I don't know, but if you stack all your wood on the dark side of the moon, rumor has it that it will never season properly.
Next weekend can we do a thread about Elm and the Rolling Stones......you know "Sympathy for the devil wood".
A final clip about growing up, becoming a preoccupied adult and loosing the freedom of thought and imagination gifted to you at birth; I caught a fleeting glimpse Out of the corner of my eye I turned to look but it was gone I cannot put my finger on it now The child is grown The dream is gone And I have become Comfortably numb.
My definition of my 3 year plan is to have 3 years split at all times. So I guess that would mean for me that come spring when I shut the stove down I still have three years sitting. Now before we get a little uptight about that it is really as much for the fact I have more flexibility in choosing what I burn. What I mean by that is if it is a mild winter I may spend most of it feeding the stove soft maple but if it is -20* it is getting fed locust. It also means I am not necessarily seasoning all my wood 3 years before I burn it (shhh, don't tell anyone). In fact I will probably heat half the year or more on 18 month soft maple. But that is ok, it is 15-18% mc. It also means by having 3 years I am free to get whatever comes my way. Maybe all I come across next year and the year after is oak. No problem, I will not need to burn any of it for 3 years so it will be fine. If I can not get any wood next year for one reason or another, not a problem I can recover from that easily. For me staying between 3-4 years is my goal but I probably will not back off until I hit 5 years. I also figure at 4 years I can start getting pretty picky on what I take and what I will go thru to get it. Also keep in mind that I pretty much have room for unlimited storage so I do not have to worry in that aspect.
Mother do you think they'll drop the axe? Mother do you think they'll like the stacks? Mother do you think they'll try to split by maul? Ooooh aah, Mother should I build a wall?
Some of you guys are pretty legalistic about the 3 year club. The thing I like about being three years ahead is that even if you don't have 3 years of splits stacked in single spaced rows outside after you fill your shed in October, it isn't the end of the world. I've got 6 cord of rounds sitting by my splitter right now that has been cut since Labor Day that I hope to have split by New Years, stacked by Easter. While I agree it would be better to have it split and stacked now, I am quite confident that it will be quite dry for the 16-17 season. I can also say with certainty that it is a lot lighter now than when I cut it even though many among us profess that "drying doesn't start until its split and stacked". That said, if I was in the same position but only 2 years ahead (one year of splits stacked outside after I finished filling my shed), I would be taking some time off from work now to get it split and stacked. I also suppose if the 6 cord was Oak I'd be a little more concerned.
What your doing now is my idea of the 3 year plan. As far as seasoning goes, by the time you replace the wood you burn this winter it will have over 2 years before it gets burned.
Now that I'm 3-4 years ahead, I'm beginning to wonder why. Most of the wood I cut is lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), cut standing dead and below 20% MC when it hits the ground. I have to be careful to cover it to prevent the MC from going up after splitting and stacking. The small amount of oak that I get is also long dead, though far from dry. It is nice, however, to know that if I suffer some sort of equipment failure, whether physical or mechanical, that I have time for repairs and recovery.
What you describe is what I finally got done (well almost. lacking about 2 cords to having the 4th year out back drying) 3 years worth in the wood shed , one years worth out back drying to be ready to replace what I use this winter. Somewhere near 28 cords when all said & done. Most wood I've ever had CSS. Like you said, lots of work getting there but once you are there, then you need only cut 1 years worth. Luckily I have the space.
Sounds a lot like my situation, MrWhoopee. Good problem to have in my opinion. If you run into a stretch where you can't process for some reason, you can always go out and get some burnable wood.
