The old argument about whether to cover stacks or not.

Been like that here most of the Summer. We only had one week where it wasnt humid and no rain. Feels like i have a fungus farm and not stacks of wood!

 

Same here, I've got stuff growing my oaks stacks I don't know what planet its from.....

 

Sounds familiar! I have an oak stack from Spring 2019 thats bad with fungi. I was considering spraying the ends down with Jomax solution. Its a double row with a few inches in between, uncovered stack too. I moved and restacked it a year ago when i had a real tight "cube" of stacked wood (oak and hickory) and realized what i did was not a good idea as it had gotten moldy inside. I was in a bind for storage at the time.

 

I leave freshly cut CSS wood uncovered for a couple of months and then top cover them and don't take the cover off until I'm ready to burn.

 

I don't cover. It works well for me, as we have very dry summers, pretty much no rain for three months.

I just make sure the year's wood (already CSS three years) is in the woodshed before the end of August, and all is well.

 

By far the most important thing is it must be SPLIT!

Wood doesn't start to dry until it is split, smaller thinner pieces dry faster and if possible split so it resembles boards and that will dry the fastest.

 

Alright, well... there ya have it.
I'll be going and buying some of that roofing stuff and cover my stacks.

 

Half of mine covered with old above ground pool material.. can find more in spring.

 

Bark up?? No no no…. It’s got to be bark down don’t ya know. Haha just kidding!
I top cover everything with steel roofing. When I started with wood it was tarps on top - What an ugly, leaky, messy hassle that was. My racks are built with the steel roofing screwed to the rack, no flying roofing material when the wind blows.

We’re getting close to the start of heating season here - prob will have to have a few fires mid to late September - it was 88 today - sheesh!

Cheers

 

I have a little over 1000 sq ft of EPDM and it’s not enough. Wish I had saved another roll. The rubber roofing is great stuff but it will still blow off when the wind comes in the right direction hard enough. I started splitting big chunks of white oak to put on top.
FWIW it seems to me the thicker epdm blows off easier than the thinner stuff. Counterintuitive I know.

never top covered for years. Usually ok. Then every once in awhile you’ll bet a wet year that’ll make you regret it.

 

Some of the best wood i ever burnt was 4 or 5 inch rounds of Bur Oak, it was dead when cut so did not take too long, wood dries a lot from the ends.

 

Ok I’m gonna ask the boss. Is there a specific name for the natural deterioration that occurs? Either one to use for firewood hoarders or even more scientific that one could Google and learn about? Just been wondering about that for some years now. Three years ago I split up a large pile of red oak rounds and quarters that had been sitting for a couple/three years. Basically sopping wet the entire time. Wood popped apart with a butter knife but it wasn’t rotten per se. Got me wondering about what changes it had gone through. Wood looked great inside but obviously something occurred. I’ll be burning some of it this winter.

 

This month, I picked up a roll of paracord, and tied my top cover down....from pallet on one side, over the top, down to the pallet on the other side. Used a prusik knot so it can be tightened as needed.
Went every 4' of stack, at the beginning of each pallet. More can be added if wind warrants. 2 of the stacks are going to sit for 3 years, im hoping that other than tightening some of the strings, i dont have to meddle with it.

Best thing is....no more wood on top. Looks neater/tidier. Around here thats kinda important. So far it hasn't moved around in the wind.

Sca

Pic: old method in back, new method foreground.

 

I wonder how some heavy cardboard would hold up under there? Pretty easy to come by...appliance and big box stores always have a pile of those huge heavy duty boxes to get rid of!

 

Nice and neat looking!