Shelf life of ash firewood?

[bassJAM]

So, say I’m already at the proverbial “3 years ahead” mark. And then say that between my neighbor and myself I’ve got another 3-5 years’ worth of dead ash trees that need to be dropped this fall or winter. Is there anything I should or shouldn’t do to make sure this wood is still in good shape in 8 years? Should I leave it in rounds until a year or 2 before I need to use it? I currently stack outside on pallets near the woods, but should I cover the top, or even the back side of the stack that will be facing the woods? Or will ash be fine in that amount of time as long as it’s off the ground? How long could the wood potentially stay usable, just in case I come across an easy score on oak or hard maple in the coming years?

 

[nrford]

C/S/S Keep it off the ground and dry. Top cover after the first year or two.

 

[Got Wood]

My opinion - if you keep it off the ground and top covered it will last longer than you will need it too.
If you leave it in log length or rounds I would arrange to keep it off the ground as much as possible

 

[BCC_Burner]

I would get it split, elevated and top covered quickly. I would be shocked if most of the rounds didn't rot in 4 or 5 years, whereas split and stacked wood will still be good to go.

 

[Soundchasm]

I'm working an Ash that was bucked a few years ago (pretty sure). All the stuff that was stored end-up has held a lot of water. Since the tree was diseased, the punky parts are staying wet and not helping the surrounding wood's condition. And the conducted moisture is ideal for carpenter ants and termites.

Go with the off the ground and top cover advice. Make sure to report back to the forum in 2022/23!!

 

[Applesister]

Right, the presence of rot will continue if left to the elements. It sounds like you will be married to just one woman there, having that much wood of one species. Why date others?
Emerald Ash Borer hasn't reached my area but as a tree hugger I would feel a civic duty to destroy what bugs I could. As soon as I could. I don't know if I'd go to the length of having a giant bonfire, though.

 

[bassJAM]

Right, the presence of rot will continue if left to the elements. It sounds like you will be married to just one woman there, having that much wood of one species. Why date others?
Emerald Ash Borer hasn't reached my area but as a tree hugger I would feel a civic duty to destroy what bugs I could. As soon as I could. I don't know if I'd go to the length of having a giant bonfire, though.

I'm not complaining about being married to ash, it's a decent wood. But if someone is giving away oak or sugar maple close to me, I might try to grab some still.

There's not much I can do about the ash borer at this point, out of the 20 or so ash trees on my property, all but 2 are already dead, meaning the bug has moved on to something else (though I'm not sure what, since this county is pretty much cleaned out of live ash trees). When I bought the place 3 years ago the trees were already dying, so there wasn't much I could do proactively.

 

[infinitymike]

Get it split, and covered.
I look at it like framing lumber....
My house is still standing after 60 years. Obviously it's wood and topped covered and even side covered. Dry as a bone.