How do you stack your wood grain side up or bark side up?

[FireaddictSC]

I just finished bucking, spliting, and stacking a red oak that i cut down. While i was stacking the splits i placed most pieces grain side up thinking maybe it would speed up the drying process. Is there any truth to this, or stacking the splits how ever they may fall will dry at the same rate. I only ask this because i know red oak can take a long time to season properly. Thanks for the feed back i have one more large red oak to take down due to draught.

 

[jeff_t]

I never put any thought into it, but apparently my subconciuos tells me bark down. My wife pointed that out to me one day.
I stack for stability.
At any rate, you're not going to burn it this winter or next. By that time I don't think you'll notice the difference.

Jeff

 

[adrpga498]

Oh boy , watch the sparks fly on this debate. I do both, bark down on 90% of hh then bark up for the top shingles .

 

[Hurricane]

There will be many of opinions on both sides of that question.
I have stacked how the split fits best in the space when stacking. If the wood is top covered so water and snow does not lay on your stack I do not think it will matter.

Just my opinion.

 

[JustWood]

My wood goes on a heap for 2 years then in the shed for 6-12 months. Don't worry about what side up.

 

[KeepItNatural]

I stack it bark side up when I can- I'll go out of my way to do it- but some splits don't have any at all- so there's nothing i can do for those. Plus, sometimes its just the nature of the wood I have on hand and all that junk. So long story short- bark side up for me when I can do it.

 

[LLigetfa]

Bark side up, of course!

 

[donatello]

I find the bark retains moisture. So when I stack, I prefer to have bark side up to act like a natural rain hat. I think this may help some when you have a hard rain, maybe some wind and plenty of splash. I don't get anal about it though... I do cover the TOP of my stacks with wood pallets (extra air flow/and the tarps don't get forced between the stacks of wood by the rain collecting) and a tarp fastened to the top of the pallets.

 

[drewboy]

Bark side up for "superior rain repellency".
I made that up...but I do the top row bark side up.

 

[kenny chaos]

I can't keep up.
I thought we all decided to take the bark off!

 

[BrotherBart]

Since the bark side of a split is the wide side I stack one course bark down and then fit the wedges of the next course in the V's between them bark down for the next course for the tightest stack I can get.

 

[fossil]

I don't pay any attention to it. Wood I have stacked or heaped outside is for future years, and remains out there to season, uncovered, for a year or two, (or more) until about a year before it's gonna get burned, then it goes into the shed...where it really doesn't matter what side's up, since it's all under roof. I think if I was gonna worry about my outside wood, I'd just stack it however it wants to be stacked, then I'd throw a tarp over the top of it. I wouldn't give a thought to how the bark's oriented. A pretty good percentage of my split wood has no bark on it anyway...either it fell off or the split was from the interior of the round where there was no bark to begin with. Before my shed was built, I had wood stacked out in the open, and I just kept a tarp over the top. In fact, I stapled it to the wood in a few places to keep it from blowing off. The primary function it served was to keep the snow & ice off the wood stack, for convenience in handling and bringing it inside. Rick

 

[quads]

Bark side up. I don't know if it makes any difference, but the way I see it, when the tree was growing the "bark side" was exposed to the elements. So why not the bark side of the dead pieces of it too?

 

[Bone1099]

I dont pay much attention to stacking it any certain way but if i were gonna stack for the fastest drying time i think vertical would allow gravity to aid in moving the moisture to the ends where it could then be evaporated. but its not a very pracitical way to stack. plus you would have to keep the ends off the ground/concrete/whatever to allow airflow but it does seem that the moisture would travel better along the grain this way. I have never tried this or studied it and maybe im just wrong. oh well just a thought.

 

[EKLawton]

Since the bark side of a split is the wide side I stack one course bark down and then fit the wedges of the next course in the V's between them bark down for the next course for the tightest stack I can get.

+1 on the tight stack. You get a true cord that way and they don't fall over as easy ;-)

 

[flash49]

I can't keep up.
I thought we all decided to take the bark off!

Does this mean I have to put the bark back on now??? I'm so confused.....

 

[Wood Duck]

Which ever way fits best, but if all things are equal I put the bark up. I never used to think about it, but somewhere on this forum I read something, and now I have to think about it. Reading makes your life harder.

 

[Stevebass4]

who knows but the rubber roof i have covering my stacks seems to keep the water / snow out

 

[LLigetfa]

I stacked it bark side up all my life. Force of habit now. Do it that way in my woodshed too.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_nX0X4MOKcKI/SbpOjAKd1ZI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/ne22OTnpXus/s640/100_0296.JPG

Even goes bark side up for the short trip to the shed.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_nX0X4MOKcKI/Sax5s99wB8I/AAAAAAAAAI4/2mDgWzzPe1c/s640/100_0181.JPG

 

[Stevebass4]

god i love that shed!!

 

[joshlaugh]

I never really noticed how I stack, I usually do for stability and where pieces will fit. Plus I have close to three years supply of wood, so either way for me it will be dry when I finally burn the wood.

 

[BroadCove]

The answer is obvious: strip the bark off all of the splits, stack the wood as tightly as possible, and then weave together the bark that you've stripped off to create a natural impervious barrier to lay on top of the stacks.

Kidding, of course. I just stack the wood, leave it outside for a year or two (depending upon species), and then burn it. We've already had 50 inches of rain this year, and I don't cover my stacks, and the wood is still plenty dry (under 20% MC). To each his own, but the keys are: split it, stack it, and leave it alone for at least a year. The rest is all personal preference.

 

[BrotherBart]

I don't pay any attention to it. Wood I have stacked or heaped outside is for future years, and remains out there to season, uncovered, for a year or two, (or more) until about a year before it's gonna get burned, then it goes into the shed...where it really doesn't matter what side's up, since it's all under roof. I think if I was gonna worry about my outside wood, I'd just stack it however it wants to be stacked, then I'd throw a tarp over the top of it. I wouldn't give a thought to how the bark's oriented. A pretty good percentage of my split wood has no bark on it anyway...either it fell off or the split was from the interior of the round where there was no bark to begin with. Before my shed was built, I had wood stacked out in the open, and I just kept a tarp over the top. In fact, I stapled it to the wood in a few places to keep it from blowing off. The primary function it served was to keep the snow & ice off the wood stack, for convenience in handling and bringing it inside. Rick

The most time consuming for me is planing the splits to identical sizes and weights, bar coding each one and scanning the information into the database. The stacking goes really fast.

 

[gzecc]

BB, bar codes, are the answer to my dilema! I have been writing a sn and date of origin on every split before stacking. The barcode eliminates that step. Do you glue the barcode on? I assume you attach it to the exposed end of the split.

 

[fossil]

...The most time consuming for me is planing the splits to identical sizes and weights, bar coding each one and scanning the information into the database. The stacking goes really fast.

Yeah, that, and all the time spent on the bench-mounted belt sander to get the lengths just right and the ends perfect. They sure do burn better than just regular old splits, though. I think they appreciate all the extra attention and love and just want to do whatever they can to return the favor...and, after all, what do they know how to do other than to burn? :coolsmile: Rick