How long before it rots?

[snydley]

Last summer I bought a 20T log load of wood and cut and split about 1/2 of it. It gave me enough wood to burn for maybe 4-5 winters. The other 1/2 is still piled in my side yard as 10' - 15' logs and I'm wondering what's the best way to keep it. I won't need it for 4 or 5 years and was wondering if I should cut and split it next Spring, or leave it in log lengths for a few years, then split it. I'm just wondering how long it will stay good and not rot, if I split it next Spring. Unfortunately 2 of the large logs are on the ground holding the others off the ground. I'm sure they're gonna rot if I don't get them off the ground.
At this point I don't cover the wood, and except for brushing off the snow before I use it, it's been ok that way. What's the best thing to do with these logs?
Thanks for any suggestions,
Snyde

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

I have a good pile of pine that I split 5+ years ago stacked outside & it isn't showing any signs of rotting yet.

 

[fortydegnorth]

A lot of the wood I'm splitting right now is from large oak logs that I hauled home about 3 years ago. The wood is still really good but you can definitely tell the bottom logs that were in contact with the ground had some punk on the bottom side. Maybe a couple inches. No big deal really seeing that the logs were 26" round. I also have some smaller rounds that were bucked and stacked and some of them are not good at all. I think it depends on the wood but the 9' long logs are deffinitely in better shape. I say buck, split and stack as soon as you can and put it on skids or runners of some sort to keep it off the ground. Wood seems to do much better split and stacked than it does when it's in logs are rounds stacked on the ground. Just my 2 cents.

 

[bogydave]

Quick solution :Throw some sacrificial wood (pallets)under the logs to get them off the ground. (or logs there now can be sacrificed)
Best is: cut & split & stack on pallets. Cover the tops only. Last many years & be seasoned whenever you need it.
Even oak won't be seasoned if in the log length, after cut & split it will still take time to season (1yr +). Most hardwood
will last many, many years if split & tops of the piles are covered.
At least get it cut in rounds so you can show us a good pict of it stacked up.
If any is birch, get it cut & split soonest. It only last about 2 years unless split & seasoned.
How long? depends on wood type.

 

[chinkapin_oak]

If you leave them in log form, they will eventually rot away, how fast depends on the species. Your best choice is to split and stack them off the ground. Put a cover over them, such as old sheet metal roofing, and the wood will stay good for probly a decade or more. Plus you won't have to worry about it anymore.

Black locust or Hedge will practically never rot, and will definately still be good 5 years from now in log form.
Oak, mulberry, cherry, and walnut sapwood will rot fast, but the heartwood will remain good for many years.
Most other woods will simply just rot to the core.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

split it, stack it, cover it. A friend of mine had some property cleared about 4-5 years ago and had the logs dumped in a pile to be cut up later when he needed them for his stove. I was running low this winter and he let me come over to get some of his 'stash'. This pile was/is probably 30-40 logs in the 20-30 inch range and all varieties including oak, cedar, hickory, pine etc. The only wood I could salvage was the cedar and some oak but I only pulled a few off the top/edges before I realized it wasn't worth it. Even the oak I got was punky on the outside.

Depending on species I'd say even the ones that are off the ground are going to lose a third or more to rot in the time you're talking about and that's probably a best case scenario at least here in NC. It made me feel ill seeing all of that wood just rotting away like that and it wasn't even mine.

Split it. Stack it. Cover it. The work has to be done anyway so you might as well do it now and know you have a great supply.

 

[brianbeech]

If you leave them in log form, they will eventually rot away, how fast depends on the species. Your best choice is to split and stack them off the ground. Put a cover over them, such as old sheet metal roofing, and the wood will stay good for probly a decade or more. Plus you won't have to worry about it anymore.

Black locust or Hedge will practically never rot, and will definately still be good 5 years from now in log form.
Oak, mulberry, cherry, and walnut sapwood will rot fast, but the heartwood will remain good for many years.
Most other woods will simply just rot to the core.

+1 on the Oak rotting fast. Core is good, but the outer inch or so under the bark is really punky and rotten. It had sat, stacked in rounds, for a year though. Just split a few weeks ago and was pretty disappointed. Won't do that again. I think in the future, I'll be splitting as soon as possible.

 

[firefighterjake]

Quick solution :Throw some sacrificial wood (pallets)under the logs to get them off the ground. (or logs there now can be sacrificed)
Best is: cut & split & stack on pallets. Cover the tops only. Last many years & be seasoned whenever you need it.
Even oak won't be seasoned if in the log length, after cut & split it will still take time to season (1yr +). Most hardwood
will last many, many years if split & tops of the piles are covered.
At least get it cut in rounds so you can show us a good pict of it stacked up.
If any is birch, get it cut & split soonest. It only last about 2 years unless split & seasoned.
How long? depends on wood type.

+1 . . . cut, split and stack off the ground . . . start the seasoning process early . . . and you too will be smiling like Backwoods Savage knowing you have several years of seasoned wood in case something happens to you.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

(Thanks Jake.) Another vote for cutting, splitting and stacking now.

Of course when you stack the firewood you keep it up off the ground. The same consideration should be followed if you leave the longer logs. As Dave stated, you could use a couple of the logs as sacrificial lambs. Stack the others on top of them keeping them up off the ground.

Will the wood rot? Not if it is handled correctly. We routinely have 6-7 years supply split and stacked and never have rot. But, we stack off the ground, stack 4' high and we cover the top of the stack after the first summer. We never cover the sides or ends.

 

[3fordasho]

A summer or two I was out cutting at a coworkers farm and found a stack of pine logs. I don't think they had been there more than a year or two. Anything that was touching the ground was punky to the core and even the next ones up in the stack had some punk. Getting them off the ground is key and split and stacked would be even better.

 

[Kenster]

I don't mind a little punk and will certainly not turn my nose up at it. Punk may act like a sponge when it's raining, but when it's dry it's like a built in fire-starter.

Like everyone else, I suggest you get started bucking it up and getting it split and stacked. Get as much done as you can while it's still cool outside. If you can't get all the logs done this year at least get the logs off the ground.

Getting several years split and stacked is like money in the bank. There may be a year that you are not able to get out and cut/split and stack and you'll be might glad to be ahead of the game. For example: I was given access to all the downed oak and standing dead I could handle on two ranches totally around a thousand acres. There is more downed wood (water Oak) pushed into a dry creek bed on one ranch than I could burn in 20 lifetimes. I was going to spend most of the late fall and winter out there cutting wood but I broke my ankle in mid October and that set me way back. Things happen.

Get out there and get after it.

 

[snydley]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!! I guess in the Spring I'll start cutting, splitting it and stacking it on pallets like the rest of my wood and keep track of it, possibly covering it before winter. I actually tried covering it a few years ago when I started burning wood, but the wind was always blowing the tarps off and it just seemed to be more trouble than it was worth. We normally don't get alot of snow in the Winter, except this year, so it's been easier to not cover it and brush the snow off when necessary. If we get the snow next year like we did this year I may start covering it, I've got to come up with a better system than I was using before 'cause that just didn't work.
Snyde

 

[Kenster]

I wouldn't cover ANY of it except what you think you'll burn in the coming winter. And I wouldn't even cover that until a right before it was time to burn it. If you're already up four to five years I sure wouldn't worry about covering any of the newly split stuff.

Mine wood is under cover only when I bring three or four days worth of wood up and put it on the front porch.