To do or not To do???

[johnnywarm]

First Question.Is it better or just as good to put your wood pile next to a south facing wall(concrete) that does get a breeze and alot of sun?it will be a foot from the wall.Second Question.Is it better to cover or not???


The above wood pile will be on pallets.


Thank you. How is your winter going???


Johnnywarm.

 

[savageactor7]

I expose my wood to the sun and wind and don't cover it till late fall. In my experience surface water (rain) doesn't mean anything. Wood has to be dry on the inside to be prime for the wood stove.

 

[johnnywarm]

wood has bugs to keep away from the house. woodpile should be stacked so that prevalent wind direction blows thru the pile. should be covered on top only so sides can breathe.

pook


Do you think i could spray for the bugs? I see people with there wood at there house around here. You do bring up a very good point.


I was thinking that the wind it would get with the oven like temperature would season it the same as having it just get wind?


JW

 

[johnnywarm]

I expose my wood to the sun and wind and don't cover it till late fall. In my experience surface water (rain) doesn't mean anything. Wood has to be dry on the inside to be prime for the wood stove.

Hello Savageactor7


Good advise. I hear that the rain water will flush the sap out of the wood. Is this true?

JW

 

[swestall]

You can spray, and perhaps the bugs will not come; or maybe they will. Keep the pile at least 25 feet from the house and bring what you need to the house once a week when the temps are low.
Bugs come and like it, they don't go very easily. Especially some, they take the house with them when they go...

 

[johnnywarm]

You can spray, and perhaps the bugs will not come; or maybe they will. Keep the pile at least 25 feet from the house and bring what you need to the house once a week when the temps are low.
Bugs come and like it, they don't go very easily. Especially some, they take the house with them when they go...

I am starting to see your point.I think i will look for a new location tomorrow.I'll get back to everybody.

Thanks JW

 

[jpl1nh]

We just had a thread about the hazards of burning crap in your stove such as varnish, plastics, painted wood etc and the general conclusion which I agree with is that it isn't a good idea. Even if you don't cause any corrosion or stove damage, the worst aspect is putting all the by products of the combustion of that material into the air for your downwind neighbors to breath. Don't spray your wood pile for bugs. Then you're going to burn the pesticide treated wood in your stove and put all that stuff up in the air. Keep your wood a safe distance from your house. Dry it well because insects need moisture to survive and they won't inhabit your nicely seasoned firewood, and you'll have no problems. A friend of mine is a sweep and he has his wood on the south side of the house but about 10 feet away. Plus he has no more than half a cord there at any one time.

 

[johnnywarm]

We just had a thread about the hazards of burning crap in your stove such as varnish, plastics, painted wood etc and the general conclusion which I agree with is that it isn't a good idea. Even if you don't cause any corrosion or stove damage, the worst aspect is putting all the by products of the combustion of that material into the air for your downwind neighbors to breath. Don't spray your wood pile for bugs. Then you're going to burn the pesticide treated wood in your stove and put all that stuff up in the air. Keep your wood a safe distance from your house. Dry it well because insects need moisture to survive and they won't inhabit your nicely seasoned firewood, and you'll have no problems. A friend of mine is a sweep and he has his wood on the south side of the house but about 10 feet away. Plus he has no more than half a cord there at any one time.

I would have srayed the foundation not the wood. I have a bush that will block alot of wind when it gets leaves. so i think tomorrow i will get another spot for the wood.

 

[colebrookman]

Not only do you not want insects close to your house but 3 or 4 cords is a heavy fireload to be near your home. If your going to burn wood start thinking fire safety, always. Please don't be put off because you see others taking unesscessary risk. Proper wood storage, working smoke detectors and preplanning is not always easy and it takes a little time, but it does save lives

 

[moondoggy]

any truth to "mothballs" ?
maybe you could also plant certain things around in pots, ie-mint, oregano, venus fly trap.

 

[billb3]

you want your wood to get windburned.

whichever direction your prevailing winds come from , face the cut ends.

you can get windburned even on a rainy day if you remember to wear your rain hat.


to heck with the sun, the wind blows at night, too.

 

[Redox]

Ditto that on the bugs; I think I finally got rid of the carpenter ants when I bulldozed the addition. I think mothballs are good for animals, but for bugs, you would have to seal up the woodpile with the mothballs to do any good. This obviously slows down the seasoning process...

 

[johnnywarm]

you want your wood to get windburned.

whichever direction your prevailing winds come from , face the cut ends.

you can get windburned even on a rainy day if you remember to wear your rain hat.


to heck with the sun, the wind blows at night, too.

Do you use a cover bill??? i do have a great spot but its shady area.

 

[johnnywarm]

Not only do you not want insects close to your house but 3 or 4 cords is a heavy fireload to be near your home. If your going to burn wood start thinking fire safety, always. Please don't be put off because you see others taking unesscessary risk. Proper wood storage, working smoke detectors and preplanning is not always easy and it takes a little time, but it does save lives

I can see your safety concerns. it will be moved or relocated this weekend.

 

[johnnywarm]

any truth to "mothballs" ?
maybe you could also plant certain things around in pots, ie-mint, oregano, venus fly trap.

We use theses in are spa.Rodents.

 

[swestall]

Mothballs might work, but you have to catch a lot of moths to get any reasonable quantity. (LOL) Just thought I'd add a little humor to break the tension....

 

[eernest4]

One thing that will work to keep bugs out of your wood pile or anything else for that mater is the electronic high frequency sonic bug repellers that they sell for $6 or $8 dollars in places like walgreens, rite aide, cvs, k mart, wal mart & etc.

At my firing range, where we go to spend the day enjoying the outside & our sport, a nest of hornets
inhabits one side of the overhead roof & a bee's nest on the other side. Yellow jackets.

Of course, I am alleragic to bee stings, so i bought 3 of the electronic noise
makers. People cant hear them, but to insects, they sound like rap music on volume level 100 . The hornet hovered all day , about 20 feet from me, giving me dirty looks but he wouldn't come any closer. same thing for the bees, they flew around in circles about 20 ft out & wouldn't come any closer.

The insects sure dont like that noise & wont get close to it if they can possibly help it.

These things run on 1 aa battery or you can get them that plug in the wall. So far as I can tell
after owning them for 4 years is that they really work.

To keep the wood pile clear of insects, you would have to place one or two units in/ on/ near the wood pile 7 protect it from getting crushed by the wood or rained on & i don't know what the battery life is with 24/7 opperation so the plug in model looks better for the wood pile
but then you will need to run an extension cord out there.

If your wood pile is near an electric outlet , this would be doable.

 

[Ken45]

One thing that will work to keep bugs out of your wood pile or anything else for that mater is the electronic high frequency sonic bug repellers that they sell for $6 or $8 dollars in places like walgreens, rite aide, cvs, k mart, wal mart & etc.

At my firing range, where we go to spend the day enjoying the outside & our sport, a nest of hornets
inhabits one side of the overhead roof & a bee's nest on the other side. Yellow jackets.

Of course, I am alleragic to bee stings, so i bought 3 of the electronic noise
makers. People cant hear them, but to insects, they sound like rap music on volume level 100 . The hornet hovered all day , about 20 feet from me, giving me dirty looks but he wouldn't come any closer. same thing for the bees, they flew around in circles about 20 ft out & wouldn't come any closer.

The insects sure dont like that noise & wont get close to it if they can possibly help it.

Hmmm, I'll have to mount one on my tractor. I have one hillside that I cannot mow due to yellow jacket attacks. Or will the tractor noise make it ineffective?


I wonder if they are effective at keeping the bugs out of Microsoft products?

Ken

 

[begreen]

I wonder if they are effective at keeping the bugs out of Microsoft products?

Ken

Nope, that requires chicken bones sprinkled around the monitor and blood smeared on the keyboard :coolgrin:

 

[johnnywarm]

I wonder if they are effective at keeping the bugs out of Microsoft products?

Ken

Nope, that requires chicken bones sprinkled around the monitor and blood smeared on the keyboard :coolgrin:

This is what i do.

 

[Ken45]

Oh wow! I was just about ready to take a drink of coffee....glad I hadn't done it before I read the last two posts! ;-)

Ken
(I'm a new Mac user after 26 years with PCs.)

 

[downeast]

What's this about electronic bug repellers, sprays, blood, pee, chicken bones, incantations ??? :gulp:

Does anyone here heating with wood actually handle the fuel ? Then you know which splits have critters. Sounds like some kind of virtual computer game. You heat with wood, you intimately know the stuff real time. Yes, I am intimate with every stick that goes into ( guzinta) our stoves: from stump to pyrolysis. Intimate. Real intimate. Downeast harvests now for next winter, butts getting piled up for split and stack next summer and fall when there's time.

Forget all those exposed piles, it's time for you to build a real woodshed. No "covers", no snow or rain to worry you; simple, inexpensive project that can go up in a day for 4-5 cords. Check online plans. Build a smaller woodshed for ~1/4 cord next to the house for access in storms. BTW: this has been a tough winter for wood. We've used at least a cord more than the 8 years here in northern Maine.

Bugs ? Check your sticks by eye: look for critters' tunnels, larvae, dust tracks, dead bodies. Very little of our wood has bugs. The pieces that do are sliced and diced off. Killed, dead, gone. Historic fact: Maine loggers said that frozen carpenter ants tasted like cranberries. :vampire: Try it, you'll like it. :lol:
JMNSHO

 

[johnnywarm]

What's this about electronic bug repellers, sprays, blood, pee, chicken bones, incantations ??? :gulp:

Does anyone here heating with wood actually handle the fuel ? Then you know which splits have critters. Sounds like some kind of virtual computer game. You heat with wood, you intimately know the stuff real time. Yes, I am intimate with every stick that goes into ( guzinta) our stoves: from stump to pyrolysis. Intimate. Real intimate. Downeast harvests now for next winter, butts getting piled up for split and stack next summer and fall when there's time.

Forget all those exposed piles, it's time for you to build a real woodshed. No "covers", no snow or rain to worry you; simple, inexpensive project that can go up in a day for 4-5 cords. Check online plans. Build a smaller woodshed for ~1/4 cord next to the house for access in storms. BTW: this has been a tough winter for wood. We've used at least a cord more than the 8 years here in northern Maine.

Bugs ? Check your sticks by eye: look for critters' tunnels, larvae, dust tracks, dead bodies. Very little of our wood has bugs. The pieces that do are sliced and diced off. Killed, dead, gone. Historic fact: Maine loggers said that frozen carpenter ants tasted like cranberries. :vampire: Try it, you'll like it. :lol:
JMNSHO

So there's where the term"Out in the wood shed" came from.I am looking at what you are talking about. There was a thread where a member posted a pic of his wood shed. 4 Post's and a roof.


I have pics and will post them on my new wood pile. I just started it so do Laugh to loud.

 

[savageactor7]

[quote author="johnnywarm"
Hello Savageactor7
Good advise. I hear that the rain water will flush the sap out of the wood. Is this true? JW [/quote]



Good morning johnnywarm I can't speak from any authority about rain water flushing sap out of split wood. I just don't know for sure.

The only trick I know about pulling moisture from leafed trees is...

...to cut the tree down, leave it alone and let the leaves suck out the moisture. When the leaves turn brown that's about it but the split wood still has to season. In my experience nothing beats the wood being exposed to the wind and sun...

...Oh and it's kind of important for the woodpile to have morning sun as opposed to afternoon sun. Wood piles that lack morning sun are more likely to have moss growing on them and become a magnet for bugs.

 

[billb3]

I use scrap plywood pieces, even chipboard/particleboard as 'roofs' for the wood piles rather than tarps.
Hld down so the wind doesn't blow them away with sacriice logs or rocks (got plenty oif rocks, wish there was BTUs in them).
Tarps just get torn up and make a racket and mess.
I have used tarps, but just got tired of picking up shards all over all Summer.

I don't have trouble with mice in piles, but there are stone walls all over around here. Probably better, more permanent homes in them. That's where I see snakes, so I imagine they are also hunting grounds.

I'll get bugs, but mostly in wood that still has bark attached.
Stinkbugs in splits. I try to knock most of them off outside.