My tornado steps can hold about a week and half worth of wood when stacked tight, but my teenage sons prefer just to dump wood and run.
Yes it works, but I am type that wants to always look for a better way. Yet I don't want to reinvent the wheel. My back deck is not covered and does not get much sun in the winter. I tried to put a rack on the back deck several years ago. In order to keep the rain and snow off the wood, I had to cover it with a tarp. This produced condensation which would freeze on the wood. It's why I built the second rack inside of 2"x4" which holds about 6 days worth of wood. Working off one rack at a time allows the second rack to dry out if the wood is wet from rain or snow. I am not a fan of keeping that much wood in the house, but have not come up with an alternative. The one advantage of the two racks is that right before a snow storm I'll load up both racks. That gets me roughly 10 days worth of burning. One thing I've considered is completely enclosing the woodshed that holds 1 cord, and just bringing in what I need for the day. If I divide the woodshed in half, I could refill it when I hit 1/2 a cord. Even if I did this, I think I'd keep the one wooden rack I built full for snowstorms and raining weather. Jason from RI
My god that is a beautiful stack of wood. From the looks of everyones splits, it almost looks like you are not using splitters. Maybe a table saw or something to get the perfect flat sides. It's either that, or I have a ton to learn about using a log splitter. Question for you, keeping in on the porch like that, does it not get wet from snow and rain? Jason from RI
With the rack you had on the porch....have you considered getting a sheet of galvanized roofing and screwing it on top to make a mini "shed" of sorts? May keep the wood drier before it comes inside
Yep - it's a covered porch - stays pretty high and dry up there. Occasionally a tiny bit of snow will get on it, if it's blowing around a lot. Nothing like it would see out in the open! I do have a table saw, but I split all this with a good 'ol fashioned ax!
I'm still trying to figure the best way... Made an indoor rack, holds 2 of the coldest winter's days worth. Then each year I've done something different for the "closer" stack... This year I made 2 pallet racks that will be placed near the front porch. I use one of those firewood carts from HF and the front door is easiest to get through. Load the racks and move with tractor. I also hope to use the little yard trailer, make a roof for it, and use that too. Last year I made a quick pallet "shed" made out of 3 vertical pallets, 2 horizontal pallets, and an old sheet of ply for the roof. It worked fine, but I'm avoiding loading/ unloading so didn't resurrect this year. For a couple years I stored in my basement a couple weeks worth at a time. This was challenging when it got snowy/ icy and I had to navigate down the bulkhead with a cart full of wood and not break my neck. I did store a lot and it was kept dry. Prior to that I had about a half week supply on a covered wood rack I built. That got old when in the middle of the work week I had to reload.
We have a little firewood box by the stove, but sometimes we'll just walk all the way out to the woodshed to grab an armload of wood to reload the stove. However, our woodshed is pretty close to the stove. Below is a picture I took of the woodshed while standing on the stove hearth. It's so close I've even been known to grab a load of wood in the middle of the winter in the buff.
Posted this before but this is my Dad's set up for in house stove in the basement. Holds over 1/2 cord and filled with a 1/2 truck load. Dirt and sleeping bugs stay outside till they are ready to get a warm welcome Works VERY nice and been in use for 30 years.
I can hold about ¾ face cord in my basement in a recessed area between the chimney and the garage wall. The stack is only 5’ from my stove, and lasts about 2 weeks in December and about a week in January/February. This is the first year I’m stacking outside, and I’m trying to figure a way to set aside a couple days’ worth so that the new wood has a little time to dry off any snow/rain, because there’s a noticeable difference after it’s been in the basement for a couple days with the heat of the stove near it. Although granted, it was raining when I brought my wood in and I forgot to top cover my wood back in October like I had planned so extra drying time shouldn’t be an issue once I get my game together.
I drive the trailer up to the tin covered stacks, load it and park it next to the porch. The big piece of metal covers it from the rain. Bins of kindling on the front porch, load the wood bag and into the stove.
We've got an enclosed breezeway between the house and the garage so I stack one row floor to ceiling in front of the non-movable side of the patio door, dang near a face cord I figure. It stays about 35-40 in there (perfect spot for adult beverage storage in the winter) and the patio door faces south so the sun dries the stack off nice. From there I cart it into the house with my new-to-me two wheeled firewood cart. It's basically a two wheeler made in the same sort of wrought iron style as classic fireplace tools that's in the shape of a big U. The new basement wood stove enclosure will have plenty of extra firewood storage area being 6x16'. I'll be able to set pallets on the deck right in front of the door and just fill the room pretty much. It also faces south and has a french door and a large window so I expect it to dry the wood off just fine even without the furnace running.
I snagged a wooden shipping crate from work that is made of 3/4" ply and holds about a 1/4 cord. I put UHMW skis on the bottom and jack up wheels in the back. First fill of the year we fill it with all the odds, ends and uglies that don't fit in the wood pile. Then jack the wheels down and roll it into the garage with the lawn tractor. Second fill of the year there is usally snow on the ground and we pull it out fill it and push it back in place by hand.
I have a 4 ft wood rack in the entryway (about 12 ft from the stove) that lasts a week give or take. I can back the truck right up to the front porch to load it. I put somewheres around a cord at a time in the garage too. I cobbed a kindling rack a couple months ago and keep that in the garage too.
We do not like wood in the house unless it is in the stove. Occasionally an exception might be made but only enough for the next fire. Over years I saw too many bugs and flying critters (mostly moths) come out of the wood (and the wood was not wet). Therefore, we do try to keep the wood outdoors. We have a wood rack on the porch that we fill so when it comes time to fill the stove, 2 or 3 steps and grab the wood. It is handy that way.
