Seasoning in the Shed?

[Berner]

My "problem".......

I've got a new shed that I'm using for the first time this year. I'm behind on my cutting, splitting, stacking and seasoning. From your advice I'm trying to keep the wood out of the shed until it is ready to be burned. However currently I'm sitting on a bunch of green wood. Is ok to put some of the green wood in? I get that stacking the wood together 5 rows deep restricts airflow but what if I just put one row in? Wouldn't that be the same as out of the shed minus the sun? The shed is open front to back with some spaced out 2x6's on the sides.

I think I'm going to cut my green softwoods, stack in the shed one row deep and hope they are ready for next year. Thoughts?

 

[BrotherBart]

Depending on how much you burn and how much the shed will hold, if you won't get to the back row for a couple of years then why not put a row in the back? I burn three cord a year and the shed holds four. Sometimes that back row stays back there for two or three years until I finally make myself drag it out before reloading the shed.

 

[Poindexter]

If you have total flow through front to back and slats on the sides I would think a criss-cross stacked cord or two in there will dry out just as fast as the stuff outside the shed. As you have found reading here it is all about airflow, sunshine and rain. If you got good airflow and no rain, you can get away with a low card in the sunshine suit. Probably.

 

[DougA]

I switched my shed this past summer after stacking the shed like everyone else last year. I now stack with rows running front to back. That way I can take out 2 or 3 rows one year and replace them as each is empty and not disturb the adjoining rows that are for next year. The only problem so far is how to keep the front of each row secure. I tried a few with crisscrossed stacks on the end but my splits are just too odd shaped for good stacking. I ended up securing one pallet at the front of each season's section and so far, that has worked.

To answer your question, good airflow does make a difference but as long as there is some space between rows, you will get enough air flow to dry the wood. To keep stacks from toppling, try putting a pallet between rows. This keeps the stacks from tipping and still allows air flow. I'm an advocate of mixing different wood together. Nothing worse than getting to the point where you are burning all poplar for a few weeks. Mixing some greener wood in with dry is not a big problem when burning either. It's a stove full of greener wood that does not work.

 

[Berner]

All sounds like good advice. My shed is 16x8 with a 8' roof in the front and 6' in the back. Two bays I figure each bay will hold roughly 3.5 cords. Optimally I will burn 3.5 cords a year which will be 24/7 burning. I make it a point to only burn good wood. If it isn't ready I would rather turn on the furnace than deal with unsafe, unproductive burning. Some day I will have a great 3 year system.

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

I think your idea would work, especially if the stack is on one of the outside "walls" -- either of the two sides, back or front.

Thinking you could also just leave the wood outside, top cover it and be good to go for next year as well.

 

[2broke2ride]

I switched my shed this past summer after stacking the shed like everyone else last year. I now stack with rows running front to back. That way I can take out 2 or 3 rows one year and replace them as each is empty and not disturb the adjoining rows that are for next year. The only problem so far is how to keep the front of each row secure. I tried a few with crisscrossed stacks on the end but my splits are just too odd shaped for good stacking. I ended up securing one pallet at the front of each season's section and so far, that has worked.

To answer your question, good airflow does make a difference but as long as there is some space between rows, you will get enough air flow to dry the wood. To keep stacks from toppling, try putting a pallet between rows. This keeps the stacks from tipping and still allows air flow. I'm an advocate of mixing different wood together. Nothing worse than getting to the point where you are burning all poplar for a few weeks. Mixing some greener wood in with dry is not a big problem when burning either. It's a stove full of greener wood that does not work.

Get some of the metal brackets for putting stake sides on a truck or trailer, screw them to the front edge of your floor and stick upright 2x4s in them like this