Wood pile aging identification

[nwohguy]

Looking for good ways to mark my wood piles so i know what month and year i cut them. I store some of my wood inside a barn and some is stored outside. But currently dont have a good method to remember what was cut when. i was thinking about attaching a paper tag to the piles showing month and year, but that wont work very well outside. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[BigJ273]

I use a sharpie and write it on a split at the end of the stack.

 

[Gearhead660]

How Many Cords On Your Property?

So, it is in their interest to deliver all wood as green and wet as humanly possible? Weight is the most stupid method of measuring wood volume or btu that I can imagine. In fact, it is almost in direct opposition to what you want. Since all firewood (given equal MC) has the same BTU content...

www.hearth.com

Check out this thread. Especially the post about using aluminum tags. Great idea.

 

[Caw]

Im so OCD about my stacks I think I have a better chance of remembering when I did them than my kids birthdays lol. But aluminum tags sound like a good idea. Or if you're a computer person just draw a quick diagram of your lot and add dates.

 

[Gearhead660]

Im so OCD about my stacks I think I have a better chance of remembering when I did them than my kids birthdays lol. But aluminum tags sound like a good idea. Or if you're a computer person just draw a quick diagram of your lot and add dates.

I do the caveman method of scribbles on a piece of paper, takes too long drawing on the computer.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

You could also use a knife to mark one at the end of a stack. But sharpie seems easier.

 

[Caw]

You could also use a knife to mark one at the end of a stack. But sharpie seems easier.

Yeah but knives > sharpies

 

[CincyBurner]

I used to mark with permanent marker on aluminum tag stapled to wood, but it wasn't permanent enough, so I started marking near bottom on each stack frame using yellow lumber crayon:

• date CSS
• Species
• location/ street - to jog the memory

You think that you'll remember, but after numerous scrounges all mixed together after a few months the wood and the memory fades.

 

[firefighterjake]

On the stacks outside I take a cedar shingle and with a sharpie write down the month and year it was processed (split and stacked). The shingle gets tacked to the end of the stack.

Once the wood goes into the shed I use a sharpie and mark down the year it went into the woodshed.

When folks come over I always get a perverse kick out of showing them the stacks of wood and dates which to them is akin to someone with a collection of vintage wines.

 

[D8Chumley]

Sharpie on the cut end in several places on all my stacks

 

[nwohguy]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think i will try to use a sharpie on the cut end and mark the month and year. hopefully that will work.

 

[jatoxico]

At the moment I'm ahead so there's no need for me to mark stacks but when I was I had no luck with a sharpie marking my plastic tags. Sharpie's just faded to unreadable. If I have to do it again it would be stamped or scribed metal tags.

 

[hawkeye4771]

You could write with a heavy marker the info you want on shoebox cardboard and slip that into a zip lock baggie and staple that to an end piece of your stack.

 

[moresnow]

I crib stack the ends of my runs. Take a picture. Recorded.

 

[St. Coemgen]

1) Buy some beer in aluminum cans.
2) Drink the beer.
3) Cut open the can with sheers and cut the aluminum into small blocks.
4) Get a worn out ink pen (you know, one of those in the pen can we all have full of pens where the ink is dry and the pen will not write)
5) Nail a small aluminum block from (3) onto a wood end in the stack, and take the pen and scribe into the aluminum the date you stacked, and any other info you think is relevant (such as, was it a good beer). Scribing will not wash away.
6) To celebrate your accomplishment, go to step (1).

Side note: When you burn the wood, remember to pry off the aluminum tag. After all, you need to remember if that was good beer or not and if so, worth buying again....

 

[JRHAWK9]

I have aluminum tags that one can "write" on that will leave an indentation. They come with a wire twist which I twist around the tpost.

 

[CatfishHunter]

Definitely some good ideas here. I have a torn piece of cardboard nailed to the wall in my woodshed. It has some arrows pointing in different directions, and says "Cut 2018 / Split 2019" and so on. I forget to update it at times. I can usually just tell by the weight of the split if it is ready to burn cleanly.

 

[Longknife]

As others have suggested, I've gotten in the habit of using a sharpie as my horde gradually increases. I don't bother with species as I can generally tell, plus I tend to put a mix in my stacks outside of dedicated shoulder season stacks.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have 3 wood sheds as well as racks if I need them. each area holds no less than 2 cords and I'm well ahead. I have a drawing of my wood areas and I pop a post-it note on the area of the drawing.. the area im using now is from 2018.. Ill fill this part of the wood shed once its empty and pop a new note on it that says 21.. I only process in the winter or early spring so I always know it the spring of that year.

 

[JRHAWK9]

A sharpie is probably the easiest, however, I don't think it will last 10-12 years w/o fading. I'm about 10-12 years ahead on firewood, so I need something that will stand the test of time.