How can I keep logs for cutting into firewood later. I have a lot of green ash and some oak that have died of various diseases/ borer. I can drag them into an open field with my tractor. I noticed that both of these rot fairly quickly here.
How to keep logs long term without rot
- Thread starter Indiana wood
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Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
How long until you css them? What type oak? If a couple years I would drag them up on some 4x4s or anything to suspend them off ground. Chalk the outside logs and stack em pyrimid style. I would top cover them the best you can.... similar to firewood so it can breathe on sides. This may be difficult depending on how many you have but if it is a lot i would invest in a hay bale tarp. Even a cheap tarp would be better than nuthing. This has worked for me.
I get a lot of Oak that's been down for a while. Only the sapwood rots, the heart holds up much better. If the sapwood is rotten enough I'll skim it off with a hatchet. It's a lot of bullcrappin' around..maybe I'll get caught up enough so I can grab 'em and split before they get to that point. Sometimes, dead Oaks will stand long enough to where a lot of the sapwood is already gone. 
ohlongarm
Minister of Fire
Get some logs can be anything arrange them ,north ,south,then a couple east west,stack the firewood logs on top they should be raised a good distance off the ground,the firewood logs will last like that a very long time,and get plenty of air circulation. Back in the day i did this until i got around to cutting them. The longer the platform,the more you can stack on top of the good stuff.I get a lot of Oak that's been down for a while. Only the sapwood rots, the heart holds up much better. If the sapwood is rotten enough I'll skim it off with a hatchet. It's a lot of bullcrappin' around..maybe I'll get caught up enough so I can grab 'em and split before they get to that point. Sometimes, dead Oaks will stand long enough to where a lot of the sapwood is already gone.
Build some type of crib to get them off the ground
I use Junk Logs. This is not a long term solution
the logs in contact with the ground will rot
I use White cedar here as it takes a long time to rot
I use Junk Logs. This is not a long term solution
the logs in contact with the ground will rot
I use White cedar here as it takes a long time to rot
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
I built a little log cabin once, just did the log work and rafters not the chinking or wiring etc. I tried to sell it but nobody would buy it. So I had to take it apart, and store it.
I got concrete blocks and made two rows of them, 12 feet apart. This was in a power line cut, an open spot that got lots of sunshine. The logs were 16 feet long, white pine.
I stacked them up, the stack was about 5 feet high and 12 feet wide, and the logs were 8 inches above the ground.
I got a couple of cheapo blue tarps at Walmart and covered the stack, I got a bunch of big flat washers and 2 inch screws, attached dozens of the big washers with my cordless drill, to hold the tarps down.
And a year later the tarps had gone bye by due to UVs from the sunlight, I replaced them.
The cabin stayed there for 2 years. I was afraid that it might be ruined. But, it was time to move the cabin, it was as clean as a whistle. There were no bugs in there believe it or not.
I just put the tarps up for rain protection but I had inadvertently made a solar kiln. There in central Georgia with a high of 98 degrees in summer, it was getting really hot in that stack of logs, maybe 110 or 115, and the hornets and ants, and the spiders did not think it was a good home.
Also the logs were completely dry. They were so light weight when it was time to load them on the truck.
I got concrete blocks and made two rows of them, 12 feet apart. This was in a power line cut, an open spot that got lots of sunshine. The logs were 16 feet long, white pine.
I stacked them up, the stack was about 5 feet high and 12 feet wide, and the logs were 8 inches above the ground.
I got a couple of cheapo blue tarps at Walmart and covered the stack, I got a bunch of big flat washers and 2 inch screws, attached dozens of the big washers with my cordless drill, to hold the tarps down.
And a year later the tarps had gone bye by due to UVs from the sunlight, I replaced them.
The cabin stayed there for 2 years. I was afraid that it might be ruined. But, it was time to move the cabin, it was as clean as a whistle. There were no bugs in there believe it or not.
I just put the tarps up for rain protection but I had inadvertently made a solar kiln. There in central Georgia with a high of 98 degrees in summer, it was getting really hot in that stack of logs, maybe 110 or 115, and the hornets and ants, and the spiders did not think it was a good home.
Also the logs were completely dry. They were so light weight when it was time to load them on the truck.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I get a lot of Oak that's been down for a while. Only the sapwood rots, the heart holds up much better. If the sapwood is rotten enough I'll skim it off with a hatchet. It's a lot of bullcrappin' around..maybe I'll get caught up enough so I can grab 'em and split before they get to that point. Sometimes, dead Oaks will stand long enough to where a lot of the sapwood is already gone.
I get the same, or more accurately I create the same, by often having oak logs on the ground too long before I can get around to processing them. I have taken to taking the punk off with the splitter, by taking a small sliver (1/2 inch) if heartwood with the sapwood, so I can just toss these “splits” into the fire pit. Much quicker than the hatchet method, and 1/2” of good perimeter off a 24”+ log really makes almost no difference to me, if it’s saving me a lot of time. There’s always more wood, but free time is a very limited commodity.
Ancient history - Pre WW2 there was a major hurricane that came up the east coast and plowed through Mass southern VT and NH. There were millions of board feet of large wood on the ground. The government realized that that the wood needed salvaging and storage. They started out cutting the trees and dumping them in ponds before they ran out of ponds. In some cases they dammed the ponds to get more logs in them. The logs do not rot very quickly when floating and eventually sinking underwater. When they ran out of water storage, the wood was rough cut, then piled and stacked up off the ground with a low pitch roof made out of cull wood on top. There was some sort of cheap roofing put on top of the roof. I have seen photos of both "tin" and overlapped asphalt. This wood sat for several years until WW2 cranked up demand for crating. Meanwhile the government paid contractors to set up portable sawmills and cut the wood in the ponds for several years. Some logs sink and in many of the ponds they used there can be deep areas of large dead wood silted in on the bottom of the ponds.
The goal to extend wood storage life is either keep it wet 100% of the time which is not practical or get it dry asap. Bark slows down drying time and can promote rot as it traps localized moisture. If you strip the bark off the underlying logs they last a long time if they are up off the ground and covered. Bark spuds work pretty well on some woods usually softwoods but on occasion they work on hardwood.
The goal to extend wood storage life is either keep it wet 100% of the time which is not practical or get it dry asap. Bark slows down drying time and can promote rot as it traps localized moisture. If you strip the bark off the underlying logs they last a long time if they are up off the ground and covered. Bark spuds work pretty well on some woods usually softwoods but on occasion they work on hardwood.
ohlongarm
Minister of Fire
I get a lot of Oak that's been down for a while. Only the sapwood rots, the heart holds up much better. If the sapwood is rotten enough I'll skim it off with a hatchet. It's a lot of bullcrappin' around..maybe I'll get caught up enough so I can grab 'em and split before they get to that point. Sometimes, dead Oaks will stand long enough to where a lot of the sapwood is already gone.
White oak can lay on the ground a long time before rot sets in red oak not as long but at least 3 years from my experiences.And will still only get punky a very little around the perimeter.
Sassafras logs seem to last a while as sleepers. I've had some under the pallets of my SIL's stacks for a few years, and they seem to be holding up OK. I might try ripping some of the straight, dead Sass logs out there into half-round logs that would lay on top of concrete blocks, instead of pallets.
Yeah, I've done that on occasion. I won't mess with the hatchet unless the punk is very crumbly, and scrapes off quickly and easily. I have some White Oak rounds that have been uncovered and the sapwood's pretty soft; I might try to see if I can zip it off there quickly with the little Stihl MS170.
There's plenty of time..unless you go and die or something.
Look how much time we waste on internet bullchittin'...er, bulletin boards. 
I'm inclined to let the sapwood rot off this Red Oak that uprooted, and is held up off the ground nicely. I may grab a saw and cut off the sapwood on top of the trunk to accelerate the demise of the rest of it.
When it fell, the Red also gave me a bonus small White Oak and Pignut. I'd best get that Pignut split and covered soon, before it starts to rot.
I've also got a 2' Black Oak that uprooted and hung in a White. The sapwood is coming off nicely, but I'm scared to try to get it down. It's gonna be a long time before the top breaks and lets if fall, though..
When it fell, the Red also gave me a bonus small White Oak and Pignut. I'd best get that Pignut split and covered soon, before it starts to rot.
I've also got a 2' Black Oak that uprooted and hung in a White. The sapwood is coming off nicely, but I'm scared to try to get it down. It's gonna be a long time before the top breaks and lets if fall, though..
There is a small ravine to the right of where it uprooted. I was thinking of making a sloping cut as drawn on the pic, and leaving a little meat on the left side of the trunk. Then hooking the quad, across the ravine, up to it with a chain and pulling, hopefully peeling a strip up the left side of the trunk to hold the base from going too far from the root-ball. My luck, the strip would break, the trunk would shoot away from the root-ball and fling me and the quad down the hill into the lake.
That sounds like something too dangerous for even me to attempt. 
Maybe with a cable and pulley, then pull at a right angle, but I don't know if I have a cable that long, or if the quad has the arse to pull it. It's possible that the guy up the road with a mill and a log truck might have the equipment needed. I'm in no hurry to get this one. I've got a bunch of dead Oak, down and standing, that can keep me busy for a while, with a lot less drama.
I cut up a couple cords and stacked them on pallets and covered them up with a tarp, you could do the same with logs not cut up, maybe the bottom ones will start to rot but most of them will be ok fore quite a while, Ive had rounds for 3 years and their still good.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Agreed. I just split this red oak log yesterday, 24” dis x 15’ long. It’s been lying on the ground in my splitting area almost 1 year, and it’s still perfectly solid. The bark is 1” - 2” thick, and at this amount of aging, I was able to pop it off cleanly, sometimes with the aid of the splitter to start it. You can see about 6 feet of the log in the background of this photo, and another 7.5 feet of it behind that, this photo being taken to show how I noodle the rounds into slabs to make them easier to get onto the splitter.
I have another few similar logs of white oak, taken down this May, which I will split later this winter, but no rush... they’ll be fine. I will try to remember to post photos back to this thread when I do.
The enemy of all oaks here seems to be carpenter ants. I find more oaks hollowed out with carpenter any colonies, than any other critter. I’ve always heard they only move in after rot has already begun, and I’m not sure if that’s true, but I wonder what preceded them if it is.
My stacks consist of landscaping timbers on top of cinder blocks. So a good 8-10" of airspace between the ground and the wood. I do this 1) to avoid snake pits, 2) to assist in drying, and 3) because termites are horrible here. I do not top cover.
Most of what I cut is oak. I don't know what type, unfortunately. I like to keep 2-3 years of wood CSS, but have access (and requests to drop) much more. I'd like to bust butt and have a lot of years of wood available, but I'm concerned about it rotting before I get around to burning it. No reason to put the labor in if that will be the result.
Most of what I cut is oak. I don't know what type, unfortunately. I like to keep 2-3 years of wood CSS, but have access (and requests to drop) much more. I'd like to bust butt and have a lot of years of wood available, but I'm concerned about it rotting before I get around to burning it. No reason to put the labor in if that will be the result.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
No real issue with snake pits or termites, here, but I do have the same problem of having a lot more wood coming at me than I can ever hope to process in reasonable time. It's been a problem since the eye of the second costliest hurricane in US history passed directly over my house in 2012, we had more wood on the ground than every person in our area could burn before it rots... and then we were hit by a tornado last May. And now most of our ash are standing dead or dying from EAB. And, and, and... you can just never get ahead of it.
I find that oak sapwood is trash after less than 2 years on the ground. Don't even bother stacking it in that state, it'll be a weightless sponge by the time you're ready to burn it a few years later. I have taken to just splitting all of the sapwood off any oak I can't split within months of felling, and tossing it all into the fire pit, only keeping and stacking the heart wood. The good news is that, at least around here, I've cut into big oaks with heartwood as solid as the day they fell, after 10+ years on the ground. They may be all punk and rot on the outer 2-3 inches, but the heartwood seems to last a very, very long time.
It would be nice to stack logs up on saplings, or something else to keep them off the ground, but that's always easier said than done when handling 2000 - 5000 lb. logs.
The Red Oaks here die more than anything else. They often have rotted cores toward the bottom. Same thing happens to some White Ash..you'll see them growing OK, but with a hole near the ground. Some have ants, some don't.
There's some scary stuff on the horizon, such as "Sudden Oak Death."
Your Oak won't rot in the stack, or as Ashful said, on the ground. I have several out there that have been lying for years. Sapwood gone, heart still good. I like the dead-standers where all the sapwood rots off, then they fall, leaving you with solid heart and no sapwood to worry about.
Sapwood has to be pretty crumbly before I'll mess with taking it off. It has to skim off with a hatchet, with very little effort.
I'm going to skim the sapwood off the top of this Red, which is off the ground, in hopes that the rest of the sapwood will rot off more quickly.
That standing trunk is the remnants of a smaller White it took out on its way down.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
When you get into big oaks, the sapwood can be over 3 inches thick, and it just pops off almost instantly when you bring the splitter wedge down into the transitional area between the sap and heart woods. Takes literally less than five seconds to waste the punky sapwood off an otherwise good split. I just make the splits coming from the outer part of the tree 3 inches larger than desired, with the intent that I’ll split off the sapwood with a second stroke of the ram.
I've never bothered to take the sapwood off. I never knew what it was. I'm burning some wood that has seasoned about 3 years...I thought that mushy white exterior was actually rot that had started. I guess it's just the sapwood that's dried out. Seeing how much there is, it'll take a bit to clean it off of all the splits. Then again, I'll be able to fit more "good" wood in my stack, as well as more "good" wood in the firebox...
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Don’t read me wrong, if I have a chance to process a log while it’s reasonably fresh, I’m keeping the sapwood on it. Here, we are specifically talking about oak logs that have been sitting long enough for appreciable sapwood rot to begin, while waiting to be processed. In that case, I am making the argument that this partially-rotten sapwood will be completely useless by the time the wood is ready to use in 2-3 years, even if it does not appear to be completely wasted at time of splitting. This comes from the experience of harvesting and splitting at least 8-10 cords of oak every year since hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
That, it does! But it wastes too much firebox volume, and besides... those of us with dry wood don’t need much kindling.Well, maybe it will act as kindling on a startup..
heavy hammer
Minister of Fire
As others have said try to get it up off the ground. I stack my logs on top of old cross arms from work. They are like 4x4's.
