how long will my wood last?

[porkchopexpress]

Hello, new guy here.
I work for an excavating company and we clear tons of trees. I get all the free oak, hickory, locust, etc etc that I want.
I usually haul it off as full trunks and cut it into rounds whenever I can. Then I split and stack when I have time.
My questions is - how long will the split and stacked wood last? I don't want to get 50 cords split and stacked if it's gonna just rot on me.
Can I leave the smaller rounds(4-5inch) unsplit?
Last, how long can I leave the trunks laying on the gravel before I cut them up?
Thanks guys!

 

[Darbycrash]

It really depends on the type of wood and how you have it stacked. Locust for example will last seemingly forever. Hickory seems to get punky in 5-6 years or sooner if its on the ground or in a poor area where it cannot dry out. I have had red oak stacked up for 4 years on pallets uncovered, outside and it looks great... Nice and grey with 17% MC. It will be burned this winter, no signs of mold or punk.

Also if the wood is already moldy/punky it wont be much longer before it goes back to the earth.

I live in michigan and we have some pretty cold winters here. I burn with a modern wood stove which heats around 2200 square. I would say in a NORMAL year I would burn between 3 to 4 cord of wood. Last winter I burned more like 6. So what I am saying is, 50 cord of wood is a massive supply and it would put you 5 or more years ahead of the seasoning curve. I Stack as much as your little heart desires.

I use wood for everything around here. I Cook with it, heat with it, it pushes my truck to work and back and it also produces a majority of my electricity. I would love to have access to the amount of wood that you have.

 

[Missouri Frontier]

how long will my wood last?

Anything longer than 4 hours consult a physician.

(sorry couldn't resist)

on the serious side. stacked off the ground, top covered. a long long time.
btw welcome to the forum

 

[BobUrban]

off the ground with some protection from the elements and exposure to wind an sun -almost indefinitely. How many old barns have been out in the elements for a hundred+ years and till standing if their roof is maintained. More is always better!!

If you have(and it sounds like you do) a lot of log length stuff use a couple sacrificial logs to keep the majority off the ground and allow air underneath. Should be solid for many, many years.

 

[Applesister]

Its expensive to make this suggestion but why not look into temporary shelters. Farmtec I think is a name of a farm supplier who specializes in those big dome like hanger type greenhouses. You know...for covering thousands of bales of hay. Or 1500 head of cattle.

 

[Applesister]

you can store your skidsteer and bucketloader right under the tent with your wood. If I had access to that much wood I'd be looking at processors and portable kilns.

 

[Shawn Curry]

Oh it's definitely going to rot on you and leave a huge mess. You can drop some off at my place so it doesn't go to waste

 

[tsquini]

If it is covered and dry it will last just about for ever. If left out in the elements, Softer wood maple, ash, poplar will start breaking down in 3 years. But, locust and oak will last a long time in the elements. Lone enough that I've never had an issue.

 

[Wood Duck]

If the wood split and stacked and is kept off the ground and free of fallen leaves, most wood should last five years, oak probably ten, Black Locust 50. Split, stacked, off the ground, and top covered any wood that was solid when it was split and stacked should last ten years or more. Again, oak longer than most, and Black Locust or Osage Orange almost indefinitely if kept dry.

My estimates probably don't apply to willow, aspen, cottonwood, birch, or box elder, which rot faster than many other woods. I think rounds are a lot more likely to rot than split wood. Try to split everything.

 

[BrotherBart]

Within a five mile radius of my house cut, split wood rots after two years. And I should be called to provide proper disposal of it.

 

[macattack_ga]

Within a five mile radius of my house cut, split wood rots after two years. And I should be called to provide proper disposal of it.

Come on by.

 

[smokedragon]

Within a five mile radius of my house cut, split wood rots after two years. And I should be called to provide proper disposal of it.

I second that, but at my place it is a 25 mile radius

 

[BrotherBart]

Come on by.

If I still commuted to McLean every day I would take you up on it.

 

[Charles1981]

I dunno. If I had access to that much wood I would seriously consider purchasing a nice splitter with a 4 way head. Stockpile as much as I could ever get and sell wood on the side.

20 Cord of hardwood split, staked, and seasoned for 1 year goes for around 200-225 a cord. You are looking at like at like 5k per 20 cord sold (and that is for people to come to your house and pick it up).

It is however a ton of work to process wood. I get 10-15 cords delivered every 2-3 years log length. And it takes me a good 1-2 weeks when I have the available time to buck and split it as I am not one to leave a project sitting for months at a time. It probably takes me an hour a cord to buck (seems long, but managing a huge pile of dumped log length trees is not the easiest, and then you have to take 10 minutes each cord to chuck the bucks away from your pile so you have room to work and don't have a dangerous working environment). Then it takes another 90-120minutes a cord using a rented 22ton splitter. Then you gatta stack it. I don't get much help either.

So its tons of work, but if I could get 50 cords of wood (and I have room) I would do just about anything to get it! but alas i do not have access to that kind of supply.

 

[Charles1981]

And the split and stacked wood should last quite some time 5-10 years if not longer if properly stored (off ground, and eventually moved inside or very well covered once seasoned). If it is touching bare ground you can expect the first layer and eventually the second to start to accumulate moisture and rot very quickly. Gatta get that wood off the ground. 4-5 inch diameter pieces can be a nice size to fit in the oven but overall take longer to season and dry out if not split.

Key getting it split, stacked, and off the bare ground ASAP. Better yet is let it season outside ~2 years, and then move those stocks inside if you still find yourself with excessive surplus.

I pay 100 bucks a cord to have unprocessed wood delivered to my house...And can't get it any cheaper unless I made best friends with a tree cutting service and around here they already keep all the hardwood and process it themselves.