Halfway there. How's your wood pile?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
2.5-3 down of the 4 cords I started with. Ouch. Only had a 1/2 cord of good hardwood and the rest elm and maple. Looks like I need 6 cords to be on the safe side next year.
 
I probably managed to stuff 9 cord under the covered porch and 1 cord on the porch. Since around the middle of October we have burned through a little over 4 cord so far. Was pretty mild for much of that. Really cruising through the wood lately though!

Oh. I have a bunch more wood in the stacks outside though. ;) 8 cord and counting.
 
I had put away about 2 cords , at the halfway mark I won't make it through the winter on what I have , Have to start planning ahead:oops:
 
  • Like
Reactions: McKeznak
My wood shed is stacked in rows that are about 1.25 cords each for the first 4 rows and the final row is less than a cord. Gone through the front row and the next full row with about 1/2 of the 2nd full row gone....so just over 2.5 cords to date. Last year we had a full row left in the shed, if the cold snap continues here we may be getting into that this year, but I see they are predicting temps near 50 by Tuesday here!
 
For the first year I have a really good idea where I'm at. Started with 10 rows at .75 cords each, 4 down, 6 to go, so I should have at least 1.5 cords next year of really dry stuff.
Ended up selling the 5 other cords I had sitting out for next year so it's time to get to work. Here's a couple of pictures of my system. I number the rows so I know what order to take them out in.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0973.jpg
    DSC_0973.jpg
    134 KB · Views: 275
  • DSC_0974.jpg
    DSC_0974.jpg
    152 KB · Views: 277
We've probably gone through between 0ne and one and a half cords . So,if winter holds true ,We'll use about 3 cords .
 
I think I've burned about a cord and a half. I have plenty for this winter and next. I'm not sure I'll burn 4 cords this winter - it's been pretty mild here until this week.
 
We started out with 3.75 cords. Just finished up 1 cord. We are good for the remainder of the winter and will have a nice start for next. We only burn in the evenings and weekends.
 
Just thought of it Sav and I am surprised nobody said it before now. We are not quite halfway there my friend but close. Old timers always said "You should have half your wood and half your hay at Ground hog day"

Very true with that saying Locust. But I believe the reason they gave groundhog day is because if you have half of the wood pile left then, you have enough to start burning in the fall. This is when most everyone put up their wood in October or November to burn that winter. But January 21 is pretty darned close to half way.
 
2.5-3 down of the 4 cords I started with. Ouch. Only had a 1/2 cord of good hardwood and the rest elm and maple. Looks like I need 6 cords to be on the safe side next year.

Welcome to the forum WiscoWoodman.

Hey, what is wrong with elm and maple? And can you get yourself 3 years ahead on the wood supply? You will never be sorry if you do.
 
Very true with that saying Locust. But I believe the reason they gave groundhog day is because if you have half of the wood pile left then, you have enough to start burning in the fall. This is when most everyone put up their wood in October or November to burn that winter. But January 21 is pretty darned close to half way.
You're probably right buddy........and yes Jan. 21 is close enough. I just happened to remember that saying and always liked it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Backwoods Savage
You're probably right buddy........and yes Jan. 21 is close enough. I just happened to remember that saying and always liked it.

"Half your wood and half your hay by January 21"...not quite as good a saying!

I always wanted to get through January with half my wood supply intact. Feb. and March are highly variable here in Va, sometimes really cold with lots of snow, sometimes really warm. So we have two variable months, then some moderate burning in April and occasionally May.

So even though I have enough wood, I've found myself looking at the stacks thinking "If I only burn this much more, I'll have enough for the next two winters." That's much nicer than when I used to worry about whether I'd run out or not!
 
  • Like
Reactions: basod and PapaDave
I've probably burned more this year to date than the last two, but had a couple of actuall weekends (read two full weekends) off. Its probably at least two cords, working into 3 at the current time. Sold a couple of my lesser BTU's piles to my uncle from 3 years ago, he's really appreciated the way its "taken off and burned". But at the current rate I haven't had a but 1 fire in 3 days, may... may have one tonight. It got to 76 here yesterday and suppose to be 60 today. Then reality will set back in for the rest of the week.
 
I'm going to have to find some more detailed data for my spreadsheet. The numbers I have now are the temperature normals, i.e. typical temperatures for each day of the year. The challenge is that there is no day of the year on which it's normal for the high to be below 35F here in Pittsburgh, but in any given year it's normal for there to be many days which are much colder than that; they're statistical outliers but they happen a lot. I'm wishing I'd taken a statistics class when I had the chance.

You could try
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/time-series/index.php?

The data is regional, and weighted by population somehow, but it should work well enough unless you're deep in a valley or up top of a hill.

TE
 
First full year with the new insert, and I'm very pleased, about a face-cord gone, not bad since I'm only a weekend burner, I expected to use about a cord all season. With the old slammer, I could get through two cords or more. The problem is I've been using up most of my cherry and won't have shoulder wood for next year because when I put oak or hickory in there, even when it is in the teens outside, we bake.

TE
 
Lots of comments about oak, hickory & locust has me hoping for a cold winter next year as it will be the 1st year we'll be burning well seasoned oak and hickory....not trying rush things though :)
 
picture047.jpg

What's covered up is all that is left for this year. It was stacked as high as the pile on the left. I sure hope its enough. There is 3 year old bone dry wood in next years pile I might have to tap into if I need it
 
We have burned a lot less wood this year, certainly less than cord so far. The weather has been mild and our not-quite 2 year old grand son is here every day, so we don't burn during the day for safety reasons. Fortunately (and the enjoyable part is), we don't need to burn so much wood, since chasing him around provides plenty of warmth.
 
Had four cord up for this winter of good hardwood, still have about two cord left.
No wood woes here least not for about 7+years I guess,took alot of work and planning but pays off in the long run.Good luck to all ya's and keep your wood dry.
 
View attachment 91455

What's covered up is all that is left for this year. It was stacked as high as the pile on the left. I sure hope its enough. There is 3 year old bone dry wood in next years pile I might have to tap into if I need it

I hope that is not a current picture with all that green grass at this time of year
 
I hope that is not a current picture with all that green grass at this time of year

Ya that was Tuesday afternoon when the temperature was 74 degrees!!! Here's what it looked like today. Lake effect snow showers and 32 degrees with 50 MPH winds. This is what it should look like this time of year
picture056.jpg
 
little more splitting and i'll have about 2/3 of next year's wood ready. behind schedule this winter...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.