Rounds on the ground

[ChadMc]

So I have been going hard the last few weeks with being stuck at home. I built a shed and filled it with my stuff for next winter. I’m trying to do must of my cutting and bucking now before the woods gets too green. I often see people have a big pile of rounds in their yards. How long do you think it’s ok to have a pile of rounds laying on the ground? Or do you treat them the same way as when you split and get them off the ground?

 

[kennyp2339]

I personally like neat and tidy, so I generally split as fast as possible, I did have rounds that sat on the ground for almost a year due to a crazy work schedule, the benefit was that all the bark pretty much fell off while rolling them towards the splitter.
I depends on the wood type to, oak, maple, ash, hickory, cherry, beech are fine for a year on the ground, white birch, cotton wood, tulip poplar, and to a point black birch will rot or spalt pretty quickly, white birch its recommended to zip a quick line length wise down the bark to promote moisture evac.

 

[Lakeside]

Like he said -- I depends on the wood type .. If your going to sit on it Black Locust is one of the best types for rot resistant.

 

[walhondingnashua]

Depends on moisture level where they are sitting too

 

[ChadMc]

Would be mostly ash. Some cherry and black walnut also. It would be in a shady but dry area.

 

[Woody Stover]

Would be mostly ash. Some cherry and black walnut also. It would be in a shady but dry area.

Off the ground for sure, either way.
But why not split 'em right away. They will be drying, and will hold up better than round. I mean, it's not like you've got a job or anything..

 

[mcdougy]

Ash will greatly depend on what stage of death it's at. If it's good solid wood you might be ok....... If you are cutting to rounds, I agree, split it, as your at the easy point in the process. Use your axe it will save you time vs a splitter with Ash. Leaving it in log length UP off the ground would be my preferred method if I was leaving something in the woods.

 

[ChadMc]

Off the ground for sure, either way.
But why not split 'em right away. They will be drying, and will hold up better than round. I mean, it's not like you've got a job or anything..

Haha yea right. I’ll probably end up doing that. My biggest challenge with this new house/property is where to efficiently keep all this wood!!

 

[peakbagger]

My goal is it can sit over a winter without an issue but once it warms up I need to get it piled up and off the ground and covered. To me its not worth the hassle of moving rounds around multiple times so I just end processing it. I have what I think is about 4 cords of rounds on my wood road that need to get processed as soon as the spring road ban is over. The road is a well drained gravel road that gets some sun, that wood is going to last longer then the rounds sitting in the woods in the leaf litter.

 

[Corey]

The best thing I have found to keep wood off the ground is to lay down a layer of free wood splits. i don't treat rounds any different - they seem to dry out on the ground just as well as in the air. The only key is that the round HAS to lay horizontal (both cut ends open to the air). If you stand a round (or even split for that matter) 'upright' (one cut end on the ground), it will pull water out of the ground almost as good as a living tree!

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I've kept rounds horizontally stacked for a season with no problems. Had them on pallets, which were on top of a tarp to prevent ground moisture from moving up into the rounds. Not sure if that was necessary but that's the way I did it. It was a batch of maple if I recall, and it seemed to do okay. Honestly even if you just wack them in half you're better off as there's so much interior surface area exposed to start dumping some of that water, but I get it if you're busy.

 

[EODMSgt]

Depends on the type of wood, what stage it's at (is it already going punky?), and your climate. I've had rounds stacked for almost a year with no issues (beech, oak, ash, birch, and maple). I do split the bark on the birch if the rounds are going to be left unsplit for any length of time and I top cover the stacks of rounds during the winter. While the weather is cool with no bugs I'm just getting as much back to the house as possible and will then split later on (I already have enough CSS and seasoned for next season). The stacks on the left are from the last couple weeks however the stacks in the middle and at the back are from last fall. I would say the most important recommendation I could give would be to get the rounds off the ground if they will be sitting for any length of time.

 

[ChadMc]

Depends on the type of wood, what stage it's at (is it already going punky?), and your climate. I've had rounds stacked for almost a year with no issues (beech, oak, ash, birch, and maple). I do split the bark on the birch if the rounds are going to be left unsplit for any length of time and I top cover the stacks of rounds during the winter. While the weather is cool with no bugs I'm just getting as much back to the house as possible and will then split later on (I already have enough CSS and seasoned for next season). The stacks on the left are from the last couple weeks however the stacks in the middle and at the back are from last fall. I would say the most important recommendation I could give would be to get the rounds off the ground if they will be sitting for any length of time.

Nice set up. Funny cause that’s the idea I have. While the weather is still
Cool I’m going to keep bucking stuff and getting rounds together. Splitting is the easy and fun part for me. I’ll do that later on after the supply grows.

 

[MissMac]

Depends on the type of wood, what stage it's at (is it already going punky?), and your climate. I've had rounds stacked for almost a year with no issues (beech, oak, ash, birch, and maple). I do split the bark on the birch if the rounds are going to be left unsplit for any length of time and I top cover the stacks of rounds during the winter. While the weather is cool with no bugs I'm just getting as much back to the house as possible and will then split later on (I already have enough CSS and seasoned for next season). The stacks on the left are from the last couple weeks however the stacks in the middle and at the back are from last fall. I would say the most important recommendation I could give would be to get the rounds off the ground if they will be sitting for any length of time.

Every time you post a picture of your wood lot, i drool a little. You have some amazing looking stacks sir!

 

[kennyp2339]

Every time you post a picture of your wood lot, i drool a little. You have some amazing looking stacks sir!

I know right?, always neat and clean stacks, when the sarge gives me a thumbs up on posts, I always feel like I'm part of the elite.

 

[EODMSgt]

Every time you post a picture of your wood lot, i drool a little. You have some amazing looking stacks sir!

LOL, wood porn? Hopefully you're wearing your mask when you drool. But thanks. It's a constant work in progress to come up with a viable system within the confines of the space I have that makes the process more efficient. I'm getting ready (hopefully) to get a bunch of fill dirt in to build up the unusable area to the left of the big pile of rounds. That would allow me to put in 5-7 more double stacks like I have to the right.

I know right?, always neat and clean stacks, when the sarge gives me a thumbs up on posts, I always feel like I'm part of the elite.

Yeah, too many years of the regimented lifestyle mixed with some inherent OCD. (When I was laying out the stacks to the right I did use a tape measure for the distance between the stacks and a line along the front to make sure they were all 'covered and aligned.') A friend stopped by yesterday to let me know he was dropping a maple and that I could go get it if I wanted and he commented on how clean and organized the wood lot is. To me, it looks like organized chaos.

 

[EODMSgt]

Nice set up. Funny cause that’s the idea I have. While the weather is still
Cool I’m going to keep bucking stuff and getting rounds together. Splitting is the easy and fun part for me. I’ll do that later on after the supply grows.

It's nice to have a good quantity of rounds already at the house so you can split when the mood strikes. I didn't feel like scrounging for trees yesterday so took advantage of the nice weather and just spent a couple hours splitting. The rounds were already here and it made for a fun afternoon.

 

[weatherguy]

When ever I have rounds I cant get to I take a little time and stack them on pallets, they can last a couple of years easily. I have a cord right now that's been sitting for two years that I haven't been able to get to but plan on splitting in a week or two. They're still fine, mostly oak and hickory.

 

[xman23]

I typically and currently have a pile of rounds on the ground from last summer. In my location I can get away with this. Better to get them off the ground and in the sun and wind.

 

[heavy hammer]

I used to have stuff on the ground but as of yesterday all my stuff is off the ground. I hate that bottom layer getting all nasty or sinking intro the ground and then freezing. Everything is on some kind of block or cross arm or plank to stay dry.

 

[ChadMc]

Question for all of you who burnt ash from an ash bore tree.....just dropped a bunch of trees that were dead from EAB. A lot already very dry with bark coming off in spots but no sign of punk. Are they ok to keep for potentially winter 21/22 or should I split and try to burn next winter? I have roughly 4 cords of ash rounds up of the ground on runners!

 

[heavy hammer]

Once off the ground they will be fine if you don't burn them next season. Waiting till 21/22 should not be any problem.. Just get as much of it split and stacked and you should be fine.