Uh-oh......this is going to turn into a top-cover "to do or not to do" thread.... I can hear the engine sputtering....
What is there to discuss....... Everyone knows that top covering is the proper and best way to do it......... There is has been said
I tend to not get involved in these types of threads any more as there are too many variables involved to have drying practices etched in concrete.
Ha, I think that was me. And I can assure you that shed-stored BL (it was more like 30 years old) was some INCREDIBLE firewood.
Not a problem. I had almost forgotten, but I still have about 1/2 cord of that locust left. I guess it's 34+ years old now & will be burned this year. To stay on topic with the OP, I'm 39 and I'm deteriorating way faster than my firewood.
Can't help but think some of you are missing the point, those types of articles are not talking about the wood getting punky, they are talking about the bound water (resins) drying out after a lengthy period of time. The elements would come into play on how long this might take, I have cut dead wood that was not punky at all but was much lighter then normal, I assume that is what happened in that case.
Article says wood starts to deteriorate after 4-5 years. de·te·ri·o·rat·edde·te·ri·o·rat·ing Full Definition of DETERIORATE transitive verb 1 : to make inferior in quality or value : impair 2 : disintegrate intransitive verb : to become impaired in quality, functioning, or condition Not much to mis-understand about that. I have no scientific evidence and care not to go into minute details. But this ole boy has burned a whole lot of what they call deteriorated wood. When I first got onto a wood burning forum about all of the wood we burned was 7-8 years in the stack. It was fantastic wood! In addition, we took some 8 year old wood to a manufacturing plant and tested it and then burned it. Did it burn any different from the wood they were burning at the time which was kiln dried wood (just don't remember the type). Yes, it did burn a bit different and burned very nicely indeed. No, it did not burn faster than the other wood. No, it was not rotten or punky or extremely dried out as one might find on a desert. I'll also say a relative of ours burned wood (white ash) that was at least 15 years old and had been stored in a shed. As for me and my house, we'll keep on top covering the wood and also have some mighty good fires to keep us warm, even if the wood gets 10 years old. fwiw, we generally split and stack in spring and then top cover in late fall or early winter. That is how it keeps until burning time; outdoors. Well, before winter now that we have room in the barn, we do put enough in the barn come October so we don't have to dig through snow and ice to get the winter's wood.
Yep, the article just doesn't say anything else about it. Deteriorates after 4-5 years as in rots? Well, not if proper precautions are taken to prevent that. Deteriorates in the way the oldspark is talking about? Maybe. I don't posses the necessary scientific knowledge to know that, but have no reason to believe that oldspark is making that up. The article is unclear about how exactly the wood is deteriorating In any case, if you keep your wood dry it'll burn just fine when you get around to feeding it to the stove
Yea I had the same thoughts But was wondering the BTU value of wood that old & weathered. Sure it burns, but has it lost some of the chemical make-up thru the years & lost BTUs? I can see wood thats coated/painted BTUs lasting a long long time, but uncoated wood outside, even in a barn or shed it breathes thru the seasons & does change color , even sun bleached look to it. I'm not gonna go over a 5 year plan just in case LOL
To me there's some validity to what they're saying, just not sure it can be stated for all species of wood that 3-5 is the peak. I'm thinking wood types have some bearing on how long they maintain their peak BTU values. Just no way to effectively test all the variables. Downed spruce here lasts a long time in MN , where downed birch, in 3 years is compost inside the bark. Like resinous wood vs non resinous, maybe the resins break down over time, Not gonna change my 3 - 4 year plan, but it's something to consider, especially if your wood is out in the elements.
I agree with in validity too in part. But would the actual drop of BTUs be that high after just 3 - 5 years? I'm reading that he has punky wood - but he is mixed up about it, so just threw that out from his own experience.
I will admit such "chemical reactions" topics are beyond my knowledge, and I know that a poplar or pine split feels like balsa wood after a few years. Wouldn't think there would be many btu's left there, the oaks and maples seem to me to stabilize after drying. I don't seem to notice such a difference between 2yr, 5yr,or 7yr, hardwood splits, pure speculation on my part.
