So I've seen pictures of the cube in here and have a few questions. If the wood is stacked like that does it take longer to season as oppose to long single rows? How much time does it add? What do you guys use to top cover a cube? A cube would really work for me in an area I've been thinking about storing wood in. Thanks everyone for your advice. Really learning a lot from everyone.
I use a cube like stacking method. My stacks are 10' long, about 6' high at the ends and about 7' high in the middle. I leave about 6" between the parallel stacks to get some air flow. The center of the cube (mine is actually a rectangle, it has 12 stacks in it) is higher than the edges so when I top cover there is enough slope for the leaves, water, & and melted snow to run off. I top cover with heavy duty tarps, the ones that are brown on one side and silver on the other. Brown side up to absorb as much heat as possible. The tarp goes down about a foot on each side to allow air flow. I cover the stacks as soon as the leaves start to fall to prevent the leaves from clogging the gaps between the stacks. I pull the covers in early spring. I have mainly maples & oaks. My stacks are in a sunny area with a pretty constant breeze. Stacked this way the oak is at about 20% moisture after two full summers, the maple a little lower. KaptJaq
First off, we do the cutting in winter, splitting after snow melt, usually around April 1 and then stack right after splitting. Then we just leave the stacks until usually November or December and then we top cover. We have used some tarps in the past and have also not covered in the past but the best we've found is using old galvanized roofing to top cover the wood. Of course, we never cover the sides or ends. Under the wood, we just cut some saplings in the woods, usually around 10' in length. Lay 2 of them down and stack the wood then lay down 2 more and stack another row, etc. One might expect these saplings would turn to punk really quick but we have a bunch of them made from soft maple and that is one wood that will turn on you fast. Still, these will be good for another 6 or 8 years at the rate they are going. We have some cherry we cut for this too. It really doesn't matter. The idea is to just get the wood so it doesn't touch the ground. However, some never stack on anything but the ground and we have done that too. Usually in this case, the bottom row will freeze in but even if it don't, just wait until spring and throw that bottom row on top of another stack and burn it the following year. Now, does it take longer to dry? Short answer, no. Do the outside rows dry before the inside rows? Some say it does and it seems to make sense. However, we can say that we stack our wood at approximately 4 1/2' in height. Usually by the first fall, that stack has shrunk to around 4'. But the funny thing is, all the stacks seem to shrink the same amount. It would seem to me if the moisture had not gone out of the wood in the center, then the center rows would be taller than the outer rows. Yet, they are the same height. Most times we stack 3 rows tight together then leave enough space to walk between that and the next group of 3 rows. But, sometimes we stack 4 or 5 rows together and I would not hesitate to stack 20 rows together again if we cut a lot of wood one particular year. In the first 2 pictures, I think this was about the time we got on a forum about wood heat. At the time we had over a 7 year supply on hand. If I remember right, there were originally about 25 rows total in that wood pile. This picture was taken as we started moving some wood into the barn getting ready for winter. I don't remember for sure but think that was in 2013. The wood was split and stacked in April 2009. I think this was stacked in 2012. The next 2 pictures were taken in 2009. We burned the last of that wood this fall. Geeze my memory is bad today. I don't remember what year this was done but can tell you it is prime firewood! We might get into that next year.
I'm also interested in the cube. I can't really see any advantage over single rows other than ease of putting on a top cover, or space constraints. Am I missing something?
If you can get 3 years out i dont think it matters how you stack it...but if your stackin wood in the early spring to burn that winter you need to keep it top covered so the wood stays as dry as possible...
Some of my stacks ready for winter... In the first two pictures the prevailing wind is out of the west which is directly behind the stacks. The stacks sit on racks made of 10' 2x4s space 14" apart. You can see the end of the racks in the second picture. The racks sit on 6" of bluestone gravel to let any water drain quickly. The gaps between stacks lets that wind funnel though and remove moisture. In this stack, 20' long about 6' to 7' high, and 3.5 wide the wind come from down the hill behind the stack. KaptJaq
One thing for certain is that your stacks will be a lot stronger. And yes, it is easier to cover and takes up a whole lot less space.
Glad you asked this cause I was wondering if guys left space between stacks in woodsheds. I did this year and I short changed myself some.
This shows the typical space we use between the cubes. Just room enough to walk between them. That way if we have to make any adjustments in the top covering we can reach it.
I've never had luck with cubes. All my stacks are single rows with at least a couple feet between them. My last cube attempt resulted in the middle wood being no better than the day I stacked it after 3 years of being there. It appears my area just doesn't do well with cubes.
The single rows are going to get the benefit of much more air movement over the wood surface, as far as top covering single rows you wont gain much as moisture from rain drys out quicker, cubes if not top covered will get wet in the middle and stay wet longer then single rows. I can post some links talking about single rows but it seems like most people dont care much one way or the other. Some who stack in cubes talk about long drying times.
Dennis, are you cutting and splitting with a T square?? I can't believe how square all those splits are!
