I got hooked up with a tree removal guy and he's dropping a couple truck loads of logs. The problem is room to store it. My racks in the open sunny area are full. I have an area behind my barn that I can use but its shaded. Do you guys think the wood will be ok if it is bucked, stacked and I cover it from getting too wet from the rain and snow? Thanks
Can you lay down some poles or timbers to stack the rounds on? Best if they are not touching the ground. A tarp will work fine. Rot is a biological process, slows down in cold temps.
I'll stack the rounds on pallets or poles. I may split the rounds in half to get them to start drying.
Wood will still dry without sun. Is there a good breeze in that area? I quit stacking behind my garage since it got very little sun and no wind... And like already mentioned, keep it off the ground at least a few inches.
It should dry just fine as long as it’s split and off the ground, especially if the wind gets at it at all.
If you goin to cover it....only top cover it. I covered a pile totally late last fall n all of winter n i had too much mold for my taste come time to split it.
It works much, much better if you split the wood before stacking. We don't worry much about covering immediately but perhaps it would be best in your area as I think you get lots more rain than we do. Here, I like to sort of stack the rounds as we cut in winter; split and stack in spring; top cover late fall or early winter. It works.
Shurdel, I recently replied to a CL add for a tree company asking if anyone wants their removal wood. Are you in the central part of Pa? This guy told me they won't go as far south as I am, and they don't let anyone on their property to pick up wood. I'm about 20-25 minutes south of where they claimed to be out of. I'd put it where ever you can and try to c/s/s asap. If you are short on dry wood, you'll need to get at it anyway. Short term pile in the shade won't hurt a thing. Long term storage is a different story. Recently my wood hauls have been large hauls that need removed from the property as fast as possible. I just stack it in a pile till I have time to split. No problems. Length wood I try to get off the ground. All depends how long it will be there.
Get it up off the ground best you can, let it get as much air as possible, and it'll be fine. You're just burning it, not building lamp tables and credenzas. Where I live is rediculously wet and shady. I've got an ash log that layed on the ground in the woods for a year, then 1-1/2" off the ground on the shady side of the house for a year, and now is being milled up for a mantle, and it's in perfectly good shape. Burned the rest of that tree last winter. (Ruby, Esther, Loretta, Puddles, and Ricardo)
Just get it to your house. As everyone else mentioned, keep it off the ground and top cover. Burn you stacks you have full and then process what you get now.
I have wood that gets dumped off from tree companies and sometimes it will sit for up to a year before I get to it. very little rotting on red and white oak if it's out in the open. If they drop off bucked rounds just make sure they are on their side and not standing on end or it will pull moisture from the ground and can ruin the wood. I have two dump truck loads coming in today of red oak from a tree company, gotta feed that splitter !!
Thanks guys! I'm going to round up some more pallets today and start stacking it where ever I can. When I get this years wood moved into the barn for the winter I'll have room to start splitting and filling the racks back up.
Jason, that wood you have stacked in log form is great. Some of those will work great for stacking wood on. This is how we stack all of our wood. Just saplings or sometimes limbs. They don't have to be very big; just so the wood stays off the ground. And that is a nice stack there!
I was able to acquire several utility poles about 20-22' long. Put up some post on the ends and pile the logs up. Bought a extra heavy duty tarp to cover it.
Last couple stacks I've done I just layed all the bark that came off the poplar I split on the ground, then stacked on top of that. It's an experiment. Might lose the bottom layer, but maybe not. If it works out ok, I figure it'll make my life a little easier... and I like when life is a little easier.
Hard to see but they are on a mix of plastic and wood pallets. A new stack to the right, I did use the little logs as you mentioned to keep them high and dry.
When stocking quarters or half’s for any length of time before splitting I like to get them all bark up. It’s a natural covering. Top cover of course is best but even if covering bark up is a good idea. Someone mentioned stacking on ends Just saw a house that had a bunch of trees taken down and the owner stacked them all on end in his yard. Five feet high. They’re gonna be awful heavy when he gets around to splitting.
