My boss dose this cuts and splits in the winter throws then in a pile. then before the leaves fall he throws them in a shed how on Earth he's burning first years wood is beyond me. I asked him if he's a couple years ahead he said no.
If you talk to enough people you will find that just throwing into a heap is not the best way to go for sure. As for the tree service people, they probably don't have the time and certainly don't care. If it will sell that way, so much the better. I've watched several folks who sell a lot of wood and no, most of them do not stack the wood. But, it is not dry wood they are selling, but they do like to say it is seasoned, which means nothing.
You will find this is quite common. Most folks do not realize the benefits of getting ahead on the wood and making sure it is dry (not seasoned). Also you probably know of many who tried wood burning and lasted only a year or two and sometimes even less. It is because they did not have good burning practices. In short, if anyone wants to be lazy, it is their choice. We all make choices. As for me, I really have no desire to follow the lazy man and I like to burn great firewood; not marginal. And I don't even have to use a moisture meter; have never owned one.
I bought a moisture meter last winter out of curiosity. I was so surprised to see the wood I thought was bone dry was still 18-20% I had been burning 22-24% in the girlfriends wood stove wondering why the glass was getting creosote when we choked it down for the night. Luckily it would burn off when we got the stove hot the next day. She also had a small stove not ment for a over night burn but hey you use what you got.
Sorry Loon-Terry. I wasn’t trying to call you out on your hoarding practices. I understood from what you originally said that you were way ahead and that it wasn’t critical to stack everything you had at this time. I did however have a sincere curiosity as to how that type of pile works out. Simple as that.
I had the same experience with a moisture meter. I like the peace of mind in grabbing a split, splitting it again and checking to see what it says when it's finally time to burn. All the maple in my wood shed is hovering around 19-20%, which I'll check again in the fall. The ash, walnut and cherry I have is sitting at 17%. The red oak... well, gonna be a couple years before I'll even think about it.
Wasnt going after anyone in particular Eric and doing the pile thing is fine in my little mind as long as its not covered in leaves and dealt with within 2 years in my book.
I cover my stacked rows of wood when they are outside. I had a woodshed but it became a chicken coop. I use slabwood with bark still on it for the cover. I usually get one or two trailer loads of slabwood from a sawmill near by. The wide slabs get cut and used like peak shingles over my other rows. Wood lot has full sun and wind but sits on an old concrete pad. Wood seems to dry fine and I can burn the cover as the rows are used. Right now rows run north and south may stack them next time easy and west so westerly wind can blow between each row.
Kinda surprized that the dark stuff on left that was buried is 16 on outside and only 26 on the split with the meter. The stuff thats on top read 8 on outside and 22 on the split. So not that great.
Meh. You still have time before you'll need to burn it. It'll go. Your dog seems happy to tag along for the fun!
That's like my 5 year old. I love that he wants to tag along but sometimes he gets way too close. I'll be in a rhythm stacking and all of a sudden (usually when it's a bigger piece) he's standing right on top of me as I'm trying to find a fitting location in the stack.
If you stack it in a holz hausen then you can throw your shorties and uglies right into the center. Save the nice straight pieces for the the circumference of the pile. I don't have a wood shed so I leave all my stacks uncovered unless I plan on burning them *this* winter. Those I will cover with a HarborFreight tarp weighed down by splits with eye hooks screwed into them to hold the tarp in place. I don't cover the sides and as the pile got smaller and smaller from use I had zero problems with wet wood. In the first pic you can see the remnants of the pile I burned last winter. I burned all the dry wood I had. Since October of 2019 I've been chopping tree service wood 90% by hand. The crotches and the knotties I use my 34-ton Champion log splitter and/or a sledge/wedge combo. Each stack has 4 pallets underneath and are 8' in diameter and about 7' tall at the apex. Roughly 2.25 cord per stack but that includes shorties and uglies. For the tops I chip away larger rounds with nice bark all the way around to get my shingle pieces. Way more stable than traditional rows and since they are 7' tall they take up less room and look amazing. Unfortunately for me the neighbor behind me thinks they are an "eyesore" and called me a "dirtbag" for living like this. They also said my kids live in a "hillbilly loser house" because of the wood. They've called the building department on me (the code enforcement officer turned out to be a wood nut and he loved everything I was doing) and the only "violation" I had was that I had an IBC tote of kindling too close to the house. That took all of 10 minutes to move 6' away.
Looks great! Too bad your neighbor is an azzhole. I got one down the road aways. His Mom lives across the road and she has to put up with his greedy chit which is too bad as she is in her 80's and is by herself. Trust me he's a lying azzhole also.
Sure it does...to most firewood sellers seasoned = Soaked Excessively All Summer Only Needs Extreme Drying
Wow, just wow. They say "it takes all kinds," but sometimes I think we can do fine without a few kinds. Don't let the jerk get you down, I'd be proud to have your woodstacks.
Neighbors a jerk but I gotta ask. Why would a tote of wood near the house be a violation? Only thing I can think of is a gas or oil vent.
Thanks I appreciate that. Fire hazard since it's flammable and too close to the house. It was really like nit picking but in a nice way - I mean I guess he felt like he needed to say something to appease her...... What I didn't originally tell y'all was that the boyfriend called me a ch*nk (I am Chinese) and I had to get the cops involved. He banged on my door a few weeks later at 1:40 am and yelled "Come out here you motherf***er, come out here you c*nt, come out here you piece of sh*t" and I wasn't about to fall for his stupidity. I called the cops and he left. Fast foward after sending the local PD the ring video of him walking up to the house, banging away, cursing at me, and this idiot has gotten banned from the property. He was called in to the precinct and served the notice. Now if he even steps foot on my property he will get arrested for criminal tresspass. If he even says something like "I'm going to beat you up" he'll get arrested for harassment. I asked the Det. Sgt. if I needed video proof of any verbal altercations and he said flatly "Well, I look at your record (blank) and I look at his (not blank at all and the local cops have had issues with him) so you just let me know and we'll take care of it." They've been trying to harass me via the building department and they called them again. The second time the code enforcement officer came he said "Sorry but this one pile is 7.5' from the property line and it has to be at least 10 feet...". I said no problem and it took me about 6 hours to move the stack well away from the line. No big deal and I can certainly use the workout. He also asked if I noticed anything *they* were doing in violation of the local code......and I said to him bluntly "Listen, I'm going to answer your question because you asked. I want you to remember that I did not offer up this information and whatever you do with the information you didn't get it from me!" I told them that the day he called me the slur I saw them putting up an awning on the back door that they clearly did not get a permit for. I was laughing pretty hard inside when the code enforcement officer said "Well, they're going to get a violation notice for that". Btw this big talking boyfriend is 5'6" and weighs 160lbs soaking wet. I'm 6' and 285 and have been swinging a maul for the past 12 months smashing wood.......If he ever swings at me first it will be very bad for him. He's 59 and an alcoholic racist.
