Wood shed capacities

[jj3500]

How big are your wood sheds? I'm just in the "thinking about it" stage and was curious to those that have built them, if they think now they should have gone bigger...or smaller.

Also, do you make your sides easily removable to access those older pieces? (if you stack your oldest stuff in the back and continually stack newer splits on the outside, you'll never get to that old stuff)

From my approximation now, my shed is going to be fairly large. Its going to look like a three car garage and ~ 12' tall.

 

[SolarAndWood]

81 cord seems enormous unless you are going into the firewood business. Or are you talking 3 bays not 36x24?

 

[jj3500]

That size is just a ball park size. I'm looking at my uncovered stuff now. For it to be covered properly, it would have to be about that thee car garage size. I plan on making it a long skinny shed too. Having all sides accessible. (again, just thinking out loud).

This is just for my personal use. Not a business.

You mentioned 81 cord...is that what a three car space holds? (guesstimation)

 

[Greg123]

That's a big shed you are building. I just completed mine, it's 12x8 8 feet tall. I can fit a little better than 6 cord. The shed is open on the front and closed in on the other 3 sides, I season the wood in an the open field on my property before putting it into the shed. I will be adding some extra venting around the sides and back next year, because I'm planning on seasoning in the wood shed so I don't have to move my piles twice.

 

[SolarAndWood]

36*24*12/128 is how I came up with 81. My thought with the woodshed is to only put one year's burn plus safety stock under a roof. I am currently using what will be our front porch when the house is done and the shape works pretty nicely. 5Dx32Wx9H. 2 rows 18-20", 9 ft high. I find that stacking over 9 ft gets tedious.

 

[maplewood]

My wood shed was (it's gone now) 25x16. Just a roof - it was open on all 4 sides. I could put in 20 cords.
(That was just under 2 years supply, using my old boiler and stove.)
I'm waiting to see how the new Econoburn works this winter, then I'll build a much smaller wood storage area inside
a small barn/garage - maybe 7-8 cord.

 

[JeffRey30747]

Mine is 12'Wx10'Hx16'L and open on two opposing ends. I use from one end and fill the other alternating whenever I think it is justified to use the oldest wood first. If it was absolutely full, it would hold 15 cords but I don't think I have ever had much more than 10 in it at one time.

 

[LLigetfa]

My shed is 10 x 20 and enclosed on three sides so I have to get creative in how I stack so that I don't put new in front of old. When I built it it would hold 20 cord but the frost jacked the posts so now it can hold 13 cord if I stack 9 & 1/2 feet high. If I were to build a new shed, I would make it twice as long, half as deep, and not as tall.

Here is a thread on some changes I made to the layout along with some pics.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/39339/

 

[3fordasho]

6' deep, 16' long and average 7' high gives me just under 5 cords.
Stayed under the citys sqft limit so I didn't have to get a building permit.
I used pretty much half the wood in it for last winters heating.

 

[firefighterjake]

Well my shed isn't finished yet, but when complete it will be approximately 20 x 12. I figured it out and figured this should hold more wood than I will need in a year . . . giving me a little (OK, maybe a little more than a little) wood in case of a particularly long or bitter winter.

I can't imagine too many people would regret building too big of a woodshed . . . more likely too small. I can see how some folks might wish they had configured one differently, stacked differently or built it out of different materials.

For my woodshed I opted to go longer rather than deeper due to the property lay out and my main access to the wood will be from the front. I also plan to do most of the rows stacked north to south (so to speak) so I can more or less pick and choose which wood to use . . . i.e. slabwood and shoulder season wood vs. the better wood. I deliberately kep the height relatively low -- 7 feet since that is about the extent where I can easily and safely stack wood without worrying about it toppling over or having to use a step stool (well maybe I could have gone a bit higher, but this seemed like a good height at the time based on my other sheds.)

When finished I'll post pictures . . . right now it's not very photogenic. I used rough cut 2 x 4s (2 feet on center) salvaged from a camp tear down for a good portion of the three outside walls . . . the front is composed of new 2x4s that I cobbled together to form into four 2 x 6s to hold up the front to allow it to be open. Since this is in an area subject to spring melt I've built a rugged base for the floor with planks on top. My intention is to have the sides and back in a board and batting style (once again using old boards from the camp) . . . with the "batting" section removed for better ventilation -- I have toyed with the idea of mounting some of the batting on hinges and making this work like a tobacco barn, but think that would be overkill and way too much work.

At some point my brother in law will be coming up from CT and will be putting on a lean-to addition to either the back or side for use as a snowmobile shed . . . well more like a car . . . I mean . . . sled port.

 

[BucksCoBernie]

Here is my shed and seasoning station combo. i made it completely out of free pallets....cost me about $10 for the screws.
The covered part holds about 3 cords (1 winters worth, hopefully), that was the original woodshed i built out of pallets. I've added wings onto the sides, left side holds about 1 cord and the right side holds about another 3 cords. I am actually extending the right side to hold another 3 cords....so in all i should be around the 9-10 cord capacity. I'd rather run it along my fence than extend out into the yard. The only problem im having right now is those damn viney things growing up the back of the shed and onto the piles. I might redo the roof and extend it to fit a larger portion of the structure....im still debating.

 

[fossil]

12' x 16', with a 6' x 8' open corner. 144 ft² of floor space. Theoretically nearly 8 cords, stacked 7' high. I have 7 and change in it. It's got lighting and a duplex outlet installed. Another 2 cords under roof on the north end of my shop building. 4 more out in the open on the south end of the building. Cousin & I are working on bucking & splitting two log length loads we bought, which should yield each of us another 10-12 cords for future years. Burning 2 stoves through a cold winter, I can go through 7 cords. Rick

 

[Todd]

26X8X8 I put 6 cords inside with plenty of space between rows and a good sized separation in the middle. I could put more in there, but I only burn 3 cords per year so 2 years worth is what I shoot for.

 

[jdinspector]

Mine is 11 (w) x 7 (d) x 7 (h), or about 4 cords in theory. I hold a little over 3 in it on a yearly basis. I really like the metal roof on mine. I'll never have to worry about re-roofing this thing! If my calculations are right, this shed will hold one winter's worth of wood for my new stove.

 

[chachdave]

Mine is 4x20, 6ft high in front 8ft in rear. Got about 4 1/2 cords in there. This is actually a temporary shed until I can bring in some fill for back and side yard. Then I will build a free standing 8x16 or so shed.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

How big are your wood sheds? I'm just in the "thinking about it" stage and was curious to those that have built them, if they think now they should have gone bigger...or smaller.

Also, do you make your sides easily removable to access those older pieces? (if you stack your oldest stuff in the back and continually stack newer splits on the outside, you'll never get to that old stuff)

From my approximation now, my shed is going to be fairly large. Its going to look like a three car garage and ~ 12' tall.

1) I've never heard anyone say, "I sure wish I'd built a smaller woodshed."

2) I wouldn't bother putting walls on it - just a roof on posts.

 

[savageactor7]

jj down in Orange county I'd recommend a lean-to like Todd has pictured. We have 2 lean-to's and imo that's the most bang for the buck you can get and still be socially acceptable.

 

[jj3500]

jj down in Orange county I'd recommend a lean-to like Todd has pictured. We have 2 lean-to's and imo that's the most bang for the buck you can get and still be socially acceptable.

I don't doubt that bang for the buck. I just not a fan for having the wood up against a valuable structure.(ants and other similar critters). In my case, only place this lean to could work is on my house. I don't have a stick frame garage like Todd does. (i think thats a type of barn/garage).

Will do a stand alone structure...down the road.

Thanks

 

[SlyFerret]

I'm planning to build my shed this fall so I can get this winters supply under proper cover. I'm not playing the tarp game again this year.

From what I'm thinking, mine will be 12' x 12', with a flat roof that slants down from the front to the back. I plan to put a 36" wide door on the front at the far right, with a 36" wide walkway from front to back (if I need to stack in this space, I can). If I stack it 5; high inside, I'll be able to fit a little over 4 cords in it, which should be a little more than I need for a year's supply. I envision making the walls out of 1x6's, staggered in front of and behind horizontal support bars to allow some ventilation but keep pretty much all rain and snow out.

I don't plan to season wood in it. I'll season it out in the open, and then load up the shed in the late fall each year.

-SF

 

[edthedawg]

Man I wish I had the space for a proper shed. I cleared a rather V-shaped (argually L-shaped) space out next to my barn and fence and made an approximately F-shaped shed to hold 8+ cords. In my mind, this will let me:
- Rotate the stacks over the years
- Always stay 1 season ahead (we got thru 4 cord/year)
- Get to any stack during any year
- Have a dedicated splitting area
- Have enough room to park both cars and access the barn
- Drop 4-cord loads and still be able to move around them

Yes it's closer to the wooden fence and barn walls than i'd like, but we're on a 1/2 acre w/ most of the yard out front and to the side on a hill. Just no place else to do something like this...

 

[Dune]

My wood shed is 12' x6'x 8' tall. It is a lean to off a tool shed. It is open on three sides. I store 3 cords in the shed.

 

[Duetech]

jj3500, When using the stored wood always go to the wall of your oldest stack first and you will never have wood that never gets used. Bear in mind though once the wood is seasoned and is kept dry it will store for years and not spoil. But also remember if you have a high consumption rate always try to keep a stack of two (+) year old wood for the hardest part of the winter (estimate a six week supply) so you won't have to contend with low btu output at your greatest btu need.

 

[SolarAndWood]

always try to keep a stack of two (+) year old wood for the hardest part of the winter (estimate a six week supply) so you won't have to contend with low btu output at your greatest btu need.

I've heard about that and look forward to experiencing it this year...

 

[gerry100]

I use a part of my shed for wood.

Wood area is 12x14x7 ft tall( sloping to six in the back).

One 7X12 stack for this year, on fo rnext year. Anything left of the 4 cords is put in front of next years pile.

If you're designing a shed , remember that stacking over 6 ft high is cumbersome and it's difficiult to pack the vuolume ou high.

I'd design with a max footptrint figuirng on a 5-6 foot stack height.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'd design with a max footptrint figuirng on a 5-6 foot stack height.

Unless you have a 9 year old who loves to help...she happily stacked to 10' all afternoon.