where to stack next? what would you do?

[iron]

right now, after my first winter of collecting wood, i have filled up the entire south-facing fenceline in my property. some parts are 2 rows deep, which i'm trying to avoid so i don't have seasoned wood behind less-seasoned wood.

so, my question is, what would you do next (besides buy more land!)?

double/triple rows deep?
use the east facing fence?
put up with stacking/restacking?
something else?

 

[warno]

Seems to me the east fence would be my first choice. After that I think you are stuck double stacking the east end of your south stacks.

 

[Jay106n]

East fencing seems to be the most unobtrusive location right now

 

[Oldman47]

If you are going to end up with 2 or 3 rows deep , why not start out that deep and stack from end to end. That way a year's wood would be in x feet of the south facing fence or of the SW facing fence. Next year's wood would be beside it instead of being in the way, and so on.

 

[iron]

If you are going to end up with 2 or 3 rows deep , why not start out that deep and stack from end to end. That way a year's wood would be in x feet of the south facing fence or of the SW facing fence. Next year's wood would be beside it instead of being in the way, and so on.

i didn't realize how addicting collecting wood would become. the line along the fence just kept growing, eventually reaching the point of needing 2 rows deep. i guess your idea of 3 deep as a starting point makes sense. might be some geometry issues with some of those trees + tarps, but i think i can get it to work out.

 

[CTYank]

I've a similar prob. so I'm accepting only shagbark, black birch and white oak right now. The rest sits out in the woods for an opportunity, including about 3 cords of shagbark that'll require some creative hauling. Fun problem to have, no, iron? Gotta feed the need, for exercise, for starters.

 

[heavy hammer]

I agree with oldman47 if your going to continue collecting more wood your going to need to put it somewhere. Stacking two three or four rows deep and then go from end to end. You basically want the years wood your going to be burning accessible not trapped by wood in the process of seasoning. You would have to change things restacking wood already stacked but in the long run it will help you out.

 

[iron]

so, you all think that it's better to go with multiple rows vs. multiple stacks? i know my fence is south facing, so that's good for sunlight and all that. but, what about airflow? if i go 2 deep on the south fence, would the loss of good air flow result in poorer seasoning than if i used the east-facing fence and just kept everything 1 row deep?

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Don't overthink it. Stack it in single rows wherever you can. Those top covers are a waste of time as well. Let it exposed in a single row and it will dry. Wood is not a sponge. Letting it get surface wet in the rain is a good trade for the extra sun and wind it will get.

 

[iron]

Those top covers are a waste of time as well. Let it exposed in a single row and it will dry. Wood is not a sponge. Letting it get surface wet in the rain is a good trade for the extra sun and wind it will get.

well, i am in seattle. it literally does rain here for 6 months straight with only short periods of breaks. from what i can tell, the covers have kept everything perfectly dry and they're not that big of a deal to put in. i'll remove them come may for the perfect summer weather to begin.

 

[Oldman47]

CentralVA, have you ever heard of sun breaks as part of a weather forecast? They have them in the Sea-Tac area. I can fully understand a desire to keep all wood covered in that area.

 

[iron]

my father in law asked us what it meant to have "filtered sunshine". they live in colorado and heard that for one of our forecasts...

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

CentralVA, have you ever heard of sun breaks as part of a weather forecast? They have them in the Sea-Tac area. I can fully understand a desire to keep all wood covered in that area.

You mean we all don't have long, hot summers? You're exactly right as I didn't look at his location initially. How much rain falls there annually?

 

[iron]

How much rain falls there annually?

38"/year, but that varies tremendously over very short distances (go 50 miles east and it's 150"; go a little west across the pond and you're in the 10" range; go 100 miles east and it's 10")

it's not the volume, it's the frequency. every day, little by little. stuff never dries.

but, there's no summer like a pacific northwest summer. best place on earth?

 

[Oldman47]

A quick look up gave me average annual rainfall of just 34 inches at Seattle but also 152 days a year of precip. To me that adds up to a lot of light rain and drizzle.

 

[iron]

yes. it is very gray here. it's why we have big trees and lots of moss. from july 5 to about october 14, you can count the number of days of precip on one hand.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

38"/year, but that varies tremendously over very short distances (go 50 miles east and it's 150"; go a little west across the pond and you're in the 10" range; go 100 miles east and it's 10")

it's not the volume, it's the frequency. every day, little by little. stuff never dries.

but, there's no summer like a pacific northwest summer. best place on earth?

Interesting because we easily get over 40" annually here. I understand what you mean though by the frequency though. Our rain is typically in spells followed by plenty of dryness and sunshine. I have heard it is absolutely beautiful up there though and would consider living there if I wasn't so in love with where we live.

 

[Hasufel]

Interesting because we easily get over 40" annually here. I understand what you mean though by the frequency though. Our rain is typically in spells followed by plenty of dryness and sunshine. I have heard it is absolutely beautiful up there though and would consider living there if I wasn't so in love with where we live.

There's a book called "Extreme Weather" that gives some data for wettest US cities:

10 Wettest Cities By Average Annual Precipitation:

1. Aberdeen, WA------------- 83.7"
2. Astoria, OR----------------- 67.1
3. Mobile, AL------------------ 66.3
4. Miami (Hialeah), FL------ 66.0
5. Baton Rouge, LA--------- 65.1
6. North Bend, OR----------- 64.4
7. Pensacola, FL------------- 64.3
8. New Orleans, LA---------- 64.2
9. Fort Lauderdale, FL------ 64.2
10. Tallahassee, FL---------- 63.2

10 Wettest Cities By Average Number Of Days Of Precipitation:

1. Astoria, OR--------------------------------------- 196 days
2. Marquette, MI------------------------------------ 175
3. Buffalo and Syracuse, NY & Elkins, WV-- 169
4. Sault Ste. Marie, MI---------------------------- 165
5. Olympia, WA------------------------------------- 164
6. Erie, PA & Binghampton, NY---------------- 162
7. Caribou, ME & Youngstown, OH----------- 160
8. Seattle, WA-------------------------------------- 158
9. Rochester, NY----------------------------------- 157
10. Cleveland, OH--------------------------------- 155

My home town (Youngstown) is tied for #7 on the second list. I remember having lots of dreary fall and winter days when I was growing up. When I moved to Virginia I found the weather far nicer, except that I still miss the Ohio summers--here it gets a bit too oppressively hot and humid.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

There's a book called "Extreme Weather" that gives some data for wettest US cities:

10 Wettest Cities By Average Annual Precipitation:

1. Aberdeen, WA------------- 83.7"
2. Astoria, OR----------------- 67.1
3. Mobile, AL------------------ 66.3
4. Miami (Hialeah), FL------ 66.0
5. Baton Rouge, LA--------- 65.1
6. North Bend, OR----------- 64.4
7. Pensacola, FL------------- 64.3
8. New Orleans, LA---------- 64.2
9. Fort Lauderdale, FL------ 64.2
10. Tallahassee, FL---------- 63.2

10 Wettest Cities By Average Number Of Days Of Precipitation:

1. Astoria, OR--------------------------------------- 196 days
2. Marquette, MI------------------------------------ 175
3. Buffalo and Syracuse, NY & Elkins, WV-- 169
4. Sault Ste. Marie, MI---------------------------- 165
5. Olympia, WA------------------------------------- 164
6. Erie, PA & Binghampton, NY---------------- 162
7. Caribou, ME & Youngstown, OH----------- 160
8. Seattle, WA-------------------------------------- 158
9. Rochester, NY----------------------------------- 157
10. Cleveland, OH--------------------------------- 155

My home town (Youngstown) is tied for #7 on the second list. I remember having lots of dreary fall and winter days when I was growing up. When I moved to Virginia I found the weather far nicer, except that I still miss the Ohio summers--here it gets a bit too oppressively hot and humid.

It seems so strange that the wettest cities in the U.S. only have roughly 20" more rain annually than we do here. It doesn't seem like the ballpark difference I thought it would be.

 

[Oldman47]

The difference in feel is the number of cloudy nasty days that just never end up adding much to the total rainfall because it is more or less a heavy mist or drizzle on many of those days.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

I guess in a climate like that you really do need to season your wood for three years.

 

[iron]

my understanding is that most of wood (primarily softwood) will season in 1 season.

 

[FTG-05]

38"/year, but that varies tremendously over very short distances (go 50 miles east and it's 150"; go a little west across the pond and you're in the 10" range; go 100 miles east and it's 10")

it's not the volume, it's the frequency. every day, little by little. stuff never dries.

but, there's no summer like a pacific northwest summer. best place on earth?

The 10 best winters I ever had were the 10 summers in Seattle 1980-1990.

 

[billb3]

Seattle pretty much sprinkles on and off all day and all night but around mid to late afternoon it quite often clears up enough for a spectacular sunset then clouds back up and starts sprinkling on and off again.

All wood has a fiber saturation point - it is what causes wood rot constantly reabsorbing moisture and drying back out. Those of us who live in conditions of constant cycling of rain and fair weather know all about fences and homes rotting . We keep our firewood covered . It helps with the seasoning process and wood sheds make for having nice dry unfrozen wood in the Winter.