Is it best to cover wood or not? What is the best choices for covering the wood. I was thinking of May, June, July, August without a cover, then start to cover the wood in Sept and forward. looking for some suggestions, thanks.
There's another thread here with lots of good ideas: http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/the-official-top-covering-thread.12300/ I stack a lot of my wood near a building, and if it isn't covered, it would collect a lot of runoff from the roof, and never dry out. IMO, it's better to cover as soon as you can. The drying action you'll lose by covering is from the direct sunlight - but you'll still get most of the heat and airflow if you only cover the top. If you can keep the rain off of it, then you're not adding additional water, which would require additional energy to evaporate. That's just my gut feeling though. "To cover or not" is a question like "what is the best chainsaw" and it carries a bit of a "firewood politics" undertones. Most people seem to have a strongly held opinion on it, that's not really backed up by any evidence.
I'm on the 3 year plan. I don't worry about top covering the first 2 years, the last year I like to get it covered.
It's one of the great debates you'll find in the firewood community. Different strokes for different folks. It mostly boils down to climate, topography, and your hoard. A lot of us here are on a "3 year plan", some are even up to 5 or 6 years ahead on their stash. The big factor is getting it split and stacked up off the ground. Some species of wood require a lot more time than others......
I agree with Scotty. I also think some of the softer woods stored for three plus years should be considered for covering. I ran into a bit of trouble with some ash elm that was two plus years old that was stacked where it didn't get very good sunlight. I've since moved my stacks and or trimmed the tree branches to help without covering.
Oh man , you'll get many methods. You are a good hardwood & a heavy snow area, so you plan is right for you. Definitely cover the seasoned stuff you'll be burning that season. So much depends on you, the space you have, have/don't have a wood shed, wood types , typical seasonal weather & time frame of you wood rotation. I have birch & if left out uncovered for a few years it gets punky. The 1st 10 months , I don't top cover but I lean the 2 rows to meet at the top . use the bark up of birch (water tight bark) for my top cover. Helps a little with rain & keep the snow out of the space between the rows. Then it goes to a wood port in mid Aug just before rainy season starts), where it's top covered 2 years before burning
http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/resources/primer-on-woodburning-by-backwoods-savage.6/ In PA it might be best to top cover as soon as you get it stacked. But for us, we like to leave it uncovered the first summer and fall (we usually have it stacked by mid-April). Then we top cover usually by December 1. One theory is that leaving it uncovered that first summer will help it dry; that is, provide the best method for evaporation. After the first summer and fall we like to cover it before the snow piles up on it. If we happen to have a really wet fall, we would top cover sooner, like in September. Just remember the best thing is to keep it off the ground and have good air circulation. Sunshine is good too but air circulation is the biggest key factor.
My summers are hot and dry, no covering needed June-Sept. I've recently began top covering my older stacks with good results.
As soon as its stacked? Probably what I'll be doing in the future. It may slow the drying over the first summer but I won't be burning it for 4-5 years.
I didn't top cover at all for awhile but as I got further ahead I decided that it made sense to, plus I came across some free metal roofing that wasn't good for anything else. So now I have the stuff I'm going to burn the next 2 winters covered, with 2 more winters worth uncovered. I also agree that softer woods need to be covered more so than hard woods.
