Over the last 3 days I moved my winter supply to the lean to. This is a mixture of yellow birch, beech, cherry, and red maple. 3 years in the stacks. I top cover with 6 mil black plastic stapled down only about 8inches. I can't believe how hard and heavy some of the pieces still are. Bark is still tight on alot of it. To me it seems unseasoned. I resplit a few pieces and am registering 15%-18%. I thought this wood would be very light. The top cover really does its job cause only a smidgen of the ends are weathered. The rest of the wood looks like designer firewood. LoL! 3 rows deep on standard palletts is how they were stacked. I just guess I was expecting 3 year wood to seem a little more deteriorated( if that's a good choice of words) than this. Anyone else notice if wood is completely kept out of rain exposure that it stays harder/heavier and bark actually stays tight?
Yes, l've noticed the same thing. Just because it's dry doesn't mean it's weather beaten. Sun & elements do a lot to wood. Think lumber/boards. If your mc is 18 & under you're good to go.
I've noticed that before too. Had some oak and hickory, stacked 3 deep on pallets. Down in the middle stack, looked almost new.
Top-covering the wood helps in more ways than one. It's kind-of an endless debate amongst woodburners, some like it, some don't. I'd be screwed if I didn't top-cover my wood during the 6-8 months prior to using it. Our seemingly endless wet climate anymore here in central PA calls for it, in my opinion.
From what I understand, the "graying" of wood happens when rain can wash over it repeatedly...stop the rain, stop that weathered look. IIRC its from the tannins being washed off/out...maybe that's just Oak though...
Yes, if you protect it from the rain the bark tends to stay attached and its less prone to rot. Yellow birch is one that is quick to rot if it gets rained on. Maybe this thread should be re-titled "I'm Enlightened!"
Indeed there can be a big difference in the bark. I'm reminded of this as I have some white oak that has been down for 2 years. I'm just now about to get started splitting it and lots of the bark is peeling off. On the other hand, we have oak in the stacks that have been in the stacks 4 years and the bark is still solid. Several years ago I tried an experiment because it had been a long time since I left wood stacks uncovered. We stacked wood in two spots; one stack uncovered and the other covered as we normally do. WE did this because there are always those who say it makes no difference. After all, they never cover and have no problems. But, have they ever experimented? So what we found with this experiment was that first, the stacks were not as solid. For those who hate restacking, perhaps this is one reason. I'm not certain why but those stacks were the ugliest I've ever had. It was funny when the Chief from Illinois came and laughed and then quickly took a picture saying nobody on the forum is going to believe this! On the other hand, the stacks that were covered were still very solid stacks and looked good. There was also a big difference just in how the wood looked. And this really showed as we took the wood into the house. That which was left uncovered really made a mess as we brought it in and we wished it had been de-barked. But the really big difference was in the burning of the wood. Although I kept no records in how long each fire lasted, etc, there was a huge difference in the wood and that which was covered gave us a lot more heat. That alone makes it worthwhile to take the time to cover the wood. Now, in places like Arizona and maybe Wyoming or any extremely dry areas I am not so sure it would make as big of difference but I think perhaps it could still make some difference. Of course there will be those who scoff and that's okay as it is expected. There will be those who never change; after all, they've always done it this way. But some will change and find there is a difference. A good difference.
Given they are 2 different species for a little variance, however... The round is cut a couple weeks ago and the split came out of my stack inside a machine shed that was CSS 4 years ago. If I had to guess who was older and by how much, I would be way off.
