A Little Over Two Years Ahead

[toddnic]

I cleaned up the wood pile today. I'm so thankful to be just over two years ahead now. I've got about 7 cords of wood. Most of the wood is white oak, red oak, maple, and hickory with a little hemlock and pine to get me through the shoulder seasons. It has taken a few years to get really seasoned wood but thankful I have finally arrived .

Thanks for all the encouragement through this forum over the past few years! I can't begin to say how helpful it has been.

 

[woodsHAM]

What are you considering a cord ?

 

[toddnic]

A cord is 4x4x8. One of my long stacks is 16x4x6 which equals 3 cords. The other is 16x4x7 which is just over 3 cords.

 

[woodsHAM]

Ok ! Thought you were saying you had 7 cords in your picture lol !

 

[toddnic]

Ok ! Thought you were saying you had 7 cords in your picture lol !

There is around 7 cords in the picture. There are 4 pallets under each length of stacked wood. Two full lengths....a total of eight pallets. 4 stacked 6 ft. high and 4 stacked 7 ft. high.

 

[Sprinter]

Feels good to be ahead, doesn't it? I started out slow and with less-than-perfect wood. Now I'm up to three years worth and happy with it. But most of all, the stove and flue is much happier too with well seasoned wood.

 

[NordicSplitter]

Keep going. Even though your ahead....all of that Oak will need at least 1 more year to season properly. Great stacks...

 

[toddnic]

Keep going. Even though your ahead....all of that Oak will need at least 1 more year to season properly. Great stacks...

Thankfully the stack that is 7 feet tall has been seasoning for around 1 1/2 years. So....by next winter it'll be close to 2 1/2 years of seasoned wood in that stack. I need another 3 cords to really have enough for a full three years. Hopefully I can get some additional wood during the spring and summer.

 

[woodhog73]

It becomes an obsession I think to keep adding wood and building the pile. looks like you have been hard at work.

I was looking around at my roughly 10 face cords of white and red oak and started thinking at least half of it will take another year longer to dry properly I guess I'm not keeping up enough.

so I have started taking down some poplar and birch trees. I've got about 2 face cords of that stuff split and I'm hoping it drys fast enough to use next winter. I'm putting it in direct sun.

I've got a couple more poplar and birch I want to take down but I don't have too many left and don't want to hurt the re growth of those types of trees. However I hear this stuff dries real quick ?

 

[Bmore]

I don't see but 2 cords in the picture? Better get a new tape measure. Those pallets are not 4' wide. It takes a triple stake to get 4', unless you cut 24" splits...

 

[toddnic]

I don't see but 2 cords in the picture? Better get a new tape measure. Those pallets are not 4' wide. It takes a triple stake to get 4', unless you cut 24" splits...

Feel free to come over with your tape measure

 

[woodsHAM]

I don't see but 2 cords in the picture? Better get a new tape measure. Those pallets are not 4' wide. It takes a triple stake to get 4', unless you cut 24" splits...

That's kinda what I thought as well. Not taking anything away it's great to be ahead, just think you a tad short of 7 cords though.

 

[baseroom]

They are your piles! You know what's in them. Good work and keep scrounging!

 

[Sprinter]

I'm inclined to believe the OP, mostly because he has the the tape measure right there and I'm sure he knows how to use one. If the measurements are real, the cordage is about what he says. It would be helpful, though, for purposes of the thread, if someone were to be standing at the stacks. Oblique pics like this can be deceiving without a reference gauge of some sort.

 

[Lcback]

Great job. I think everyone is giving you heck. Because there is nothing to scale against. We see a lot of pictures of face cord racks here and people being so excited to have 3 FULL CORDS and it only cost them $150 bucks.
If they are that tall I certainly believe you. Keep up the good work. I'm about 2.5 cords of split dry wood for this year. But I cheated. And ordered 1.5 of cherry/ash when I found a good deal on it. Just so I'm not scrambling so much this year. Now by April I should have everything I need for this year. And can start on next year.
Last year I'll call my learning year. I didn't get my 3 cords split until July. And had a lot of sizzling going on.
Moved my pile to the sun and started cutting Over Christmas break this time

 

[heavy hammer]

Awesome piles. Nothing better than being a couple years ahead. This site is very helpful I was in the same boat like you I had very little wood three years ago. I stuck with it and now somewhere between three to four years ahead with over 20 plus cords cut split stacked and ready to go. Keep up on it and you will be amazed how seven cords turns into fourteen into twenty plus.

 

[toddnic]

He's another view for the naysayers. My son is 6 ft. tall. Both of the rows are 4 pallets long (16 ft.) and have two rows of wood. Maybe it is just at 7 cords....maybe it is slightly less than 7 cords. Either way, I'm really happy to be this far ahead

 

[heavy hammer]

As Said above you know how to read a tape measure. Regardless it is a great feeling keep it going!

 

[Fred Wright]

Good deal. Being ahead on your fuel wood supply is money in the bank.

We all had to start somewhere. No hard and fast science can apply to every individual who heats with wood. There are far too many variables for that. The neighbor might burn through six cords in a given winter while we burn through four or vice versa. Everyone's situation will differ. This is something we learn through trial and error.

In our case, we started with three woodpiles to be three years ahead. Laid in three cords of red maple per pile and it was never quite enough to get us through the entire heating season. By February we were picking off the next year's supply. That had to stop. We extended our woodpiles to hold another 2.5 cords and began stocking oak instead. It's just something ya gotta do.

Keep the faith and try to get at least three years ahead when you can. I think you'll appreciate your oak even more after three years stacked.

 

[MarylandGuy]

Looks like 4-3/4 cords to me. I based it on 37' long, averaged out at 5-1/2 feet high (back appears to be lower), and the splits appear to be about 18", so the depth is 36". I realize it stretches across the 40" pallet, but there appears to be space between the double stack.

This is what I use: http://www.maine.gov/ag/firewood.html

Nice work though!

 

[TheBigIron]

He's another view for the naysayers. My son is 6 ft. tall. Both of the rows are 4 pallets long (16 ft.) and have two rows of wood. Maybe it is just at 7 cords....maybe it is slightly less than 7 cords. Either way, I'm really happy to be this far ahead View attachment 176661

I have a question about your vertical 2x4's. How long are the horizontal and vertical 2x4's? I am looking to do something like your setup down in my timber area to stack on.. Thanks. Stacks are looking good.

 

[toddnic]

I have a question about your vertical 2x4's. How long are the horizontal and vertical 2x4's? I am looking to do something like your setup down in my timber area to stack on.. Thanks. Stacks are looking good.

The 2x4's are somewhere between 9 and 10 ft. tall....not exactly sure. You will need to strengthen the pallet structure at the bottom where you attach the 2x4's. I cut blocks and screwed them into the pallets where the 2x4 attaches. Each of the rows is 4 pallets in length. You should be able to stack 2 rows of wood on each pallet. A key aspect to keeping your stacks in line and supported is to run a length of rope down the stack at 2 1/2 ft. and at 5 ft. This adds the stability needed to keep the stack secure.