Anyone else experiment with wood storage?

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RedRanger

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 19, 2007
1,428
British Columbia
Might be a bit of a long read,but hope you find it interesting.

We have 4 woodsheds,2cords apiece. One of them is a throw in bin period. That stuff seems to burn fine after 12-18months.

The others, I stack the back row, and chuck the wood in the middle ,and stack the front row to keep spillage from happening.

All my wood is bought green and done this way. Well, I`m finding that specially the back rows,even though they only measure between 20-28% moisture ,have mould and mildew and don`t give off a whole lot of heat.

Got wood coming in 3 weeks , gonna stack 2 cords outside until mid-sept, only covering the tops,then move in to the shed and stack it. It will be 8 months until I start to burn it. Another woodshed, where I have wood stacked tightly is gonna be moved to another one and not stacked so tight,this wood will be 15 months come burn time. but instead of 5 rows, going to make 4, so more air gets thru it.

My location is the pacific northwest, quite a damp location for the most part. The wood is mostly fir and alder.(softwoods).

It will be interesting to see if it can still go straight into the sheds but stacked more loosley and maybe dry better. And conversely, how much better the wood only 8 months seasoned,but dried out in the open with only the tops covered compares?

Would specially like some comments from myl PNW brethren. But all comments are always welcome. :lol: Even those " I could have told ya so ones"...
 
I have a smaller storage shed (10x10x10) and it's stacked with green splits in 3x3 ricks...

Three splits alternate up to about 6 feet (as high as a little guy like me can reach) with room for circulation around all sides.

In the cases where the stacks touch the shed, I also get mold (or what must be algae). I wonder if you could get good results if you tossed in a pallet every few feet in depth to aerate the center pile?

I'm burning MAYbe a cord in this season - so the prep time for me is considerably less.

*****

I lived in Woodinville, WA back in the late 80's and it seemed that the back shed never was completely dry...
 
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