Drying softwood outside during the winter months?

[RedRanger]

I have been observing this year that my 2 cords that I have stacked in rows out in the open is drying faster than the stuff in my woodsheds. I`m wondering if it would still be advantageous to move that wood inside in Sept and then stack another 2 cords outside during the winter(Oct. thru Feb.)

We do get a lot of rain here during fall and winter-And Wind. So my question is-will it still dry better outside during winter? Really only have room for 2 cords to dry in a nice and windy-sunny spot. And seems like a rotation like that might work? Any thoughts? Soft wood usually dries in 12 months anyway.

And yes, I do stack it with the barkside up.

 

[begreen]

That's the way I do it. The stuff in the woodshed is ready to burn or close to it. The stuff drying outdoors is for the future.

 

[North of 60]

Same here. Standing dead may go straight into the wood shed. All split@ the time. That way I can tell what shape it is in. If it feels like it has a larger moisture content
it goes mixed in with the green piles I stack between the trees with a narrow peice of tarp nailed a foot above to the trees its stacked in between like a little tent
to shed the rain when it down pours.

 

[savageactor7]

Agreed, fresh split wood never goes into our indoor shed... Mother nature is your friend.

 

[Highbeam]

The bummer is stacking and restacking. Moving several cords of wood around is such a downer.

A pretty common trick in my area is a large wood shed with a partition half way that allows one year of wood on each side of the partition. A big shed for sure, but no restacking needed.

 

[burntime]

My dream is to buy a kubota with a 3 point and put forks on it. Then use pallets with sides and that way I can just bring a pallet at a time up to the house and rotate them. I would probably need 8-10 with sides but I bet I can get close to a cord in each 4x5x5.5 = 110 cu ft But that is in a perfect world Back to reality of stacking stacking stacking!

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Those would be BIG pallets. Most standard pallets that I see are 40"x48"

 

[burntime]

There are some by me that are 5x8ft

 

[RedRanger]

The bummer is stacking and restacking. Moving several cords of wood around is such a downer.

A pretty common trick in my area is a large wood shed with a partition half way that allows one year of wood on each side of the partition. A big shed for sure, but no restacking needed.

I`m sort of trying to do that now. Have storage in my sheds for 8 cords, but think I will burn 6 again this winter even with the new insert because I hope to burn overnite as well. I really don`t mind the stacking and re-stacking too terribly much. You know the other option of course( build one more shed that will hold 4 cords)

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Don't want to be picky here, but a Kubota would have a serious time with a 5x8 pallet loaded with wood. Either going to break in half when you lift it, or the tractor will do a reverse wheelie

You can find any size pallet you want, or make one in 10 mins I suppose.

 

[Highbeam]

No, no, there are some very large Kubotas out there that could easily handle the weight. My little 30HP job can lift over 2000 lbs on the 3PH, I recall 2700#. They make Kubotas over 90 HP. The tough part will be the volume. The typical pallet won't hold a cord and to hold anything would require some interesting side fabrication. I have seen folks use the apple boxes which are just pallets with 2 or 3 foot sides and stackable. It takes up a lot of space in storage.

I just load the loader bucket a few times to transfer the wood from bulk storage to on-deck status. The tractor needs to be run in the winter anyway since we don't get much snow.

 

[Thomask9590]

Why Shed the wood at all, Wont it be O.K. covered with a tarp during winter and rainy months?

 

[Jags]

Why Shed the wood at all, Wont it be O.K. covered with a tarp during winter and rainy months?

Yes, the wood should be fine with the tarp method, but if you had the option of going out to your fuel source and
A.) Roll back snow/rain/ice laden tarps, then recover when done or
B.) Walk to your fuel source under roof and load up, then turn the lights off on the way out.

What would your choice be? :coolsmile:

 

[fossil]

...What would your choice be? :coolsmile:

Umm...lemme see...uh...can I have extra time? :lol: Rick