So for the first time, I'm stacking in a shed. Wood is different lengths, as I transition from 16" to 22". So I don't care much how neat the stacks are . . they lean on eachother. I'm stacking across the back, and working toward the front. I can't stack more than a row or so out from the deepest one, or I won't be able to reach the top of the deeper row. I didn't put in vertical posts to divide the sections (3 8' sections wide). I've been bringing wood in as it finishes drying. bark is coming off, and there is checking both ends. But I want it to dry further. I've been stacking loosely, and avoiding dropping pieces in voids between rows. I'm hoping even with minimal circulation the wood will dry some more. If nothing else, it won't get any moister. I can get 6 rows in, back to front. The front most row might be more shorties, but with a 1' overhang, and the front being on the leeward side, of the prevailing winds, I don't think the front row will take on too much moisture. I have a gravel/stone floor. It has already picked up schmutz. I could have stacked on pallets, but under cover, the ground under the wood shouldn't take on water or be too damp. Not sure if I'll add gravel or just rake the wood shreds etc off once a section is empty. Curious what others here do.
I haven't seen any yet. I almost spread diatomaceous earth on the ground before loading, but ran out and didn't bother with more.
I didn't get a roof on my shed until spring this year, but I can share my observations on the couple cords that were processed and went in there directly afterward. 1) It was dead red/white oak over 30% MC when processed. 2) I stacked it on pallets because they were available for zero cost. 3) The rows had a minimum of 3" between them for airflow. 4) Only the outermost splits received any full sun exposure, from the south. 5) As of recently, I checked a few of the inner splits stored in complete shade, and although I didn't pop them open and check MC, they felt significantly lighter. I would burn them in another year if I had to. Think about the things that dry wood: air flow, heat, humidity (or lack thereof), in ideal cases sunlight, and TIME. Any decrease in airflow, sunlight, increased humidity, equates to longer drying time. It sounds to me like you're stacking mostly-dry wood in there, which is good. I wouldn't expect it to dry too much further as we get into the cooler and damper months. Maybe after an especially frigid cold snap moves in, relative humidity drops to nothing, along with the ambient temperature, and you could see further drying. Air gaps are good, even just a couple inches will go a long way. I would try not to overthink it too You've had your system in place for years now and have it down well at this point. All you've added is a roof to get a better handle on keeping the weather off your stacks. You're going to be just fine.
One thing im going to improve on my well covered stacks is some airflow underneath. When i rebuild part of the old shed im gonna try stacking on pallets placed on the floor. Only reason is it will be six rows deep. The wood will be freshly processed when stacked in it. I need to be able to take the dryest wood first so its accessible front and back. Other than that id say your doing fine. The wood on gravel should be okay. Maybe some stickers/sleepers to prop it up? You may notice splits near the bottom may be heavierwhen the time comes to burn them.
I am not much help. The wood I stack in the shed is dry and for this burn season. I pack it in and have very little gap end to end. My shed has a wooden floor and is about 8" off the ground. Even being packed so tight, splits are still drying out. (Though just a little.)
Eric Wanderweg I'm learning a lot about cold and frigid this year. Some of it might apply to cordwood. I'm hoping for a teensy bit more seasoning.....cool dry and windy fall days sound like good things. The driest of the wood is what we'll use first, the less dry will be for next winter....and even that could be burned now with little concern on my part. Cool beans.
Pallets won't be a problem to come by. That would be the most efficient. I'll see what the bottom wood looks like when I get down to it. I mean, if I stack the pieces from the very bottom layer in a seperate pile(or atop another pile in here) they might easily dry out. Will see....
All my wood on the shed is for years burning. All the other stays outside. The wood that will be moved to the shed next year gets covered this year. It works out great and I try to keep 4 years ahead on wood. The wood shed is elevated on cement blocks and on a 2x6 wood floor. I've found the added air underneath really helps.
If it is a fairly open shed the wind will go right thru. You don't need hurricane force winds, just enough of a waft to wiggle its way thru. Surely more is always better but how much "better" do you really need ?
I have a concrete floor and my wood is on reinforced pallets (slipped a 2x4 in the middle of every span to stop sag). Air movement at the bottom was recommended practice when I set up my stacks. No regrets because we have high humidity.
I just have pallets on the ground for now. I need to get around to building a woodshed so I dont have to worry about top covering etc.
I'll still pallet and top cover stax that are seasoning. Until we use waaaay less wood, the shed will be for storing seasoned (nearly seasoned) wood. Next spring when we have half the shed empty, I'll restack on pallets. Stumpy and I brought 2/3 cord up yesterday, maybe room for another cord, but the outside most row will have to be shorts only. Might not fill that row out. With weather ready to soak my stack, I'm hoping to grab one last trailer load after church today. Pics to follow later if we filler up.
Shed is as full as its gonna get this year. With the wet summer a lot of the wood here didnt dry as much as I'd hoped. So there is a little room for maybe half a cord or less. Estimating there's 12 cord of a possible 12.6x cord.
Same, I have a gravel floor, very dry inside and I just stacked directly on the gravel. I stacked 2 rows deep across the back to the top but created an aisle down the middle and stacked 2 rows on each side so I could reach the back few rows as that will be dry 1st and I'll pull that 1st. It's a decent sized bay 8ft wide by 16ft deep approx.
So we had very little moisture in wood stacked on gravel in the shed. I'll run without pallets and the like for another year. For each 8' bay, I am putting a vertical board up in each row...so we can get more out of each bay without the row from the next bay tumbling in. I quit covering my outdoor drying rows...the plastic just caused issues...including ponds of water that pushed between rows and pushed them out. No more plastic, and even with this wet spring, my wood is pretty dry. No more tiedowns, no more securing it after a storm, no more fetching logs or weights off the yard when they blow off.... Stumpy and I moved a couple trailer loads up today. Nice and leisurely, ill do loads all summer till the shed is full. This is next year's wood were bringing up, there about 6 cord still in there. Sca
