Wondering if anyone has ever done a study to determine the sun's role, if any. Take two stacks, one split wide. (If the stack is more than one stack wide, the sun would strike only one stack.) Orient the stack for maximum sun. Obviously, the sun will only strike one end of the splits. The other stack could be the same, just under a shed. Oriented the same way, it gets the same air circulation, same wind pattern. It would be interesting to note the difference in moisture content after a certain period of time drying. What do you think? Another variable could be whether the exposed stack has a top cover. Geez, another variable could be whether the cover is removed during dry, hot summer months.
I left a large stack of a red oak in an open field recently that I cut and split. Stack was haphazard pile, nothing great. It was about 10 days later when I came and moved wood to my storage piles, anecdotally that wood was a full 30% lighter than I recall it being when I cut and split it and especially the pieces in the top foot or two of the pile. They also had lost more weight than I expected them to lose in the same time period based on my experience with stacks at my house. The biggest difference I could equate was they were in full sun for most all of the day (my storage area gets some amount of shade much of the day) and wide open for wind all day (my storage area gets good air movement around it but not wide open) Laundry on a line dries best in the sun.
Over the Summer i was processing wood in a mostly sunny area and leaving the wood in the sun. See my thread BuZZsaw's mini honey hole! Wood dried very nicely! Sat in the sun 2-3 months. I have a stack behind my shed, north side, no sun, some wind. Part of the stack was exposed on one side to more wind and i was amazed at how much lighter and the splits on that end were. Ask jrider about full sun for drying wood! Makes a world of difference. Wish i had a full sun area.
Likewise, I have very little. But the little I do have does wonders to the racks. Time and wind is more my friend!
My stacking area is pretty much full shade. One stack gets sun on its face in the afternoon. We do the best we can with what we have!
Same here buddy!! I have a heavy canopy of trees. Little bit peeks through during the early afternoon but most of the sun comes at dusk. I probably get 2hrs on a couple of racks. Now that the leaves are almost all gone I'll get a bit more sun in winter months
I've always stated that the best way to dry wood we've found (other than kiln drying) is to cut the wood in winter, get it split at least by early spring and stack it. Leave it simply stacked through the summer and then top cover it in late fall or early winter. Yes, it is best if stacked in the sun no matter if it is covered or not. However, we have found that if you split and stack it where it can get good air circulation (preferably good wind), it will dry fast even if you do not get sun on the wood. The first time I tried this I had a problem with my tools for hauling wood so just split and stacked the wood right in the woods and this was during December-January. I never did anything with the wood stacks; not even top covering. Yet, come fall when I got things fixed and hauled it up by the house I found that all the wood was in excellent condition and yes, I burned a lot of that wood that winter. No, there was on oak in the stack. It was all soft maple, elm and ash. The wood was perfect for burning and we'll call that one year in the stack; no sun and only light wind, being inside the woods. I will also state that I've experimented with top covering, complete covering and no covering of wood stacks. Top covering by far we found to be the best. I know there are many who just say to heck with it and never cover their wood and it burns fine. I say yes, it will burn fine but in our experience, it also loses a lot of btus if not top covered. Again, yes, it will burn with no problem once it is dried, but... Top cover the wood and you can leave it for years and years and it will still be fine when you are ready to burn it. Some may want to check out this link: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage
Full summer sun does wonders when it comes to drying wood. As many of you have seen my "piles" or windrows, I have also noticed orientation plays a role as well. At my location (39 degrees north latitude) running my piles almost due north-south dries better than running them east-west due to the side facing north not getting much sun at all.
^^^^^^ I top covered the stacks I was burning, but I've never covered wood in the drying stacks. However, as Dennis mentioned, that wood will lose some of it's BTU value because of decay by being exposed to the elements. I HIGHLY dislike tarps, so I built a woodshed to eliminate the tarping of current year wood. Problem mostly solved, and the drying stacks aren't exposed to the weather for more than a couple years anymore, so it's less of an issue. From experience, I've found that wind is key (thank you Dennis, and others). If it's possible, sun AND wind is much gooder. Early in my woodburning evolution, I had about 3 cord of splits stacked behind a shed, in the woods and almost zero wind.......virtually no sun. Also, not much drying happenin', so it got moved to my drying field. Full sun most days and tons of wind. Perfect. Almost.
A big pile is actually a great representative sample of everything you question. In a big pile, some on top have both sun and air flow, but incrementally deeper in the pile there's some that get neither. Of course, some are facing every point in the compass, completing the experiment. With my own sample of big green logs of Douglas Fir, the end checking (cracks) is almost exactly correlated with how quickly they dry - and the southwest side of the pile which bakes in the afternoon sun - absolutely get most checking - and has the driest pieces. Sunshine = warmth, and the warmer it is the lower the relative humidity is, all other things being equal - that's the science. Neither airflow nor sun get to the middle - absolutely the slowest drying. I'd rather have airflow than sun, but of course more of both is better.
I have found that issues like this only become a concern when you don’t have enough wood and not enough time. The solution of course, is to get a few years ahead and therefore you get much more TIME which will make up for deficits in sun, wind, top covered/uncovered etc etc. Having a sufficient drying/seasoning area and a good woodshed to move seasoned wood into for STORAGE (not seasoning) is paramount to this process. If on this program you don’t have to be worried about details and factors that will eventually be solved by TIME. Dennis’ 2/3 year program is a good one.
The wood I am burning now was stacked outside my shed on a gravel pad April 1st and brought into garage and basement mid October. I have since stacked my 2020/2021 wood on same gravel pad. The two rows face SSW. Believe it or not the inside row was dryer with my moisture meter than the outside row which got full sun. When that June July August sun hit that metal shed it created an oven like experience for the inside row and baked it. I have since top covered next winters wood with an old black rubber conveyer belt my neighbor gave me
I'd like to chime in with something worth considering. The thesis of it is that sunlight alone will not do everything. Airflow will play a pivotal role. At my home, I have a rather large and kind of cumbersome from step / walkway. My home gets tremendous sun in the front. I installed solar panels on the home as my front is unobstructed- and haven't paid for electricity since 2015. Those are my bona fides on sunlight. Out front I stacked something on the order of more than half, but less than 3/4 a cord of wood last spring. It was out there all spring, all summer, through the fall (recall, no obstructed shade, so no leaves were falling on the stack and just take my word for it for the time that there were no leaves in there to hold moisture against the wood) and now that its burn season, I've been grabbing wood out of the front first since it's closer and had the most sun exposure. So here's what happened- in the front area where the wood was stacked all in the same orientation, not in the criss/cross Lincoln Log set up to set the edge because I had the railing to hold it in place... that wood was in some instances still damp and not burn worthy. A few pieces had fungus growing on it. This was in the area that had the absolute most sun directly on the wood. And I know I'm as prone as the next guy is to exaggeration for the sake of a good story, but I'm absolutely convinced by this experience. I personally will be stacking all of my wood from here on out whether in full sun or partial shade, or full shade- whatever- in a manner that allows for airflow. Some of you guys who know way more than me probably already knew this part- but I stacked it too tight and paid a moisture price this winter.
IMHO the manner in which the wood is split also matters. Splits that resemble boards will dry faster than those pie wedge shaped. Because they are thinner and have more surface area. My stack are in full sun every day and are out in the open so they get lots of wind. One thing that reinforces sun drying faster is the stacks will always lean towards the sun. When a stack has tipped over, it was always towards the sun, never the other way which is good because it is my neighbors fence. One more thing, wood dries during the Winter, these pics were taken in late Winter/Early Spring and you can see the checking on the wood already.
All good stuff here. I’m in the process of once again changing where I stack. For one I need more room which helps that decision. We’ve always stacked on the western edge of a field. No reason in particular, it was just easy access without messing up the hay. Problem is the forest throws shade for half the day and generally speaking limits airflow. It does warm up faster in the morning that way but that’s about it. Year ago I moved up into the the NW corner. Even less airflow there. I assume to the fact the forest is continuous in that area. Noticed a big change working there. No wind at all. Go 50 yards in any direction and there’s air movement. Tucked in that corner nothing. Gonna be stacking along the North edge of the field soon. Starting to clear the ingrowth soon. More sun, more wind.
Absolutely jealous of these stacks. With what's pictured, how long do you believe that would suit you?
