Do you cover your wood if not going to use it this year?

[Dmitry]

Wondering if it is a must to cover my wood if planning to keep it for 2-3 years for seasoning .

 

[Little Digger]

Since the area I live in seems to get more than it's fair share of rain, I keep mine top covered from the day it is split and stacked until it is finally moved into a covered staging area and finally into the house for burning.

 

[peakbagger]

Undercover it will last for years, uncovered it will deteriorate faster, it will still last a few years uncovered but the Btu content will drop down as the wood starts to break down.

 

[Stinkpickle]

I always keep mine top covered just to keep the tarp companies in business

 

[Ash]

Nope never have. All my wood is split for at least 2 years, sometimes up to 4 years and it is always plenty dry and I do not believe it loses any Btu's. When I smack two pieces together it is rock solid.

 

[tiswood]

when I was a kid my dad ( farmer/ carpenter) never covered the wood pile. Once I got older and my own place I only covered some just to keep it from getting wet and freezing togeather. Now I try to keep a top on what I will use this year . Next years is not covered yet but I will work on that this fall. But then again we never had stoves that had to be below 20% moisture. We just threw wood in when we needed it and cleaned the chimney once a year. Now I have a stove that wants wood under 20% so Now it's just 1 more thing to be aware of. Although my stove will burn anything but it will cause more creosote . It amazes me sometimes how oldtimers handled things. They never worried what the wood moisture was just throw another piece on if it's cooling down. So what if they used an extra 1/2 cord a yr due to high moisture . And they made out just fine.

 

[mass_burner]

Never understood tarp thing. To me it never made sense. If your afraid of your wood getting wet, it must be seasoned and ready to burn, so it should be sheltered; otherwise, who cares if gets wet as it's not seasoned yet.

I built my own small shed and if I could do it, most folks here can too.

 

[DougA]

I've gone full circle on this and the end result is similar to other posts. Freshly cut wood really doesn't matter if it's covered but keeping it off the ground is VITAL! I often store the fresh wood in rounds (due to laziness) and stack them on pallets in an area that is drier but with lots of breeze. Then, I make sure they are top covered and dry for at least the last year. If you have lots of room for dry storage, best to use it or build it. They dry much faster once split. Never tarp to enclose the wood, top cover only.

Yesterday I was cutting some standing dead and I was amazed that a lot of it was >20% when tested. I'm burning it today but that is rare. I leave as much dead wood standing in the forest until I have room in the shed. If it falls on it's own, that's less work for me.

 

[Woody Stover]

The Oaks (sapwood anyway) and Hickories are more prone to rot, especially dead trees I've dropped, so I try to cover them as soon as possible. BL, Dogwood, hard Maple and Red Elm, I'm not as worried about.

 

[klxrelic]

My wood shed was a garage at one time. All my wood is black spruce. We have a fairly damp climate,so I was wondering if I was better leaving wood cut outside for summer, then stowing in shed or putting in shed right away cut and split? I usually open the garage door on front and the window in back to let a breeze blow through.

 

[bholler]

I top cover as soon as it is split. it drys faster if it is kept dry. Yes it will dry uncovered but i found it works allot better if you keep water off of it.

 

[D8Chumley]

I top cover everything because all my stacks are along the edge of my woods, keeps the leaves out of my stacks

 

[Bagelboy]

I cut, split, and stack, then cover. I rotate every 3 years, and average 6 cords/year. I currently have around 20 cords stacked. I don't know which works better, covered or not, but I cover, and it works for me.

 

[beatlefan]

Wondering if it is a must to cover my wood if planning to keep it for 2-3 years for seasoning .

You're gonna get various opinions on this one. There are a lot of factors that play affect how the wood will season. Type of wood, location of the stacks (shaded/sunny), your climate (rainy/dry), etc.

I leave mine uncovered the first year and covered the second. The right answer is "whatever it takes to get it dry by the time you're ready to burn."

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Freshly cut wood really doesn't matter if it's covered but keeping it off the ground is VITAL!

Yeah, I agree. I want mine covered the last year, but I don't worry about it before that. My wood bins have a sort of tent roof, which keeps the tarp up off the wood and allows plenty of air circulation, while keeping leaves, rain, and snow off of it. The sides of the stack are exposed, so they do get some rain now and then, but it doesn't bother the seasoning.

 

[DougA]

We have a fairly damp climate,so I was wondering if I was better leaving wood cut outside for summer, then stowing in shed or putting in shed right away cut and split?

Hmm. Damp weather is not so good but it may be better outside in a wet, breezy area than inside where it doesn't get much wind blowing through. IMHO, opening a garage door is not enough breeze to dry wood effectively.
The other factor that I think might make a difference is this: my guess is that when wood is initially left out in the open, the wet/dry cycles of normal weather might actually help dry the wood by wicking the sap from the wood. Sap inside the wood cells evaporates very slowly. When it goes through wet/dry cycles, it should be diluting and wicking the sap out of the wood, making it easier to dry. Just my theory but seems to be what I'm finding.
The risk is that you don't want moisture to stay in the wood or it will rot and attract millions of little critters.

 

[tigeroak]

Just as soon as I have them split they go into racks that are top covered. They are 16L x 4W x 5 1/2T. Right now I have a cord and half of hickory, 1/3 cord of hard maple, about a 1/3 of hedge and about 2/3 poplar ready for a rack. They are all full as now [6].

 

[BrotherBart]

Top covered from the day it goes on the stacks.

 

[Vikestand]

Wood on pallets only covered in fall due to leaves and such. This years wood is covered.

I do not cover my unseasoned wood during spring or summer.

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

I top cover everything. Keeps the snow off, and gives a place for the red squirrels and chipmunks to build their cozy nests.

 

[klxrelic]

Damp weather is not so good but it may be better outside in a wet, breezy area than inside where it doesn't get much wind blowing through.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. We do get lotsa wind tho. But still...wind blowing through the garage still wont get to any of the wood on the inside tiers.

When it goes through wet/dry cycles, it should be diluting and wicking the sap out of the wood, making it easier to dry. Just my theory but seems to be what I'm finding.

Can't say I have thought of it like that, but makes sense to me.

 

[2broke2ride]

This may be a dumb question and I may be missing the obvious answer but why is everyone worried about leaves on there wood piles [emoji848]

 

[mass_burner]

This may be a dumb question and I may be missing the obvious answer but why is everyone worried about leaves on there wood piles [emoji848]

I'm not, come summer they'll be mostly gone. Plus, when I transfer it to the shed, that gets the rest.

 

[DougA]

This may be a dumb question and I may be missing the obvious answer but why is everyone worried about leaves on there wood piles

Leaves pile up and prevent the air from blowing through. It also adds a layer of compost and junk that is a perfect spot for mice, ants and all sorts of other creatures that you really don't want waking up when you bring the wood into the house in the winter. I don't care about a few leaves but I've had wood piles covered in leaves all winter and the results were not good.

 

[D8Chumley]

^^^ What Doug said, especially for me where the stacks are at the edge of my woods. Learned after the first year, been top covering at least starting before the fall ever since. That's what works for me