i have 4.5 cords of wood that i cut 2 years ago. I seasond it fore a year in the open then i moved it to the wood spliting area and split it and stacted some of it and threw some of it into a pile shold i move it in my new wood shed.
ware to store wood
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I'd put it in the shed. Most should be ready to burn well.
If some is oak, keep it separate, it takes longer to season (2 yrs + )
Of course we'd need pictures.
If some is oak, keep it separate, it takes longer to season (2 yrs + )
Of course we'd need pictures.
In my area, wood doesn't really season much in the round before it is split. I also tried the heap thing and had poor results. I now buck, split and stack it ASAP and then move it to my woodshed shed later.
maple man said:
Welcome to the forum maple man.
Great to have that much wood on hand. In the future you will find you have much better drying if you get that wood split right away. We stack it out in the wind for a couple years then move enough for a winter's supply into the barn usually in October or November.
The wood thrown into a pile will dry some....on the top and outside of the pile. The middle won't get much help. Wood needs air and the best air is the wind. Stack it so it is off the ground and so the wind hits the sides of the piles. We just cut poles in the woods for stacking the wood on; the idea is to keep it from touching Mother Earth. Air can also circulate under the wood. Wind is your friend. Sun is nice too but wind is more important. We also top cover the wood after the first summer drying. Never cover the sides of the stacks.
You can also stack wood in a circle (about 7 to 8' in diameter) with a hole down the center. My grandfather used to put a pole in the middle and "measure" the shrinkage of the pile so he would know when it was seasoned to his liking. You can top it with bark and keep most the wood dry while it is seasoning. The circle minimizes exposure to rain while maximizing air circulation.
redhorse said:
What you're describing is a holz miete (known here more commonly as holz hausen) . . . the pole isn't really all that necessary . . . I always just figure on seasoning my wood for a year or so regardless of whether it's in a traditional straight stack or a holz miete . . .
General consensus is that the holz miete will season wood . . . but it doesn't really maximize the air circulation or speed up the seasoning process . . . in fact any wood tossed into the middle seems to season a bit slower . . . they are relatively easy to build and are nifty to see in pics or in person . . . one possible advantage is that if they're built properly you can stack higher and therefore get more wood into a smaller footprint (but you may end up needing a step ladder to build it and take it apart.)
To the OP . . . I would stack the wood outside and let the exposure to the wind and sun truly season the wood . . . my buddy leaves his wood in a pile and then hauls it inside . . . and it is too often unseasoned.
firefighterjake said:
I didn't think wood was supposed to be tossed in the middle; I thought that was supposed to be left open as a type of "chimney"... ?
redhorse said:
Most of the instructions I've seen either have wood stacked on their end or folks have just chucked wood into the center . . . the "chimney effect" is kind of bogus if you ask me.
Maple Man, I'd move the wood to the shed, provided the shed is reasonably open to allow air movement. This time of year in PA you're going to get better seasoning if the wood is protected from the rain but gets some air. If you're going to burn the wood this winter the shed will make it easier to move the wood when snow and ice arrive.
Edit - I see you're actually in NY, not PA, but I'd still stack in the shed.
Edit - I see you're actually in NY, not PA, but I'd still stack in the shed.
firefighterjake said:
Actually, I was thinking about this the other day.
If the middle was left open, and it was built on a dark surface that attracted sun, which generated some heat and an updraft, I don't see why you shouldn't get some sort of chimney effect.
Might be an interesting experiment for someone that liked doing interesting experiments....... ;-)
woodchip said:
I think you're overestimating how big the center is. In my holz hausen the sun wouldn't hit the ground surface in the center of the stack very much even if I left the center empty. Also, if the air heats up in the center of the stack, it probably heats up even more in the open space surrounding the stack because there is more sun outside the stack than inside, so I am not sure which direction air would flow. This definitely calls for an experiment with some high-tech air movement sensors.
MapleMan,
To clear away lots of bs/wives tales/scams substitute "air-drying" for "seasoning" in the discussion and recalculate.
Then the process of interest here is air-drying wood, as also engaged in by lumber mfgs world-wide. (Some here
claim that wood is not lumber. Honest.)
You can measure moisture-content of wood with a $10 moisture-meter (MM) from Harbor Freight. A given stack that's
getting below 20% MC (moisture content) in the core of splits, is getting there.
Stacking splits indoors near the stove can get the MC down more. No such thing as too dry, as seen experimentally
here. (Some claim otherwise.) Presuming your door gaskets seal, and you can control primary draft.
To clear away lots of bs/wives tales/scams substitute "air-drying" for "seasoning" in the discussion and recalculate.
Then the process of interest here is air-drying wood, as also engaged in by lumber mfgs world-wide. (Some here
claim that wood is not lumber. Honest.)
You can measure moisture-content of wood with a $10 moisture-meter (MM) from Harbor Freight. A given stack that's
getting below 20% MC (moisture content) in the core of splits, is getting there.
Stacking splits indoors near the stove can get the MC down more. No such thing as too dry, as seen experimentally
here. (Some claim otherwise.) Presuming your door gaskets seal, and you can control primary draft.
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