Ok I’ve got 5 years css and a 6th Year’s worth to split and stack. Then comes the real question...... What to do with a dozen plus trees that need to be, or have just been cut? I’ve been given the chance at 8 decent size honey locust (thornless variety ) that have just been dropped. There is 3 standing dead ash at my parents to take down. There is an ash and a walnut to take down at their next door neighbors as well as two neighbors down has an ash that was cut down over winter! - Do I buck it, stack it and split as needed? -buck it into 4’-8’ pieces and stack it in a log pile for future use - or css right away? What will last the longest?
HERE, anyway, those honey locust need to be split at least once and then stacked. If you stack 4-8' wet logs here, they'd be reduced to powdered husks in 3-4 years by the borers.
Ditto above. Leaving in rounds does not work well for me. Not sure if its bugs? Rounds rot if left unsplit here. Wish I had a enclosed shed. That would make it easy to store waaaay into the future
Hey I store logs for sawmill I have to keep a rain fly over the top and I stack logs on top of old utility poles seems to keep the bugs at bay it helps to stack so air can move around I also spray Tempo around storage area Good bug killer and safe for pets us etc hope that helps jbsawman
Depending on how busy you are i'd buck and stack off the ground at a minimum and split when you have the time. Good luck!
Joe, this is a great problem for any of us to have! The good news is that if you handle the wood properly it will keep for a long, long time with no or extremely little decay in the wood. Stacking in log form will hold the wood for some time if, like you state, it is off the ground...and covered. However, this is not the best because of the sap in the logs and yes, it can hold bugs for a long time which is something you don't want to deal with if at all possible. If only a couple years it would be okay but long term it is not best for sure. For example, a neighbor has some logs that were stacked in mostly 12' logs; mostly red and white oak. They've been stacked for 3 years and some are showing signs of decay already. Do you want that after all the work you do? As always, the best method is to get it split and stacked and off the ground. For sure it has to be top covered to last a long time but be sure it is top covered good. Tarps just won't get it. You need something for a hard cover for long term and even then, you must from time to time check the covering. It can move from frost heave, wood shrinkage and wind. In addition, one has to keep watch for woodchucks making homes under the wood piles. No big damage but you don't want holes under those piles any more than you want them digging under a barn or shed. So, I suggest cut, split and stack right away. How long will it last? Probably not more than 100 years or so if stacked right. What will last the longest? The wood you burn last. (I'm not sure if I know of any firewood being stacked more than 20 years.) Good luck and my you be blessed with more good problems like this.
I've got a similar problem, in that I have lots of firewood for future use but have no room in the woodsheds (and no time to play with it). I'm simply stacking bucked rounds on pallets until I can get to it later this fall. Like this - a bit over three cords of maple and cherry. The largest rounds in that stack are about 18" diameter.
Only possible way is to have it inside some type of building. I've tried stacking firewood out in the open for about five or six years, and unless it's black locust or cherry, it rots. (Edit: that's what I have experience with, at least)
Walnut is highly rot resistant too, except for the sapwood. Use the more rot resistant stuff to stack the logs on. Just make sure you’re not putting it right where you might want to build another building in a couple years.
I took down 3 medium sized HL trees a few years back. CSS it right way...every kind of wood boring critter in the county got into that stuff! They did eventually give it up after the wood dried out some, but there was so much sawdust on the wood it really held the moisture! I even moved the stack once, at which time I knocked as much sawdust off as possible...what a messy PITA!
Something is definitely wrong if you can't keep wood longer than that. No doubt, it has to be one of two things: Wood setting on the ground rather than being raised (but it appears you do raise it off the ground) or else something wrong with the covering. Well, one more thing could be that you are not splitting the wood before stacking? Birch or blue beech or something like that? We have many times stacked wood for longer than that with absolutely no problem.
This was in the time BP (Before Pallets). We used straight poles 2-3" in diameter, and there was invariably some ground contact. Some of it was fine, some rotted.
We burned 2 cords of some 5 and 6 yr old cherry this year. And a little oak. It was stacked on skids but not top covered. It was still good but there were some pieces that were beginning to degrade. Getting flaky/soft on the outside. I might start putting stone under the skids to keep them from sinking in the dirt and to keep the skids dry. It will give it a little more air underneath also. We have very moist soil here and lots of trees to drop leaves on the stacks.
If you have the room, CSS and cover it....good problem to have...more wood. I'm running out of good drying area too, but a couple trees snapped off on my property a few weeks ago, so I made room!
