I have to build either a giant wood shed, or a bunch of smaller ones. When I say giant, I’m talking ~100 cord. What size do you guys/gals prefer? I WAS thinking of making some 10x20’s and tall enough to walk in. I could line them up in a row or scatter them around if needed. If building a big one, I think depth would be limited to 20 ft and the length would be 80+ feet. Again, tall enough to walk in. I used to tell my wife that I wanted 100 cord on hand at all times. Now that we are actually at/approaching that number, it’s time to get serious. I need to organize it so I can get to it easily year round and keep it dry and relatively pest free for a storage life of perhaps 15-20 years. I wouldn’t mine selling extra, but I want to always have 100 cord on hand. Feel free to share ideas and experience.
Yeah, not sure I'd want that many eggs in one basket.... Curious why you want 100 cords? How much do you typically burn in a year?
I’d go multiple. I want to be able to get at what I want when I want. I have a 5 cord shed and if I need hi quality wood during a cold snap or low during warm spells I can’t always get it. If you build one big shed you can leave alleyways that give you access and park tractors trailers quads etc in between the rows. I suppose resale value would be something to consider
We burn 4-8 cord most years. I would like to have enough on hand so that I don’t have to worry if I can’t cut wood.
Similar concept to that is what I've been pondering on storage.... Lots of people may just lump the wood species together, once they have enough to not worry about drying time... But I like to be able to pick and choose species I'm putting in the stove...I don't always need a full load of red oak heat, or hickory heat, etc..... So how to arrange wood based on species, being able to get the type of wood you want at a certain time (shoulder season, deep cold etc), and drying time might be something some folks consider. I guess you could do different 'areas' within a large storage shed for that (with enough prior thought process), or multiple sheds would lend well to that break-out...
Inside stove, or outside? If that's your primary or only heat (with I'm assuming it is, esp if burning that much with inside stove), then that would be a great feeling of accomplishment and safety of having that quantity on hand and ready to go in case something happens.....
I’ve been thinking about this as well, not the quantity of wood, but one large wood shed or numerous smaller ones. There was a 20’ by 20’ wood shed here when we bought the place, but it was falling into the ground and had been scabbed onto several times. It got leveled and burned in the brush pile one year. In talking with our code enforcement officer, the woodshed max size allowed is 200 sf, no rules on multiples though. We were talking about it, and if it’s moveable, it’s not taxed, so put them on skids with chain hooks on one end and it’s good. Doesn’t have to move, just has to be able to move to not be permanent. I’d like to build a big open sided shed so I could stack ibc totes 2 high under it, and fit 60 or so in under cover.
100 cords is an admirable goal! And quite a lot of volume to deal with. My original woodshed is 16' wide, 8' deep, and averages 8' tall (shed roof sloped front to back). It has worked well for me because it holds right at 8 cords, which is what we burn in an average winter, heating the house full-time and the workshop sometimes. Having recently retired, and between the ash borer, Hurricane Helene, and a hideous February ice storm, I've got probably 3 year's worth of wood either already in the shed or in pole wood in covered piles, open on the two ends for air movement. I've never felt so wood wealthy. LOL! I was considering building another shed, 20 wide and 10 deep, for another year's wood plus room for my mower and splitter. Now I'm reconsidering the size, or trying to decide whether to build two more sheds. Or just palletizing some of the wood, but that takes up space and requires tarps or another covering, which need replacing every so often. Or using bins, which also cost money, or ... I'm always interested to see other folks' designs and ideas, for certain.
I am done with tarps. They tear, blow around, leak, get stiff and covered with snow/ice, and are hard to manage. I have been using some old truck tarps for 2-3 years now, and they are pretty durable, but they do not bend when it is cold out and they weigh hundreds of pounds. It is well worth it to build a roof to keep my wood dry so I can walk in and get what I need.
I think in this context, it almost makes sense to have 3 wood sheds. You can be using from 'this years' shed, while the other 2 are drying and waiting their turn. After you empty this one, then you put new wood in it.... If you have a quick drying species, or wood that won't make it the 2-3 years and can be burnt sooner, you could prob have a bit of room in one of the 'sooner' sheds....
I have over 100 pallets now. I have been collecting them for several years. My plan is to put them in the wood sheds to let air under the wood. A guy not too far from me is going to take a stave silo down and offered me the staves if I haul them. I thought they would be great for a wood shed floor.
Agreed. Tarps are a short-term solution at best. Better ones are getting expensive, and the cheap blue Harbor Freight ones don't last a year. I usually try to buffer the sharp edges of piles with old cardboard, plywood, etc. which helps the tarps last longer, but they still don't last as long as a tin roof. Better to put money into a permanent solution. I'm trying to decide between one bigger "two-year" shed and two one-year sheds similar to the one I have now. One bigger shed would be easier to build to some degree and less cluttered-looking, but I might end up with two smaller ones just because of the open spaces I have available. Either way, I think sheds are my best solution. I have access to a skid-steer with a grapple, so it's pretty easy to move the polewood to the shed, buck it there, and from the splitter table it goes straight into the shed stack. I don't mind cutting, splitting, and stacking wood, but I hate handling it in between stages.
It’s not an old cast iron model, this one is made from boiler plate and is about 1,000 lbs. Food cooked with a wood stove is better than anything else. Don’t mind the plywood floor, we were remodeling.
Have you done the math? If you build a 20x80, you'd have to stack it 8' tall and pack it completely full with no gaps between stacks in order to store 100 cords. You'd want it ~130' long if you want 5' tall stacks, however, it will still have to be packed full with no gaps and no room to walk around. Realistically, you'd probably want to go something like 40'x150' to at give you some room to walk around and so you can have space in between your rows of wood and for future wood. Either way, the -minimum- area you would need is 2,600SF, assuming 5' tall stacks....but this would be packed tight and completely packed full with 100 cord. Then there is the rotation dynamic. If packed full, how does one keep a good rotation going so that you are always burning the oldest stuff while adding to it? This reason alone I think you'd have to have multiple sheds. I'll probably be soon approaching 100 cord c/s/s as well. I just stack on double pallets and top cover with rubber roofing takeoffs I get for cheap. Works great for me. I have ~150 pallets right now and get them for free from the family farm and a few other sources. Building a structure large enough to cover 100+ cord of stacked wood is just not cost effective, as the main reason I burn wood is to save money. Spending money to build some large structure just to save money doesn't make financial sense to me. Have any photos of your 100 cord?
I usually stack about 6 ft high. It’s a comfortable height we can all reach and it saves a little space. I wouldn’t be spending much on this. I have a mill and logs. It would be wood posts, wood walls, and a wood roof. Single or multiple. I’ll try to remember to get some pics.
