Those modern jungle gyms all around. They all have bivouac shelter roofs. If you have kids, you already know what I'm talking about. If not, just look around the 'hood. Got me thinking, why not, to keep the firewood dry? Tie a rope between two trees, drape tarp over rope, stretch corners to desired angle, stake corners. Voila!
It would work. My woodshed is more or less a metal version of what you describe. A shed roof supported by poles. I guess it's whether or not you tend toward "temporary" or "permanent".
Personal experience...........tarps suck. They fall apart after 2-3 years. Definitely temp. If that's all you're looking for: perfect.
Edit. Quoted the wrong post. I’ve done exactly that in the past. Not for firewood but sawn lumber. Tarps are temporary no doubt. Here’s the trick to help prolong their life in such a contraption. The rope you string between trees must be tied at one end and at the other use a snatch block and suspended weight. High winds or heavy snow it allows the tarp movement to sag down instead of tear. I used a one piece chimney block which weighs about ninety pounds. Think my tarps were 16x 20. Used bungies to rebar stakes for the bottom. Worked very well. Heavy snow usually clears itself within a few days. Different climates may have different results.
I agree with you about tarps. My problems include being indecisive about where to put a shed, time to do it ,with lots of other stuff that needs to get done (including that pesky paying job). The thing that sucks worse than tarps, is tarps laying right on the stacks when snow comes. The bivvy situation would give me a little relief from that, and allow better air movement.
It will work...temporarily. The worst is when heavy wet snow comes. Tarp won't like that at all. But, what about using rubber roofing of that?
A roll of rubber roofing would be put to immediate use, should one turn up around here. We do have hundreds and hundreds of linear feet of stacks. About half is under tarp cover, currently. My chosen spot for the bivvy is under some large coniferous trees that normally break up the heavy snows. But it's no guarantee that it won't fail. We are in a constant state of crisis around here, broken up with intermittent periods of calm. Just want a little more staging for the wood that's scheduled to come inside soon. Even the face cord on the porch got wet with this weekend's Nor'easter. It was coming in horizontally!
I have a awning, that came off the side of a camp trailer, that works pretty good. Not sure of its length or width, but, it was off a camp trailer that when the wind come up, it blew the awning off. So, they put a new one on, he asked me if i wanted it. Sure thing, it goes all the way over my wood, hanging about 4 ft over each side and its within 1 foot of covering the whole length. I have a 2x2 the width of the awning, and i roll it up on that when i put it away. If you see one laying around, grab it, they are pretty heavy duty as well.
I happen to have 2000 sq ft of rubber for sale. If interested send me a pm. I once had, actually still have, a billboard vinyl that I used as a tarp. It was only about three feet wide so it wasn’t the best function for my stacks but it was free so I took it home. This particular one was very heavy duty. It’s been out in my wood area for 18 years now. Drawbacks, at least for this one is they’re very stiff and get stiffer with age. A bigger one might make a good roof like your interested in. Found this place years ago but never ordered anything from them so no idea what their products are like. Check out their recycled billboard tarps if your so inclined. Vinyl Tarp Supplier | Order Online with Fast Shipping | Billboard Tarps
For smaller stacks, another good source is from Pellet Pallets, they are covered with a pretty good quality plastic cover, i take a knife or scissors and carefully cut them to open them up to a bigger/longer piece, I've even put one of them in my pack,so that when hunting, if some bad weather came in, take it out and use it like a tent, as is, they are 4 sided and have a top as well. Pretty handy thing to have around. I go to one of the local stores that carry's pellets and i get a couple of them about every week. They also work great for covering brush piles you are going to burn later on.
