Does anyone stack facing a certain direction? Does it matter much?

Just curious as I was thinking facing East-West, both ends would get sun and facing North-South only one end would.

 

I had a few rows stacked East west and it was always muddy between them. I switched to north south and now the ground dries out nice.


The effect on the wood? Not sure but it sure makes working around the stacks nicer.

 

I run my windrows north/south and have better drying than when I tried east/west. Located at 39 degrees North

 

Mine are oriented according to topography. I live on a north facing slope, so all my stacks are parallel high to low. Gravity would really pizz me off if I did it any other way.

 

Rows running N-S seems better to me, especially with close rows.

 

N-S here. Seems to get more attention from the sun this way for my local.

 

I've been doing E/W, but it seems like the northern side of my stacks doesn't season as well as the south side (single and double rows. Will have to try some N/S

 

Luckily for me, my new wood shed is situated so that it's N-S.

 

I think its going to totally depend on your location. Where I'm at, if I were not putting it in a corn crib, my south wind would be the best drying wind. I worry more about keeping it out of the elements as much as possible. I have wood that is in a pole barn that is really dry because its no where near any rain or snow. I'm not saying that's the best, but if your drying for a year or more, then it will dry better if it doesn't have to get rid of moisture it collected while stacked. IMHO.

 

N/S should allow for equal sun on each side of the wood stack if you have single rows far enough apart.
Perpendicular to prevailing wind should maximize moisture losses to wind.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of both of those ideal seasoning parameters you should see accelerated drying times by at least a very small amount. Which might be worth the effort if you are playing catch -up with seasoning time(s).

If I had an open field I would stack N/S and not worry about the wind as the wind tends to bend around and thru things as long as there is not a windbreak of trees nearby.

 

I run a lot of stacks E/W, my wood is under a heavy canopy of trees but a clearing to the west which I get decent late afternoon & dust sunlight hitting them. I also get good winds out the W - N/W......

 

My stacks are round..........so it doesn't matter!

But most of them are on the south/east side of the property. I have a few stacks on the north side.

 

Since I'm 12 miles (as the crow flies) from the cloudiest place in the U.S. (outside of Alaska), I don't worry too much about my stacks in relation to the sun. From what I've seen from woodburning over the last 11 years here, air circulation is more important for seasoning. My outdoor stacks are only 2 rows deep, top covered in the winter, and I keep plenty of air space between the stacks. My wood shed is open on all sides so what's inside gets plenty of air (everything inside has already been seasoned outdoors for at least a year). In a perfect world I guess I would take the time to maximize use of the sun however I'm limited on where I can put stacks as well as the aforementioned lack of available sun. With that being said, I do try to have the outdoor stacks where they will get the most of our limited sunlight.

Cloudiest Places in United States - Current Results

 

Dont have that luxury but North South would dry it quicker.

 

Your stacks should face South to maximize daily exposure, it does matter and ensures daily maximum exposrure-distance up off the ground matters too-its all about air flow-Glad you’re here-Welcome mrchip_72 , we like beer, dogs and helping you obtain the accoutrements you need to establish your hoard-need something? Just ask, and we will enable...its that simple...Nice to meet ya

 

I think it's best to have the face of the stack towards the direction that recieve most sun. Keep it off the ground 6 inches and cover it on top. At least a month or 2 before throwing it in the shed for the winter.

 

It would seem that by now, someone would have tested this question. Actually, to get an effective answer, you'd probably have to test it in a number of different locations so that microclimates did not skew the results. I could see how prevailing wind direction and the orientation of the stacks might be more important than sun exposure but I can't say for sure because I have not tested it!

I also recall Backwoods Savage, who wrote like an entire ebook on firewood available here somewhere and I recall his saying that they used to stack even in the forest where they cut the tree down and it seasoned just fine, lol. I should read his ebook again.

I think it depends on your humidity level of your locale. Now, what matters more, sun or wind, to prohibit mold/fungal growth, I do not know. I am guessing that in this regard, prohibiting mold/fungal growth, lack of sun exposure is key. I have an area under a shade tree that has mold/fungal problems and a stack 50 ft away more in the sun does not and I cannot envision there being a difference in air flow. They are oriented the same direction.

It would be interesting to see people with large pastures test this idea of stack orientation.

 

Team - when are you gonna learn? Wood has to be stacked vertical like so the water can drip out. No wonder you guys are aging it three years. Sheesh!

 

Pics please!


I'm N/S. I agree with the earlier statement of wind direction being important. I woodn''t want my stacks running parallel to the wind.