Mag, a lot of folks out there burn cottonwood and if I lived there, I' also burn it. Actually your cottonwood is not quite as wet as ours further east. That helps a lot but even here, once you dry it, the wood burns fine but is not what we all a night wood.
I am retired so long burn times I do not worry about. At night the house is tight enouph and insulated well so I only lose about 10* to 16*. So if I go to bed with it at 77 to 78 degrees it is never below 62 in the morning.
W-R- I thinking if ya can get 10 cord css and hopefully dried out for next season you should be good to go, reason for 10 cord - hey it's conifers generally takes twice as much as deciduous for the same amount of heat, new house with good insulation 1 stove now but maybe a second by next season. 1960's ranch, 2k sqft- insulation could be better- 5cord/ season/ avg. of deciduous ( hardwoods) only running 1 stove, too much hassle to run the one in the basement. Right now 50 cord css 2/3 ready by next fall. I try and replace what I have used x2 that gives a little cushion if we have a bad drying season and /or really drawn out winter like last year( and its looking to shape up the same this year as the great lakes are nearly frozen over again which means a long cold spring and maybe a fairly cool summer- lot depends on the jet streams though)
Updates So things have not worked out as I had planned. The local mill still has me on the list. Finally told them to forget it. So with just plain hard work these are my totals so far. Each row is 21' x 4'6" x 16". If my little brain figured right 3/4 of a cord per row. Still needing to split and stack 10'x4'x112". Close to two cords I believe. This is my pile of shorts and uglies. Will be burning these early and late season. Still going up and bringing more logs out until the roads are closed due to snow. Still motivated to keep on hording Still smiling. Without the help of this group I would still be in the dark ages. Thanks to all. Kenny
Kenny, this is the only problem I see with your plan. Stay on the list. Maybe you'll get a nice surprise at some point to boost the hoard.:stacke: I'm still picking up little tidbits of info here, and reminders of what I've already learned happen all the time. Gooder place.
Only thing left is to top cover in a week or two. Just found some heavy tarps will see how they work out.(free). Very gooder place.
Thought this was supposed to be a newbie's plan? Those stacks look like they were made by an old pro! Nice work.
I've given up on trying to use those half-round pieces in my cribs. You'd think they'd give you a flat surface to build on but they never want to sit flat. Wobbly pieces, especially near the bottom of a crib, are never good. Wedge shaped pieces seem to work much better for me. I also like to build the insides of the stack in such a way as to exert minimal outward pressure against the cribs. One final tip - your stacks will look even better if you take a pic with those mountains in the background!
Dang fine job WaddleRemodel! I too agree with papadave about remaining on that list.... Shawn Curry, you sure you didn't stop out there to help Kenny? Could you use 2x's at the ends of your stacks, or palettes even, instead of end stacking? Saves a whole lotta time, and could band or run from end to end with 2x or some such and provide a framework for top covering that would allow for some air movement too if it's up off the top row of splits. Keep up the gooder work, Kenny!
I have an old tarp on a stack of Oak for next year, but took it off for a few days because there isn't any air movement between the tarp and the wood. The wood was a little damp already, and I just put it on there a couple days ago. Need air circulation, unless you're doing the kiln thing.
I will keep tweaking out details with my stacks. Made the conversation with the local morning coffee drinking hangout. Was introduced as the guy with the organized wood stacks. Old timer asked if I split it by hand.. Said yes looked at me like I was crazy.. Another asked what I was doing with all that wood. I replied going to burn it sir. Made my day. Love being a hoarder.
That actually comes to 126cu ft/row 21x4.5x (16/12)= 126. So you might as well call each row a cord. You have 2 more cords there than you thought. Great job!
