Quick thought; how many rows do you guys stack together and how far apart do you space each row or section? I don't care for it to look nice I just want it to dry good. Sometimes I get lazy and leave no spacing like I did here, but maybe ill skip a row and do another four rows. My wood sits on top of a hill along a machine shed bit its plenty windy most days. I might have heard this from Buckin Billy Ray, but the saying goes something like "wide enough for a mouse, and narrow enough so a cat can't fit." I've got a story about a cat that actually did fit and got squashed in my stacks but thats for another day.
I give a few inches. Ill use a 36 or 40" wide pallet and double row 16" splits. Scrap plywood over the gap and top cover. I had a bunch of wood tightly stacked and the internal splits got moldy and didnt dry well. I normally wouldnt have done that but a couple of years ago i was ppressed for space. I was able to move the stacks a year ago Ive triple rowed on a 48" pallet and had them too tight. Now if i do that ill leave an inch or two. Let end splits hang over a couple inches to compensate. From the looks of it your stacks get plenty of sun (mine dont) so that helps a lot. Space them a couple inches at least IMO for better air flow.
I leave 6' so I can easily fit a big wheelbarrow in between. In the shed I stack tight together because it's only a few steps to the boiler. That wood is normally pretty dry by the time it goes in.
Im with brad here, stacks all 48" wide, 2 rows of 16 and 18's, and the middle gap filled with shorts and uglies. Top covered asap. My first wood stacks from 2019 will be pulled open soon, they were 4 rows together, and top covered. Not sure how well the inside pieces seasoned yet. Later in the winter, we'll pull open stuff from late '19, first wood to be on pallets 48" wide. That stuff should be dry. Plenty of sun and wind exposure here. I.e. the ground dries pretty well after a rain. Sca
I stack 2 rows on a 40 inch pallet, then toss the uglies in the middle. Never had a problem with mold or not drying. Some of my stacks barely see any sun.
On pallets. 2 splits wide. Splits stacked with inside ends touching. No gap. Makes for long rows but seems to work best for me. I used to stack 3 splits wide. Sucked for inner row seasoning. Next I tried 2 splits wide with a large gap. Seasoned great. Very prone to stacks tipping over. No fun. Finally went to method described above. Best all around for me. My rows are mostly running north/south as well.
I have 2 rows of splits on pallets with space between rows. I bridge the gap on top with splits and pile shorts on top.
I most times will stack 3 rows tight together. Sometimes more than 3. I have some now I think are 6 rows or more. The most ever was over 20 rows. As long as the wood is top covered it should dry well and we have never had a problem...except for woodchucks. Only thing though is that it is always best to not stack next to a building because that will block some air movement. I would sooner stack in the woods than stack next to a building. Here is some reading for you: (3) Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage | Firewood Hoarders Club
I would say with that sun and wind exposure in the open field, spacing or not isn't going to be much of a game changer for you. Its the guys who store wood in the shade that's most important for.
I do 3 rows of 16" on pallets. Front and back rows sticking over the ends. I do try and put thinner splits in the middle. But not always. Between the stacks I leave enough room to get quad between. End to end, I just run them together. Biggest stack I had was a 12' x 8' stack of black cherry. No issue with it being dry.
Yea is guess it is kind of dependent on local climate. I think my next row will have enough room to walk between stacks. I usually stack my rows facing north to south. But I feel like I could get better results west to east like that back stack in my picture. It was split earlier this summer and its already got that dark look. Stacking north to south is just easier for me though.
I will throw in my $.02, A.) It will depend on how quickly you are needing the wood. B.) What type of wood it is. C.) How much space do you have for wood storage. Once you get ahead on wood stockpiles then you can be more particular on what you get & how you stack it. My 30+ cord at home is stacked N/S against a fence on pallets, some with 2 rows & some with 3 rows stacked end/end. This is on a low creek bottom but it gets lots of wind/sun. My 20 cord at the other farm is stacked at an angle SE - NW against a fence stacked 3 rows deep stacked end/end. This is on a hilltop with all day sun & a lot of wind. I have not noticed any major difference in drying time of similar varieties that were at both locations. In fact the SE-NW stacks of Cherry & Mulberry on the outside row face NE have dried the slower than the East facing outside rows at home. That’s about the only diff I have noticed but both are still ready in 2 years. The checks were made mid-summer with a moisture difference of about 4-5% if I remember correctly. I have found if I separate my stacks by variety/drying times, it is much easier to rotate wood out & not sort/stack the stuff again.
Space is a premium at my house so I've got all my stacks jammed in next to each other- I'm going to estimate 12 stacks wide. Old wood stacks are about 4 and a half feet tall, 10 feet deep. New wood stacks I'm going up 6 feet, still 10 feet deep. Space does not appear to be an issue based on that photo for you... I haven't had any issue with wood not drying.
FWIW - the majority of my stacks are 2 rows wide. I do have racks that are 3 rows wide. Only because it fits in my wood yard better. I don't go. Ore than 3 wide, because I like to access the middle row, from either side. Currently, my 3-wide stacks are full of red oak. They still have a couple of years to sleep.
I was stacking 3 rows wide on pallets for years, leaving just about an inch or two between the rows. Last year I figured I'd experiment a little bit with 2 rows wide, and in my neck of the woods if definitely made a difference. I'm seeing red oak and maple get down to a reasonable moisture content much faster than my previous stacking method. Of course, individual results may vary.
I run a single stack row of 20” splits. The row is 35’ long snd 4’-5’ tall. I try to leave 24” between rows to improve drying efficiency. The rows are east/west with good sun and wind exposure. I don’t have room for 3 years of wood storage, so I’m trying to achieve 20% moisture or less in one summer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's pretty much my system right there. I've run two rows with room for the tractor to go down the middle. I've done multiple rows close together and the wood in the middle wasn't obviously unseasoned or impacted by the density. They were kinda short rows, 8 feet, iirc.
Gonna leave a small gap for my next row. If I could stack it higher I would but I like it to be even when measuring for a sale. I'd say my rows are about 20 feet long. Mostly walnut, silver maple, hackberry and ash. Hoping to have my pile of rounds split and stacked before my truck is out of the shop so I can get a couple more loads!
This weather is hard to beat for splitting. Low seventys to mid 60s in the afternoon. I think I'll stack another three rows at least before making another gap. Maybe ill go for a 5 foot stack on these next rows.
12 splits wide w/ no space between. Just out of curiosity RGrant, how long do you season it before needing?
