Wood cutting question

[Matt78]

I currently have 10 cords cut, split and stacked. Top covered sides open. My question is. I'm tired of cutting wood for the year and I lost my helper (wife). I have a lot of ash and some oak laying down in the woods. Anyone ever saw the logs up to length and stack and cover unsplit? I know it won't dry as quick, but will it rot from not being split? The oak is pretty wet with some rot already. Thanks

 

[sweedish]

Why not split it too? It seems like thats not the major step in firewood. Are you hand splitting? If so put the big ones in a pile and borrow/rent a splitter. And once off the ground and Drying the rot will almost cease.

 

[Matt78]

Why not split it too? It seems like thats not the major step in firewood. Are you hand splitting? If so put the big ones in a pile and borrow/rent a splitter. And once off the ground and Drying the rot will almost cease.

I'll probably split the big oak tree. Mostly wanted to get all dead wood on the ground cut in chunks and stacked. Split it next fall. 10 cords for me is 3 years worth. I use a log splitter. Splitting and stacking takes the longest. No more wifey help. Some of it could be I hate stacking it!!

 

[Bad LP]

In my shed right now is about 4 cords that I split large to dry.
When it’s brought into the wood storage area I’ll run it thru the splitter to proper size.

 

[Grizzerbear]

I just sawed a red oak that had been laying on the ground for 4 years. It was perfectly fine. Im sure that if you saw it to length and cover the the top of the stack it will be perfectly fine until next year. That being said i would just go ahead and split it or better yet leave the tree in its whole form until next year.

 

[Sawset]

Leaving the rounds in a sunny area open to a breeze will help get and keep the surfaces dry. Shady woodlot areas will decay wood the quickest. If allowed to dry out - sapwood may soften up some, but the inside should be ok. Shady damp, left in the woods and weeds, bad, sun and breeze, good.

 

[EODMSgt]

There have been a lot of years where I don't have time to get everything split in the fall so I store the rounds off the ground until can I split them in the spring. Depending on the type of wood, most of it is fine with little added rot from not being split (white birch is the worst). It won't season well however it does at least begin the process (as opposed to being in log length). The rounds in the picture were from last fall. I split them in the spring, stacked them out in the wind/sun all summer and they are currently being burned. It was a mix of ash, beech, maple and birch. So I would say if you can't split everything, at least cut them into rounds, get them off the ground and put them where they will receive air/sun.

 

[peakbagger]

i drop my trees after the leaves drop in the fall and leave them there log length until the next spring. My ground is rocky and sloped so the logs are generally up off the ground. I make sure they are bucked and stacked before the next fall as most rot happens during warm weather. On occasion over the years for various reasons I would need to buck them up and pile the rounds in rows with no top cover. It was okay for season but inevitably it didn't dry very quickly and borderline wood would start rotting.

 

[Woody Stover]

I would at least split that Oak in half, to make it easier to handle..

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I currently have 10 cords cut, split and stacked. Top covered sides open. My question is. I'm tired of cutting wood for the year and I lost my helper (wife). I have a lot of ash and some oak laying down in the woods. Anyone ever saw the logs up to length and stack and cover unsplit? I know it won't dry as quick, but will it rot from not being split? The oak is pretty wet with some rot already. Thanks

I understand exactly how you feel, regarding loss of gumption. I'm sorry you lost your wife, however it occurred. If I were to answer your question a little differently than most, I'd suggest you dig deep, and set the sorrow that you feel aside, and pretend that leaving the wood uncut and stacked would result in a total loss. The best thing we can do with death or divorce, is to ride off from it. Peeling yourself from bed or the easy chair to get that wood processed and stacked, is some of the best medicine going, in your situation.