I got all my wood stacked for the winter. I'm in the mountains in Norcal. Hot and dry summers. My wood is tightly stacked. I began to wonder if and how much the tight stacking limits effective drying. Previous years I was not concerned about burning <20% MC wood. But now with a new catalyst stove (BK), I want to make sure my wood is good and dry. My wood is pine, fir, and cedar.
If it's stacked single row in the sun, I'd think it would be fine. I have similar weather and firewood here.
Calling T.Jeff Veal (who has some tightly placked splits) Are you trying to get away with reduced drying times? And a moisture meter would be a valuable tool in this instance. I personally would think it does not matter if you have good air flow and adequate amounts of time to dry.
east coast pine, fir and cedar have rather short seasoning times. Your pine, fir and cedar may have somewhat higher BTU and somewhat longer seasoning times . Not all that much longer. Wind goes thru cracks rather readily - ask anyone with an old un-insulated house or cabin. If the stacks are out in the open, exposed to the elements that hot and dry should do its dirty work on those stacks.
I imagine the drying time difference would be negligible, if at all. No way in Hades am I going to make an attempt to stack loose vs. tight!
I have access to a lot of free pallets and have pretty much unlimited storage space. So, a criss cross pattern is what I always use. I can tell the difference in drying times and it helps prevent mold from growing if the firewood gets wet. Takes a lot of time, but I am constantly re-stacking as I sell off the older pieces. Photo oxidation (sun tan for wood) also makes it look better. So I turn the un-tanned pieces facing up.
single row stack any way you like muti row cross stack with abit space so air can freely move through. Top cover all.
Each row is stacked tight but there is a 6" gap between each row Artistic shot, taken by my daughter, showing the inter-row gap. It works for me. Next up is a roof over the wood pile. There is a concrete slab under the pile that used to be a summer kitchen on the back of a long gone house.
When you state your wood or tightly stacked, do you mean the rows are stacked close together or you take special pains to really stack each piece as tight as you can get it? This is how we stack and the wood has no problems drying. Most times I split and stack in spring then top cover in fall. In your area there should be no problem but still it needs to be top covered. Good luck.
Live and learn. I have the rows close together. I did that for greater stability. I'm not going to restack. I think/hope all the wood will dry. It's in the sun and it's been hot and will remain hot until Oct. Next year I'll stack with spaces between the rows. Thanks.
I live in the PNW and have burnt the same wood. Top cover is most important. That stuff will dry no matter how you stack it.
Just to add a opinion. I stacked in rows, 3 wide for several years. The inner row was a issue. To wet. Changed over to 2 single rows with a large gap between them. Issue's with toppling rows. Argh. Finally went to stacking in a row, 2 splits wide, and stacked together tightly. Winner for me. FWIW
Some simple insurance to guard against tip over with a gap between stacks- lay in from front stack to rear stack some saplings or branches, or any scrap dimensional lumber that is long enough to span from the front face to the rear face of your two stacks. I reclaimed some old PT fence pickets and used them to great effect this way. Every 3-4 feet apart, 1/2 way up the height of the stacks.
I used to get 48" wide pallets and stack triple row 16" splits tight. Bad idea as poor air flow. If i do the same ill leave a couple inch gap. Now i mostly get 36" or 40" wide pallets and double row stack with a wider space. My biggest problem is very limited storage. Wood cut to strict 16" length.
It should dry fine in your area, top cover is very important. We use fans to help speed up the process, especially with oak. This is hickory Oak Stacked 3 deep, you can feel the air coming thru the stacks, and it's much cooler than air going it.
I stack 2 rows on 48" pallets. The middle holds shorts and uglies, and longs...all thrown in loose to facilitate air movement. The outter rows are sorta tight, not tetris-ed. I habitually stack wider then the pallets by and inch or two, and taller than 4'. Wet summers suck. But, were shaping up for hot and dry here this year in CT. Sca
Ì still try and stack on 4x4 pallets, 3 rows deep. Rows of stacks are wide enough to drive a quad with a cart between them. I've burned pine that was stacked like that for 10- 12 months, it was dry enough to burn in my CAT stove.
