Any guess-timates on how many cords in this pile??

[JRHAWK9]

I also have quite a bit of red oak. Do you wait a full 3 years for oak like some people swear by on here? Did you any negative experiences with wood with some higher moisture content this year? Thanks, I'm trying to fine tune my wood rotation.

Well, towards the end of this year I was burning some red oak which had been c/s/s right around two years. I tested some random pieces and I believe they were 21, 23 and 27%. The 27% one could have came from the bottom of the pile were they were just stacked on the ground, I don't know. I then quite burning from that pile. I have 7.5 cords c/s/s under a lean two on concrete (open on 3 sides) for roughly 4 years but are stacked very close together (before I knew any better). I thought the stuff stacked in a single row in the open may be a bit better than the stuff stacked tightly under a roof. I still don't know what moisture level I'm going to find once I get more into the middle of the lean two stash. This is why I opted to use the stuff in the open.

As far as burning. I didn't notice any difference, however this was my first year burning, so I have nothing to compare it too either. I would think the wetter the wood the more moisture you will be pushing out the back if your burning appliance burns front to back.

 

[JRHAWK9]

7 cord split and stacked so far and it still measures 63' in circumference at the base, down from 90'. The same 7' max height. I'm thinking close to 15 cord when said and done.

 

[laynes69]

Keep it top covered where air can get to it and keep the bottom dry. My uncle had alot of wood rot on him trying to get ahead. Quite the pile you have there.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Keep it top covered where air can get to it and keep the bottom dry. My uncle had alot of wood rot on him trying to get ahead. Quite the pile you have there.

yep, everything is top covered and it's all on pallets off the ground with separation between stacks.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I'm hoping to finish it up by this weekend. So far I have 12 cords split/stacked and looks like I may have 2-3 more to go. Will be nice to have it all done for the summer. Then during winter I can work on gathering more.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Hey, I used to live up there in WI. Very seldom will it get too warm; Keep hittin' it 'til it's stacked, then post pics. If you've got Oak in there, you're in a race against the rotting sapwood as well...

I got it all split and stacked and just got back in from measuring. The grand total is 16 cords. Everything you see in the photo below, with exception to the very first row on the left, is from the pile pictured in the first post. The rows are stacked 5.5' high (excluding pallet thickness) and they average 20" wide with a total 224 linear feet. There is a total 17.3 cords in the photo. I have them covered with EPDM rubber roofing.



There are 35.5 cords stacked below (not including that little stack of small stuff). Kind of crazy to think there was NOTHING stacked here up until around April of '14 when I started. I'm now pushing 50 cords in total including what I have stacked elsewhere.



I realize where I have the wood stacked is not the best, but it's all I have to work with. We don't have any wide open areas with direct wind/sun exposure. The most wide open area we have is our asphalt driveway, which is really not that open and I'm not stacking wood on it anyway...lol

 

[claydogg84]

50 cord... I wouldn't worry about sun/wind exposure with that amount of wood, as I think it will get plenty of time to season.

 

[Woody Stover]

Nice! Came out at the top end of your initial guess. I like the empty wheelbarrow in the pic; That's a lotta wheelbarrows full of wood! Kinda dwarfs the 4-cord stack we've got going at my BIL's so far. A lot of that was small, dead trees (stuff he can burn this fall.) Takes a while for it to amount to much. I won't be working steady at it, but I'll be messing with wood all summer, trying to dodge the real hot weather I hope. Enjoy that gorgeous WI summer...you've earned it. I, too, am unsure about how the Oak I'm stacking now will dry. I just began stacking 3 rows wide on pallets. I'm way ahead, though, so I'll be OK. Just wondering how much difference in drying speed between the new 3-row blocks and the former 2-rows/pallet with air space between rows. Where did you get the EPDM, did you contact a roofer? How wide/long are the chunks when you get 'em? My covers are about shot and I really should get some new ones on this year...

 

[JRHAWK9]

Nice! Came out at the top end of your initial guess. I like the empty wheelbarrow in the pic; That's a lotta wheelbarrows full of wood! Kinda dwarfs the 4-cord stack we've got going at my BIL's so far. A lot of that was small, dead trees (stuff he can burn this fall.) Takes a while for it to amount to much. I won't be working steady at it, but I'll be messing with wood all summer, trying to dodge the real hot weather I hope. Enjoy that gorgeous WI summer...you've earned it. I, too, am unsure about how the Oak I'm stacking now will dry. I just began stacking 3 rows wide on pallets. I'm way ahead, though, so I'll be OK. Just wondering how much difference in drying speed between the new 3-row blocks and the former 2-rows/pallet with air space between rows. Where did you get the EPDM, did you contact a roofer? How wide/long are the chunks when you get 'em? My covers are about shot and I really should get some new ones on this year...

I put the wheelbarrow there just for something to gauge scale with. I didn't actually use it to haul wood. I used it after though to clean up all the bark and crap left behind by the pile.

ugh.....summer. I'd rather have it stay between 50°-70° the whole summer. I'm not a fan of heat and even less of a fan of humidity.

As far as the rubber roof. Yes, I picked up a trailer load for a very reasonable price. It's cut in roughly 5'x20'-30' sections. It works great for me, as I just cut it in half and it's good to go. I posted a thread on it awhile, it can be found -HERE-.

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm not a fan of heat and even less of a fan of humidity.

I'm with ya on that brotha!

 

[Woody Stover]

not a fan of heat and even less of a fan of humidity

I thought WI was kinda humid, then I moved here. When the sky is white instead of blue, it's humid. So far, I haven't ever gotten a lot done in the winter, which shouldn't be hard here. Luckily I can handle heat OK; I just slow down and drink a lot of water. The only thing that saves me is that it's shady in the woods and the yard where I stack. Hopefully, I get all my burning in-laws 3 yrs. ahead this summer, then I can cruise. I'm just dropping, bucking and hauling the wood for them, they split and stack. For my stove, I've got several years stacked, like you do. It's a good feeling, ain'a?

 

[JRHAWK9]

Splitting/stacking is my least favorite part. I'd rather be bucking and hauling.

very good feeling. I refer to it as my outdoor savings account.

 

[drz1050]

I don't mind splitting- good workout! ... I hate stacking. I have a load of log length at my house I've been working on, have just been tossing the splits into a pile for now.. that pile is starting to get a little too big, time to stack, ugh.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I don't mind splitting- good workout! ... I hate stacking. I have a load of log length at my house I've been working on, have just been tossing the splits into a pile for now.. that pile is starting to get a little too big, time to stack, ugh.

I'd also rather split vs stack. The way I do it is split an ATV trailer full (about 1/3 cord) and then when full drive the load to where I'm stacking and stack that load. I'd rather pick it out of the ATV trailer within arms reach of the stack than have to bend over, pick them off the ground and carry them to the stack.......or re-load them into a trailer when I could have thrown them into the trailer to begin with instead of on the ground during splitting. The constant change from splitting to stacking also helps break things up a bit.

 

[drz1050]

If I had an ATV and a trailer, I'd like that idea.. all I have for my yard is a few wheelbarrows. I feel like those would get filled up too fast.. when I'm in the splitting groove, that pile grows fast.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

It took a while but i think ~ 16 cords............................

 

[JRHAWK9]

Well, here's this winters haul. I just got it all out of the woods in time before the warm weather and rain makes the woods a wet/muddy mess. It's not going to be quite as much as last winter. It measures roughly 28'x19' the same ~7' tall. It's 80' in circumference around the bottom at the ground. I do have a small pile of maple off to the left that I will be putting in my soft wood shoulder season stacks. I'll be starting splitting/stacking all this soon and plan on having it done by May. I'm guessing 10-12 cords in total........???

 

[Sprinter]

I missed this one last year, but I think Auzzie's calculation would have been closer if he hadn't over-estimated the value of n. Easy enough to do. I loved the post, it shows some great engineering humor (and no, it's always an oxymoron).

 

[Toomb]

I am going with 3-4 cords.........I don't see 18 cords behind that pile. Am I missing something?

 

[claydogg84]

I am going with 3-4 cords.........I don't see 18 cords behind that pile. Am I missing something?

You think that pile of rounds is 3 - 4 cords?!? I agree with the 10 - 12 estimate.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I am going with 3-4 cords.........I don't see 18 cords behind that pile. Am I missing something?

It's very hard to judge by photos, that's why I give the measurements. There's definitely more there than 3-4 cords though.

Going of the volume calculation of a spherical cap, V = [(Pi)(h)/6][3(a)(a) + (h)(h] , where where pi = 3.14, h = height of pile, and a = radius of pile and taking 90% of that number I come up with a hair under 11.5 cord. I did the same calc with last years pile and it gave me a little over 16....so it seems to be fairly close.

http://www.had2know.com/academics/spherical-cap-volume-surface-area-calculator.html

 

[Sprinter]

I'll venture a rough guess at 10 but only for grins. A random pile is usually much more air space than a traditional stack. I can't recall the numbers now, so I'm only going by looks on this one.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I'll venture a rough guess at 10 but only for grins. A random pile is usually much more air space than a traditional stack. I can't recall the numbers now, so I'm only going by looks on this one.

Just to clarify, 10 for the pics posted in post #42....correct? The original post, from last year, turned out to be 16.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I don't see 18 cords behind that pile. Am I missing something?

There are 17.3 cords in those 13 rows you see behind that pile......I just went out a couple weeks ago and measured for my spreadsheet.

 

[Sprinter]

Just to clarify, 10 for the pics posted in post #42....correct? The original post, from last year, turned out to be 16.

Yes, #42 is what I was looking at. I missed the earlier posts, so I probably shouldn't join this one at all