Questions Re: The Woodpile

I cut and hand split 30 to 50 face cords (thats about 10 to 20 pulp cords or to put it another way, a stack 4 feet high and the length of a football field) every year for 30 years. Almost every piece was split at least once.

Wood dries a lot better when split. It takes wood a loong time to dry. A rain storm will soak the outside, but it doesn't set the drying back much. In short, I wouldn't worry about a shower getting the wood pile wet. Leave the stack uncovered on a few dry days and you'd never know it got rained on.

I try to cut and split in the winter, stack in the spring and stack in the basement in the fall. If left outside, even with a cover, too much snow gets blown into the stacks. Oak I might want to leave out for an extra year.

There is a local guy selling firewood. He has it stacked on pallets, wrapped with that cheap plastic banding. Each pallet equals a face cord (4 feet by 8 feet and 16 inches long) Just loads it into your truck with a fork lift. He stacks the wood on pallets as he cuts and splits it. Then he brings it to a retail location to sell.

I just leave mine in a pile until it's time to bring it to the house. Then if a lot of snow is expected I'll throw a tarp over it.

The best thing to cover wood with, though, is rubber sheeting like is used for garden pools/ponds. It's heavy so it doesn't blow off so you don't have to play around weighting it down when a storm is expected.

Jennifer

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-Northern NYS

Mine gets covered with an old above ground pool liner.

One heavy rain isn't going to play havoc on your woodpile. I keep mine covered with tarp (top only...let air get to it on the sides)...I keep a few pieces of wood on top as weight to keep the tarp from flying off. I'm sure that if you cover it now, it will be fine by the time you need to start burning on a regular basis.

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"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow the fields of those who don't."-Thomas Jefferson

It is only wet on the surface. The rain won't penetrate far. Just recover it. I would cover so there is good air circulation. A translucent cover acts as a solar drier.


Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Seasoned wood is ok out in the rain...If your wood is green, has not had time to dry or season then creosote will build up in your chimney and cause fires...we only burn wood that has been on the ground 10 months or more...Rain wet usually doesnt hurt it.

I fell the trees for my season firewood in January and cut it to length, stack it in the woods, come back about the end of August and split it and stack it near the house, cover the top, leave the side open for good air circulation around the stack. I keep 1/3 cord on the porch under cover in a rack.

Theres one guy around here that girdles his trees and leaves them on the stump until he is ready for them.