Firewood stacks should be
Build a decent wood shed to hold 5-6 cords of wood. Have windows on all 4 sides to ensure good cross ventilation regardless of what way the wind blows. I built mine to hold that amount as it's what I burn per season. No worries about rain / snow - just keep a good path shovelled. Train your kids to bring in an armful each day and add to the indoor stack. Teach your eldest how to light a proper fire. Outside wood storage is a pain in the ass. Firewood racks, tarps and the mess thats comes with it. Wood shed storage with good ventilation has always provided me with good / dry firewood. My neighbour converts his green house into a wood storage shed each fall. It's like a friggin kiln.
Keep 1/4 cord of dry wood in the house. Nothing kills a fire or promotes chimmney problems than tossing cold / frozen wood on the fire.
Always try and keep a year ahead of your fire wood (specially hardwood). I'm ordering next years wood this week.
Just an informative post. As we all come up on winter, some are getting a load of firewood still and may be new homeowners who arent aware of some issues.
More added for them will be nice!
Don and I just finished stacking 2 cords using a combination of the metal frames on cinderblocks, and just cinderblocks (have to get more frames next year). The frames let us get higher so save space, but the difference isnt all that notable with a little practice.
I've not heard of it. My neighbour purchased a Pow r Kraft from direct tools. Plugs into a standard outlet and has 4 tons splitting power. Think he paid 200.00 for it and has a 2 year warranty. Can do up to 10 inches hardwood / 12 inches soft wood diameter. An option for you and your pal (given the 1-2 cord limit) would be to rent one for a weekend. I order mine mostly pre split ( I'm 72 yrs old and find it hard). Many folks around here rent them. I leave 20% of the wood unsplit. When dry it's much better for the long overnight burns when I've hit the hay.
When I was younger we used to nail 2 old tires (stacked) on a hardwood junk. We would place 5-6 junks in it and wack away until they were all split. The tire kept the wood from flying about and the rubber protected the axe edge. It worked very well and saved my time and my back. Cover it in a tarp when not in use lest the tire fills with water during rain. Wood splitting is generally lonely work.
That would be great but I lack the space. I see another mentioned at least a roof' of sorts. I do not have one. What we do is bring in several wheelbarrows worth into the garage when it gets freezing and let it thaw out there. Not a warm place, but above freezing. Sae idea before rain, we bring some in to keep it well dry.
Grin, well, our needs are less than yours.
Chimney problems? I was not aware of any, just that wet wood is hard to burn and smokey. Maybe smokey buildup? We have our fireplace professionally cleaned annually. It's actually amlnost free as the recipt the the homeowners insurance folks takes money off our insurance.
Good advice. We got 2 cords but probably will have 1 left. What it does is augment the heating as the fireplace isnt big enough for the 4 BR house. It does however dramatically lower the bill (we tested this, and it works). We get (and pay extra) for seasoned firewood. Split the year before.
Hey, since you burn lots, a question? What do you think of the 199$ Cummins wood splitter? Would it work when our wood is pre-split but some of the logs are a bit big for the fireplace?
I regularly check craigslist, and picked up a used gas splitter for $300. I don't use it that often, but figure it will easily pay for itself in saved rentals or medical bills.
Bob
Save your money and get some used pallets. One the ends, you do what is called a chimney stack. Lay two pieces down with space between, Now crisscross two pieces 90 degrees. Repeat. If your wood is split in half, put the flat side down, if quartered, lay them as flat as possible. Pick the best sizes as you go and it becomes very easy to do. Between the stack just lay the pieces in at random and you will find they self support quite a bit.
I find splitting wood manually a relaxing, enjoyable thing. In addition it is about the greatest exercise going as you use all your muscles. . I am also 72 and do a minimum of 6 cord yearly. All manually except the knots and crotches that I save out and when a batch collects run them through the hydraulic splitter.
Reminds me. I am done for the year but I need to pull the motor on the splitter and either get it overhauled or replaced so it will be ready next year.
Harry K
wrote in
Sounds like this one. 4 ton and all, Meant to be operated horizontally and we looked up the manual online and it seems needs to be up on something (safety warning to do that). We can build something if it doesnt ft in the brick grill built in the backyard. Don and I are fairly handy at such type work.
We've been looking but all the rentals are 50$-75$ a day in our area. At that price, a unit with our usage level making it probably last quite a few years, would pay for itself we think and be less hassle? If it only lasted 4 years it would break even. If we had the unit, about
3/4 cord would get chopped smaller this year of the 2 cords and only because we kinda like the smaller pieces. Easier to handle and all that.Hehehe well, Don and I arent spring chickens anymore. I'm almost 50 and he's almost 60 so labor saving devices are smart for us when it comes to this.
We live in Norfolk area. Tonight is supposed to be the first freeze. Won't get much under32, but it's definately noticably colder now. It's probably just a hair under 50F outside now and the heat hasnt kicked on yet (set to
70) but the fireplace is going. Thermostat is reading 74F. I dont have an outdoor thermometer yet. (If you track many messages here, we are the ones just back from Japan awaiting household goods to arrive and fixing up renters damage).I've had problems with bugs and wetness on the bottom row of my firewood stacks, so I am thinking about getting used plastic pallets....
I use 2 trees in the back as "bookends" then stack between them up to about 5 feet high, well away from the house. By spring I burn up everything before the trees come back even if that just means having a Memorial day bon fire.
I try to use it up and learned to buy less than I need, I dont keep any of it around come spring. The bottom few layers are pretty bad though.
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote
Actually in this case, with subterranian termites, cinderblock is a better idea. Thats area specific though (folks new to this, check your area and his suggestion is cheaer if you can use it!)
In our case, we are decorating the cinderblocks (grin). We used a simple paint meant for basements (just sticks better is all) then let the 13YO loose with some water proof colored paints. Got little butterflies, bugs, flowers, all sorts of things on'em now. Looks pretty cool.
Yes, got my stacks about 5ft at all but the edges where they sorta drift over and down a bit. Probably not as fancy as you have here, but works well enough.
That should work as long as they let air flow under the wood and are sturdy enough to bear the weight long time.
"RickH" wrote
Neat! Wish we had such a setup here but we do not. Do you raise them up off the ground a bit or just let the bottom layer dry out someplace else for next year?
I stack right on the ground. The bottom layer usually has a bit of damp dirt on it that I scrape off but I don't have a problem with rotting if the wood is used withing a year or two. I am currently burning some that was stacked under the drip edge of the garage roof for a minimum of 3 years, may have been 4. Bottom layer had a fairly thik layier of damp dirt, a a very thing 1/8" penetration of beginning rot.
Dunno how that fits with your climate, I am in semi arid area.
Harry K
Visiting my father, I spent half a day splitting some wood with him. Lots of wedge and hammer action. The next day I was so sore it hurt to laugh. My father, who does this more than I had no such problem. He's 85.
Bob
I had good result with metal "T" fence posts pounded in at the ends of rows and wired to the pallets.
Bob
Good luck finding cheap ones.
Bob
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