I have beenl going through my stacks, recutting and restacking on pallets. Issues of logs too long and severely wet wood are the problem. Anyway, I have been taking note of things that may be of use to others, and certainly myself. Here are a couple of those points: 1. Bark up or down. I was going through a bunch of Cherry splits and was able to prove this phenom over and over. Those splits with the bark up were in much better condition than those with bark down. Makes sense, but I have read more than a few posts about which is better and why. 2. Bark or bare. Bark is definitely promoting rot. Again, makes sense since it helps keep moisture in the wood when the tree is alive. I remember reading a post by a member who was stripping the bark prior to stacking. I thought that was a lot of meaningless work, but for long term stacking, it would be beneficial. 3. Tight stacks are not good. Another sensible topic. Tight wood stacks can't breath.
Good points I have birch & stack bark down. Stacked real loose with good space between splits & the 2 rows in the seasoning stack. Spruce with the bark on , after dead a year, the bark acts like a sponge & keeps the wood wet, with the bark off is dry & last many years. (even not top covered) Birch needs to be split , even the small rounds, the bark is watertight I'd think red oak would do better bark side up, (even if the bark is off) the porous wood side would allow rain into the pores every time it got rained on. So wood types are factors to consider too. The general rules for optimum seasoning for all wood types are , off the ground (no weeds or grass underneath ) , open on all side, space between the splits & rows, sunny & breezy location, top covered only. (nothing hanging over the edges), with warm dry weather. I don't get all the optimum conditions, but most. (wood dries slower when frozen for 6 months ) LOL
The debate on bark up or bark down will never end. However, I will add that it does no good to say either way until it is known if the stack is covered. I tend to stack bark up most of the time but certainly not always. It just seems for me to be easier to stack with bark up. Probably because that is how I've done most of the stacking. For sure if I were not top covering the wood, I would definitely make certain the bark was up rather than down. As for the bark, I think it is a huge waste of time to strip the bark. If the bark is already loose, then by all means, get it off. Sometimes when taking wood from the pile we'll find loose bark and then for sure we take it off. Recently we've moved some wood into the barn. In so doing, we've thrown a lot of bark out the barn door. Tight stacks are okay but only if you have plenty of drying time. I still favor slightly loose though just to be sure it is drying. Besides, it gives the chipmunks a place to ramble.
Good thread. Some really good pointers to start and Backwoods Savage and bogydave have added a lot of what I would have added as well. This is what works for me, I stack bark up only because it seems easier to me to do it that way, as Dennis said for himself too. Bark is nothing but a small BTU getter and a major ash creator. Yeah, its a lot of work to debark is almost pointless to do unless thats all you have time for. Debarked would be ideal, it would give the split another surface to release moisture from. I stack loosely in order to gain a little more air flow and I top cover only. When the stacks do decide to stand up straight the entire time the top cover works just fine. Unfortunately in the drying process the splits shrink and my stacks sometimes look like the leaning tower of splits... And as Dave said, all the optimum drying conditions are noted on the end of his post.
I pay no attention to bark up or bark down, but I cover all my stacks with rubber roofing material and as a result I simply don't think it matters. I am lucky enough to have lot's of room and have stacks two rows deep on pallets, probably 15 cord or so, really haven't figured exactly how much is out there for a while.
Perhaps it is just related to the west coast but due to the size of our logs there isn't much bark. I pay no attention to which side is up on those few with bark.
Another thing that I see biting me in the butt is that when I scrounged, I always took all the wood possible. There were a coupler Oaks that were standing dead a long time, and a big Cherry that was all hollowed out with rot. The lesson I learned there is that those logs that were already showing rot have really lead the way into dirtville taking other decent wood with it. I literally took 2 gallons of dirt from one pallet of splits. Next learing experience will be when I get the forks for the loader and see what the machine can and can't move. I have a 1/2 cord on one pallet and 5/8 on some older stacked pallets. The 1/2 cord is likely heavier due to the issues with the wet wood. The 5/8 stacks are all in good shape and in their 18 month of being CSS.
I dont top cover and I do not worry about the bark either way, important thing is to have it in single rows so the wind and sun can do their thing, no rot here even with the 3 year old wood stacked in single rows. Been doing it this for for a little over 35 years and the results have always been the same. Some other areas this may not work but I do now John from woodheat.org does not cover his. www.woodheat.org/preparing-fuel-supply.html
Yea Your system works well for your situation, area & wood types. We imagine your long single rows must look similar to the perfect stack of Papdave, you have some acreage ? ?
Yes I live in the country bogydave, my rows are not as long as Papadave's but I have several, I have a new internet with a limit on data so I have quit with pictures or even watching videos, they saw me coming on that deal.
I've been encountering some oak in my stacks that was solid when stacked 3yrs ago but large black beetles have bored them out into feather weights. It seems to be more in the top of the stack, could be these were dead tops, coupled with not being top covered until recently, gave the beetles some moisture to forage
