Stick burners - I need your advise on storing wood

[snyper77]

FINAL UPDATE:
All the wood has now been moved and re-stacked on the support timbers. You should have seen the look on my son's faces when I said "We gotta tear down those stacks of wood, then re-stack it". Yes, it was good exercise but they hate me now, LOL.
Now, do I really need to cover all this wood? It totals about 40' long. Some sites say "yes", some say "no" (because rain water will not penetrate it enough to worry about).
What say you? Thanks everyone!

 

[Dave Russell]

Very nice work. Getting all of it off the ground would've been my recommendation as well, and there's no comparison with how much longer your wood will last now, covered or not. :thumb:

 

[Hoss]

Off the ground.Whatever the means.Covered,unnecessary.You can throw a stick of that in a drum full of water overnite and the moisture penetration will be minimal.Rain won't hurt it.Just make sure there is good air circulation ALL AROUND the stack.Bottom,top and sides.

 

[snyper77]

Off the ground.Whatever the means.Covered,unnecessary.You can throw a stick of that in a drum full of water overnite and the moisture penetration will be minimal.Rain won't hurt it.Just make sure there is good air circulation ALL AROUND the stack.Bottom,top and sides.

Awesome! Those stacks should have plenty of air circulation, and they are stacked underneath some huge pine trees which do offer some "rain protection". So, I guess I'll just leave it uncovered and let 'er season! :clap2:
My only issues at this point is........I gotta wait a year to start using it (or can I cheat and start in 6 months?)
Also, once I start using this wood, I need to start additional stacks and let IT start seasoning. There's a "time/seasoning management" that has to be done here, right? Gotta always have stacks of "ready wood".....and "green wood". Wife isn't crazy about MORE stacks of wood in the yard next spring. LOL

 

[Hoss]

If I am correct the tornadoes hit Alabama this past spring/early summer.MOST of that wood is ALREADY seasoned.Start cookin!!!:wink:

 

[Hoss]

In response to the covering,,,,,,FARK NO! Just use the wood off the top first.BTW wood does NOT have to be cut and split to dry.IF that is wood from fallen Alabama tornadoe trees,you're good to go.

 

[Dave Russell]

Ditto that on the seasoning, and I'm glad to read that keeping covering isn't worth the trouble. Come fall I'll cover just part of my pile with a small tarp so I always have some dry, but I've wondered whether covering to slow seasoning was very effective or not.

What's seasoned to some isn't to others, but I think you're good on all that storm wood. Your fellow Alabamian Chris Lilly calls wood "seasoned" at only THREE MONTHS after being cut. Personally though, I'd go with six months or so for the smaller offsets I've used. The key though is a small hot and well-ventilated fire fed with small hot splits. If you don't get that right it doesn't matter how well-seasoned your wood is.

 

[Wampus]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about covering it. The way you've got it stacked, it will keep dry enough. My wood's stacked on pallets, uncovered. If the stack is wet when I need to burn wood, I just pull off the top few rows and get the logs from further down, where it's still dry.

Especially with higher humidity weather, I'd worry more about mold in a covered stack than it getting wet if not covered. The ground water could create a real humid environment and if it's covered and has no air circulation, yuk.


Nice score on the smoke wood though!:thumb: