Does anyone else pull the tarps off their firewood piles if they see a long stretch of dry weather? We just had Fred & Henri pass through Connecticut, everything is soaked after about 7-8 inches of rain combined. This morning I took all the tarps off the piles and will let the heat wave / sun do some work on them. Also - I have 2 piles of black locust from Hurricane Isaisis (Aug of 2020) - they have been cut / split / stacked since about September. I have no experience with black locust. Is it better to burn the black locust or 1 year seasoned Maple that feels really dry?
Can't say that I do, but I cannot seem any harm in doing so, if anything it would be a benefit letting that sun do its thing, especially if you have the time pull the tarps and re-tarp.
If it was fresh cut, bark-on black locust I'd give it another year. Dead with bark off is good after a year CSS'd, in my experience. The maple will most likely be good to go this year. I have a couple piles that I uncover for drier stretches, but with it being as wet as it has been in CT, it's not really practical to keep uncovering and covering piles. I just assume leave them top covered and save myself the extra work.
It does no harm to uncover then recover but I could never understand why anyone would even consider doing it. Once covered, leave it alone. The wood will continue to dry even when covered. There is a lot of work involved in putting up firewood so why make more?
If the water is going through the tarps you use you’re probably better off not using them. If it’s just the sides they’ll dry.
I suppose I might uncover them for a sunny stretch if I had covered them during a rainstorm but not otherwise. Another benefit of top covering is it keeps any windblown debris out of the top crooks and nannys!
As long as the tarps are only covering the top and a tiny bit of the side (not the entire side) then I'd just leave it alone. The more you move it, the more chance you'll tear it. Plus the tarp will help trap some heat, like a lid on a boiling pot of water.
I've never taken the top cover off until ready for use. If it didn't get soaked then it shouldn't need any additional attention. However if it makes you feel better it certainly can't harm anything except for the possible damage to the cover itself.
I also never bother to uncover them once I put top cover on. To much work for to little return in my book.
Once covered i keep covered unless the wind blows it off. If i discover holes of wet wood and its in a sunny area ill uncover. My stacks are in tight quarters so PITA to get at tarps, metal etc. If you can easily uncover them i see no harm in doing so, but as Eric and backwoods stated why make more work, but having experienced the same storms (im in North Haven) i can see why you would want to.
Id burn the maple first. The BL may be ready. If you have a moisture meter take a piece and split it and poke the fresh split face. I have five cord of BL i CSS from Sept-Dec of last year and may sell some come Winter. If CSS dead barkless its definitely ready to go for this year. I have a bunch of that too. Be careful of "locust mania" dave_026 as its swept through Connecticut. Myself and a couple other members have it.
