White birch...do you stack it uncovered?

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Newburnerwisconsin

Newburnerwisconsin

Feeling the Heat
Jul 8, 2015
487
wisconsin
I just got access to 8 acres of white birch....just cut it and haul it away. Do I stack it out in the open uncovered? Or should I cover it? It is green wood...I plan to use it next year, not the upcoming burning season. I can not turn down free wood and as a bonus, I can cut it to the length I want the first time. Any info on white burch out there? Thanks everyone!
 
Newburnerwisconsin said:
I just got access to 8 acres of white birch....just cut it and haul it away. Do I stack it out in the open uncovered? Or should I cover it? It is green wood...I plan to use it next year, not the upcoming burning season. I can not turn down free wood and as a bonus, I can cut it to the length I want the first time. Any info on white burch out there? Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
I like white birch especially for starting fires. I stack mine uncovered. I think it's mostly personal preference. Some cover some don't.
 
Thanks, I have not covered oak or red elm....they are out in the spring, summer and fall sun. They both dry out nicely to 10-20% moisture. I was not sure about birch though.
 
Probably my favorite wood to burn but because I like the way it smells. A quick dry in the sun after splitting to help kill any mold that may start and throw into a grain bin to finish drying.
 
Thanks, it's going to be a lot of birch, can't fit it all in the wood shed. The wood is/ will be split also. It's no match for the fiskars x27. My wife likes white cedar and cherry smell. I just like to keep the house heated and not worry about a power outage.
 
If I had enough room I would split and stack birch uncovered until March of whatever year I planned to start burning it in September. So if i was going to burn in Sept 2016 i would stack it, already split, until May of 2016.

However, do keep an eye on it for black fungus growing on the ends of your splits....If it isn't drying out fast enough to keep the dreaded black spot away, cover it on top to keep the rain off it. Once it is dry enough, maybe under 25% or so black fungus is less of a concern. But if it is raining a lot and keeping the ends above 25 %, well you get the idea. My wife has really bad allergies, so i have to bring the moldy stuff straight from outdoors to inside the stove.
 
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned rot in white burch. In my limited experience with white birch I have found it has a tendency to soften and rot over time if it's not burned within a year or so of being cut. Anyone else have this issue?
 
dafattkidd, I had some birch that wasn't ready for the stove the first year and then had it stored in doors, when I used it almost two years later it was very dry and was very flammable. To the op the discussion to top cover or not is more a geographical and personal preference question. I would say for me I would split and top cover single row. Since you have a large amount of it (insert jealousy here) I would be very careful about stacking it to tight or to many rows. If you've burned it before then you probably know that you need to split all rounds or at least zip the bark to allow moisture to escape since the bark will hold in the moisture. From the comments above you've gathered that moisture is not your friend with birch which in my opinion is the biggest negative about the tree. Take care of the moisture and you will have a great resource!. We love pictures by the way!
 
X2 on zipping the bark. Birch will rot from the inside and have no externally visible evidence until u pick it up and it falls apart. I would cover it if in a rainy climate.
 
Also I wanted to add that you are in Wisconsin and I'm in eastern BC in the Rockies but the birch that I c,s,s before the snow melted is only now at 20% so do lots of harvesting between now and April and you will be just good enough come burning season the following winter. Dont leave it to big unless you can keep it dry for the following winter.
 
If you stack the white birch off the ground you shouldn't have problems with rot, but if you leave it on the ground it will decay real fast.
 
X4 on running the saw the length of the truck a couple of times before cutting it to length. If I cant split it then I stack the rounds with the cuts facing down to keep water collecting in the cuts. Once split its just like any other hardwood. Keep a few contractor bags around to collect the inevitably bark sheets. Best darn fire starter out there.
 
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