Moving wood

[otherguy]

In general does a person stack the wood in a firewood rack to dry then move it to a woodshed for storage?

This requires moving it then moving again to use inside (if you store close to house), is that just the way the process works?

Is there a better way?
Thanks

 

[begreen]

Lame as it sounds this is how we deal with our wood. I'd need to increase the wood shed size quite a bit to put everything in it. We have 5 cords under cover and 3 stacked. Some folks definitely have more efficient setups.

 

[kennyp2339]

I have 3 years worth of wood stacked, every October I make my pilgrimage from the area I keep the wood stacked and bring a seasons worth closer to the house.
As my neighbor would say "wood warms you up 5 times, cutting, splitting, stacking, moving, then burning."

 

[BrotherBart]

My stacking/drying area is right in front of the shed. The shed holds four cord and I burn 3+ per season. After the last burn of the season in April I move enough into the shed for the next season. It is around five feet from the stacks to the shed. And the shed has a black roof and solar gable fan in it to continue drying all summer.

 

[legrandice]

I have moved wood all over for years. I live on a hill and my wood stacks are down at the bottom and my house up top. I used a wheelbarrel for one year, a garden cart and hand truck for another. I then moved my stacks where I could get my 6x10 trailer to...that was good except I got stuck twice. I now have a tractor and use the bucket to move the wood around! Living the good life now.

 

[jb6l6gc]

I go straight from the racks to inside

 

[English BoB]

In general does a person stack the wood in a firewood rack to dry then move it to a woodshed for storage?

This requires moving it then moving again to use inside (if you store close to house), is that just the way the process works?

Is there a better way?
Thanks

Green wood stacked tightly in a wood shed will not dry well as there is no air circulation. I stack in long double rows to dry, then move to the shed to keep dry for the winter.

bob

 

[Little Digger]

Usually wherever I stack the wood is where it stays for the duration. Whether I'm pulling from the covered stacks or from the woodshed, I use a heavy duty dolly with a 30 gallon plastic trash can secured to it. Just fill it to overflowing and bring it into the house and stack the wood in the racks next to the wood stove. During the heating season I may bring in 2 or 3 loads a day until the racks are full, and then back off.

This year I decided to stage about a cord on the porch in racks and have already filled the racks in the house. That totals about 1 and 1/3rd cord. In a way it's kind of redundant since I had 6 cord sitting within a foot of the deck. (now 4 and 2/3rds of a cord) But with all the rains we've been having this last month it insures my wood will remain dry. We just received an additional 4 and 1/2 inches. The previous rain was 18 and 1/2 inches and the rain before that was 5 inches. Maybe it's time to build an Ark!

The wood I have in the shed, 7 cord worth, won't be ready to burn for at least a couple three years, since I C/S/S that this summer and stuffed the shed to the roof. From there, I will probably use the dolly with the trash can as I have in previous years to bring it to the house.

 

[tigeroak]

Once a rack is open I put them in a rack till they are ready to move to the front porch. I am waiting on a open rack now for 2019 wood and it is cut , split and ready to move to the racks for at least 4 years .

 

[DougA]

Moving wood is a PITA. I have all my drying wood in covered pallet shed 100' from the house and plus store one cord covered right beside the door nearest the stove. Then, 1/3 cord gets moved inside near the stove for immediate use.
The only great solution was a guy near me who tosses all the splits into large apple bins, then stacks them for drying. When he needs wood, he grabs a bin (probably 1/2 cord) with the forklift on his tractor and pushes it through the 6' patio doors beside the stove. Wonderful except that I don't have a fork lift or big patio doors. In my next life.

 

[Poindexter]

Last year I seasoned everything on pallets out in the sun and wind, then moved the whole nine cords to under the deck to keep the snow off it, brought about a face cord at a time from under the deck to the garage to keep form opening an outside door so many times. Burnt every stick.

I am done with pallets, playing with designs. I am going to build a single shed big enough to hold season and store a years worth of wood. I am going to have to make it bigger than 9 cords so I can stack loose and still season in one year. I am on a tiny suburban lot, no room to get three years ahead.

So far all of my designs have multiple bays under one roof so as I burn a bay or stall empty of seasoned wood I can re-fill it with green splits over the winter.

I suspect this year I will build floor, stalls and roof, get the wood in it and then staple up plastic in July to keep the rain off after the wood is dry.

If I had more land and a tractor with forks on it I would palletize beside the splitter and bring seasoned wood into the garage one pallet at a time.

 

[Bad LP]

I currently hold 4.5 cords of wood in a concrete garage that was poured at the same time the house foundation was done. The garage space was designed as a wood storage area and it has a double steel door into the basement of the house as well as a single garage door to the outside at grade. I can easily bump up to 6-7 cords if I move my splitter out of the area.
Outside in the yard I have a woodshed that is built out of 3X6 PT. It is well ventilated on 3 sides with an open front and a 4:12 pitched metal roof. It faces south and has lots of air flow. It holds 4.5 cords. I plan on making another one or two.

Final plan is to dry and stack as much wood in the wood garage for a full season. It's cold in there but no weather. Then I will CSS one shed a year for drying while the other one continues to dry into it's second year. Move the 2nd year wood into the garage and refill it with new wood CSS. In the following year I would be emptying the other shed then refilling.

This means that I bring in wood that is 2 years seasoned and maintains I'm three years ahead. If I need to adjust the method or add another shed I'm OK with that. At this time its a weekend/vacation home built for our retirement. Adjustments are expected as we get closer to that day as well as adding an indoor gasification boiler.

Yes we have a lot of moving parts.

 

[maple1]

Depends on your situation.

I stack on pallets, out of an ATV trailer that I toss the wood into right off the splitter. Pallets are lined up in a row & top covered with tarp. Two years later, I take the tarp off & move the pallets into my basement with a FEL & pallet jack, right beside my boiler.

 

[mass_burner]

My stacking/drying area is right in front of the shed. The shed holds four cord and I burn 3+ per season. After the last burn of the season in April I move enough into the shed for the next season. It is around five feet from the stacks to the shed. And the shed has a black roof and solar gable fan in it to continue drying all summer.

This is exactly my rig also, sans the ceiling fan, interesting idea. Solar driven or is a battery charged?

But my shed has only slat sides, no rear wall, deep overhangs, probably wouldn't help.

I do have an additional finished rack on wheels under the house eave outside the patio door, 8 x 3, on the side deck. Last year the snow was so bad it drifted in and buried it, so this year, I'm moving it into the patio before the first snow.

 

[mass_burner]

Depends on your situation.

I stack on pallets, out of an ATV trailer that I toss the wood into right off the splitter. Pallets are lined up in a row & top covered with tarp. Two years later, I take the tarp off & move the pallets into my basement with a FEL & pallet jack, right beside my boiler.

Just curious, as I keep bins of kindling next to my boiler. There is a fireproof ceiling above my boiler to slow the spread of a fire. Are there any codes for clearances of combustibles around a boiler?

 

[lindnova]

I use the shed in the summer to store the lawn mower so I am moving at least 3 times. It is good exercise and as a plus a lot of the bark, junk and bugs have a chance to fall off away from the house and keep the mess to a minimum!

 

[BrotherBart]

Solar driven or is a battery charged?

Solar panel driven gable fan.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/0f/0f34adea-5e15-4f84-9313-473b2e34bbab_400.jpg

 

[Ash]

Moving wood is a PITA. I have all my drying wood in covered pallet shed 100' from the house and plus store one cord covered right beside the door nearest the stove. Then, 1/3 cord gets moved inside near the stove for immediate use.
The only great solution was a guy near me who tosses all the splits into large apple bins, then stacks them for drying. When he needs wood, he grabs a bin (probably 1/2 cord) with the forklift on his tractor and pushes it through the 6' patio doors beside the stove. Wonderful except that I don't have a fork lift or big patio doors. In my next life.

What's an apple bin?

 

[TedyOH]

What's an apple bin?

A bin that holds apples is my guess?

 

[kennyp2339]

I think its just part of the burning culture to deal with moving wood multiple times, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

 

[DougA]

What's an apple bin?

 

[maple1]

Just curious, as I keep bins of kindling next to my boiler. There is a fireproof ceiling above my boiler to slow the spread of a fire. Are there any codes for clearances of combustibles around a boiler?

I don't know codes, but think all boiler instruction manuals spec clearances, all the way around. So I would go by your manual. Different manufacturers & boiler types/construction might spec differently, maybe.

 

[Ash]

View attachment 165537

Thanks. That looks like it would be a nice setup with the tractor.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I am still working out a system. I used to bring in about a cord and stack it in the living room by the stove. That was when we had the old smaller stove. That way I didn't have to bring in a load or two every day. Last year we put in the big cook stove and used the wheelbarrow and parked it by the stove once a day. This year, I want to bring in a half cord and stack it by the cook stove, because that is al we have room for. That should last a while and it would be real dry by the time it went in the stove.

I am still trying to figure out where to keep the main wood supply. I have some in the pole shed, some outside, and some in the machine shed. It is not by the house so it is a trip to get wood. I would like to build a few wood sheds near the house to help save time and effort.

 

[Vikestand]

I stack for drying on pallets down by our tractor shed 100 yards or so. Then come winter I stack about two weeks worth under our east facing back patio. It's a nice setup.