what do you think? Will I be able to burn it this winter if left out like this? I have alot more to do and will figure something else out if the shrink wrap is going to hold the moisture in. Anybody have any experience shrink wrapping wet wood and seasoning it like, would love to hear from you.
drying oak shrink wrapped on a pallet
- Thread starter Dustyw
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Oldtimer
Addicted to ArboristSite
You'll have mushrooms growing on it by fall. Shrink wrap holds the moisture in. Bad idea. Yes, I have personal experience with this. Worked at a firewood bundling company for a time, and had to rip apart summer stored shrink wrapped wood just like that. Mushrooms on all of it. Some of it was junk.
Stack it, cover it with tin roofing.
Stack it, cover it with tin roofing.
fredmc
Addicted to ArboristSite
Bull Crap! Oak is dry enough to burn after 6 months. It is not seasoned for another 6-8 months. It will also dry covered 3 rows deep no problem.
fredmc
Addicted to ArboristSite
To the OP... Use that wrap to cover the top not the sides.
pickwood
ArboristSite Operative
Drying any wood depends on where you live- It has been my experience that even dead standing oak trees take anywhere from 1-2 years to season properly.
Oldtimer
Addicted to ArboristSite
No, do not use plastic or a tarp of any kind. Moisture will condense on the underside of it. Use steel roofing.
nomak
ArboristSite Operative
We use to use a netting style wrap at a factory I worked at here is a pic of what im talking about ... Im sure it would work great and actually makes me want to do this myself stack pallets and net shrink wrap them...
http://www.allplaz.com/acatalog/info_166.html
http://www.allplaz.com/acatalog/info_166.html
arborworks1
ArboristSite Operative
Black plastic in the full sun, mini greenhouse. Make a covered vent in the top. Driest wood you will burn in 6 months.
thanks for all the quick replies. I like the netting. Shrink wrap was easy to get,cheap and works great for holding the wood on the pallet while moving it with a forklift. If it would work, my plan is to set them by the owb this winter and cut down on the handling of it. I really don't have a good place to stack all of it here at home, so this way it could be moved with little effort. I think I am going to try it to the 2 huge oak trees that I had delivered and see how it works. I would rather leave it in the woods, but I had a chance to get these 2 big oaks for free, so now I have a mess, 10 single axle dump truck loads of a mess.
and opcorn:
and opcorn:
oneoldbanjo
Addicted to ArboristSite
I believe the stack has 3 moisture sources. (1) The wood has internal moisture from when the tree was living, (2)The rain and snow comes in at the top (3)moisture from the ground comes in at the bottom. Drying occurs when when the sun and wind can work to remove the moisture from the wood. When you close in the top and sides the ability for the moisture to be carried away is reduced.
I always put a layer of plastic sheeting beneath my wood piles to keep the moisture from the ground from coming up into the wood pile, then I cover the top with either scrap metal roofing or with tarps (Do not drape the tarps down over the sides as it will hold condensation in). The sides are always left open so the air can move through the pile. If you close in the sides the drying time will be increased dramaticlly.....and if you stack the wood too deep the wood on the inside of the stack will season very slowly. If you don't block the moisture from the ground from coming up into a large stack the wood in the interior may even start rotting from the excess moisture that comes up from the ground. (If you don't think that much moisture comes up from the ground throw a clear plastic sheet on the ground and see how fast the moisture fogs up the clear plastic).
Now my disclaimer.....I live in the Cincinnati area and it is very humid in this area. A pile of wood that is not covered will pretty much be worthless after 3 years of sitting outside. If you live in a dry climate your wood drying may be completely different.
I always put a layer of plastic sheeting beneath my wood piles to keep the moisture from the ground from coming up into the wood pile, then I cover the top with either scrap metal roofing or with tarps (Do not drape the tarps down over the sides as it will hold condensation in). The sides are always left open so the air can move through the pile. If you close in the sides the drying time will be increased dramaticlly.....and if you stack the wood too deep the wood on the inside of the stack will season very slowly. If you don't block the moisture from the ground from coming up into a large stack the wood in the interior may even start rotting from the excess moisture that comes up from the ground. (If you don't think that much moisture comes up from the ground throw a clear plastic sheet on the ground and see how fast the moisture fogs up the clear plastic).
Now my disclaimer.....I live in the Cincinnati area and it is very humid in this area. A pile of wood that is not covered will pretty much be worthless after 3 years of sitting outside. If you live in a dry climate your wood drying may be completely different.
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savageactor7
ArboristSite Guru
Dustyw I wouldn't think that would season well like that but let us know next fall.
BlueRidgeMark
Addicted to ArboristSite
Bull Crap! Oak is dry enough to burn after 6 months. It is not seasoned for another 6-8 months. It will also dry covered 3 rows deep no problem.
:agree2:
I keep hearing this "two years!" stuff, and I keep burning 1 year old oak, with no problems at all.
BlueRidgeMark
Addicted to ArboristSite
That would be me. It worked very well. I kept the top covered, but with a pole across it to make a tent effect so there would be good air circulation from bottom to top. It was sitting on gravel, which has plastic under it, so it wasn't pulling up ground moisture.
As the sun baked it, you could see condensation on the inside of the shrink wrap. But when I unwrapped it after about 6 months, it was nice and dry. Well, dry enough to burn with no problem.
This was an "oops I don't have enough dry wood split!" situation. It got me out of a bind.
I haven't tried the black plastic method. I can see why that might work better. OTOH, greenhouses are clear, not black. So are the fronts of solar heat collectors.
I've got mine stacked on pallets, 9 of them so far, and I have a single layer of black poly on the top held on by some split pieces. So far, even though we're still in winter, it is drying. Now, it is mostly poplar, not really hardwood. It is free, so it is ok for me.
arborworks1
ArboristSite Operative
In my experiment the black plastic had higher temps under it than the clear. The vent was the key to let the moisture steam off. I mushroomed one stack that was ventless in 3 months, high humidty here in SC. Vented that stack and it was dry in 4 months.
treemandan
Tree Freak
what do you think? Will I be able to burn it this winter if left out like this? I have alot more to do and will figure something else out if the shrink wrap is going to hold the moisture in. Anybody have any experience shrink wrapping wet wood and seasoning it like, would love to hear from you.
Are they full chords on each pallet?
treemandan
Tree Freak
I lay down pallets then just toss the split stuff on top and cover pretty much the top. The wood is dry as a bone and have not had any moisture problems on the underside of the top but it could be possible. I think sonce I only cover the top and not the sides its able to stay dry and season nice.
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