Drying firewood in a pile?

[BoBDoG2o02]

hi Bob in langcasster

Its actually more like, Lang-kisst-errrr

 

[lefturnfreek]

Uh oh .... I'm in trouble then...

 

[MountainHigh]

Is it effective to dry firewood in a pile?

Yes, if the pile is laying on pallets and is in dry climate. It will freeze dry in winter and surface bake in summer, and get some air movement all year. The centre wood will still take longer to dry than the outer wood exposed to sun.

No, if it is in wet climate with plenty of rain and not covered, even with the underneath air movement from pallets it's not enough - you need a cover overhead to keep the moisture off.

Exceptions to the need for pallets might be on gravel in a very dry climate, but getting wood off direct contact with the ground and out of the rain is best if you need 15 to 20% max moisture in your wood to run in an EPA stove.

 

[muddstopper]

Everyone seems to have opinions so heres mine. In post #15, Jrider shows his wood piled in windrows, narrow and tall piles. I would think wood piled in the manner would dry about as well and fast as the same wood stacked in neat rows. Yea, the wood touching the ground might be wet, but unless it monsooned for a month, I bet the rest of the wood would dry very well. Also, if after drying, one decided they wanted to stack that wood inside a shed, the bottom wood would probably be the top wood onced stacked, so it would dry pretty quickly. Now I can see where a mountain of wood might not get the airflow to dry in the middle of the pile, but there is no way that wood is piled so tightly that no air flow occurs. Even big piles of wood heat up in the sun and that heat is what pulls air thru the pile. I feel a big pile of wood might take longer to dry than a nice even stack, but thats only because there is more wood there to dry. (in a given area). The long narrow stacks of Jrider's will probably dry just as well, and about as fast, as those neat stacks.

Personally, I split and then take the tractor and push the splits in a pile until I'm ready to stack in the shed. If I split and then stack right away, My shed ends up with a lot of wood stacked close together. When I start burning and I get to the wood in the middle of the shed, it isnt as dry as I like it to be. I simply refuse to stack and restack wood because i am worried about moisture content. If I split the wood and leave it in a pile all summer,, stack it in the shed late fall , its usually dry enough to burn by winter, and I only stacked it once.

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

Every situation and location could be different. We left a pile like the one above on a cement pad from October though April. When I got to the pile to put it away, it was full of mold, and frogs. I have never seen so many frogs in my life as that pile had in it. That and the inside of the pile was so frozen with ice I had to ram it with the tractor bucket to break it up. This was after all the snow had been melted off the ground for at least 30days.

This year I am trying it again though, but it is all covered but the bottom 3-4ft. Don't know or care if it will dry much over the winter, as I will tackle that pile come spring.

 

[muddstopper]

I never split enough wood to make a pile that big!! I usually just pull up beside my log pile and keep advancing the splitter as the wood piles up behind it. That wood might lay there for weeks before I get around to pushing into one big pile so I suspect my wood is drying a lot faster because of the little piles. Since I dont sell wood, I dont feel the rush to get the wood dry or in pretty stacks either. Different situation, different methods, and different desires for the results I guess. I also suspect that once I get my processor finished, I might have to rethink my piling and stacking methods, Naw, I plan on processing under my big shed and just leaving it in piles, only difference is the piles wont be getting rained on. wonder how much wood I can pile under that shed???? 30-40 cords maybe, that should do me until I croake.

 

[reddogrunner]

Interestingly enough I do store firewood in the Dino Bags and it is all dumped in with no real rhyme or reason and it dries great. Granted the "pile" is roughly 4' x 4' and about 5' high. I spot checked splits throughout the bag and they were all acceptable moisture content. I believe it's possible to dry it in a pile in the "right" conditions. Mileage will vary of course, assuming all of the variables are considered. My bags are stored on a very solid pallet and stored in a barn with high airflow, but no direct sunlight. The bags are a mesh, which allows them to breath. The splits stay there for about a year and then are delivered and stacked in the client's wood storage areas. No complaints after 2 years of the trial run. I use about 12 bags, for a total of 4 cords. I am going to add to that whenever I finish my roofed storage area. Just adding to the discussion. I liken this to the dog food discussion dog people have - and there is no right answer. WHAT DOG FOOD IS BEST? Well, got a comfy chair and some popcorn and beer???? LOL

 

[lefturnfreek]

The bottom of that box is all pallets and the ground is dry sandy soil so the wood is not in direct contact with the ground. I'm not too bad off. The pile is a bit big and was to be broken up in thirds with vertical pallets to let more air circulate but we had more wood than available space. I only burn split in coolish weather so that pile will be there for quite a few years as I have OWB and burn 4fts for the most part.

 

[Mr Black]

For visual refferences.... Here's Red Elm waxed faces after 1 & 1/2 hours in my living room.... It's only a 1.3" x14" x10" slab.... 6 per log.... How many gallons of water that needs to escape will depend on the pile... Even a small amount of water, however, will rot a pile quickly...

 

[jrider]

For visual refferences.... Here's Red Elm waxed faces after 1 & 1/2 hours in my living room.... It's only a 1.3" x14" x10" slab.... 6 per log.... How many gallons of water that needs to escape will depend on the pile... Even a small amount of water, however, will rot a pile quickly...

Was this slab outside in the cold before you had it in your living room?

 

[Mr Black]

It isn't condensation, if that was your thinking... The one far left is .25" thicker than the other two... I've wicked off the moisture several times now... It was beading water as soon it was milled...

 

[Guswhit]

I've had a lot of black locust do that when I'm cutting in the timber, still seems to dry out in 8-9 months after splitting just fine.

 

[mohick]

Most of the piles I see with those match sticks, would dry in a rain storm, where's the real wood ???

 

[lknchoppers]

From what I have seen if a big operation dumps it in a 20 foot high pile, the splits in the center and at the bottom do not dry well after a year or even 18 month. Mixing the pile around can help but it can also get dirt in your wood if you are not really careful. I think wind rows like jrider makes is the way to go. When you are talking about over 100 cords of wood in reality there is not enough time or manpower to stack it. I live in the South and it gets 100* here for days on end with low humidity too, from July through August. The wood that was in mid pile or lower was 45% and unsalable for that year. I make tons of MC readings and get feedback from many customers, mostly good. My wood is always guaranteed and I will swap out 1 piece or the whole load if the customer is unsatisfied. I prefer to sell sub 20% MC wood and usually can do that all year long. My goal is to have wind rows on pavement or concrete in the future.

 

[Mr Black]

The one Species you CAN NOT leave on the ground.... Beech.... It molds and rots fast

 

[sam-tip]

I was amazed with the drying of my wood pile. Cut and splitt in one day in may 2015. 50 cord. A base of rock and wood chips. The bottom was very seasoned. Expected mold but only on pieces deep in mud. But we have LOTS of wind and sun.

Last year was a wet year. Had it all picked up by November.