New shed.. new collection

[Mr4btTahoe]

Hey guys...

Well this will be the first year we heat with wood. We finally got our new house situated... we do have furnaces for backup but dont intend on running them.

Anyways... started hauling wood in and quickly ran out out of space for it. The property had an 8x8 shed on it already so I decided to start filling it up..



Didnt take long and the pile kept growing....




Decided I best build a shed quickly...

Started piecing this together with what I had laying around... did some horse trading and ended up with a total investment of $7 in nails...





Tarped the ground for moisture barrier and laid out some steal racks i was given from the local grocery store..



Shed isnt finished, but its under roof and started stacking






Shed is 20x8 with 8'6" ceiling in the front... 6'6" in the rear. I'm going to finish out the walls with 2x6s.. not planning on closing it off completely... most likely will have 6-12" gaps between the 2x6s to allow for plenty of airflow. Each run is approximately 2 cord.

I'm hoping this will be plenty for our first year. Heating with an old Long MFG. Silent flame freestanding stove with a 4.5cu. ft. fire box and 8" flue. Most of the wood is oak.. some poplar and others mixed in (I really need to learn how to ID different wood species). House is right at 2000 sq ft. with a fairly open floor plan which the stove seems to keep warm easily... I got a loaded burn time last weekend of almost 14hrs from full load to coal bed.

Anyways... think I'll make it through the winter? Ideas to make the shed better? How do you guys keep your long term wood storage from rotting?

 

[Jags]

What is the source of the blocked wood? If not already dry, be careful when stacking that stuff. Need to let air get to it.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Its pallet runner cuts. Its been in a pile in the open for several months at this point. The fresh pile I have now will get weathered for a few weeks minimum. How long should it stay in the pile out in the open? If some of it isnt dry, will it rot out or..?

Will the open sides be insufficient for drying?

Keep in mind... very new to long term wood storage.

Thanks for the input.

 

[BoiledOver]

Congrats on your excellent setup, that appears to be a lot of firewood. I am wondering how all flat surface will do in the firebox. Have you any experience in using such firewood?

Open side sheds are better than closed for the purpose of seasoning. If the wood is already below 20% moisture it is pretty much a tossup how you want to go. If your square firewood is not seasoned or kiln dried, you would want air circulation to the edges of the pieces. I have only used split hardwood and do not cover at all, it seasons very well in the open over 2-3 years.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

I used a bit this weekend.

My old stove has a large firebox.. After I got a hot coal bed, I stacked the box.. 2 on edge left to right, 3 on top front to back, then 2 on top left to right...



Still had a bit of room in the box but got a nice burn... still had a nice bed of coals after 14hrs.

 

[BoiledOver]

Looking good, you will be warm this winter for sure.

 

[kennyp2339]

Those cut off are awesome, do you pay for them or are they given away

 

[Fiziksgeek]

That's a great source of wood, I am very jealous. But the issues that others have pointed out is that the wood stacks so tight, there is no way its going to dry. So unless its already dry, ~20% moisture content, then you are going to have troubles keeping a fire going, and creosote build up will be a problem.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Hmm... how long should they stay out in the open or what is a good way to tell moisture content without a meter?

As far as cost... I wish it was free... it used to be. The trailer shown in the pictures above is a modified 18' car hauler with 2' sidewalls. I'd venture to say close to 10k# on the trailer... $120 per load and they load it.

 

[ElmBurner]

That's very cheap. 5 tons is about 3-5 cords of firewood, if it is dry and depending on species. $120 is a bargain for that.

Even if it is green wood, it's still a bargain.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Based on some rough math... the trailer is heaped at close to 6'.. I cut that back to 4' on paper as its heaped, not stacked.. but yeah.. 3.5 cord.

Ive hauled 5 loads that size... my wood shed will hold 8-8.5 cord tightly stacked. The 8x8 shed stacked should be around 3.5 cord. Looks like my pile is bigger then my storage space... lol.

I'll know more here in a few weeks once fully stacked.

 

[planner steve]

Its pallet runner cuts. Its been in a pile in the open for several months at this point. The fresh pile I have now will get weathered for a few weeks minimum. How long should it stay in the pile out in the open? If some of it isnt dry, will it rot out or..?

Will the open sides be insufficient for drying?

Keep in mind... very new to long term wood storage.

Thanks for the input.

Do you know if the wood has been kiln dried? If so you might be OK stacking like you are. Probably worth getting a moisture meter and splitting a few to see how dry it is.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

They must be making some damn big pallets. I would think the wood would be dried for that pallet making.

 

[claydogg84]

Someone else posted on these forums with the same type of lumber cut offs, was it you? It's going to suck trying to season oak like that, or any hardwood for that matter. Looks like you've got an older, pre - EPA stove though?

 

[English BoB]

I used a bit this weekend.

My old stove has a large firebox.. After I got a hot coal bed, I stacked the box.. 2 on edge left to right, 3 on top front to back, then 2 on top left to right...

Good luck with all that. As we dont know the species of the wood, watch out loading a stove with very dry ( pine, birch, kiln dried etc ) as it may cause the stove to over fire and can cause serious issues.

Iam just jealous .

bob


Still had a bit of room in the box but got a nice burn... still had a nice bed of coals after 14hrs.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

I only stack the box with oak. I know I've got some pine bits in the mix here and there but they are only used to knock the chill off the house when its cool out. The other night, it was 28 outside (coldest night so far) and the 7 sticks were all oak. I will keep a close eye on it however.

As far as the wood goes... Im not sure if its dried or not. A good bit of it is green for sure.

I believe I'll order a moisture meter later this week just to get an idea of where its at. Being as this is our first year at the new house and our first attempt at heating with wood, we didn't have the opportunity to get ahead. We'll be burning some wet wood this year for sure (cant be avoided) but we shouldn't go through the whole stock this year. I'm hoping that I've got enough on hand now to get me started on next year.

As for stacking... I currently don't have an area where I can get the wood off the ground and piled up to season before stacking. May have to figure something out with that soon.

It wasn't me posting about the pallet wood however. I'm not sure what they build pallets for but the smallest sizes are 4x6... there are even some 8x8 chunks in the mix. I believe they build pallets special order for large equipment, etc.

I was once told that if wood was splitting on the ends, that it was good to go. Is that not an accurate way to go? As I said, will most likely pick up a meter but is there a way to tell without for the time being?

Also, is there a good way to determine species of these cuts? I could call and ask but I'm almost certain, other then the little bit of pine that's there, its all hardwood based on weight and what its used for.

Thanks for all the input guys

 

[zig]

I got cut offs like that from a Amish mill near my sisters. $20 a pickup load as much as you can haul. I swat them with a maul and throw them in an old corn crib like thing my Dad built.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Sounds very similar to the deal here.. its $28 per standard truck bed as much as you care to stuff in the truck. We went with the trailer to make less trips.

 

[claydogg84]

The checking you mention (splitting on the ends) is just an indication that the wood is drying, not that it's actually dry enough. If you already did a full load in the stove and it lit fine I'd say you're probably good to go.

 

[BoiledOver]

Cracks seen at the ends indicates the firewood is losing moisture. When the cracks close again is when there is very little moisture remaining. I have not been able to guess very accurately the moisture content buy viewing the cracks. Would love to have a source as you do.

 

[Jags]

Get a moisture meter and remove all guessing. Remember - proper use of the meter is to resplit a chunk and test the newly exposed face, with the grain.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

I did get some hissing with some of the pieces Ive used but not all.

I'll order a meter friday and do it the right way.

-Chris

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Still going to order a meter... but I decided to start splitting some of these chunks as a new stove modification (baffle) has made the stove somewhat picky...

What I found is a lot of wet wood... lol

Only had a little daylight left by the time I got home... but figured I'd keep splitting and start stacking the small splits loosely around my back deck. My deck is roughly 36' long with ~3' hand railing...



Started stacking under the handrail around the perimeter of the deck. If I stack the whole deck, it will be ~ 1.25 cord.


Its very loosely stacked... and the pieces are rather small. Is there anyway to help speed up the drying time? I'm sure I'll have to burn a good bit of wet wood this winter but is there a good way to make the best of it so to speak?

I figure the wood stack will make a nice wind break... and I can temporarily attach some wood sheeting or plastic to the handrail to keep most of the rain off the stack.

Also as I get time, I will most likely start splitting and restacking what is already in my shed so it can breathe a bit better and hopefully start to dry out.

Thanks for all the input guys... I'm finding it fun learning new things and oddly enough, I like hand splitting and stacking.. pretty peaceful on nights like tonight.

 

[Blaine]

Depending on how wet the wood is, 1.25 cord could be well over 6,000# . You might want to verify that your deck can handle that much dead weight before proceeding too far with your plan.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Weight wise, the outer band board is a 2x12 spanning 10' between posts. I'll keep a close eye on it. I certainly wouldn't stack it near the center of the deck, but I'm sure the outer edge will support the weight.

I may limit how much I put up there though.