Covered Woodpiles

[cptoneleg]

I leave my woodstacks totally uncovered the first year or two. Then in the fall of the 2/3year I cover with 6 mil black plastic. This stays covered until I use the stack. I get the 10'x100' rolls for about 60$ and cut it into two 5' strips. A five foot strip goes up the side, over and down the other side. I tack staple it tight with a lot of staples. I have had no problems with it lasting several years. I have found with certain woods like maple, cherry, and especially red oak you may start to have some rot after a number of years. I would at least cover the tops. Locust, of course lasts forever uncovered and ash does pretty well too.

after drying I move what needed into well ventelated woodshed, from there 2-3 days worth on covered porch about 24 hrs worth on hearth, so my wood is 100% in the dry at least 3 months before burn season. And the wood I start on has been undercover about 15 months. If I didnt have the shed I would cover about Sept.

 

[ScotO]

Woodsheds, if you have one, are the way to go, no doubt.......but for those of us less fortunate, you gotta cover the tops. Especially during a year like we just had where it rained 4 out of 7 days a week all year long.... ;-P

 

[oldspark]

I never cover the wood that is not dry yet, I just cover what I will need for the winter, wood stacked in multiple rows need covered more so than single rows which is the only way to fly.

 

[ironworker]

How on earth would water help to wick water out of wood?

Put a wet sponge and a dry sponge on a small puddle of water and see which on wicks water out faster, water is attracted to water, it naturally wants to go to the nearest moisture, I'm talking at the moleculer level man.

 

[ScotO]

I never cover the wood that is not dry yet, I just cover what I will need for the winter, wood stacked in multiple rows need covered more so than single rows which is the only way to fly.

oldspark if I staged my wood in single rows I'd have a fence around a block and a half long! Don't have the.space to do that so I am forced to stack in a group. My stack is around 12' wide by 5' high by 80' long......have more up at father in laws that I dont have room for, bring that down in the spring to begin replenishing the wood we use in the winter...

 

[hobbyheater]

My stack is around 12' wide by 5' high by 80' long......have more up at father in laws

PLEASE -PLEASE we need a picture :exclaim: That's a much wood as the first two railway car loads in the picture below. :roll:

 

[ScotO]

Lol.....I don't have any pics of the whole thing....but if it isn't pouring down rain tomorrow after work I'll take one.......

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Okay, covering the wood in September makes it better to burn now.
Here's the question. Is it better to expose our wood to the elements from June-September, or keep it covered?

Woodjack, we do not cover our wood during the summer. We normally have the wood split and stacked by April and leave it uncovered. Our thinking is that leaving the wood uncovered just allows for better evaporation of the moisture. We've also found that when we stack approximately 4 1/2' high, by the time we cover the wood in late fall or early winter that stack of wood has shrunk to 4' high. This tells us that we indeed have lost a lot of moisture. However, we have left some wood uncovered completely but not for a long time. So this fall I did not cover what we stacked last spring. We'll see how it goes.

In addition to this, you will see many times (and rightly so) that wood will dry faster if stacked in single rows. If that wood is needed quickly, then I agree. However, we do not stack in single rows. Notice in the pictures that these are the same wood stacks. One is uncovered (in Spring) and the other is covered (in fall). But notice one more little thing that I have never mentioned to those unbelievers. They say wood will not season worth a hoot stacked in multiple rows. So I have to ask this question: Why are all three rows of the same height after drying over the summer months? If that center row did not dry as the outside rows did, would it not be higher?

Note: I am not suggesting that everybody stack wood as we do; absolutely not! What I am suggesting is that the center row of wood does indeed season just as well as the outside rows. It might be nice if they didn't because then the center would be higher and we would not have to worry about water sitting on top as it would run off like it does off a roof.

 

[oldspark]

I never cover the wood that is not dry yet, I just cover what I will need for the winter, wood stacked in multiple rows need covered more so than single rows which is the only way to fly.

oldspark if I staged my wood in single rows I'd have a fence around a block and a half long! Don't have the.space to do that so I am forced to stack in a group. My stack is around 12' wide by 5' high by 80' long......have more up at father in laws that I dont have room for, bring that down in the spring to begin replenishing the wood we use in the winter...

That's cool, you do what you have to, if I keep going like I am (storm last year) I'm not going to have a good place for single rows either.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

How on earth would water help to wick water out of wood?

Put a wet sponge and a dry sponge on a small puddle of water and see which on wicks water out faster, water is attracted to water, it naturally wants to go to the nearest moisture, I'm talking at the moleculer level man.

Wood is not a sponge! Never has been and never will be.....unless it is punky. Then it will. Otherwise, wood will not act like that sponge.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I never cover the wood that is not dry yet, I just cover what I will need for the winter, wood stacked in multiple rows need covered more so than single rows which is the only way to fly.

oldspark if I staged my wood in single rows I'd have a fence around a block and a half long! Don't have the.space to do that so I am forced to stack in a group. My stack is around 12' wide by 5' high by 80' long......have more up at father in laws that I dont have room for, bring that down in the spring to begin replenishing the wood we use in the winter...

This particular wood pile had no problems being stacked so tightly.

 

[woodjack]

Okay, covering the wood in September makes it better to burn now.
Here's the question. Is it better to expose our wood to the elements from June-September, or keep it covered?

Woodjack, we do not cover our wood during the summer. We normally have the wood split and stacked by April and leave it uncovered. Our thinking is that leaving the wood uncovered just allows for better evaporation of the moisture. We've also found that when we stack approximately 4 1/2' high, by the time we cover the wood in late fall or early winter that stack of wood has shrunk to 4' high. This tells us that we indeed have lost a lot of moisture. However, we have left some wood uncovered completely but not for a long time. So this fall I did not cover what we stacked last spring. We'll see how it goes.

In addition to this, you will see many times (and rightly so) that wood will dry faster if stacked in single rows. If that wood is needed quickly, then I agree. However, we do not stack in single rows. Notice in the pictures that these are the same wood stacks. One is uncovered (in Spring) and the other is covered (in fall). But notice one more little thing that I have never mentioned to those unbelievers. They say wood will not season worth a hoot stacked in multiple rows. So I have to ask this question: Why are all three rows of the same height after drying over the summer months? If that center row did not dry as the outside rows did, would it not be higher?

Note: I am not suggesting that everybody stack wood as we do; absolutely not! What I am suggesting is that the center row of wood does indeed season just as well as the outside rows. It might be nice if they didn't because then the center would be higher and we would not have to worry about water sitting on top as it would run off like it does off a roof.

Nice stacks. Looks like mine, only nicer.
One day I'm going to start a thread UGLY WOOD STACKS to show off my pile.

 

[ironworker]

How on earth would water help to wick water out of wood?

Put a wet sponge and a dry sponge on a small puddle of water and see which on wicks water out faster, water is attracted to water, it naturally wants to go to the nearest moisture, I'm talking at the moleculer level man.

Wood is not a sponge! Never has been and never will be.....unless it is punky. Then it will. Otherwise, wood will not act like that sponge.

No but it acts like one, just like a rag isn't a sponge but will wick moisture, so will paper, also one of the reasons you need pallets, so your firewood doesn't wick moisture from the ground.

 

[ironworker]

It does not matter how you stack or if you cover or not, moisture will leave anything organic, it is nothing more than a natural process that occurs with wood, sure there are ways to speed the process up, but in my 4 years of wood burning, anyway I stacked, single row, multiple rows, holz hausens, big ugly piles it was always dry enough to burn.
PS Nice stacks Backwoods Savage

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I do not use pallets but that is not the point. You are not comparing the same thing. Trying to compare wood to a sponge is like trying to compare the speed of a horse to that of a Corvette.

Here is one more good one for you. As a neighbor and I were cutting wood this week, we found some old wood that had been cut to length and was just laying on the ground. The best guestimate I can give on this wood is that it was cut either 3 or 4 years ago but my best bet is 4 years ago. This wood was not only laying on the ground but was also laying where water stands many times during the year. The wood was not even a little bit punky and yes, we will burn it, or rather, the neighbor will as he was fascinated with it. For sure most wood could not be in this condition after that length of time even if not sitting in water but this particular type wood will and we've seen it over and over. Perhaps your sponge might have lasted as long?

 

[RWA6541]

pallets and tin, find it old and used or i have even paid for some. Block the tin up so there is a good air gap and hold it down with old tires. JMHO

 

[cptoneleg]

pallets and tin, find it old and used or i have even paid for some. Block the tin up so there is a good air gap and hold it down with old tires. JMHO

bet thats pretty

 

[RWA6541]

pallets and tin, find it old and used or i have even paid for some. Block the tin up so there is a good air gap and hold it down with old tires. JMHO

well when can't you can't see, hear, smell or annoy your neighbor, you pull chit like that LOL


bet thats pretty

 

[cptoneleg]

These are some top hands around here, they don't cover there stacks, and they been doing this all their lives.

 

[cptoneleg]

Till next year when we discuss this again Im out of here good luck all

 

[hobbyheater]

This wood was not only laying on the ground but was also laying where water stands many times during the year

Just to side track on that thread. Through the 1920s to the late 60s, many of the stands of old growth timber were dumped directly into many of the larger fresh water lakes in this area and lot of those logs went directly to the bottom. In the 90s, some companies started to recover many of the submerged logs and the surprising thing to me is that after being submerged in fresh water for 60 and 70 years, the quality of the wood was just as good as the day it sank. Unfortunately or fortunately, from whichever side you look at it from, the salvaging was stopped.
Another interesting aspect to this salvage operation was that many of the trees that were brought up, were full length monsters with roots still attached and it was believed that many of these predated logging by many years!

 

[hobbyheater]

These are some top hands around here, they don't cover there stacks, and they been doing this all their lives.

With a lifetime of experience, do they get to drive the tractor? :exclaim:

 

[ScotO]

Hobbyheater that wood stays preserved underwater for several reasons. First and foremost it is not exposed to direct air, and that means no mold or fungus to decay it. Of course the wood at the bottom of the Great Lakes is devoid of sunlight and it is in near freezing water (which keeps the bugs at bay) so that wood is basically perfectly preserved. I like what they are doing getting that virgin growth timber and putting it to good use. On that note I think this post has got sidetracked....lol....

 

[cptoneleg]

These are some top hands around here, they don't cover there stacks, and they been doing this all their lives.

With a lifetime of experience, do they get to drive the tractor? :exclaim:

When they raise their little A$$'$ off the tractor seat to reach the pedals the safety kills the engine. :lol:

 

[velvetfoot]

Not that I've read the entire thread, but I paid 60 bucks last night for a 100' roll of 10' long 6 mil black plastic.