I have enough wood hoarded to last me for ten years. All red & white oak and some hickory. Right now I have about 4 years worth cut and stacked. 2 years worth under cover. The rest is in logs and rounds. What will make the wood last the longest without going punky with rot? Should I go ahead and Buck and split it all or leave it as is and just stay 4-5 years ahead.
Get it off the ground. It's best to split it all, but if you get it off the ground, in such a way as to let let air pass through it, and top cover, it the rounds and logs should last a a good while. But again, it's best to split it to let the moisture pass out of it faster. By the way, 10 years ahead and mostly oak! You win today's 'You Suck' award!
It’s been a lot of work and I just am trying to keep any wood from going to waste. I gladly accept the (You Suck) award and would like to thank my fellow hoarders for their support, guidance and helping me spend my money on toys …. I mean tools.
I wonder this same question because I have a lot of wood. And also am not even sure if firewood will last ten years around here if css and covered in a shed! Thinking it will get punky before then. I will know down the way!
I’m burning up some now that is too dry at 4 years old. It’s not punky but light as a feather and burns fast. Was using it only for startup but now trying to use it up. What doesn’t burn this season will get moved out by the firepit. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
(2) Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage | Firewood Hoarders Club Wood will last a long time if handled right. Just look around and see the old barns, houses, etc and they were built using wood. Shoot, I went to a one room country school in 1948. Both the school and even the old outhouse are still standing!
A guy I met back in the 80's told me not to get too far ahead on the firewood stacks. His reasoning was if you should happen to die, why give your "replacement" the opportunity to benefit from your hard work by extending the honeymoon time with your widow! Never heard of CSS firewood turning punky in a wood shed......like Backwoods Savage says, wood structures still in great shape. Looks at how many barns have nothing but bare wood for siding.....
How much wood are we talking about? If we are talking about a 1 cord per year burning habit, them getting 10 cords cut, split and stacked under cover isn’t that big of an effort. If you burn 5 cords per year, that is a different story. Many people will stack in single or double rows to speed up the drying process. I would think that you could stack in a big block or even leave the wood in a pile as long as it is off the ground AND covered to keep precipitation off of it. If you did a pile, I would recommend replenishing the stacks as you use the wood to ensure that it has the opportunity to finish the drying process….
What species of wood was this that got too light? Some species hold up well and a few do not last long no matter how they are cared for unless kept inside.
I find cutting to 4' lengths and stacking off the ground so you can see through the stack seems to work ok. Top covering helps as does pulling off loose bark. On softer woods like silver maple this probably won't work.
Stove. Lopi Endeavor 2.5ft. I'm totally electric here and my goal is for my heater to never kick on. So far (2 yrs) I've manage to accomplish that. The logs were accumulated when I cleared the lot to build the house. Since then I've acquired a lot more wood from storm damage and the electric company clearing right of way to install power lines. I have plenty of trees around so I’ll never run out of wood, I just hate to see it wasted. Mike in Okla
If you split and stack the wood and then keep it dry, then that is what will make your hard work last the longest. I am burning 6-year-old wood this winter and none of it is punky and I do not buy into the too dry theory. As far as I am concerned the less moisture there is in the wood when burning the more efficient it is and the less moisture in wood means less rot.
I am fortunate to have a dedicated three sided metal wood shed, that I store all flavors of wood: all sizes of rounds, plus longer pieces that are 4-5” wide and 3-4’ l9ng, and a few cords of splits. Most important is to keep it dry with air flow. This wall of rounds at the time were 4 years old, they are still there now 5 years later, same dry condition, I have just been lazy and not split them yet, I pulled a few pieces this winter, all are dry, 11-14% and same even after splitting open and in house for a day. Mixture of oak, lots of elm, (prime reason for my laziness, ha!,) maple, hickory. This long wall and another side wall in the shed. I have stacks/splits I pull from, that are just as old, plus new splits a few years old drying. Do not think it really matters if off the ground and air on both ends and around, and dry. Logs are to cumbersome for me. My favorite things I am burning this winter is small limb maple, oak, elm rounds that were to small to bother to split, ( most 9+ years old) that I had stored in 3-4’ lengths. The electric chain saw cut it to 15-20” lengths, Great dry wood, great coals, great heat. Cannot imagine folks having 10-15 cords stacked and dry, but I am not a full time wood heat primary. My paltry 4 cords long term storage is nothing compared to all of you.
