Softwoods? aka Is my dad nuts?

[JP11]

Ok. Now I don't want to doubt my dad.. but he hasn't ever really burned wood.

The way he talks... my softwoods (I'm gonna burn two types of wood, blowdowns and dead standing) will rot quickly if I don't get them under cover.

I've been cutting them up in the woods stove length the past two weeks..and plan to split and stack on pallets and wrap individual with chicken wire and top cover in the spring.

Wood I'm talking about is a mixture of Hemlock, Pine and Spruce. I've got a lot of big blowdowns of this stuff. Found some great Oak and ash blow downs too.

Is he exaggerating about the rot aspect?

Found some 4 year old oak and ash that I cut and stacked 4' when I put in my power line. A bunch of it is rotted.. but plenty that has the bark off and limited amount of rot. Curious to see how that stuff looks once it's bucked and up higher off the ground to dry.

Enjoying "banking" up my wood. It's good exercise and money in the bank for next year.

JP

 

[Wood Duck]

I think if you keep the wood off the ground it will be fine. If it is top covered then I am even more confident that it will be in great condition for many years.

 

[oldspark]

He's giving you good advice, some woods will rot quickly, wood duck gives you good info, off the ground and top covered will make it last longer and impress your dad.

 

[JP11]

So I guess that's my question then. It's mostly off the ground. Dumping a big pile of rounds. It's about 8 feet tall now. (boy that loader is handy) Gravel underneath.

I plan to keep adding to the pile this winter. Do I NEED to cover it between now and May or so? I will cover it up when I split and stack of course.

JP

 

[peakbagger]

Softwoods in log length with bark on get a lot of insect damage. Frequently if you are sitting next to a pine log, you can hear the borers munching away. Once its cut and split they dont bother it.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

He may exaggerate how quickly it will happen- if he says a few months or something, but softwoods do seem to rot quicker than hard woods. As said above- get it off the ground- that's half the battle or more

 

[JP11]

Looks like a lot of that is damaged now. Evenly spaced holes about every foot on the log. Look like they are pencil lead sized, maybe a bit larger.

Like I said.. they were blow downs that needed cleaned up anyway.

Figure as long as they are worth the trouble.. I'll get some BTUs out of them.

JP

 

[oldspark]

So I guess that's my question then. It's mostly off the ground. Dumping a big pile of rounds. It's about 8 feet tall now. (boy that loader is handy) Gravel underneath.

I plan to keep adding to the pile this winter. Do I NEED to cover it between now and May or so? I will cover it up when I split and stack of course.

JP

I hate piles, maybe OK for the colder months but it will rot quickly in a pile, covering the pile will lock in any moisture making it worse, maybe get buy until spring with out any damage but piles can be bad unless you have a ton of wind and sun.

 

[Kenster]

Best thing you can do is get your wood split and stacked off the ground as soon as possible-- covering is optional. A lot of folks never cover wood. I leave mine out uncovered and only keep a few days worth on the front porch. Any surface moisture will easily dry in a day or so. Snow is not much of an issue where I live. Some guys only top cover the stacks that are ready to burn, maybe only covering it right before the snows come. Some guys completely tarp green stacks. Now THAT'S a bad idea.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Looks like a lot of that is damaged now. Evenly spaced holes about every foot on the log. Look like they are pencil lead sized, maybe a bit larger.

Like I said.. they were blow downs that needed cleaned up anyway.

Figure as long as they are worth the trouble.. I'll get some BTUs out of them.

JP

Those holes are probably the pine beetle. They eat some, but it's not as bad as rot. All of my pine gets that PDQ but it's still usable.

 

[JP11]

That's just it... as of now.. ground is frozen.

Where I'm piling it.. it's gravel.. but will be wet probably from thaw until June... so only a few months, and only what's touching the ground. I should be able to split and stack by June/July.

Otherwise.. I'd need to get a splitter and get going during winter. I think if I want my wife's enthusiasm in the project... winter splitting is not worth it.

JP

 

[firefighterjake]

As others have said . . . he's partly right . . . but if you cut, split and stack with the wood off the ground (top covered if you like) the wood will be good . . . if this is not the case I've been doing it all wrong for the past three years.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ok. Now I don't want to doubt my dad.. but he hasn't ever really burned wood.

The way he talks... my softwoods (I'm gonna burn two types of wood, blowdowns and dead standing) will rot quickly if I don't get them under cover.

I've been cutting them up in the woods stove length the past two weeks..and plan to split and stack on pallets and wrap individual with chicken wire and top cover in the spring.

Wood I'm talking about is a mixture of Hemlock, Pine and Spruce. I've got a lot of big blowdowns of this stuff. Found some great Oak and ash blow downs too.

Is he exaggerating about the rot aspect?

Found some 4 year old oak and ash that I cut and stacked 4' when I put in my power line. A bunch of it is rotted.. but plenty that has the bark off and limited amount of rot. Curious to see how that stuff looks once it's bucked and up higher off the ground to dry.

Enjoying "banking" up my wood. It's good exercise and money in the bank for next year.

JP

JP, like many, he is partially right and I agree that soft woods will rot faster than hardwoods. Ash is one hardwood for sure that can and will last many years even stacked right on the ground. I have some in this year's stack already that had sat in water for probably 6 months and was cut 2 years ago. It is fine. I have some ash out there now that I had cut down but not cut up and I believe it is either 4 or 5 years ago and the wood is fine. Oak, on the other hand, will tend to get punky on the outer edge. The wood is still okay so just burn it.

To handle wood the best way is to cut it and get it split. Then stack it so that it is off the ground. Not laying on gravel but elevated. You don't need much but it does need to be elevated off the ground. Notice the picture below. That wood was cut during the winter of 2008-2009. It was split and stacked in early April of 2009. We are burning some of that right now. Notice on the right side of the picture you'll see some poles. Those are just maple saplings that I cut in the woods. We lay down two of them and stack the wood on top of that. This gets some air circulation under the stack to keep it dry. You also can just barely see some galvanized roofing on top of the stacks. That is how we cover our wood.

I like to cut wood during winter (yes, that is what we were doing today) and I stack it up until snow melt. Then is when I do all the splitting and stack it immediately after the splitting is done. Then we leave the wood for a few years to let Mother Nature do her thing. The wood burns very good this way. The soft wood will also work really good doing it this way.

 

[billb3]

You're certainly not going to have a compost pile in three or four months.

I think you'll be fine as long as "Spring" is "Spring 2012" and not "Spring 2015".

Don't be surprised if you find earthworms quite a ways up the pile though.