Wood Storage for Small Stoves Outside

[clancey]

I going to have a small stove installed maybe in August and what kind of storage should I have so that my wood will remain dry and what type of wood would be best to first burn in a Morso1410 wood burning stove. Do I buy pallets or build a little wood shed and what facing direction should the wood be stored and does this matter? Colorado Dry Climate real Cold winters High attitudes Plenty of Sun Not much Rain. I have a list of woods that a poster gave me: Pine. Hemlock, Cherry, softer Maples, Ash and for more BTU"s Oak, Hickory,Locust..Something easier to split for I believe the little stove would take 12 to 14 inches log size and I would have to chop them to smaller size unless I order them to be cut in small size and how about some trigs that I gather from a honey locust--would this be good wood?.. ? But mainly how to store to keep the wood nice and dry.?

 

[johneh]

Store the wood off the ground and top covered
As to the type of wood whatever is available where you live
if you order it ask for wood to be 12 to 14 in.
if you scrounge buck it to the length you want and
split it the size you want Make sure your wood is dry before burning
Under 20% moisture
Get a moisture meter 30 to 50 dollars at Amazon

 

[clancey]

Thanks...clancey

 

[clancey]

Do you think that this little log holder would be sufficient and if I filled it about halfway would that be enough of logs and I could cover it as well with something---I think it is cute and like the looks of it...lol lol . It says in six easy steps to built and would have my handy person build something like that and he could do that but is that enough of wood to start maybe half of the wood. The stove would not be burning that much only once in awhile and if we have a power outage then of course I would use it more---does wood get too old to use? clancey

The 30 Minute Firewood Rack - Pallet Style

The 30 Minute Firewood Rack - Pallet Style: Everyone knows how brutal those Florida winters are...HAHA! Well, it is that time of year again. We just had our first cold snap, temperatures dropped to 46. Burr! We had to turn the heat on in the house and everything. My wife said she wanted a …

www.instructables.com

 

[johneh]

Being from Easter Ontario Canada I have no idea what your winters are like or how much wood
you will burn. That's a nice little rack and at 14 in firewood, you more than likely would get 3 rows 4 ft. long and 4 ft. tall I'd call it a short cord because it is only 14 inches.
In most cases, if firewood is kept off the ground, covered, and dry it will last for years

 

[clancey]

Yea I will see if my handy person can build something like that --I really like it...Our winters in my state Colorado can at times be real cold but it is a very dry cold and we "can" get dumped on with a lot of snow but because it is so sunny at times it does not last that long on the ground because all the dryness sucks it up if the sun is out. Today I am guessing it is about 56 and the sun was shinning but it looks like clouds coming in and we are suppose to "get dumped on this Thursday with snow" so we will see..Thanks for the responses..clancey..

 

[stoveliker]

Whether that rack will be enough depends on how much you want to burn. Only Friday evenings in December and January, then that'll be enough.
If I were you I'd start with a full cord. 4x4x8 ft. Get pine, because it may be ready to burn in one year. Oak will not.

And then get a second chord for next year so it's dry then. And one for the year after. Then, you'll be able to burn 2-3 yr seasoned wood, and you'll only need to resupply for what you burn in one year.

 

[clancey]

That's a good idea and I am going to do that and right now looking for a fire wood seller that is close to my home...I am going to buy as much wood as that little wood holder will hold...ha ---then if I get into this --I have another built and then my yard will look like all of you"s yard,, Thanks everyone...clancey

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Me personally, I like the wood shed. Iv done the rack thing and top cover. Then cover the whole thing in lat fall, winter, early spring. The tarp thing sucks and gets old. With a wood shed you split it, stack it in the shed and let it dry and take what you need without have to worry about tarps.. Its easier. As far as the lenth of wood. I like my wood 18 inches. Sometimes we get some that we're cut to big and I put them in a wood box we made that's 18 inches, I use a ratchet strap to hold the splits in place and then run the saw down and there cut to length. I take the ugliest that are cut off and put them in the stove.
Wood takes a while to season so a shed with 3 bins is good

 

[clancey]

yea I am kinda agreeing with you and I have not had time to check out the wood situation here in my area--only one place and the lady was really nice---family affair. A wood shed would look nice in my back yard as well and that handmade rack could be something that is made later but so cute I thought for a person to do and I would put wheels on it and bring it into the porch for even more convenience but I need to figure where the stove goes and how to arrange everything a lot of thinking here..I sure do like that rachet strap idea and next time I go to Home Depot I am going to check that out and maybe with a little saw too that I could handle..Everybody seems to mention on here a different type of heat than household from wood stoves and is this something like maybe a Arizona type heat right before winter time where you dry off from swimming in twenty minutes--can't wait to feel that warming heat in the winter with a cup of hot choc and marsh mellow on top and maybe something in it "extra"s I call this...thanks..clancey.

 

[Caw]

If I were only storing a cord it two I'd just go with blocks and 2x4s. No construction required and it's cheap. Tarps suck but if you're only casually burning it wouldn't be that bad. I'm building roofs over my racks but I burn 24/7 so I'm getting wood regularly. My racks are on a larger scale but the idea is the same. 8' boards on 3 cinder blocks 6' high will hold half a cord at 16"... so slightly less for you at 14". The racks pictured hold a cord each and are 2 racks deep.

 

[clancey]

That's a good idea and I could do that myself and get a real good cover for it for my state is really sunny and very dry temperature and I could do it myself and make it a bit smaller just in case I get wood within the next two weeks to get ready for the stove. I am afraid that if I bring any wood into my house it might have bugs or something and is there any kind of organic something that would be a bug repellent that would not kill me when I burn the wood?..Just asking no big thing for the wood will be outside anyway for now...thanks clancey.

 

[Caw]

I wouldn't store firewood inside for any significant period of time...especially if it's not fully seasoned. Lots of people use their garage or unfinished basement but that's a little different than literally inside a finished area. I'm still hesitant to even do that though. I'll bring in a few days worth at a time when the weather is bad but thats it.Why risk the bugs invading the house? I also wouldn't put any chemicals on the wood. You'll get smoke in the house ocassionally no matter what you do on reloads.

 

[clancey]

That's real good to know---thank you...Clancey.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

yea I am kinda agreeing with you and I have not had time to check out the wood situation here in my area--only one place and the lady was really nice---family affair. A wood shed would look nice in my back yard as well and that handmade rack could be something that is made later but so cute I thought for a person to do and I would put wheels on it and bring it into the porch for even more convenience but I need to figure where the stove goes and how to arrange everything a lot of thinking here..I sure do like that rachet strap idea and next time I go to Home Depot I am going to check that out and maybe with a little saw too that I could handle..Everybody seems to mention on here a different type of heat than household from wood stoves and is this something like maybe a Arizona type heat right before winter time where you dry off from swimming in twenty minutes--can't wait to feel that warming heat in the winter with a cup of hot choc and marsh mellow on top and maybe something in it "extra"s I call this...thanks..clancey.

So when I talk about the heat being different it is and feels more warm.. Everyone gathers near the stove. The entire house feels different. With the central heating system. your heat goes on and warms the house and shuts off and you feel the house cool. With a wood stove you or at least I run the stove continuously to maintain the desired temperature. So the heat doesn't shut off.. its constant and the house feels warm because the temperature never drops..You literally feel the heat radiating from the stove..

 

[Bad LP]

I wouldn't store firewood inside for any significant period of time...especially if it's not fully seasoned. Lots of people use their garage or unfinished basement but that's a little different than literally inside a finished area. I'm still hesitant to even do that though. I'll bring in a few days worth at a time when the weather is bad but thats it.Why risk the bugs invading the house? I also wouldn't put any chemicals on the wood. You'll get smoke in the house ocassionally no matter what you do on reloads.

I’ve seen storing DRY wood indoors for years. No bugs from the wood. Zero.
Dry it properly outside in the wood shed then bring it in. I think I’m down to 2 cords indoors now. Didn’t burn as much as I expected this year.

 

[clancey]

I don't think Bad LP that I want to risk it because I would be buying from a wood seller and I do not know where the wood is coming from and I heard that a pellet stove person in Oregon had to give up his business because of termites or something---this story could be false because a friend told me this and it might not be true but I would be afraid to take the chance. Caws wood looks absolutely beautiful and clean and how do you take the bark off the wood or is it a different cut or something just curious here and I will not be doing this because I am just too darn old but I think I can cut the wood with a small saw if it is held down by straps or something like that for my stove coming takes smaller pieces of wood. I am leaning towards a small nice wood shed that would hold the wood instead of the idea of wood storage outside with the concrete blocks and 2/4"s--for I think it would be easier just to store in case of some emergency. Thanks for your posting but I think I would get the "willies" and would prefer to bring pieces in as I use them...clancey

 

[Caw]

Caws wood looks absolutely beautiful and clean and how do you take the bark off the wood or is it a different cut or something just curious here

That stack is from a giant 30" red oak tree so a lot of the pieces are just from the middle of the rounds. I don't debark when I'm splitting. When the wood dries the bark tends to just fall off. Don't throw it away! A nice pile of bark on coal mountain is a quick way to reduce the coal bed and get a quick burst of heat.

 

[clancey]

Nice--thanks...clancey

 

[clancey]

I think that I need a little wood shed build with doors---this is what my backyard looks like today...A wood shed would make it easier for me to keep maybe a cord or something--dry wood...Today in Colorado we got slammed and it will continue snowing until tomorrow..This is my bird loft and garage (they are all inside warm with a heater)--they ain't stupid and I'm inside too...lol lol

 

[clancey]

Our lights are flickering and wish I had my little wood stove hooked up..They say maybe another foot or so especially in some other parts maybe almost four feet but coming your way--a lot of moisture that we need...People out walking dogs and playing in the middle of I 70 interstate...and it keeps coming down and will end by about 11 pm or so...

 

[clancey]

Thinking about getting a little shed build out of wood and I looked at all the sheds on this forum and a lot of them are so nice but why do not any of them have doors and I see the slates in the wood with the spacing for air---would not this bring in rain and make all the wood damp? Is it possible to have doors for a shed and shut them in the rain but what about all the spacing of those slats--how does that work.? How far off the ground should a half of cord of oak wood be? Should the bottom part of the little shed be open with air spacing? Just asking here.. I do like the cinder block suggestion with the two by fours on top with a tarp cover and this would be another way and a lot cheaper as well. But don't that spacing on the sides of the wood shed let rain in and wet the wood?...Thanks clancey...

 

[Bad LP]

The little bit of water and or snow doesn't have any real negative effect on the wood drying in a ventilated wood shed holding neatly stacked rows of wood with a roof covering.
Just tossing it in a pile and expecting it to be dry in the middle is a joke and a bad one at that. I see local firewood dealers down here in MA doing just that while they are proud to proclaim "seasoned wood" at crazy high prices. That wood is not dry and I don't care if it's been in that pile for 4-5 years. It's soaking wet.

 

[Caw]

The little bit of water and or snow doesn't have any real negative effect on the wood drying in a ventilated wood shed holding neatly stacked rows of wood with a roof covering.
Just tossing it in a pile and expecting it to be dry in the middle is a joke and a bad one at that. I see local firewood dealers down here in MA doing just that while they are proud to proclaim "seasoned wood" at crazy high prices. That wood is not dry and I don't care if it's been in that pile for 4-5 years. It's soaking wet.

My 5 year old boy has been hanging out with me a lot during covid. When we drive by the big piles of firewood on lots "drying" he says to me "daddy look at those crazy guys, that's not how you store wood". I've never been more proud!

 

[Bad LP]

This was taken during some major rains thus the water in the field.
I had a little too much extra wood that was forever getting soaked peeking out the front so I draped a hunk of rubber roof and held it in place with some junk.
I prefer a more open shed but my next one will be more closed.