Wood shed quandary.... space rich, time poor

[mesuno]

Hi Folks,

Just had a great half term week including two days in the woods. Dropped 8 oaks (18 to 24 inches) and hauled 4 of them home. I split a half cords worth of rounds yesterday and the wood is damn fine. We've kept about 6 straight sections and we'll be having a go milling them later in the summer.

Anyway, we have reached the point where we need to start thinking about long term storage/seasoning. We have enough oak available to get a good few years ahead with some grunt work to get it dropped and processed. Ultimately I want to get things streamlined to minimize handling - the processing area is a bloody long way from the back door where the wood is eventually needed and even with the trailer on the mower it is time consuming getting round the property.

I was thinking of building a large covered woodshed that we can simply throw splits into. I know this isn't the fastest or best way to season but given we have the scope to season for an extra year by getting further ahead it doesn't seem so unreasonable. I thought that building a long thin shed with slatted wall for air circulation and compartments sized for around 1 year's worth of wood might do the trick. I'd locate it right beside the area where the rounds are dropped so the splits are just in tossing distance.

The image on this page is sort of what I had in mind:

http://mikeandmelssugarshack.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/wednesday-march-28-2007/wood-shed/

I'd space the slats on the walls a little wider to allow more air flow, and I'd also have internal dividing walls reaching up full height. The front section would have removable boards so the wood can be stacked higher.

I guess my real questions are:

How much slower would seasoning in a shed like this be?
Anyone use a low-handling system like this? how much time and effort do you think you save?
If you have a shed like this - what did you wish you knew before you started and what would you have built differently?

Cheers

Mike

 

[snowleopard]

What is your climate like? How long is your summer? Would the shed get direct sunlight? How much wind? What kind of wood-crunching insect pests do you cope with?

I don't believe that I could get away with that--the combination of pile vs. stacking, short summers, cold winters, and lack of circulation, plus carpenter ants, would be begging for problems, plus my stove is particular about wanting nice dry wood. OTOH, that might be a great system in Arizona. Like you said, it's not ideal, but you need to live in the real world--find what works for you.

How about putting together a small shed out of pallets and running a bit of an experiment?

 

[shawneyboy]

I built a wood shed but my wood doesn't go into it untill after it is seasoned. Once you get a couple years ahead I would suggest leaving the wood out stacked for the seasoning process then get it into the woodshed the autumn before it is to be burned. I have put green wood into a woodshed before and found the seasoning time to be almost double that if it were stacked and exposed out side. Considering you are in the UK which I believe is a damp climate I think you would find similar results. I know this does not minimize the handling but, it is what it is.

Shawn

 

[mesuno]

Thanks Snowleopard:

We are based in the southern UK - our summers tend to be warm but autumn and winter is always wet rather than cold. Covering seems to be pretty much essential for 5 months of the year - we have been making do with tarps so far. We had a couple of weeks of snow last winter but nothing like what you guys get in the northern US. We don't have any wood munching pests to worry about either.

As far as a test goes - anything meaningful would take years to get results from! We are thinking about building something this summer so waiting for results to come in won't work out.

One thing I had thought of is stacking the rounds for a summer out doors and then splitting and chucking the splits in the shed - a compromise of sorts to make use of the summer weather without adding extra handling. The rounds would be stacked directly out of the pickup and beside the splitting area. A tree surgeon friend of ours stacks his rounds in an open field and only splits immediately prior to burning; but then his work keeps him years ahead.

Shawneyboy: I'm not sure that doubling the seasoning time is necessarily out of the question. In fact I was thinking that planning upfront for 5 years worth of wood storage made sense. We have most of this winters wood already laid up from last year and can spend the rest of this year filing the rest of it. One option might be stacking rounds out in the woods and bringing them back home in a year or two.

Anyway - no major objections so far other than "it will take longer to season" which I'm not sure is such a problem anyway.

Any further thoughts?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Mike, for sure in your climate you want something other than tarps! You need something more solid.

As for the splitting just before using, that is a poor idea at best. In the first place, if the wood needs splitting why not get it done now rather than wait? Besides, the real drying starts after the wood is split.

Yet the bigger factor here is that you are talking about oak. That is about the slowest stuff to dry you'll find. Here we wait 3 years to burn most of it and if you don't stack it, I would guess it should lay around 5 years or so. If you have the room, so much the better.


I will also second Shawneyboy in that the wood is best seasoned outside and then thrown into the shed. Wood inside a shed even with open slats still dries very slow compared with drying outside. Even if you just leave the wood outside (split, of course) one summer that is a big help.

One other suggestion is to stack it when in the shed because you'll get a whole lot more wood in the shed and therefore need less room to store it.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Hi Folks,

Just had a great half term week including two days in the woods. Dropped 8 oaks (18 to 24 inches) and hauled 4 of them home. I split a half cords worth of rounds yesterday and the wood is damn fine. We've kept about 6 straight sections and we'll be having a go milling them later in the summer.

Anyway, we have reached the point where we need to start thinking about long term storage/seasoning. We have enough oak available to get a good few years ahead with some grunt work to get it dropped and processed. Ultimately I want to get things streamlined to minimize handling - the processing area is a bloody long way from the back door where the wood is eventually needed and even with the trailer on the mower it is time consuming getting round the property.

I was thinking of building a large covered woodshed that we can simply throw splits into. I know this isn't the fastest or best way to season but given we have the scope to season for an extra year by getting further ahead it doesn't seem so unreasonable. I thought that building a long thin shed with slatted wall for air circulation and compartments sized for around 1 year's worth of wood might do the trick. I'd locate it right beside the area where the rounds are dropped so the splits are just in tossing distance.

The image on this page is sort of what I had in mind:

http://mikeandmelssugarshack.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/wednesday-march-28-2007/wood-shed/

I'd space the slats on the walls a little wider to allow more air flow, and I'd also have internal dividing walls reaching up full height. The front section would have removable boards so the wood can be stacked higher.

I guess my real questions are:

How much slower would seasoning in a shed like this be?
Anyone use a low-handling system like this? how much time and effort do you think you save?
If you have a shed like this - what did you wish you knew before you started and what would you have built differently?

Cheers

Mike

I'm all for big woodsheds but you really won't save any time, work, or aggravation by half-@$$ing the stacks.

 

[jimbom]

Modular movable shed. Cut, split, and stack for the hot dry season. Carry the modules over the stack for the wet damp seasons. Repeat as needed.

 

[HollowHill]

Modular movable shed. Cut, split, and stack for the hot dry season. Carry the modules over the stack for the wet damp seasons. Repeat as needed.

Excellent idea! Any plans or details?

 

[ballibeg]

I try and cut down my wood handling.

My logs are stacked into a large slatted store with plenty of air above, below and around. I fill this in neat stacks and my wood stays in there for two years before I burn it and it comes out at under 20% which is very good for the wet west of Scotland!

Yes its slower to season but I only stack it once.

Dave

 

[snowleopard]

I try and cut down my wood handling.

My logs are stacked into a large slatted store with plenty of air above, below and around. I fill this in neat stacks and my wood stays in there for two years before I burn it and it comes out at under 20% which is very good for the wet west of Scotland!

Yes its slower to season but I only stack it once.

Dave

How much wood do you go through in a year? Is it your primary source of heat? What do you burn it in? and hello.

 

[maxed_out]

Hello....I seem to remember someone posting making a shed out of pallets? Anyone remember that one? I googled one for ya-not mine- but maybe it can get some juices flowing.

I agree with some of the other posters in that you want to season it first, then move to some type of hard storage. Also agree tarps are probably your not best bet.

Please keep us posted.

http://summerville-novascotia.com/PalletWoodShed/

 

[Dix]

I try and cut down my wood handling.

My logs are stacked into a large slatted store with plenty of air above, below and around. I fill this in neat stacks and my wood stays in there for two years before I burn it and it comes out at under 20% which is very good for the wet west of Scotland!

Yes its slower to season but I only stack it once.

Dave

I really like this, it would fill the bill here, for sure. Imagine the possibilities if you had 2 of them

 

[jimbom]

Modular movable shed. Cut, split, and stack for the hot dry season. Carry the modules over the stack for the wet damp seasons. Repeat as needed.

Excellent idea! Any plans or details?

Design totally dependent on the instant circumstance and funds available.

 

[ballibeg]

I try and cut down my wood handling.

My logs are stacked into a large slatted store with plenty of air above, below and around. I fill this in neat stacks and my wood stays in there for two years before I burn it and it comes out at under 20% which is very good for the wet west of Scotland!

Yes its slower to season but I only stack it once.

Dave

How much wood do you go through in a year? Is it your primary source of heat? What do you burn it in? and hello.

I burn 15 cubic metres a year in a Woodwarm 9kw stove. This keeps the house toasty with the odd top up from central heating. Am looking to change to wood gasification boiler and thermal store.

I own the woods around us and process our own logs.

Dave

 

[ballibeg]

I try and cut down my wood handling.

My logs are stacked into a large slatted store with plenty of air above, below and around. I fill this in neat stacks and my wood stays in there for two years before I burn it and it comes out at under 20% which is very good for the wet west of Scotland!

Yes its slower to season but I only stack it once.

Dave

I really like this, it would fill the bill here, for sure. Imagine the possibilities if you had 2 of them

Really could do with a second you are right! Maybe build one next spring.

Dave

 

[mesuno]

Thanks for all your input folks - I particularly like the shed Dave posted, complete with air gap beneath. I hadn't thought of that and was considering a simple gravel floor.

Dave - do you stack green wood or is it already partly seasoned? Do you have an idea how much longer it needs to season properly like that? And what wood are you burning?

Cheers

Mike

I try and cut down my wood handling.

My logs are stacked into a large slatted store with plenty of air above, below and around. I fill this in neat stacks and my wood stays in there for two years before I burn it and it comes out at under 20% which is very good for the wet west of Scotland!

Yes its slower to season but I only stack it once.

Dave

 

[mesuno]

Also, have you tight stacked it in there, or have you left spaces between rows for air circulation?

 

[ballibeg]

Also, have you tight stacked it in there, or have you left spaces between rows for air circulation?

Even neatly stacked has air spaces. Can't be avoided.

Yes it doesn't season as quickly as single stacked rows outside but it does season given two years.

Dave

 

[ballibeg]

[quote author="Mesuno" date="1307446265"]Thanks for all your input folks - I particularly like the shed Dave posted, complete with air gap beneath. I hadn't thought of that and was considering a simple gravel floor.

Dave - do you stack green wood or is it already partly seasoned? Do you have an idea how much longer it needs to season properly like that? And what wood are you burning?

Cheers

Mike

I fell in winter and chop and stack over the winter. I burn mainly beech with some sycamore and lime. It takes two years to reach sub 20%. My store is 30 cubic metres and I burn half in a year. It has an open back so I collect wood from the rear of taht year's half and work to front. I start stacking before empty. Fresh logs right, dry logs left!

I have the space and time to season wood for the two years it takes. I agree its not for everyone but it is working for me. I have not had any rotten wood in the store which I put down to airflow, particularly air being free to drop out of the bottom. Raising the floor did however cost me more as I had to build in the strength to carry the tonnage.

Dave