Covered Wood stack thoughts

[wendortb]

I am new to wood burning. I have 5 acres mostly wooded that I plan on getting firewood from. My neighbor also said I could take downed trees from his land.

It seems like a lot of people css, then when the wood is dry, move it to a wood shed for that winters burning so it doesn't get wet. I don't have a wood shed and don't have much room in the house to keep wood. I could build a wood shed but was thinking about building multiple covered wood stacks so after I stack the wood, I can just grab the wood from the rack. This way I don't need to stack the wood an extra time.

I built a covered wood rack out of 6 - 2x4 ($23), 2 landscape timbers($8), and a sheet metal roof($16). Total cost $47 plus screws. I have some concrete pavers to put the landscape timbers on so it is raised off the ground. This holds 1/3 of a cord. I figure I will need 3 cords per winter and 3 years of wood so 27 of these. This seems pretty expensive considering wood heat is supposed to save me money. Is this why people build wood sheds then leave their stacks uncovered?

Thoughts about the smartest approach would be very helpful.

 

[blazincajun]

...It seems like a lot of people css, then when the wood is dry, move it to a wood shed for that winters burning so it doesn't get wet. I don't have a wood shed and don't have much room in the house to keep wood. I could build a wood shed but was thinking about building multiple covered wood stacks so after I stack the wood, I can just grab the wood from the rack. This way I don't need to stack the wood an extra time.

I built a covered wood rack out of 6 - 2x4 ($23), 2 landscape timbers($8), and a sheet metal roof($16). Total cost $47 plus screws. I have some concrete pavers to put the landscape timbers on so it is raised off the ground. This holds 1/3 of a cord. I figure I will need 3 cords per winter and 3 years of wood so 27 of these. This seems pretty expensive considering wood heat is supposed to save me money. Is this why people build wood sheds then leave their stacks uncovered?...

I've been re-thinking the stacking issue as well. You may be on to something - the trick is to keep it as inexpensive as possible. My personal observation is that if I leave them in the racks as small sheds it may be cheaper just to get wider metal roofing than go through the trouble of building a small roof. Others have posted photos with the roofing right on the wood with weights on top. Yesterday, my stacks are longer than the standard 12' length of metal roofing that you could get from the local DIY lumber retail outlet, I inserted some left over plastic gutters from daughters science fair project into the stack level with the top. Did this to assure that if the stacks moved around the water would flow into the gutter where the metal roofing overlaps. I'm hoping this will keep the water off the wood where the metal roofing overlaps and I wouldn't be surprised by a wet spot in my seasoned wood.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I am new to wood burning. I have 5 acres mostly wooded that I plan on getting firewood from. My neighbor also said I could take downed trees from his land.

It seems like a lot of people css, then when the wood is dry, move it to a wood shed for that winters burning so it doesn't get wet. I don't have a wood shed and don't have much room in the house to keep wood. I could build a wood shed but was thinking about building multiple covered wood stacks so after I stack the wood, I can just grab the wood from the rack. This way I don't need to stack the wood an extra time.

I built a covered wood rack out of 6 - 2x4 ($23), 2 landscape timbers($8), and a sheet metal roof($16). Total cost $47 plus screws. I have some concrete pavers to put the landscape timbers on so it is raised off the ground. This holds 1/3 of a cord. I figure I will need 3 cords per winter and 3 years of wood so 27 of these. This seems pretty expensive considering wood heat is supposed to save me money. Is this why people build wood sheds then leave their stacks uncovered?

Thoughts about the smartest approach would be very helpful.
View attachment 127177

It does seem a tad expensive for what you've end up with. 27 of them would cost you about $1,300 or more. You could save some money buy thinking bigger, and instead of building 27 little frames like that build one large real woodshed, or you can go the route that others have done and try an build something out of free pallets or discarded lumber. Even with free pallets it would still likely cost you something for extra materials for the roof, and screws or nails, but you might save some money.
I paid a bit more than $1,300 for my woodshed, but because I live on a city sized lot and my shed is right beside my house I wanted it to look nice. It's been very useful to me, and paid for itself over the years, which I think is the way you have to look at wood heating.

 

[mol1jb]

I just use a tarp. If you let your wood dry for multiple years it works great.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

It does seem a tad expensive for what you've end up with. 27 of them would cost you about $1,300 or more. You could save some money buy thinking a bigger, and instead of building 27 little frames like that build one large real woodshed, or you can go the route that others have done and try an build something out of free pallets or discarded lumber. Even with free pallets it would still likely cost you something for extra materials for the roof, and screws or nails, but you might save some money.
I paid a bit more than $1,300 for my woodshed, but because I live on a city sized lot and my shed is right beside my house I wanted it to look nice. It's been very useful to me, and paid for itself over the years, which I think is the way you have to look at wood heating.

Nice setup there....

 

[ErikR]

wendortb, do you have room for something like this?


I made it out of 2 free pallets, some lumber left over from other projects, and some plastic roof panels. I have other racks like that in my yard and used recycled steel roofing (free) for the roof. It will hold 3 rows of 16", a little less than 8' wide and slightly more than 4' tall. 1 cord

Or there's this way.... 2 pallets, some salvaged T-posts, and some salvaged sheet steel and bungee straps... 2/3rds of a cord It's not the prettiest, but no one can see it from the road or my house.

 

[wendortb]

wendortb, do you have room for something like this?

I made it out of 2 free pallets, some lumber left over from other projects, and some plastic roof panels. I have other racks like that in my yard and used recycled steel roofing (free) for the roof. It will hold 3 rows of 16", a little less than 8' wide and slightly more than 4' tall. 1 cord

I do have some room for stacks.
I had plastic roof panels on a shed and after a couple years the plastic became brittle after the heat and cold and started breaking as things hit it. Spots also started turning black and brown from the heat where the supporting 2x4 were located. I ended up replacing the plastic with metal.

I was worried about the stacks drying. I was trying to keep them separate so there was plenty of air and sun to dry the wood. Especially since I just got a wood stove and don't have much wood for next season yet.

I just use a tarp. If you let your wood dry for multiple years it works great.

I have read tarps wear quickly in the sun and wind and can freeze to the stack in winter. I want something that will last.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I am new to wood burning. I have 5 acres mostly wooded that I plan on getting firewood from. My neighbor also said I could take downed trees from his land.

It seems like a lot of people css, then when the wood is dry, move it to a wood shed for that winters burning so it doesn't get wet. I don't have a wood shed and don't have much room in the house to keep wood. I could build a wood shed but was thinking about building multiple covered wood stacks so after I stack the wood, I can just grab the wood from the rack. This way I don't need to stack the wood an extra time.

I built a covered wood rack out of 6 - 2x4 ($23), 2 landscape timbers($8), and a sheet metal roof($16). Total cost $47 plus screws. I have some concrete pavers to put the landscape timbers on so it is raised off the ground. This holds 1/3 of a cord. I figure I will need 3 cords per winter and 3 years of wood so 27 of these. This seems pretty expensive considering wood heat is supposed to save me money. Is this why people build wood sheds then leave their stacks uncovered?

Thoughts about the smartest approach would be very helpful.

Welcome to the forum wendortb.

That's a pretty good idea but still, if you need 27 of those you are talking over $600 which is a pretty good hunk of change. Have you considered just getting the metal roof? That would cut your costs a lot. Look at this:


Under the wood we lay some saplings that we cut in the woods. One could also use landscape timbers or many other substitutes but using saplings or limbs brings the cost down a lot. For the metal roofing, we scrounged a lot of it. Most of ours is in 10' lengths and even though there is some rust, they will no doubt outlive me. My cost was just hauling it home and we have enough to cover perhaps 22 cord; not face cord.

One other little problem is that you are looking at only one year's supply of wood. You should have much more! Especially if you are getting any oak but all wood will benefit from extra drying time.

Good luck.

 

[jatoxico]

I don't think you're going to get what you want need with those small sheds. The idea is to keep the wood dry and ready to burn once it has seasoned to the correct moisture level. They're too small to keep wind swept rain and snow off the wood. Also you want your shed to be somewhere convenient not too far from the house. I say spend your money on one good shed that's close enough to the house that it's not a hassle. You'll save money and be happier in the end.

 

[mike van]

If you keep an eye on craigslist, sometimes theres cheap used metal roofing, or an above ground pool thats free for taking it down. The outsides of the pools have a lot of sheet metal that makes good covers. Those small 1/3 cord sheds will work better full, the rain & snow that wets the ends will dry the fastest.

 

[Auzzie Gumtree]

I started off thinking i had enough room between 2 trees on my property for all the wood i would ever need. There was probably a year supply there which at the time looked huge.That was 2 years ago - that first stack fell over (2 trees + wind not a good idea.) I have since cleared a much larger area and staked enough wood for ~ 4 years (more like 5) and its still growing.......

The moral of the story is no matter how much you first think you need / want you always need / want more once you get the collecting bug. Also you don't want to get to a situation where you are 'full' of wood and then an easy score turns up and you have to turn it down. You will regret it for a long time ( i know from experience )

Doesn't help with your covering situation though - I just cover with tarps until i build the wood shed. Although i dont like the idea of having to move the wood from the stacks to the shed and then from the shed to the house.......