So... back to tarping the top stack of dried wood

on my stacks I use the rope over the top with a weight on each end technique.

 

"Some might get tired of seeing some of our wood piles but here comes a few more pictures:" ... ... can't get nuff pics of those stacks Dennis...

And yup, I top cover too.

 

I usually let them dry all summer and then put a top tarp on in mid September. Let the inner plant dry out but then keep the surface dry going into the winter. It's whatcha gotta do I think up here in the PNW.

 

Top covered as soon as stacked. I use heavy stones every 3 feet or so and the wind doesn't really disrupt them. The tarps are cut to just the width of the splits. I hate them, but until I build a wood shed, they work fine.

 

Topless always until close to snow time. Never use tarps, never. Hard tops or that thick heavy rubber roofing/
The locals here say that leaving the stacks open in rain, wind, and sun "drives" the sap out for drying. Seems to work well.
Hate tarps that blow off, smother the splits, and look ugly....ugly.
Get to know builders and carpenters for ply or OSB pieces.
Forgot that 4+ cords are in an front and sides open wood shed. The rest stacked nicely
out by species and age. Got wood ? I will often stare at the stacks and sniff.

 

My method is the same as Backwoods Savage, split in spring, stack, top cover in fall. If I get bonus wood I leave the rounds stacked until the following spring to split.

 

The belting is working great for me.

 

Never, keep em' coming!

 

I leave the stacks uncovered until the snow flies. Before that happens, I use some metal roofing my neighbor gave me. I was using old rubber roofing material. It was a challenge to work with. The metal is a lot easier; put on top, weigh it down with a few rocks; done. The challenge there comes with keeping it horizontal as you start to burn the wood. The sections I have are a good 10' in length. Suppose I could cut them down!

 

I had the opportunity to garb some belting like that last year and kick myself for not doing so. HEAVY stuff so i think that was my reason at the time.

 

Seems to do the job Dennis. Theory that rain "replaces" or "pushes out" the sap, then sun and wind dry the splits. It's worked for us for decades, only like you, covering in late Fall.
P.S. How are you doing physically ?

 

Hey neighbor. I'm in Edmonds. I top cover as soon as stacked and go back and forth in the spring/summer when its raining and not. I use 6mil plastic and staple the 4 corners then release one end and restaple when I cover again. How do you do yours?

 

Well, I've got stacks out there that I leave exposed throughout the year. If there are tarps still on the stacks in late spring because I didn't need to burn them, I take the tarp off for the summer. I then usually put a top tarp on them for the fall/winter -- which means I try to get as deep into September as I can get. I am short on firewood this year because I did not tarp enough even though it's super seasoned. It's just a sloppy mess. Six+ months of wet will do that to you. If I have a hot fire brewin' then no problem. But once you have a hot fire, that's never the problem. The problem is I need the wood dry enough to start a hot fire -- and if I don't tarp -- then it's useless to me. Yes, I've bought that expensive kiln dried ripoff crap at the stores to get the fire going and then put some of that sloppy mess but it's not worth it. At that point, I just turn my pellet stove on.

So I try to cut/buy my splits and stack in the dry days of late winter/early spring (it's a great time to go over to central Washington and get some chopped wood from the orchards) and then stack them. I leave them exposed throughout the spring and summer or more. Often I'm a year+ out so it's at least 15 months. That's plenty for the indigenous species. Obviously the more the better but you can season Douglas Fir, for example, in like 6-8 months with a good summer -- and its ready to be burned.

In short, I top tarp dry stacks I think I'm going to need for the season in late September. Repeat process.

 

Seems like many of us PNWers have same issues if a wind break isn’t possible. The top of the stack is always an issue because it’s usually the driest wood that possibly got wet, the most accessible. Any wind will seem to blow some of this roof traction matting I have as well. It works ok but I know I would favor EPDM more than this for its flex in heat while staying in place because of its weight.

I had heard of people here just screwing some down past the first few inches of the stack sides instead of adding splits on top. After that it was all about moving the screwed in split on each side over on the stack, work your way down a bit all along the stack. Not just the side you’re on. The more evenly you break down the stack overall, the longer it will stay dry and not lose its stability, crashing down in a heap in the middle of a rainy November night as you curse out the wind in so many different expletives... .