Grandpa used to say if you put fence posts in on the wrong phase of the moon they will work back out...maybe stacking wood during the wrong phase of the moon is detrimental to wood stacks too...
New to this forum and so glad to realise there are other people like me in the world that have a firewood addiction (here in Ireland I though I was all alone in my obsession). And now I have found this forum I have no intention of "getting help". So here to continued indulgence in firewood and Irish whiskey! I have had the same "spill" and on more than one occasion! . . . and like all good addicts, I never have admitted I was the problem. Have to confess I have opted out of stacking and just bag all the firewood in mesh bags. Easy to stack and quick to transfer from stack to indoors as need to fuel the wood burner in the winter.
Welcome Blondy Tom! That’s an interesting way to stack firewood. How much do you burn in a typical winter?
We burn about 3 cords a year and my son who in in college works for the summer with me and we proceeding about 10 cords in total. He sells about 5 cords to help finance college and pocket money (and my way of trying to teach him the value of a buck!) and last year we stock piled about 2 more cords beyond what we need. Some of this was in 3 foot cube mesh bags.
Hardwoods like oak, ask, sycamore, elm, etc. are rare so they are not reliably available for firewood other than storm damage and falling limbs. However we have a lot of managed forestry, the majority which are evergreens, western red cedar, douglas fir, sitka spruce and Scots pine, both private and state owned. The first thinnings at 20 years is readily available. They need to be well seasoned for good heat and burned in a stove rather that an open fire. The trees are felled in the Spring, limbed and debarked and cut into 9 foot lengths by the forestry owners. This operation is a highly mechanised operation done by forestry contractors. The diameter of these thinnings varies from 4" to 14" They can be purchased and delivered at this stage for around €1,200 for a 45 cubic yard lorry load - see image attached. From here we cut, split, stack and season for over a year before we burn. A lot of this firewood is sold and burned on the first winter following felling by commercial firms who do not want to have capital tied up for an extra year, however the moisture content is too high for good heat especially given we have a relatively high rainfall and the moisture content can be up to 40% when the trees are being felled at times.
I did have a deer knock over a small pile; just the corner so no big problem but I'm betting that deer had some bruises.
