Cover or not cover?

[SeanBB]

After 'lurking' on hearth for years I thought it was time I enrolled and contributed something.
Here is an interesting article:

http://www.theecologist.org/green_g...warmer_winter_by_seasoning_your_firewood.html

It is worth noting that the experiment was using pine and harder woods may be quite different

 

[DoubleB]

Welcome SeanBB, from one DoubleB to another!

Thanks for the article. Since you've been familiar with hearth.com, you probably won't be surprised if you get a variety of perspectives in response. I like that you pointed out the study was with pine, and I am inclined to agree that hardwoods are probably a bit different.

I like that the article indicated that their experience was top-covered produced more uniform dryness.

Welcome aboard!

 

[Lcback]

The results make sense to me. I can see that wood does season from the ends when not split. But when it comes to hardwoods I observe it drying in the round about 3" deep then still fresh and wet through the middle. I imagine hard woods just take longer. The real problem though is that some of my woods will actually start to rot from the inside if not split.
This week end my wife and I were splitting wood for next winter. Silver (soft) maple and hickory. All this was left in a heaping pile from March. The soft maple was drying fast but still in the 30's in the inside. And some prices even rotting from the center. The hickory while at 20% on the ends. Were at 45% in the center once split. I imagine that hickory would take 3 to 4 years to dry unsplit. And probably start to rot from within before it drys.
The maple though. I'm pretty certain would get dry if kept covered in the sun in 2 years.
Sorry I know this was about covering. But I found the split vs round more interesting.

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[mass_burner]

Welcome SeanBB, from one DoubleB to another!

Thanks for the article. Since you've been familiar with hearth.com, you probably won't be surprised if you get a variety of perspectives in response. I like that you pointed out the study was with pine, and I am inclined to agree that hardwoods are probably a bit different.

I like that the article indicated that their experience was top-covered produced more uniform dryness.

Welcome aboard!

My take is not cover v. non cover, it's moot. With the relative ease/low expense of a simple shed, why would you not build one? It doesn't need to be a huge shed, just a fixed roof over your stacks. Tarps are the worst.

 

[Oldman47]

Another point to the discussion is that the experimental pine left in rounds was only a foot long and the 4x4 splits were also only a foot long. Shorter wood like that means that moisture has less distance to travel to come out of the end grain for seasoning. Lcback points out that hardwoods only dry about 3 inches deep from an end but for a foot long round that would be half way to the center.

 

[Ashful]

Since I can't remember a trip to England in which it did not rain more than half of the time I was there, I'm not surprised at the author's emphasis on top covering.


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[blades]

Well here we will be coming into the rainy portion of the seasons ( well some years anyway) so top covering from Sept. on doesn't hurt and of course keeps the snow off later. Trick is to keep top cover on in the wind.

 

[Ashful]

Well here we will be coming into the rainy portion of the seasons ( well some years anyway) so top covering from Sept. on doesn't hurt and of course keeps the snow off later. Trick is to keep top cover on in the wind.

Same here. Since I'm still stuck using tarps (township has been fighting my plan to put up a shed), I wait until right about now to go out and cover this years' wood. I'm not opposed to keeping wood covered with a roof, but tarps don't last years, and can do more harm than good when strapped tight over wood that's not already dry.

 

[kennyp2339]

(township has been fighting my plan to put up a shed

I didn't know you moved to NJ..lol

 

[Ashful]

I didn't know you moved to NJ..lol

I think I caught the guy on a bad day. Usually, he is quite agreeable. Debating options right now, as there are some complicating factors in the plan. When I say "shed", I mean a 1000 sq.ft. pavilion, under which I could fit my 20 - 30 cords of drying wood, my tandem-axle trailer, and some room for splitting in the shade.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I'm going to wrap my fresh dropped and cut splits in plastic wrap this year and see what happens. The idea is interesting to me.

The wood that is already split and drying is not going to get a cover at all. If I can fully season in 24 months w/o top covering, i'm going to do it.

 

[Ashful]

I'm going to wrap my fresh dropped and cut splits in plastic wrap this year and see what happens. The idea is interesting to me.

The wood that is already split and drying is not going to get a cover at all. If I can fully season in 24 months w/o top covering, i'm going to do it.

You'll want to cover it early in the fall of the year you're planning to burn it, or else it's likely to be covered in snow or rain when you're ready to use it. Other than that, I'd guess half of us on this forum are drying their wood in the open air for a few years prior to top covering.

The wood wrapped in plastic will release moisture, which will condense inside the plastic, assuming the plastic wrap is not completely air-tight. Give it a drain.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Yup..true...I meant aside from the wood I'm burning that winter. That gets covered.

 

[blades]

I hear your pain on shed/pavilion Same kind of xyzx stuff here size, materials, has to look like house has to be behind house ( heck if it behind why does need to match house?) and of course all the set backs, offsets and such. No I can't put up a free standing garage either must be attached to home. Basicly I have 3/4 of an acre that I really can't do a dang thing with except mow the grass. Here's the best part, you can have chickens- now who in there right mind would have chickens with out some sort of roosting area for them, Oh and got to get permits for fence as well and again all kinds of fiddlly stipulations about that. catch 22

 

[Ashful]

In my case, the trouble is set-backs, as I need 40 - 60 feet from each of the adjacent (side and rear) property lines, the sum to be no less than 100 feet. Given my yard layout, the only sensible place to put it is less than 20 feet from rear and side, for which both affected neighbors are willing to sign a variance, but the township is still throwing up obstacles. In my case, it would look much nicer than what's there now, as that's my end goal... making that area look nicer. I'm on 4 acres, and this would never be visible from the road (it's down in a hollow behind my house), so I've given some thought to just doing it without permit.


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[Typ0]

I am only entering my third season as a wood burner so there is a lot to be learned. My sense is that wood seasons better uncovered as long as any water can fully drain off the wood. I think the weathering of the wood breaks it down to give it's moisture and the natural condensation process when the outside of the wood is wet actually draws moisture from deeper inside the wood out.

I only see one reason to cover the wood which has to do with when the surface of the wood gathers moisture...that is not a time you want to burn it in the stove! So protect from the elements when it's ready to burn other than that forget about it which sounds to me like moving wood around twice....

 

[HisTreeNut]

Top cover or not? Depends in whether you stack bark up or bark down...

 

[dafattkidd]

I always cover wood in the stack that I am currently burning but everything else is kinda inconsistent. I have two large stacks that are under a large oak tree so I try to cover that before fall, but often just don't get to it and end up picking old crappy leaves out of the pile as I go. Other piles are covered all year. Some I only cover in the fall and winter if I get to it. Honestly though, the wood that seasons fastest and most thoroughly in my piles is the top courses of wood in the stack that have been left uncovered through the hot months. So there's a big fat non-answer for ya.

 

[Stinkpickle]

Having done it both ways, I only cover what I burn in the winter to keep snow and ice off of it. As long as it's off the ground, rain doesn't seem to matter.

 

[onetracker]

top cover for this season's wood only, all else just stacks out in the elements. currently 3 years ahead. this occurred after I purchased a splitter. among the best investments I ever made.

 

[bholler]

I top cover as soon as I split it. I know it will dry eventually left uncovered but wood dries allot faster if it is kept dry. Whether or not you need to cover depends allot on climate and how far ahead you are. I dont have room to be 3 years ahead so I need to dry faster so I top cover right away.