# How Many Cords On Your Property?



## BIGChrisNH (Jul 8, 2019)

Just curious how many of you can really build up a good supply. It's good to be several years ahead, and it has taken me several years to get there. I have 1.25 acres, and I currently have approximately 16 cords neatly stacked and covered, 4 of which are marked for this coming year, 4 for the year after that, and so on. The 4 for this coming winter are 2 years old. My stacks serve two purposes, seasoning as well as privacy fences as they are all 5 feet high (approximately).


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## Ashful (Jul 8, 2019)

BIGChrisNH said:


> Just curious how many of you can really build up a good supply. It's good to be several years ahead, and it has taken me several years to get there. I have 1.25 acres, and I currently have approximately 16 cords neatly stacked and covered, 4 of which are marked for this coming year, 4 for the year after that, and so on. The 4 for this coming winter are 2 years old. My stacks serve two purposes, seasoning as well as privacy fences as they are all 5 feet high (approximately).



I usually try to keep 30 cords split and stacked, and at least another few (3 - 6 cords) of logs or rounds ready to be split.  However, we have had record high rainfall the last two years, making it all but impossible to work on my wood lot without making a serious mess, so I’m down to maybe 16 cords split and stacked right now.  Working on building that back up.

I am on a larger (4 acre) lot in a lower-density suburban (>1000 persons/mi2) area.


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## Dataman (Jul 8, 2019)

When I got out of Wood Burning (Went Pellet May 2018) I had 10 cords stacked and ready to go.   Have about 1 cord drying from trees that came down in Fall/Winter/Spring.   Going to be a groan to make them into little pellets.


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## Highbeam (Jul 8, 2019)

On my mostly treeless suburban lot, I have just more than enough fuel for two years of full time burning. 10-11 cords in a shed. That's about all I want to keep on hand. I am starting to believe that wood can be too dry.


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## Dobish (Jul 8, 2019)

i am a .5 acre lot, with roughly 10 cord CSS. I have another couple scattered around that I need to get around to splitting. Hopefully soon!  We burn through roughly 3 per year.


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 8, 2019)

10 cords on a half acre is pretty good!


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## Ashful (Jul 8, 2019)

Highbeam said:


> On my mostly treeless suburban lot, I have just more than enough fuel for two years of full time burning. 10-11 cords in a shed. That's about all I want to keep on hand. I am starting to believe that wood can be too dry.


Hey Highbeam, do you stack into that shed right off the splitter, or are you stacking in open rows and then moving (again) to the shed after it’s already dry?


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## Highbeam (Jul 8, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Hey Highbeam, do you stack into that shed right off the splitter, or are you stacking in open rows and then moving (again) to the shed after it’s already dry?



Good question. I split and throw into a pile and then load it into the shed. All within a few days so the wood going into the shed is relatively unseasoned.  

If I can guess what you're thinking, it's that the wood in the shed won't be able to dry as quickly as if it were spread out in the open one layer thick on asphalt in the sun and wind. I think you're right but I also will leave this wood in the shed for double the normal drying time. 

I sure hope it dries enough. I have as much ventilation built into the shed as possible. There are a few inches between rows and of course plenty of ventilation on top with a generous overhang.

Oh and in the photo, the first row is well seasoned wood used to top off the shed. I wanted the greenest wood to be in the back so I had to pull this wood out and start filling with green.  

I have a couple of moisture meters to check this winter. It's my second winter working out of a shed. The top covering does not work well enough in my rainy climate.


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## kvesi122 (Jul 8, 2019)

I have about 12 cords cut and split, 5 of which are stacked in two rows on pallets between trees. Still working in the back of the lot on some trees down on the neighbors lot (with permission). 1.6 acres.


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## thewoodlands (Jul 8, 2019)

BIGChrisNH said:


> Just curious how many of you can really build up a good supply. It's good to be several years ahead, and it has taken me several years to get there. I have 1.25 acres, and I currently have approximately 16 cords neatly stacked and covered, 4 of which are marked for this coming year, 4 for the year after that, and so on. The 4 for this coming winter are 2 years old. My stacks serve two purposes, seasoning as well as privacy fences as they are all 5 feet high (approximately).


We have 142 acres so we have 50 - 52 face cord up but I'm hoping for another 10-12 face cord before the first snow hits.

EAB is in our county so this spring I felled 10 or 11 ash with more coming down this fall.

For our shoulder season wood, we have just under 12 face cord stacked, so we have a total of 62-64 up.


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## coutufr (Jul 8, 2019)

6000 sqf suburban lot and 7 cords stacked and covered


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## Ashful (Jul 8, 2019)

thewoodlands said:


> We have 142 acres so we have 50 - 52 face cord up but I'm hoping for another 10-12 face cord before the first snow hits.


Is that somewhere between a rick and a bush cord?


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## Molsonc1 (Jul 8, 2019)

I'm on 2 acres and I started building my pile of wood last year. Just over 7 cords right now. I get my Pacific energy fp25 installed in September :)


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## thewoodlands (Jul 8, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Is that somewhere between a rick and a bush cord?


It's a rick, our splits should be around 16 inches long or just under.


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## Rob711 (Jul 8, 2019)

About 8 cords on .5 acre. Probably half cord waiting to split. All oak and maple


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## Jan Pijpelink (Jul 8, 2019)

About 4 cord CSS on 1/3 acre. Need more wood.


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 8, 2019)

thewoodlands said:


> We have 142 acres so we have 50 - 52 face cord up but I'm hoping for another 10-12 face cord before the first snow hits.
> 
> EAB is in our county so this spring I felled 10 or 11 ash with more coming down this fall.
> 
> For our shoulder season wood, we have just under 12 face cord stacked, so we have a total of 62-64 up.


Wow, that much land is fantastic. You would never see a lot that size up here


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## EODMSgt (Jul 9, 2019)

About 8 cord (so far) on 5 acres. All hardwood. The average used was around 4 cord until last winter when I used close to 8. Hope to have between 12-16 CSS by the time the snow flies.


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 9, 2019)

That’s a good supply. I love knowing we can burn as much as we want to over the next couple years


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## Woody5506 (Jul 9, 2019)

I have 10 or 11 cords split/stacked on my 3/4 acre suburban lot which is about 3 years worth for us.


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## Woodsplitter67 (Jul 9, 2019)

I am an acre cleared... im sitting on 14 cords CSS as well as 4 cord in log lenth ready to be cut up as soon i have a wood shed ready to be filled.. ill be on the hunt for more wood this winter... log lenth


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## Dobish (Jul 9, 2019)

BIGChrisNH said:


> 10 cords on a half acre is pretty good!


Right now its a bit overgrown, but we also sort of use it as a fence line


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## Bushels20 (Jul 9, 2019)

We are on a .5 acre wooded lot in the suburbs. 2 years worth c/s/s. 8 cords. 4 cords a year. I make an “L” with it to create an area where I can cut and split and keep it all contained given I am in a neighborhood.


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 9, 2019)

We all do what we can don’t we? That much on .5 is pretty darn good. Some of my neighbors have walked by and jokingly/not jokingly said “you got enough wood?” My response has been “not yet”.


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## steve62 (Jul 9, 2019)

I have 300 acres, no firewood cut yet.  But lots of dead standing pine, easy to cut and split a couple cords a day.  I was just reading this thread thinking I better get started lol.


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## Bushels20 (Jul 9, 2019)

BIGChrisNH said:


> We all do what we can don’t we? That much on .5 is pretty darn good. Some of my neighbors have walked by and jokingly/not jokingly said “you got enough wood?” My response has been “not yet”.



I try to keep mine neatly stacked and capped on the ends with pallets that are in good shape. Tends to make it look a little nicer I think. I’m lucky enough to have some really good neighbors on each side who not only don’t mind my hobby of wood hoarding but will actually tip me off when they see trees going down that can be collected. 

I like that response. “Not yet”. Ha!


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## Jan Pijpelink (Jul 9, 2019)

I stack next to the fence and just below the top of the fence. The wood shed is behind the garden shed. Our left and right neighbors don't see anything of the wood. We have only trees between our back fence and our neighbors behind us.


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## Bushels20 (Jul 10, 2019)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> I stack next to the fence and just below the top of the fence. The wood shed is behind the garden shed. Our left and right neighbors don't see anything of the wood. We have only trees between our back fence and our neighbors behind us.




That makes it nice. We are in the woods pretty heavily on our lot, so the stacks blend in, to a certain degree. Still can see them though.


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## spudman99 (Jul 10, 2019)

I have just over 5 cords on pallets in double rows with plastic top covered.  Some under trees along rear fence, some in full sun but open and visible to my neighbors.  I like to keep it hidden so they don't think I am a hillbilly.  Total of 1 acre lot and I haven't burnt a log yet. Stacks are now 1 year old c/c/s.  Looking to install an insert in the next 2 months.


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## SpaceBus (Jul 10, 2019)

I'm up to eight cords C/S/S this year and on the property. I'd like to have 15+ by fall, but home repairs are putting a hurting on my time for wood processing. Progress would be faster if there were more flat ground available to stack on. Hopefully I can kill two birds with one stone...


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## Sppako3 (Jul 10, 2019)

I’m on two acres and try to stay about a year ahead on wood supply. Avg burn 4-5 per season, although last year we went through more than that. 

Also, we started a large interior remodel right after Christmas and I haven’t done anything in preparation for this winter yet so as of now I have maybe 2 cords ready with more that needs to be split but has been cut and sitting in a pile for a year.


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## johneh (Jul 10, 2019)

On 800 hectors 3 of us 2 sons and myself 
And I have no friggen idea how many cords split and stacked 
but I have next winter 5 cord in my shed and an extra five cord
in the lean too


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## JohnDolz (Jul 10, 2019)

Highbeam said:


> Good question. I split and throw into a pile and then load it into the shed. All within a few days so the wood going into the shed is relatively unseasoned.
> 
> If I can guess what you're thinking, it's that the wood in the shed won't be able to dry as quickly as if it were spread out in the open one layer thick on asphalt in the sun and wind. I think you're right but I also will leave this wood in the shed for double the normal drying time.
> 
> ...


I have a wood shed fairly similar except the sides are closed (pine board so not air tight) - It holds 12 cord when stacked full. The shed is a bit buried in the trees so medium/minimal sun and down low so minimal wind. I find that the wood is plenty dry in 1 year though I leave it for 2 years. In my opinion you will be more than fine.


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## Eureka (Jul 10, 2019)

I have... a lot.  I’d guess about 20 cords cut/split/stacked.  A deal that I thought had fallen through on a semi load ended up reappearing the day after I got a load from another source. So now in addition to the 20 css, I have another 20-24 cords in 8 foot lengths.  For what it’s worth I cut 24” long and split big for an OWB.  Burned 13 last winter, mostly seasoned junk wood but decided to stick with maple/ash/oak this year.


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## Prof (Jul 11, 2019)

I'm on 15 acres and have about one cleared. I try to stay about 3 yrs ahead (not counting the next heating season), which means that I have about 16-20 cords at any given time. I burn 4-5 cords per year. Currently I have about 16 css, 2 cut and waiting to be split and stacked, and probably 2-3 cords of dead-fall waiting for the saw.


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## Cfran88 (Jul 12, 2019)

BIGChrisNH said:


> Just curious how many of you can really build up a good supply. It's good to be several years ahead, and it has taken me several years to get there. I have 1.25 acres, and I currently have approximately 16 cords neatly stacked and covered, 4 of which are marked for this coming year, 4 for the year after that, and so on. The 4 for this coming winter are 2 years old. My stacks serve two purposes, seasoning as well as privacy fences as they are all 5 feet high (approximately).




Hey,  do you mind posting photos (and maybe helpful hints) of how you've done this? I have about the same amount of land and have to keep in mind how it will look to the neighbors


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## Sully1515 (Jul 12, 2019)

We own over 4 acres with a former, very large goat shed that I had converted into a woodshed.  I'm able to place at least 14 to 15 cord, but, I keep paths within my woodpiles for easy access.  I currently have 11 cord stored.  We burn approx. 2 cord per year.  We have a smaller home that is very well insulated.  We also have three sources of heat (Two wood stoves, oil heat, forced hot air electric).


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## heavy hammer (Jul 13, 2019)

I have a little over 2.5 acres and I have some where I believe 25-30 cords of wood.  I somewhere between 3-4 years ahead depending on the winters.  With a few trees to drop and always looking for more wood.


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## Ashful (Jul 13, 2019)

heavy hammer said:


> I have a little over 2.5 acres and I have some where I believe 25-30 cords of wood.  I somewhere between 3-4 years ahead depending on the winters.  With a few trees to drop and always looking for more wood.


You do yours in spaced double rows the same as me.  About the same amount, as well.




The only difference is the stuff staging for splitting is left in 15 foot lengths, here.


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## heavy hammer (Jul 13, 2019)

I try to keep my staging stuff Ashful in 8 foot lengths or less since some of my piles are getting over 6 feet tall.  I need to be able to handle the log lengths.   The tractor can handle anything thrown at it but my tractor paths are only so wide, moving in between trees in the woods i have to keep the lengths shorter.


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## SpaceBus (Jul 13, 2019)

Ashful said:


> You do yours in spaced double rows the same as me.  About the same amount, as well.
> 
> View attachment 245679
> 
> ...



That's a nice pile of stones. Are you building a retaining wall?


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## Ashful (Jul 13, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> That's a nice pile of stones. Are you building a retaining wall?



That used to be a barn, built 1730’sih, knocked down and piled there around 1986.  I’m sure I’ll do something with those stones at some point, some were already used in my patio and house addition but they’re just sort of serving to divide the finished part of the yard from the wood processing area, for now.


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 13, 2019)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> I stack next to the fence and just below the top of the fence. The wood shed is behind the garden shed. Our left and right neighbors don't see anything of the wood. We have only trees between our back fence and our neighbors behind us.


That’s nice if you can hide it like that


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 13, 2019)

Cfran88 said:


> Hey,  do you mind posting photos (and maybe helpful hints) of how you've done this? I have about the same amount of land and have to keep in mind how it will look to the neighbors


I will do that yeah, I’ve got to remember to take pics


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 13, 2019)

Eureka said:


> I have... a lot.  I’d guess about 20 cords cut/split/stacked.  A deal that I thought had fallen through on a semi load ended up reappearing the day after I got a load from another source. So now in addition to the 20 css, I have another 20-24 cords in 8 foot lengths.  For what it’s worth I cut 24” long and split big for an OWB.  Burned 13 last winter, mostly seasoned junk wood but decided to stick with maple/ash/oak this year.
> View attachment 245625


Wow, that is a nice supply


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## SpaceBus (Jul 13, 2019)

Ashful said:


> That used to be a barn, built 1730’sih, knocked down and piled there around 1986.  I’m sure I’ll do something with those stones at some point, some were already used in my patio and house addition but they’re just sort of serving to divide the finished part of the yard from the wood processing area, for now.



That's pretty cool. Every time I use a ground engagement attachment several boulders and stones come out of the ground. Usually the ledge will break apart, but the granite is in large round shapes. I've found the ledge breaks nice enough to use for stacking firewood. Back in topic - Most of my wood is a single row about 5' tall sitting on 4" diameter runners (tree tops, saplings, limbs) resting on stones between trees. Without much flat ground this was the most space efficient method I could come up with. Of my eight C/S/S cords five are stored this way. I hope to build a wood shed before winter, if just for ease of bringing the wood inside. We have 25 acres, but almost all of it is trees.


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 14, 2019)

All of the stacks are up on pallets, which are on top of tarps cut to fit beneath. You can see the street out in front of one of the larger stacks, that's the one that functions as a privacy fence. We are lucky in that we have a lot of trees to the rear, left and right of our house, so the only thing people can see is that one larger stack when they drive or walk by. This part of the yard that they run around the perimeter of has the leech field in it, so we don't do much on that ground anyway, so it works out. We did not really intend to have this much wood, but when I can get it for free I do, and this is what happened, lol. I'm also sick of running out of seasoned wood at the end of the winter, so we are making sure that won't happen again. The pile facing the road is the best seasoning location, tons of sun and wind, the wood dries very well there.


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## Ashful (Jul 14, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> That's pretty cool. Every time I use a ground engagement attachment several boulders and stones come out of the ground... Back in topic - Most of my wood ...


It’s all on topic, he didn’t specify cords of WHAT.   You should stack the stone you find along your property lines, like the farmers of old.  



BIGChrisNH said:


> All of the stacks are up on pallets, which are on top of tarps cut to fit beneath.


Brilliant!  I like this idea, as I’ve been stacking on pallets without the tarps beneath, and a lot of moisture stays in the bottom row.  But now folks here have me concerned with micro plastics from things like degrading tarps...


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## SpaceBus (Jul 14, 2019)

Ashful said:


> It’s all on topic, he didn’t specify cords of WHAT.   You should stack the stone you find along your property lines, like the farmers of old.
> 
> 
> Brilliant!  I like this idea, as I’ve been stacking on pallets without the tarps, and a lot of moisture stays in the bottom row.  But now folks here have me concerned with micro plastics from things like degrading tarps...



After I manage to cut a path around the property line, this place has never been managed. 25 acres will take me some time to line with stone! I'm working on a small loop around the immediate vicinity of the house. I've been working on an area for wood stacking, processing, and storing some equipment. It's tough and slow work with this glacial till, I dare not call it soil. On the bright side all this stone would be quite expensive from a supplier. 

Use some of your stones to elevate your pallets and you also won't have wet wood on the bottoms. No degrading plastic either. We have some canvas tarps ordered in specific sizes that are covering building materials for the house, perhaps that could work in lieu of the stone. Should have less environmental impact than the plastic tarps.


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## buc74 (Jul 14, 2019)

Around 8-9 cords I'd say.


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## heavy hammer (Jul 14, 2019)

You can never really have to much wood!


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## Kevin Weis (Jul 15, 2019)

I probably have four altogether now.  I only use about 2 - 2 1/2 a season.  Maybe 3 if it's a really cold one.


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## Bushels20 (Jul 15, 2019)

buc74 said:


> Around 8-9 cords I'd say.
> View attachment 245725
> View attachment 245726
> View attachment 245727



Question: not a criticism. I just tarped all of my stacks (for the first time) this weekend. I used to leave them uncovered. In total I tarped all 8-9 cords.

I ran my tarps down the edges of the stacks about the same length that you have here. Does that work for you? Doesn’t interfere with the drying/seasoning process?

I know some guys simply top cover with metal. I don’t have any metal laying around however.


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## Ashful (Jul 15, 2019)

Conventional wisdom, passed to me from forum members of old, is to leave uncovered in summer and cover in fall for winter.  Not sure it’s been proven scientifically, but there is a lot of years of experience behind it.  It’s what I’ve been doing, since joining here.

And yes, rigid covering is best, but if uncovering for summer, you should be fine either way.


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## Bushels20 (Jul 16, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Conventional wisdom, passed to me from forum members of old, is to leave uncovered in summer and cover in fall for winter.  Not sure it’s been proven scientifically, but there is a lot of years of experience behind it.  It’s what I’ve been doing, since joining here.
> 
> And yes, rigid covering is best, but if uncovering for summer, you should be fine either way.



Maybe I will rethink the tarps and put them back on right before the weather changes. Thanks.


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## Ashful (Jul 16, 2019)

Bushels20 said:


> Maybe I will rethink the tarps and put them back on right before the weather changes. Thanks.



If you can hold the plastic up off the wood, a’la solar kiln, then there’s no reason to remove it.  It’s only an issue if it’s installed in a way that inhibits moisture escape, but that’s often the case.  

You may want to check some of the posts on solar kilns, if you’re interested.  Members @Poindexter and @Woodsplitter67 have lead a few of these.


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## sloeffle (Jul 16, 2019)

Last year I started putting my wood into 330 gallon metal totes. We have a walk out basement so I can take the tote and drop it into my basement with the tractor. A lot less wood handling. Currently I have 12 totes full of wood. That comes out to roughly 4 cords of wood. We only burn about 2 cords a year so that should always keep me 2 years ahead.

Last year I didn't put any plastic on them until August. Due to all of the rain we had last year some of the wood was still wet when it came time to burn it. I put plastic on 6 totes this past weekend. Hopefully the wood will be drier this year.


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## Bushels20 (Jul 16, 2019)

Ashful said:


> If you can hold the plastic up off the wood, a’la solar kiln, then there’s no reason to remove it.  It’s only an issue if it’s installed in a way that inhibits moisture escape, but that’s often the case.
> 
> You may want to check some of the posts on solar kilns, if you’re interested.  Members @Poindexter and @Woodsplitter67 have lead a few of these.




I’ve read about these on here. Always seems like way too much work for me given I am not in a pinch to get my wood dried/I have plenty c/s/s’d. 

I will just uncover until September/October.


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## Bushels20 (Jul 16, 2019)

sloeffle said:


> Last year I started putting my wood into 330 gallon metal totes. We have a walk out basement so I can take the tote and drop it into my basement with the tractor. A lot less wood handling. Currently I have 12 totes full of wood. That comes out to roughly 4 cords of wood. We only burn about 2 cords a year so that should always keep me 2 years ahead.
> 
> Last year I didn't put any plastic on them until August. Due to all of the rain we had last year some of the wood was still wet when it came time to burn it. I put plastic on 6 totes this past weekend. Hopefully the wood will be drier this year.
> 
> ...



How convenient. Jealous.


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## SpaceBus (Jul 16, 2019)

sloeffle said:


> Last year I started putting my wood into 330 gallon metal totes. We have a walk out basement so I can take the tote and drop it into my basement with the tractor. A lot less wood handling. Currently I have 12 totes full of wood. That comes out to roughly 4 cords of wood. We only burn about 2 cords a year so that should always keep me 2 years ahead.
> 
> Last year I didn't put any plastic on them until August. Due to all of the rain we had last year some of the wood was still wet when it came time to burn it. I put plastic on 6 totes this past weekend. Hopefully the wood will be drier this year.
> 
> ...



I am so jealous of the IBC totes. Back when there was still ice and snow on everything I built some totes out of pallets. I probably won't use them much once I empty them, they don't hold up well like the IBC totes.


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## SeanBB (Jul 16, 2019)

If you have the plastic inserts for the IBC cages then you can cut them diagonally and they make perfect pyramid lids to keep the rain out. (two lids from each plastic tank)


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## sloeffle (Jul 16, 2019)

SeanBB said:


> If you have the plastic inserts for the IBC cages then you can cut them diagonally and they make perfect pyramid lids to keep the rain out. (two lids from each plastic tank)


Great idea. Unfortunately the totes I'm buying had mulch dye in them so they are usually pretty nasty when I get them. Next time I get a load of totes maybe I'll be a little more picky and try to get totes that don't have a lot of dye left in them. I'm probably going to get 6 more totes late this summer and call it good.

The mulch dye that was in the totes is some pretty nasty stuff. I accidentally poured some out in my dirt pile 9 months ago and it is still there.


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## Ashful (Jul 16, 2019)

What do you do about mice, @sloeffle?  Dormant queen wasps and stink bugs?  I’d be bringing a lot of undesirable nature into my basement, if I used your system.


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## sloeffle (Jul 16, 2019)

Ashful said:


> What do you do about mice, @sloeffle?  Dormant queen wasps and stink bugs?  I’d be bringing a lot of undesirable nature into my basement, if I used your system.


I only have one year of bringing my wood into my house with this system under my belt. Last year, I didn't have any issues with mice, wasps or stink bugs. I didn't really notice more bugs in the basement than normal last year. My bet is the mice jump off of the tote when I start moving it with the tractor.  IMHO - touching a piece of wood one time after it is split to get it into the house outweighs touching it 4 or 5 times to get it into my house after it is split.


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## fire_man (Jul 16, 2019)

heavy hammer said:


> View attachment 245667
> View attachment 245668
> View attachment 245669
> View attachment 245670
> ...


heavy hammer: I don't see any covering on your stacks - are they ok after 3-4 years with no rot?


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## heavy hammer (Jul 19, 2019)

Yes I have had no issues with rot plus a lot of my wood is locust.  I have been adding some maple to the stacks lately so I will keep a eye on them for rot.  But I have never had really any problem with wood turning.  I think if you keep it off the ground that should be good but I have never had this much either.  So we shall see.


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## fire_man (Jul 19, 2019)

I tried  not covering and after the 3d year I started to get a fungus filled soggy bunch of wood.

I don't have much locust which is pretty rot-proof and my stacks are on the edge of the woods with  little sun or wind filled drying space.


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## BIGChrisNH (Jul 23, 2019)

I have to top cover mine, too much rain, leaves, pine needles and stuff would get crammed in there, stay wet and keep the wood wet and make it punky.


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## HisTreeNut (Jul 23, 2019)

I am in the process of stocking up my wood supply.  I also have gotten permission from my wife to make another bay for wood in my current set up, giving me 5 bays for wood (Yard space is precious so that is huge...).
According to the cord calculator in the forum, each bay will have about 3.5 cord each. So, 3.5 cord*5 bays equals about 17.5 cord of wood total.  Tickled about that.
I do top cover come July-August because in August the new semester starts and scrounging slows down...and it helps the top layers to dry out before winter, keeps the pine needles & leaves to a minimum. Anyhoo...

Sent from my VS835 using Tapatalk


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## JRHAWK9 (Jul 24, 2019)

We are only on 2 acres, but I have access tio many more abutting up to our two.

As far as wood, here's my spreadsheet I use to keep track.


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## Ashful (Jul 24, 2019)

Holy crap... and I’ve been accused of spending too much time in Excel!


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## Jan Pijpelink (Jul 24, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Holy crap... and I’ve been accused of spending too much time in Excel!


While drinking craft beer!


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## JimBear (Jul 25, 2019)

I suppose I have somewhere around 30 cord sitting around, I quit trying to keep track. This will be our first winter burning, I figure about 3 cord will cover it since it will mainly just be nights & weekends.


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## SpaceBus (Jul 25, 2019)

JimBear said:


> I suppose I have somewhere around 30 cord sitting around, I quit trying to keep track. This will be our first winter burning, I figure about 3 cord will cover it since it will mainly just be nights & weekends.
> 
> View attachment 245942
> View attachment 245943
> View attachment 245944



How long have you been stock piling? You are set up for a boiler!


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## JimBear (Jul 25, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> How long have you been stock piling? You are set up for a boiler!


Started cutting some Honey Locust in Oct. of 17. I have sold about 6 cord since then. 3 cord of what’s here is supposed to go to my son-in-law’s father. I have burned all the uglies & nasties in the fire pit, probably a couple of cord of them. I got tired of messing with them & the nieces & nephews enjoy a good fire.


----------



## BIGChrisNH (Jul 28, 2019)

30 cord is fantastic.


----------



## BIGChrisNH (Jul 28, 2019)

JRHAWK9 said:


> We are only on 2 acres, but I have access tio many more abutting up to our two.
> 
> As far as wood, here's my spreadsheet I use to keep track.
> 
> View attachment 245924


Nice organization on this spreadsheet, but I can’t quite get a grip on it. Does it say at the end that you’ve got 59 cords??


----------



## JRHAWK9 (Jul 28, 2019)

BIGChrisNH said:


> Nice organization on this spreadsheet, but I can’t quite get a grip on it. Does it say at the end that you’ve got 59 cords??



yep.  It was something I just created quickly and I could definitely improve upon the readability of it.     I never intended to share it, so as long as I knew what all the numbers meant it was good for me.


----------



## BIGChrisNH (Jul 28, 2019)

how do you fit 59 cords of wood on two acres of land? I can’t imagine what that must look like


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## JRHAWK9 (Jul 28, 2019)

BIGChrisNH said:


> how do you fit 59 cords of wood on two acres of land? I can’t imagine what that must look like



Looking at my spreadsheet again, it's actually a bit over 60 full cord stacked.  57 of hardwoods and 3 of soft.

Easy peasy.  60 cord stacked ~5.5' tall only covers an area of ~1,400SF.   Two acres are  87,120SF.  So it's only taking up ~1.6% of the 2 acre area.  Seeing I'm leaving gaps between the stacks, I'm taking up a bit more of a footprint than that though.

Here's a video taken from Feb of '19 before I split/stacked this past winters haul.  Turned out there was 7.75 cord in that pile after I split/stacked it, so what you see stacked is ~52 cord.

The video was taken from the deck of the house with a GoPro, so it has fisheye distortion. 




*EDIT*  The pile of unsplit wood shown in the video probably is NOT 7.75 cord, as I am pretty sure I added to it after this video was taken in Feb.


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## KJamesJR (Jul 31, 2019)

Highbeam said:


> On my mostly treeless suburban lot, I have just more than enough fuel for two years of full time burning. 10-11 cords in a shed. That's about all I want to keep on hand. I am starting to believe that wood can be too dry.



That’s an awesome shed/stack.

Of my 4 acres, I only have 5 cord stacked 

I need a utility trailer for the Jeep. I won’t bother scrounging until I can carry a cord back home.


----------



## billb3 (Aug 1, 2019)

18 acres +/- depending on which town records you access.

I've had as much as 10 cords of oak ready to go
but really slacked off with back woes last year and the year before.
Down to one cord of well seasoned oak, three cords of red maple and a cord of split white pine.
Have a lot of red and white oak sitting in rounds and logs that need processing but very little of it will be well enough seasoned to use this year.

I've been 4 or 5 years ahead and I guess right now I'm down to 2. Except for the pine. I have one cord split, One cord in rounds, several logs and a few dozen down and leaning pine trees that I get to when I'm bored or have nothing better to do.

Also using up the wood stored in one area as there are 3 big pines and two oaks that need to come down and of course they need to come down right where the wood is/has been stacked. 
Attrition can be a slow process.


----------



## Ashful (Aug 2, 2019)

JRHAWK9 said:


> 7.75 cord



I love it when people calculate down to the 1/100th of a cord.  Anymore, I’m happy if I can guess my stash to within +/- 5 cords, between the CSS’d and unsplit.

I brought home another half dozen cords last week, same as the week before.  This weekend I’ll probably bring home another 3-5 cords, depending on weather.  If I keep this pace up for another few weeks, I’ll be able to keep a firewood processor busy for a few days splitting it all... or I’ll be spending a LOT of days at the hydraulic splitter this winter.


----------



## JRHAWK9 (Aug 2, 2019)

Ashful said:


> I love it when people calculate down to the 1/100th of a cord.  Anymore, I’m happy if I can guess my stash to within +/- 5 cords, between the CSS’d and unsplit.




Just pick up one of these new age tools:







Then input the numbers into this magical program: 




and you too can do the same.  You can even change the significant digits it displays, if you don't like it displaying the results to the hundredths.   


As far as the unsplit pile......again get out the trusty tape measure and use the volume of a spherical cap formula in Excel to calculate the volume of a spherical cap.    It will get you in the ballpark, at least in my experience anyway.


----------



## therealdbeau (Aug 2, 2019)

1 acre approx 7 cords maybe 8


----------



## Sawset (Aug 2, 2019)

15-20 cord
At 4.5/yr,  3 to 4yrs ahead.
Stacked on the ground on locust poles, not covered, with t-posts on the ends.  Usually at the end of August next winters supply comes inside.  And usually, fingers crossed, July and August are bone dry drought conditions.  This year I put some tar paper over what will be coming inside.  It's all out in the open, with the sun and wind working in favor.


----------



## Ashful (Aug 2, 2019)

JRHAWK9 said:


> Just pick up one of these new age tools...  Then input the numbers into this magical program:



Oh, I understand how you did it.  But I also understand significant digits, and your accuracy does not support that precision.

But my comment was more about whether 1/100th of a cord precision is useful.  It amounts to a few hours of burn time, at a usage rate of 5 - 6 hundredths of a cord per day.  One doesn’t usually need to predict what _time of day _they will run out of wood, on a 3-year plan.  [emoji14]


----------



## Sawset (Aug 2, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Oh, I understand how you did it.  But I also understand significant digits, and your accuracy does not support that precision.
> 
> But my comment was more about whether 1/100th of a cord precision is useful.  It amounts to a few hours of burn time, at a usage rate of 5 - 6 hundredths of a cord per day.  One doesn’t usually need to predict what _time of day _they will run out of wood, on a 3-year plan.  [emoji14]


It could be like years ago - figure a whole bunch of stuff with a slide rule, out to 3 or 4 digits,  add and work them around, then apply a safety factor of 2 maybe 3 to the whole works.

Or use one of these - good to 15 digits, state of the art before digital:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta


----------



## JRHAWK9 (Aug 2, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Oh, I understand how you did it.  But I also understand significant digits, and your accuracy does not support that precision.
> 
> But my comment was more about whether 1/100th of a cord precision is useful.  It amounts to a few hours of burn time, at a usage rate of 5 - 6 hundredths of a cord per day.  One doesn’t usually need to predict what _time of day _they will run out of wood, on a 3-year plan.  [emoji14]



Sarcasm doesn't come over too well on the forums.  My tongue was firmly planted in cheek in response to what I was sensing as you being sarcastic.  Of course I realize when I'm sometimes rounding to the nearest foot when measuring my results will not be remotely accurate to the hundredth.  It's just how the spreadsheet was setup; not knowing it would cause some people to be offended by it.  Next time I post something like this I will make sure to change the precision on it so I don't raise the blood pressure of some of you.    

I think you looked a bit too far into the number.  LOL  I simply made that spreadsheet to keep track of things, not to precisely measure what I have.  Besides, what I measure right after splitting will not be the same 3 years later anyway, due to shrinkage.


----------



## Ashful (Aug 2, 2019)

JRHAWK9 said:


> Sarcasm doesn't come over too well on the forums... Next time I post something like this I will make sure to change the precision on it so I don't raise the blood pressure of some of you.


No blood pressure was raised.  It's all good.  I appreciate the sarcasm, I was just poking fun, too.  In fact, I was just gearing up to start measuring my firewood in milligrams.


----------



## KJamesJR (Aug 2, 2019)

Some of us are just getting grumpy because we haven’t been able to light the stove since March. 

Others like myself were more fortunate. We didn’t have to shut down until May...


----------



## johneh (Aug 2, 2019)

Ashful said:


> No blood pressure was raised. It's all good. I appreciate the sarcasm, I was just poking fun, too. In fact, I was just gearing up to start measuring my firewood in milligrams.


Why in the world would you want the weight of your wood in Grams ? 
You number would be astronomical   do it on a sunny day rain would really add up 
Now on the lighter side of the NEWS


----------



## JRHAWK9 (Aug 2, 2019)

Ashful said:


> I was just gearing up to start measuring my firewood in milligrams.



Here's mine:  1.034191e+11 mg, give or take a couple mg


----------



## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 2, 2019)

As a gaschromatographer, I think in nano grams and pico grams. Just calculated what I have. Tried to type it in a message. Keyboard exploded, too many digits. Off to Best Buy for a new keyboard.


----------



## Ashful (Aug 2, 2019)

JRHAWK9 said:


> Here's mine:  1.034191e+11 mg, give or take a couple mg



I’ll only believe it if you add at least two more significant digits.  [emoji14]


----------



## HisTreeNut (Aug 2, 2019)

I have a googleplex googleplex atoms of wood...plus or minus a few google atoms.
[emoji6][emoji16][emoji16][emoji6]

Sent from my VS835 using Tapatalk


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## Ashful (Aug 3, 2019)

I think we are only two posts away from invoking Avogadro’s number.


----------



## JRHAWK9 (Aug 3, 2019)

Ashful said:


> I think we are only two posts away from invoking Avogadro’s number.




lmao....I was just going to do that last night while out to eat but was irritating my other half being on my phone.  I was actually refreshing my memory on it as I haven't dealt with mols or Avogadro's number since the late 80's, early 90's.

Funny you mention it.


----------



## Ashful (Aug 3, 2019)

I went back to school for some advanced degrees later in life.  Having to re-learn all that chit a second time in your 30’s has a way of making it stick in your memory.  6.022E+23.


----------



## Sawset (Aug 3, 2019)

How many stere's would all this be.
Kuub's? 
Mått's?
Hoppus cubes?


----------



## Alpine1 (Aug 3, 2019)

Sawset said:


> How many stere's would all this be.
> Kuub's?
> Mått's?
> Hoppus cubes?


1 cord = 3.6 steres 
Now, for milligrams...


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## johneh (Aug 3, 2019)

1cord of wood 
4 x 4 x 8 in feet
1219.200 x1219.200 x 2438.400  in  MM
 Canada eh


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## Ashful (Aug 3, 2019)

johneh said:


> Canada eh


Who let the Canadian in?  Pass the Horton’s cruller.


----------



## Sawset (Aug 3, 2019)

Alpine1 said:


> 1 cord = 3.6 steres
> Now, for milligrams...


If I were buying/selling cord wood where you are, what units would be used? How about in neighboring countries. Is it metric or something else. Do people still use these "stere's"?


----------



## johneh (Aug 3, 2019)

Ashful said:


> Pass the Horton’s cruller.


Sorry not a Timmes fan  you will have to get your Own


Sawset said:


> How about in neighboring countries. Is it metric or something else.


Up in the Great White North, we use Cord Unless you are French than its a rick Or if there English is not good it's a Chord


----------



## Ashful (Aug 3, 2019)

johneh said:


> if there English is not good..,



Beautiful.  [emoji3]


----------



## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

Sawset said:


> If I were buying/selling cord wood where you are, what units would be used? How about in neighboring countries. Is it metric or something else. Do people still use these "stere's"?


In Italy, France and Spain wood is sold by weight in quintals (1 quintal = 100 kilograms) but in Northern Europe is sold by volume in steres. Almost all Europe went metric a long time ago. The only European country that still uses some imperial units is the UK, in this being similar to Canada I suppose but I don’t know if wood is sold by the cord or some other unit there.


----------



## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 4, 2019)

Alpine1 said:


> In Italy, France and Spain wood is sold by weight in quintals (1 quintal = 100 kilograms) but in Northern Europe is sold by volume in steres. Almost all Europe went metric a long time ago. The only European country that still uses some imperial units is the UK, in this being similar to Canada I suppose but I don’t know if wood is sold by the cord or some other unit there.


When I lived in the Netherlands, firewood was sold in cubic meters. I lived in a county with lots of fruit trees, so plenty access to firewood.


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## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

Yep! 1 stere = 1 cubic meter 
...but with air between sticks


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## Sawset (Aug 4, 2019)

So it just depends on what it's applied to. A cord is for firewood. A stere is for firewood.  No-one would ever say they have a 100% solid chunk of 128cuft of wood. They would say they have a cord (128ft3 of split cord wood). Firewood sold by quintals - weight? If I remember there is a law requiring 20% or less moisture to keep that under control?


----------



## SpaceBus (Aug 4, 2019)

KJamesJR said:


> Some of us are just getting grumpy because we haven’t been able to light the stove since March.
> 
> Others like myself were more fortunate. We didn’t have to shut down until May...



We were burning in July!


----------



## SpaceBus (Aug 4, 2019)

Alpine1 said:


> Yep! 1 stere = 1 cubic meter
> ...but with air between sticks



How was the transition from the Liira to the Euro?


----------



## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

Sawset said:


> So it just depends on what it's applied to. A cord is for firewood. A stere is for firewood.  No-one would ever say they have a 100% solid chunk of 128cuft of wood. They would say they have a cord (128ft3 of split cord wood). Firewood sold by quintals - weight? If I remember there is a law requiring 20% or less moisture to keep that under control?


Timber is sold by the cubic meter, firewood in quintals (I.e. by weight) or steres in other countries. There WAS a project law for the 20% moisture content, but it never happened... we still depend on the seller honesty. Of course, if we buy early in the season (mid April to mid May) we pay less for the same wood weight, while prices tend to climb as we get nearer to the burning season. But this is no guarantee pertaining wood dryness.


----------



## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> How was the transition from the Liira to the Euro?


Not easy at all... at the time, 1 € was 1,936.27 Italian liras, so to make calculations easy everybody went for 1€=2,000£
The result has been a net price increase, while wages were very exact with the exchange. Now, 17 years later, we’re still struggling to cope with that. Many European countries don’t want to join the Euro stupid thing even today. And they’re probably right, but this has nothing to do with firewood, stoves and the like...


----------



## SpaceBus (Aug 4, 2019)

Alpine1 said:


> Not easy at all... at the time, 1 € was 1,936.27 Italian liras, so to make calculations easy everybody went for 1€=2,000£
> The result has been a net price increase, while wages were very exact with the exchange. Now, 17 years later, we’re still struggling to cope with that. Many European countries don’t want to join the Euro stupid thing even today. And they’re probably right, but this has nothing to do with firewood, stoves and the like...



Indeed, back on topic, what is the cost of a cubic meter of firewood in Italy? I moved to Vicenza when I was a teenager after my mom remarried. This was a bit after the switch (March 2003), so some prices were listed in both currencies. I didn't see any wood stoves in any of the houses, but Vicenza has fairly mild winters. Well, with the exception of our local farm to table restaurant with a wood fired oven! For the three years my step-dad lived in Vicenza he rarely saw snow. I only spent one full winter in Vicenza and it snowed only once.


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## Sawset (Aug 4, 2019)

So if:
1cord = 3.6 stere's
In Norway, one favn = 6ft (1fathom)
1favn firewood = 2.4 stere's
If I have 15-20 cord on the place, then it would be 54-72 stere's in France or Italy, or 22-30 favns in Norway. How many quintels depends on seller honesty.


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## sloeffle (Aug 4, 2019)

As we say at work....this conversation has gone deep down the rabbit hole.


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## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> Indeed, back on topic, what is the cost of a cubic meter of firewood in Italy?


Good question... since it is sold by weight I can tell you that:
1 quintal of hardwood (oak, beech, black locust or hornbeam) cut, split and delivered to your door goes for 13/14 euros. 1 stere meter of hardwood is 6.5 quintals give or take.
Softwoods aren’t usually sold, since the price would be ridicolous: 6/7 € for one quintal, not even enough to pay for the delivery.
OTOH lumber is positively sold by the cubic meter (standing trees) and goes from 40€ per cubic meter for pine or spruce to 60€ for larch. At least where I live here on the Alps...


----------



## SpaceBus (Aug 4, 2019)

Alpine1 said:


> Good question... since it is sold by weight I can tell you that:
> 1 quintal of hardwood (oak, beech, black locust or hornbeam) cut, split and delivered to your door goes for 13/14 euros. 1 stere meter of hardwood is 6.5 quintals give or take.
> Softwoods aren’t usually sold, since the price would be ridicolous: 6/7 € for one quintal, not even enough to pay for the delivery.
> OTOH lumber is positively sold by the cubic meter (standing trees) and goes from 40€ per cubic meter for pine or spruce to 60€ for larch. At least where I live here on the Alps...



That's about the same price as hardwood around here. A Quintal is about 1/10 of a cord. Pretty slick way to measure it I think. Some folks here load their stoves based on weight instead of volume. This being possible because firewood averages 7,000 btu per pound or 15,400 btu/kg. How do sellers weigh the wood? Is it more of an estimation?


----------



## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

No estimation allowed! Sellers weigh their trucks before and after loading, and the delivery bill clearly show:
Weight before loading
Weight after loading
Weight of wood
Cost per quintal 
Total cost of the wood delivered
Scales must be approved by the office of units and measures. This insures that you pay the actual weight you ordered, but says nothing about wood quality... alas


----------



## SpaceBus (Aug 4, 2019)

Alpine1 said:


> No estimation allowed! Sellers weigh their trucks before and after loading, and the delivery bill clearly show:
> Weight before loading
> Weight after loading
> Weight of wood
> ...


wow, far different than here!


----------



## Ashful (Aug 4, 2019)

Alpine1 said:


> No estimation allowed! Sellers weigh their trucks


So, it is in their interest to deliver all wood as green and wet as humanly possible?  Weight is the most stupid method of measuring wood volume or btu that I can imagine.  In fact, it is almost in direct opposition to what you want.


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## SpaceBus (Aug 4, 2019)

Ashful said:


> So, it is in their interest to deliver all wood as green and wet as humanly possible?  Weight is the most stupid method of measuring wood volume or btu that I can imagine.  In fact, it is almost in direct opposition to what you want.


Green wood also shrinks making volume measurements inaccurate as well. Home Depot got sued due to the fact that a 2x4 nominal board does not measure two inches by four inches actual. Cubic feet is a very stupid way of measuring wood, it's just what we are used to in the United States.


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## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

Both sistems have shortcomings: if you buy by weight, you’re prone to pay more and have green (or somehow wet) wood but the measurements are very exact.
If you buy by volume, measurements are estimated (with all the errors implied) and the wood can be green as well.
There was a European project to sell wood by the KW, in order to promote the use of less “noble” firewood, but it ended in nothing.
To summarize: wether you buy by weight or volume, buy from a reputable seller or, like most of us here on hearth.com do, harvest and season your own.


----------



## Sawset (Aug 4, 2019)

I contacted a cousin to get his opinion -
60 liter, 22kg, 85kroner
$580/cord
2900lb/cord
Everything is more expensive there.
Just about everyone has a stove.


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## Alpine1 (Aug 4, 2019)

Ashful said:


> So, it is in their interest to deliver all wood as green and wet as humanly possible?  *Weight is the most stupid method of measuring wood volume* or btu that I can imagine.  In fact, it is almost in direct opposition to what you want.


Since all firewood (given equal MC) has the same BTU content on a pound for pound basis, measuring by weight doesn’t seem so stupid in my opinion.
But I agree with you that weight is the most useless method to measure volume.


----------



## Dobish (Aug 12, 2019)

JRHAWK9 said:


> We are only on 2 acres, but I have access tio many more abutting up to our two.
> 
> As far as wood, here's my spreadsheet I use to keep track.
> 
> View attachment 245924



my spreadsheet is very similar...


----------



## Ashful (Aug 12, 2019)

I just buy a bag of 100 aluminum dog tags from McMaster every few years, and use my cheap engraver to engrave a date on the tag (eg. Summer 2019 —>).  Then I screw that dog tag to the pallet that book-ends a given stack, so I can walk down my rows and know the age of every stack.  Here’s one from a stack I used in the spring:






Stacks are in three rows about 80 feet long each:


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## Sawset (Aug 12, 2019)

For marking, I use washers wired to the T-posts. 
Large washer is 5yr, small washer 1yr.  2019 would be one large, 4 small.
It seems a lot more drying takes place during summer. 
Very little splitting stacking is done here in the summer. 
Everything is usually stacked by June that is going to be, and this year marked with 2019. 
Everything this next fall, winter and spring will be 2020.
This last week I just moved some 2016 inside for this winter. It would have been out drying 4 summers.
I used to have a spreadsheet that anticipated heating degree days vs. wood use and capacity needs.  After a couple years I could remember the bell curve of needs and put aside some shoulder season woods in a lean to outside, mid winter hardwoods in the garage where it's out of the weather completely, then back to spring outside.


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## JRHAWK9 (Aug 12, 2019)

I just use some aluminum tags which I use a ballpoint pen to "write" on.  They are soft enough where the pen makes impressions in the aluminum.  They are then attached to the t-posts with wire.  This reminds me, I didn't do that to this winter's stacks yet.


----------



## MrWhoopee (Aug 12, 2019)

Ashful said:


> I went back to school for some advanced degrees later in life.  Having to re-learn all that chit a second time in your 30’s has a way of making it stick in your memory.  6.022E+23.



Back when I was in school it was 6.023 x 10^23. At least that's what's burned into my memory.


Back to the OT, 15 cords on 1 acre. At least 2 more to be bucked, split and stacked.


----------



## sloeffle (Aug 13, 2019)

I'm not as nearly organized as you guys are.

My system in simple, the 6 ( 2 cords ) or so totes of wood that I want to burn for the year I keep near the house. All of the other totes stay in or near the woods. In early spring I'll bring the totes from the woods up near the house. I only keep 2 roughly years worth of wood on hand.


----------



## MMH (Aug 13, 2019)

MrWhoopee said:


> Back when I was in school it was 6.023 x 10^23. At least that's what's burned into my memory.
> 
> 
> Back to the OT, 15 cords on 1 acre. At least 2 more to be bucked, split and stacked.




My god.....I never thought i would see this damn number again!!


----------



## Ashful (Aug 13, 2019)

MrWhoopee said:


> Back when I was in school it was 6.023 x 10^23. At least that's what's burned into my memory.
> 
> 
> Back to the OT, 15 cords on 1 acre. At least 2 more to be bucked, split and stacked.


Memories aren't perfect, and you actually made me doubt myself, so I went back and looked it up.  But this time, I was actually correct:  6.02214076E+23.  My wife will tell you that doesn't happen very often.

No point in getting back on topic, now.  Five pages of how many cords of wood you have on your property is about 4 pages more than we needed.


----------



## Jeepman401 (Sep 2, 2019)

Been burning for 20 years and just starting the planning stage for a long 3 side woodshed. Currently, I have 12-14 cords on a 150X50 foot lot. That's roughly a 8 cord stack in the photos. Usually, I've kept about 6-8 cords, but I was blessed a few years back a big score of hardwood.
Built a fence this year to keep the wood for disappearing into the neighbor's firepit while I work at night. Old leaky house so I use about 3-4 cord a year. Starting to tighten and insulate the house more these last few years, that wood seems to get heavier every year.


----------



## Longknife (Sep 2, 2019)

This is the first year I've ever really gotten much ahead.  It is just really hard to find the time, but this year I managed to dedicate more to it.

EAB and Dutch Elm are meaning I can source much of my wood out of my little 6 acre bush right now.  Probably a good 100 cord which will keep me going for awhile.

I used to source most of my wood off my father or father-in-law's property down the road (about 500 acres between them) and I used to season most everything off-property as well.  Getting ahead will allow me to season in location as I won't require as much sun/wind as I used to when I was splitting in June/July for the coming year.

I have about 5 face cord of stacks that are visible on the perimeter of my bush, but again, getting ahead means I might hide them in the bush next year.  Currently I have about 16 face cord sitting in the bush and 15 in the wood shed.  Last year (my biggest year since keeping track) I burnt 19 face cord.  I burnt some wood right out of my bush stacks last year, and while not ideal (I was showing about 13-15% MC in some of them) it was workable if I ran low on a good, dry stuff.


----------



## Longknife (Sep 2, 2019)

This is how I used to season a lot of my wood.  Mostly off-property, but sometimes in my laneway (too heavy to move/park anywhere else).

While it was a pain handling and moving the wagons around between properties (bit of tense ride down the road), when they were parked on top of the windswept hill at my father-in-law's,getting full sun all day, I could dry down wood in a hurry.


----------



## mar13 (Feb 26, 2020)

Highbeam said:


> On my mostly treeless suburban lot, I have just more than enough fuel for two years of full time burning. 10-11 cords in a shed. That's about all I want to keep on hand. I am starting to believe that wood can be too dry.


Highbeam,

What are the dimensions of your new shed? Any things you'd  do differently?   Thanks.


----------



## Highbeam (Feb 26, 2020)

mar13 said:


> Highbeam,
> 
> What are the dimensions of your new shed? Any things you'd  do differently?   Thanks.



The dimensions are 10x20 with a minimum ceiling height of 6' in back. Divided for two 10x10 bays. The rafters are at a 4 or maybe as little as 3:12 pitch. 200 Square feet or less in my location requires no permits. They actually bust people using aerial sattelite photography!

So far it's been perfect. I can't gripe about anything. I used 4x4 posts on the corners and 4x6 in the middle. Maybe it would be stronger with larger corner posts but I have seen zero flex or reason to think that the 4x4s are not adequate.

This photo is from last week. I'm down to about 1.5 cords on this bay and starting to sweat a little. Man the dry wood is nice. Top covering only does not work nearly as well. Also it has been very very convenient and clean to just grab a wheelbarrow or two from the shed compared to having to roll up the plastic and fight the ice and water plus being sure that I replace the tarp so it won't blow off.


----------



## WoodBurnerInWI (Feb 26, 2020)

My wood shed is about 72' long and contains 8 bins with 10 ft x 4 ft pallets within them. Each bin will hold 1.8 cords of wood according the cord calculator. So total capacity just within the shed is nearly 15 cords of wood in various states of readiness. I am located on a .23 acre piece of land that I'd consider suburban. My shed takes up nearly the entire back of my back yard, and makes an excellent fence in between my house and the neighbors 




These bins are all filled now 

In addition to the shed, I have 4 extra 10 ft pallets that can be used to store rounds, and I have two 8 ft metal racks with covers I got from Menards.


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## Roundgunner (Feb 26, 2020)

The people on this forum convinced me to try to stay 3 years ahead. I heat 5000 SF and sometimes 6 garage bays and also domestic hot water. I burn about 10 cord a year. I do get 30 cord + at one time but it is tough. I have wood everywhere! right now I'm probably at 23 cord.


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## SpaceBus (Feb 26, 2020)

Roundgunner said:


> The people on this forum convinced me to try to stay 3 years ahead. I heat 5000 SF and sometimes 6 garage bays and also domestic hot water. I burn about 10 cord a year. I do get 30 cord + at one time but it is tough. I have wood everywhere! right now I'm probably at 23 cord.


This is what my place looks like, but with a bit less wood. I'm hoping to get several cords processed this month.


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## mar13 (Feb 26, 2020)

WoodBurnerInWI said:


> My wood shed is about 72' long and contains 8 bins with 10 ft x 4 ft pallets within them. Each bin will hold 1.8 cords of wood according the cord calculator. So total capacity just within the shed is nearly 15 cords of wood in various states of readiness. I am located on a .23 acre piece of land that I'd consider suburban. My shed takes up nearly the entire back of my back yard, and makes an excellent fence in between my house and the neighbors
> 
> View attachment 257624
> 
> ...


It brings the Winchester House to mind. Actually, I am jealous and they say good fences make for good neighbors.

What did you use for post bases? Resting on pier blocks?


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## mar13 (Feb 26, 2020)

Highbeam said:


> The dimensions are 10x20 with a minimum ceiling height of 6' in back. Divided for two 10x10 bays. The rafters are at a 4 or maybe as little as 3:12 pitch. 200 Square feet or less in my location requires no permits. They actually bust people using aerial sattelite photography!
> 
> So far it's been perfect. I can't gripe about anything. I used 4x4 posts on the corners and 4x6 in the middle. Maybe it would be stronger with larger corner posts but I have seen zero flex or reason to think that the 4x4s are not adequate.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. Did you shingle your roofing like @Ashful? My neighbor will be looking out at the backside of whatever I build.

120 sq ft is my limit to avoid permits. My county pays a micro satellite  company for images to search for unlicensed commercial pot farms, though not sure about unpermitted structures.


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## Highbeam (Feb 27, 2020)

mar13 said:


> Thanks for the info. Did you shingle your roofing like @Ashful? My neighbor will be looking out at the backside of whatever I build.
> 
> 120 sq ft is my limit to avoid permits. My county pays a micro satellite  company for images to search for unlicensed commercial pot farms, though not sure about unpermitted structures.


I put on a composition roof to match my house and barn. The shed looks way better than 10 separate stacks of wood with black plastic strapped on top! More compact too. I planted two rows of raspberries with all the newly freed up space.


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## SpaceBus (Feb 27, 2020)

Highbeam said:


> I put on a composition roof to match my house and barn. The shed looks way better than 10 separate stacks of wood with black plastic strapped on top! More compact too. I planted two rows of raspberries with all the newly freed up space.


Sounds like a win win.


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## mar13 (Feb 27, 2020)

Highbeam said:


> I put on a composition roof to match my house and barn. The shed looks way better than 10 separate stacks of wood with black plastic strapped on top! More compact too. I planted two rows of raspberries with all the newly freed up space.


I'm  looking forward to no longer playing the tarp game. And I bet my neighbor will appreciate no longer looking at tarps during the winter rain season, despite my keeping the brown sides facing out.


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## Highbeam (Feb 27, 2020)

mar13 said:


> I'm  looking forward to no longer playing the tarp game. And I bet my neighbor will appreciate no longer looking at tarps during the winter rain season, despite my keeping the brown sides facing out.



I actually used the rolls of 6 mil visqueen black plastic. 10x100’ I think, folded over so it’s double thick and only covered the top plus about a foot on each side. Leftover from concrete jobs or crawl space vapor barriers. Lasts for a few years but only covers the top. The rain runs off and blows onto the wood sides.


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## WoodBurnerInWI (Feb 27, 2020)

mar13 said:


> It brings the Winchester House to mind. Actually, I am jealous and they say good fences make for good neighbors.
> 
> What did you use for post bases? Resting on pier blocks?



Well on the back side there is a mesh wire fence actually in between our houses, probably put there since the neighbor has one of those yappy lap dogs that only gets to see their backyard. Poor guy never gets taken for a proper walk and these people aren't seniors (not much older then my wife and I and they have 2 kids under age 10) so lazy maybe? They have a gas fireplace too so.... 

The beams that hold up each bin are the 6 ft ground timbers Menards sells. They're treated wood so hopefully they'll last awhile. They rest in concrete deck blocks designed to hold beams that are 4x4 or 6x6. My beams are the 4x4 ones. 



			https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/concrete-cement-masonry/construction-concrete-blocks/4x4-6x6-deck-block/1794278/p-1502778698449-c-5647.htm


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## jmb6420 (Feb 28, 2020)

I have 7 cord CSS with another 10 in logs waiting to process.


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## Ashful (Feb 29, 2020)

Headed out to split for the first time this year, it’s been too warm and wet since New Years to use any equipment in my wood processing area.  Will have to get a count on what’s there, but I expect I’m down to about 12 cords CSS’d and another 6-8 cords as logs.  Also have another 10+ cords of logs off site, that I just haven’t gotten to move, yet.

This is the lowest I’ve been on wood in several years, the last two years of weather here have made it nearly impossible to split and stack fresh wood.

edit:  Just counted. 15 quarts cut and stacked.


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## ben94122 (Feb 29, 2020)

Is that 15 face quarts, or full quarts?


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## sweedish (Feb 29, 2020)

So far about 28 cords


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## Ashful (Feb 29, 2020)

ben94122 said:


> Is that 15 face quarts, or full quarts?


Spill checker got me again.


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## Gearhead660 (Feb 29, 2020)

Roughly 10 cord css.  Working on getting a couple years ahead.   Every weekend i add half a cord.


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## HisTreeNut (Mar 1, 2020)

I have about an acre of land and about 10 cord stacked and 2-3 cord I need to split.  I have about another 6-8 cord I need to buck/split and move to my property that friends & neighbors are holding for me.


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## ohlongarm (Mar 1, 2020)

BIGChrisNH said:


> Just curious how many of you can really build up a good supply. It's good to be several years ahead, and it has taken me several years to get there. I have 1.25 acres, and I currently have approximately 16 cords neatly stacked and covered, 4 of which are marked for this coming year, 4 for the year after that, and so on. The 4 for this coming winter are 2 years old. My stacks serve two purposes, seasoning as well as privacy fences as they are all 5 feet high (approximately).


At least 15 cords stacked under cover and ready,another 12 on ground in logs that needs cutting,ten acres who knows,and at least 30 cords of oak at another location that needs splitting at some point.


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## Ashful (Mar 1, 2020)

Gearhead660 said:


> Every weekend i add half a cord.


That's the way to do it.  I wish I could, access to my wood splitting and stacking area has become very weather-dependent, in the last few years.

I did put up a fresh 2 cords this weekend, 60% mixed red and white oak, 30% ash, 10% walnut... but that's the first wood I've split since Jan.1.


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## Gearhead660 (Mar 1, 2020)

Ashful said:


> That's the way to do it.  I wish I could, access to my wood splitting and stacking area has become very weather-dependent, in the last few years.
> 
> I did put up a fresh 2 cords this weekend, 60% mixed red and white oak, 30% ash, 10% walnut... but that's the first wood I've split since Jan.1.


Just got some new cuttin' grounds this winter.   Not far from my place.  Has trails so its easy to drive in,  cut, load,  and take home to split and stack.


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## Grizzerbear (Mar 2, 2020)

I have a little over a hundred acres. Probably about 80 of it is timber. I have around 13 cord css.....I normally burn around 3 cord a year....right at two so far this year though.... so 4 years worth. I have two big red oaks from straight line winds i limbed early fall that i need to buck up. I been busy building fence all winter but i will get to those shortly. They should make around 3 cord themselves at least. I never cut live trees.


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## heavy hammer (Mar 2, 2020)

I have some where between 10-15 cords split and stacked with about that same amount in log form ready to be cut and split.  I burn 4-6 cords a year to my best guess so I try and a stay two to three years ahead.  Never enough in my opinion, and always looking to get more.


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## HardDrinkin'Lincoln (Mar 2, 2020)

With the mild winter we've had there's been lots of opportunities to get out in the woods. I've got a good start on this years wood supply. Five cords for me and the rest to sell.  Primarily a mix of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir with occasional White Oak. In this climate if it is stacked in single rows to dry by Memorial Day it's ready to burn by October.


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## Microduck17 (Mar 3, 2020)

Without doing the math again I would say that I have about 10 cord left on the property right now, thats down from 18 at the start of the heating season.  I've supplied wood for 2 of my neighbors who are both part time burners.  About 5 went up my chimney and the other 3 went to the neighbors.


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## BIGChrisNH (Mar 10, 2020)

Some impressive numbers from everyone


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## fordtrucknut (Mar 24, 2020)

WOW, some of you guys stock up tons of wood.  I burn mostly oak, walnut, some ash. and I only keep that winters worth on hand. (no more than 4 cords)  I girdle the trees I want in the fall, cut/stack them in the late spring, and burn them that winter.  I usually go through 3-3.5 cords a year, and use wood as the sole heat for out 2500sqft ranch.  I find that anything older than 1.5yr burns to fast for me.


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## mrd1995 (Mar 24, 2020)

Just started my piles a few months ago, started out as just limb clean up. I am now up to 2.5-3 cords my goal is a half cord per weekend for the next few weeks while we are maintaining distances...


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## fire_man (Mar 24, 2020)

fordtrucknut said:


> I find that anything older than 1.5yr burns to fast for me.



I wonder if that has to do with a Cat vs Non Cat stove. I am burning 5 year old wood and it burns 12+ hours between reloads.


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## fordtrucknut (Mar 24, 2020)

fire_man said:


> I wonder if that has to do with a Cat vs Non Cat stove. I am burning 5 year old wood and it burns 12+ hours between reloads.


Not sure, my stove is non-cat. at the coldest time of the year, I do a full load at 8pm, a half load @ 5:30 am (there is still a real big coal bed), and the wife will throw a log or two on around 2 or 3 pm.  it keeps the main living area around 72-75 and the bedrooms around 70 deg. all day all night.


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## Ashful (Mar 24, 2020)

fordtrucknut said:


> I find that anything older than 1.5yr burns to fast for me.


Geez... it's like you're new here!  I hope you're wearing your flak jacket.


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## rowerwet (Mar 25, 2020)

I have racks for  roughly 16cords, currently about 4-5 cords are empty from this past winter. I've been picking away at my backlog of rounds by hand for exercise, so far have refilled a cord and a half this way.


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