".

Sometimes I got away with the straight into the woodshed,but thinking maybe those were the times when the wood I received was already semi-seasoned. Learned the hard way that there is no way that works with green wood. Nowadays $160 split and delivered is a good price (specially for you guys back east)-that`s what we pay here on the west coast for softwood. That nice stuff (hardwood) is kinda scarce in these parts.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sped, I think you have the right idea of covering the wood now and uncovering it come summer. But I wonder about only getting 3 cords now. That's okay if you don't burn more than 3 cords per heating season but don't buy next September for any wood you will need next year or you may have some problems with unseasoned wood. Better to have too much on hand than too little. As you stated, a 2 year supply is a good goal to have.

 

[SPED]

Sped: good to hear you aren`t gonna cover the sides, just the top. I think the wind blowing thru it dries it even better than the sun. FYI-I have to take 2 cords out of my woodshed that I put in last spring,not drying worth a damn. Gonna put them in a sunny and breezy place and only cover the tops and then move them back into the sheds in the fall. Twice the work,"but twice the heat".

Sometimes I got away with the straight into the woodshed,but thinking maybe those were the times when the wood I received was already semi-seasoned. Learned the hard way that there is no way that works with green wood. Nowadays $160 split and delivered is a good price (specially for you guys back east)-that`s what we pay here on the west coast for softwood. That nice stuff (hardwood) is kinda scarce in these parts.

Yeah, I agree on the wind, and the stop where I'm stacking it gets some sun, but not as much as i'd like. Don't really have anywhere else the wife will let me put it though ;-). I end up stacking twice myself, where I put the wood now is down a steep hill and across the back yard from the back deck. I used to just keep bringing it up every week as I needed it, which was a pain with weather and all. So this year I just brought it all up and stacked on the back concrete patio on pallets. Was so much easier doing it once than having to keep doing it every week. So I'll be moving and restacking all 3 cords again in the fall, good exercise at least.

As for the price,I bought this house 4 years ago and the first year the going rate was $125/cord for green hardwood cut/split/delivered. Then it went to 140,150, and now most are 170(the loggers anyway). The guy I got it from advertises at 170 but when I called and asked him how much for 3 cords(he knew I saw the ad) he said 160 apiece, AND he came the next day. So I'm definitely happy, I'm a pretty loyal person when I find a business that gives me what I pay for, and my dad is already planning on getting 3 cords from him in the spring.

 

[SPED]

Sped, I think you have the right idea of covering the wood now and uncovering it come summer. But I wonder about only getting 3 cords now. That's okay if you don't burn more than 3 cords per heating season but don't buy next September for any wood you will need next year or you may have some problems with unseasoned wood. Better to have too much on hand than too little. As you stated, a 2 year supply is a good goal to have.

Sorry, I should have been more clear on that. I burn 3 cords a year, so I won't be burning anything but what I already have stacked now next year, I'm thinking of buying in the fall to start trying to bump my way up to 2 years ahead. If I had the money I'd buy another 3 cords now. Man I wish I could get free wood....