Fresh Split Wood...Cover or Let it Air out????

I know I will be told to check around on the forum for the answer...but I constantly check. I like the opinions/thoughts currently...Some say don't cover and that when it does get wet, it drys quickly, some say cover it but just the top.....I let wood sit in my garage for two years with no sun or circulation and it was still wet when I used it. I also let few pallets sit out with wood without a cover at all and even thru summer, it was still wet and sizzled in the Winter when I used it. I thought about making a "Pallet House" with 3 sides and the one side open to protect it more from rain and wet....Thoughts and input and opinions please.

 

I would leave this sitting out exposed to the elements. A sunny and windy spot would give you the best results. Maybe top cover in the fall or cover in clear plastic for a solar kiln effect.

 

Howdy Nicholas, I'm only in my second year of burning as a middle aged old man, but this year when I have used covered wood my winter has been a heck of a lot easier than when I had uncovered wood in 2014. Both years so far I've only been able to season for six months for the beginning of the season, not nearly enough to get it as dry as I should. This year hasn't been too bad so far, with not a lot of pieces sizzling in the stove, and not much difficulty at all in getting the fire started. In 2014 I had pieces that got punky and just weren't as dry as my stacks this heating season.

We used to do the worst practice you can do when I was a kid. Got our wood delivered in the fall and had a tarp entirely covering the stack to keep the snow off. It also kept all the moisture in. I'm surprised I ever came back to burning wood, since it's awful hard to burn H2O, and it was a pretty miserable experience.
I'm looking forward to burning two year old split, covered and stacked wood in 2016-17.

 

I never thought about that Wisconsin Woody a clear plastic so it can still get sunlight but away from rain

 

burndatwood how much do you cover it?? Just the top or completely( cause you said when u completely cover it, it holds moisture in) so what did you do different this time but still covering it...I just want dry wood, cause when i buy dry wood from giant it heats the house up so much more then wet wood does

 

Nicholas - if you search around on this forum there are quite a few posts about passive solar kilns. I have a few greenhouses, and can testify that on a sunny day, even in the heart of winter, temperatures under clear plastic get very high. Plastic in the summer time can easily raise temperatures up into the <100 degree area.

 

Just top covering. I have a big tarp, but have a buddy who is giving me some old tin roofing, which should be even better.

 

Depends on the weather for me. If I split and it's gonna rain for a week, I'll throw a tarp over a pile. I make sure to leave some breathing room around the bottom. My tarps have some holes in them to further help circulation. Fresh piles are where my tarps go to die. It's been pretty mild lately, so the stuff from last two weekends is sitting uncovered. Lots of wind and some sun surely have done it some good. I let my wood season a bit in large piles before stacking. A loose hand thrown mound will dry faster than a tight stack.

Rule of thumb with a tarpaulin is you don't want it to sweat. That's when our old friend mold shows up.

 

I had a hard time picking either option since I would pick top cover only so it can air out. This really depends on your location so there is no right or wrong answer. Im a fan of top covering and would prefer to stay away from tarps like in my picture but despite being a pain they do work for the most part. Rubber or metal roofing or even ply wood and lumber wrap are better options . Of course a wood shed would be the best for when your wood is dry to keep it out of the elements.

 

Personally I think it comes down to personal preference, location or what you have available with the resources at your disposal. In 60+ years of burning I've always had the fortune of a wood shed. The only wood I stack outside is that which is unworthy to be burnt in the house. We call it 'chit'-wood and is burned only in the shop stove.
Well on a couple occasions I did get more than the woodshed would hold and had to stack on the outside, but it was covered with weighted tin until a wood shed extension was built right over top of the stack.

Rain water does in fact evaporate quickly, but if its not in there to begin with, you don't hafta worry about letting it get out.... As suggested above whatever you choose, do it with adequate airflow in mind and you'll be stellar.

A wise man once said: "Boy, there's more than one way to peel an orange....and to dry wood too."

 

I think that pretty much sums it up right there.

 

I still can't decide I been staring at my pallets and little prototype house/shed I want to build to store my wood but I feel it's a useless idea to build this

 

I personally top cover once a full row is finished. I have about a cord that is not all done yet so it sat out all winter uncovered. I don't suppose it makes much of a difference yet. I just want the wood I'm gonna use that winter to stay dry from September till it's used.

 

Beautiful stacks man

 

I stack in a pole barn. It is covered from rain and open to air. Works well for me. If there was one method that was head and shoulders better than the rest, I think we would have converged on it by now. Open air is popular, top covered only is also popular. Choice may well be dependent on local conditions regarding frequency of rain and/or snow.

Garage with no air circulation is likely to take a very long time for the wood to dry. If your laundry won't dry there, your wood probably won't either. Regarding the outside stacks, it may be as much an issue of time as an issue of how your are stacking. It looks like you've got some pretty good sized splits; they take time to dry.

 

I ended up leaving them uncovered,I tried the tarp on top of the old old wood thats been sitting out for years in elements uncovered, but I knew it would fly off....I have both new pile and old pile out uncovered..Were suppose to get some rain tonight or one of the next few days. I stood in my garage all day staring at the pallets and decided I'm not making a pallet storage thing....

 

UHHH u made me run twenty minutes back to my moms to cover all the hard work I did today with the wood lol

 

you should add the above to your primer Backwoods Savage. excellent material ! it's hard here in the northeast to educate the hardwood snobs. i see so many piles between trees uncovered and people burning this years cuttings or rounds. when you say 3 years to dry after being split and stacked under some cover they look at you like you are from mars.

 

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