Hello and thanks in advance for any advice. I live outside of Pittsburgh in a neighborhood with very large hardwood trees. The neighbor just had about seven, what I believe are Locust trees, removed. The tree folks were kind enough to drop some off in my backyard. I would have gotten more but I didn't want our small yard taken over and just looking at the pile makes my legs ache, knowing I've got some work ahead of me. The question is, I've cut some of the wood into rounds? The trees were not dead but not thriving either so the wood is relatively dry. Should I put a tarp over this to keep the rain off or is the combination of wind and sun, along with rain and no tarp, a better option to season it more quickly? A year ago, I had some tree people drop off what I believe was a hickory tree they cut down. After I cut it into rounds I tried to split some large sections and it was very difficult as the wood seemed to tear or partially rip rather than split. So, I've been letting that season but with a tarp. I'm thinking of removing this. All of the wood, the locust and hickory, still has the bark on. On another note, I split some giant oak rounds and compared to what I think is hickory, the oak was like going through butter. Thanks folks.
To season as quickly as possible, it needs to be split and stack with a top cover to keep the rain off. Wood in the round takes a long time to season.
It's not as good as the hickory though. That said, it looks like you could use a hydraulic splitter. Rent one if you have to, and can't borrow one. Both hickory and locust are awesome burning wood, but both suck to split by hand. The wood really won't start to season until split. Top covering with a tarp will help, but if it's not rainy, the open stack will help season the wood once split.
Cutting into rounds is the easy part. It's not firewood till it's split and won't start to season till it is. A tarp does nothing.
Split it as soon as you can and loose stack on pallets or dunnage of some sort and in rows no more than two deep but one if you have the room. Loose stacking will promote air floor. If you have dry summers leave it uncovered, a bit of rain will dry from the wood easily in the wind and sun. If youre like me we get frequent thunderstorms with heavy downpours so I top cover with ply wood and on my longer stacks I use a tarp but let it hang down the sides only a few inches. Completely covering with a tarp will trap moisture in. Since drying firewood takes a fair amount of time its best to get it split asap so that the drying process can begin. Any wood that is left in the round will only push off the drying time. Enjoy the btus!
Welcome to FHC Alucard Will you be burning this wood to heat your home? If so, what do/will you burn in? Just some additional questions for ya Alu; you'll get plenty of advice on C/S/S the wood you have from the tree guys. Black Locust is a great wood for heating with, for sure.
Welcome to the forum Alucard. Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage I posted a link here for you that could be a big help to you. I hope you read it. As others have stated, you have some of the very best firewood there and congratulations on that. And others rightfully also have stated that you need to get that wood split and stacked then give it time to dry properly. It really does need to be split and you may have to rent or borrow a log splitter. On the making and covering of firewood, here is how we do it. Generally we cut in winter and sort of stack up the rounds. As the weather warms and the snow melts, we then get the splitter out to do the splitting all at one time. Then we stack the wood. This is normally early or mid April when we finish the stacking. We do not cover the wood immediately as we feel leaving it uncovered in that first summer will allow for the best evaporation of the moisture. As fall turns into winter we then top cover the wood. If it happens to be a really wet fall we will top cover earlier. Then we just wait as all of our firewood stays in the stack for 3 years or more before we're ready to burn it. And to answer the question now, no, all firewood does not need 3 years to dry but if you learn about the benefits of the 3 year plan (you'll read lots about it here), you will no doubt want to do the same. Also, your area tends to get a lot of rain and your wood very well might benefit from being top covered as soon as you get it stacked. But remember, top cover only; do not cover the sides of the stack as you need air circulation to dry the wood. Here is a sample of some of ours (note that we use old galvanized roofing for top covering):
With the weather getting warmer steadily, Its best to just top cover at this point for big storms. I live in WA So these spring showers are much more constant. We are having a much needed good weather weekend. 65 for tomorrow. Get that stuff split quick and tear the bark off. It burns very well but if it gets rotten, the bark makes an ugly mess and to some it stinks bad. I just saved some from getting too bad and tossed it in the firepit. Really good wood, very dense so if you burn this in mid winter you're going to like it when seasoned well. I have a small amount I'm going to try this winter, might be best that I wait for a really cold night or week for me to burn it. Its up there with madrone. Long hot fire from my outdoor pit and I was only burning the bark about 3 weeks ago. The wood intrigues me.
Did the tarp thing for about 4 years. Got sick and tired of dealing with that hot mess, and built a shed. The wood stays in the drying racks for at least 2 years, then goes into the shed before burn season. Done. I highly dislike tarps. Wife put one out in the garden for her chickens last year so they had someplace to get out of the rain, and now there are strips of the darn thing all over out there. Nope, nopity nope, nope.
Welcome aboard Alucard You want to split that wood and stack it up. In three years, it'll be ready. Maybe not 2 years.... Around here, we get a lot of snow. During the winter, I always top cover. If I don't, its a battle with the snow. During the summer, the covers come off. I would think you get a fair amount of snow where you are at, so use the advice as you see to. But wood needs a long time to dry. Long time.
Thanks very much for the advice everyone. We have indoor fires in the fall and winter in our fireplace. No matter what's going on in our lives, A FIRE MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER. It really does. As far as the wood, I know splitting it would season it much more quickly. I've split alot of wood over the last few years. I'm too busy as I have other projects going on so I just don't have the time to devote to splitting it YET. I don't want to buy a splitter although it's tempting. The big box stores charge too much for renting. I will look on the local craigslist to see if someone has theirs for rent. My splitting method, which usually involves giant oak rounds, is simple. First I tie a rope around the round and this keeps all of the wood upright and together. Then I use one splitting ax and bury it deep into the round and hit said ax with the sledge part of another ax. It actually works quite well but after awhile, my legs take a beating. Nevertheless, it feels really good looking at all of the split wood. Wood is good. Thanks again folks.
First, thanks again all, what a very nice welcome and alot of really experienced folks makes this really fun. I've decided to only tarp after the wood is splt. And when I do, I plant to put a tarp just on top with a 6" overhang on the sides. I'm going to fasten some battens or strips of wood every few feet on the tarp so that the overhang does indeed reach out 6" beyond the logs instead of collapsing and having the water runoff run down the sides of the wood instead of beyond. The rounds have bark so I think they will stay relatively dry in the rain. The combination of wind, air and sun, with the occasional rain, is better than tarped, in my opinion. Only time will tell I suppose. Since some of the locust is very dry-close to dead, I plan to split it now. So in the winter we should have oak, cherry, hickory(depending upon how much it's dried and my patience) and locust. On a related note, I'm glad I don't do this for a living, it's too physically demanding. That being said, I enjoy it since it's just for my family.
