# Drying firewood - shed or covered in open?



## PapaRoo (Nov 15, 2018)

Hi folks 

New to the forum although I’ve been reading the last week or so. We’ve just moved into a. We house with a wood burning insert and I am planning to start cutting and seasoning wood for the coming winters. 

The property has a couple of ready made options for wood storage or I could do something else. 

1) A utility shed that is near the house which has a close up portion and an open ended portion. The open side would be very convenient for storing wood but it receive zero sunlight and little air movement. 

2) Hay barn/shed that would mean driving the wood back and forth to the house. It’s large and would protect from direct rain and would have more airflow by virtue of its size and openness. It is open completely on one side and half walls on the other three sides. 

3) construct a simple drying rack at the edge of the fields in sunlight and cover the top with tin/tarp. Would be more open to elements but this would mean the most airflow and sunshine. 

I have downed white oak, red oak and hickory right now with options for others. I will also get some leavings from a local mill that has been “seasoned” in a pile out in the open. My hope is the mill wood would dry out for next winter and the wood I split now could start being burned in 2020/2021. 

Thanks all!


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## jetsam (Nov 15, 2018)

If you don't need to store hay or tractors in there, I'd go for the hay barn every time.

I do topcovered stacks now, but if an empty pole barn suddenly appeared on my property I'd probably fill it with wood.

I actually keep meaning to build a (sided) pole barn for all the crap that's currently filling my garage, maybe I should also build an unsided one for wood....


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## Montanalocal (Nov 15, 2018)

I have two different storage places for wood that fulfill two different uses.  The first is for wood that is not ready for burning, and needs drying.  Your barn seems to fulfill this use quite well.

My second storage place is for wood that is dry and ready to burn.  The main requirement for this is convenience of transport to my house, especially during bad weather or heavy snow.  Your utility shed near your house would seem to be best for this.  Granted, one would have to move your coming burning season wood between your drying location and your storage location, but during my burning season, I am glad I have done so.


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## jetsam (Nov 15, 2018)

I have a little lawn tractor dump trailer in my attached garage. I drive that thing out to the stacks (or woods) once a week all winter and fill it up, so I only have to go outside for wood weekly.  I used to go outside every time I wanted 3cf of wood, and while sometimes that's fine, sometimes I don't have pants on/cold wet stuff is falling out of the sky/it is dark/it is cold/all of the above.


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## PapaRoo (Nov 16, 2018)

Thanks for your responses, guys. It seems I have a consensus.


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## GadDummit (Nov 16, 2018)

I'm not in a heavily snowed or sleeted area so mine are just stacked out in the open, uncovered and getting full sun year round. The worst I have to contend with is a cat knocking a few logs off every now and then. I don't know how rainy NC is, but if it's similar you may not need either. 
I can dry most woods in a summer or two.


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## ct01r (Nov 27, 2018)

I stack ours in the barn.  We don't have animals, so it goes into the stalls, stacked nice and high.  No sun, and little air circulation, so I give it two years before I burn it and it burns fine.  It's REALLY nice to go in during a snow storm and retrieve a load for the stove; it's dry inside the barn, there's lights, and I can either get the grandkids to load a couple of sleds to help me transport it  or load up the skid loader bucket.  Curt


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## PaulOinMA (Nov 27, 2018)

I'd also go with what you already have.

I didn't have anything, so I bought three Woodhaven Half-Cord Plus top-covered racks.  There's space between them for ventilation: http://www.obxconnection.com/outer-banks-forum/forum-thread.aspx?Thread=103151


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## GettinBy (Nov 27, 2018)

Hi there,  
I’m also new here. I’ve been reading this forum for a couple of years now, but never felt like I had much to add in the way of, well anything, really. Most folks here seem to have a system they have worked out over the years. Things that work for them or that they like for some reason or another. My situation is such that I am old by some standards (51), I burn wood for several reasons including economy and sheer joy, I don’t have a ton of money, and I don’t have a ton of spare time (not retired, probably will never be). And what spare time I do have, I like to spend watching the fire. I seem to notice that a lot of folks here live in what I would call warmer areas of the US. I live in Maine (and not by the ocean). It gets pretty cold here for a pretty long time. Today the sun set at 4:30, it is a balmy 34 degrees out, and we got 12 inches of “wet, heavy”. Up here, most folks can’t afford to season wood for more than two years. Most people up here will get 4-6 cord of 8 month old hardwood, stack that up and burn it for the winter, then start over next fall. I have a shed that once was a 2 car garage. Holds 10 cord and I burn 5 a year. So, I’m lucky. I can get 5 cord “green” in one half and hold it until next year. My sentiment on the subject is to situate your wood so you move it the least amount of times possible. If I have to move my wood 3 or 4 times before I burn it, I’m probably wasting my time.


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## Valhalla (Feb 2, 2019)

All are good and most realistic questions. I’ve stacked wood splits for seasoning both outdoors and also in a shed/barn. While making outdoor stacks are easy and handy, keeping the splits dry, from wind driven snow and rain is the ultimate and constant goal. Seasoning the splits is our purpose and mission. Sheds are my preference, with outside stacks a distance second choice. Economic and available space,of course drives the decision. I just like wood sheds!


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## Tar12 (Feb 2, 2019)

You have some excellent storage options there! Oak is at its premium in year 3...My advice to you is get to splitting and stacking like a mad man along those field edges with any dead or downed trees that you have there for next winter and top cover...then get after that Oak and Hickory and do the same thing and rotate into your buildings in the fall of the second year...I cant stress enough on getting busy with the splitting and stacking! lol


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## TedyOH (Feb 2, 2019)

Id keep the oak out in the open field for 2 summers uncovered...with 4 to 6 foot between rows...if you pack oak with no space between rows in a shed it will rot and grow fungus you never seen before.....trust me.....hickory you can get away with stacking tight in a shed...top cover the oak after 2 years or move it to one of your buildings 

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## Gunfixr (Feb 3, 2019)

Got to figure out what i'm going to do about storage. Plenty of ideas here....


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## Woodsplitter67 (Feb 4, 2019)

Gunfixr said:


> Got to figure out what i'm going to do about storage. Plenty of ideas here....


If you want dry wood. Then you need to build a shed. Wood in a shed will dry much faster than left out. I have 3 sheds and my oak is ready to burn after 2 summers. I dont need to baby my wood eather. Jut put it in the shed and walk away untill it time to burn. With all of the rain we had this year not one drop of water touched my wood. Leaving the wood out not top covered will slow the wood drying process, any rain that the wood absorbs will need to be lost slowing the drying. Wood can only lose so much moisture in a given period of time. If you truly want wood that is dry and in the shortest time, a wood shed is the way to go. I didnt mention the part when you dont have to deal with snow on the out side stacks and also messing with tarps eventually..


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## Gunfixr (Feb 4, 2019)

The wet wood I got is in a shed, of sorts. I have the older, drier wood stacked outside it, but built a tin roof over it.
Rain will only hit it if it's blown in under the roof, which is not that high off the ground.


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## Zack R (Feb 4, 2019)

My vote is out in the open where the sun and wind are strongest, single rows, uncovered until fall.


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## Woodsplitter67 (Feb 4, 2019)

Gunfixr said:


> The wet wood I got is in a shed, of sorts. I have the older, drier wood stacked outside it, but built a tin roof over it.
> Rain will only hit it if it's blown in under the roof, which is not that high off the ground.


Your shed needs to be oriented facing south.. and the shed needs to be vented in the back and sides so it breaths.. doing this will allow all the southerly winds to go through the spring summer and fall.. drying the wood.. if your shed is set up properly its a wood drying machine


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## kennyp2339 (Feb 4, 2019)

I do both, I try to stay ahead by three years, so split my logs and stack on pallets, cover with a tarp for the winter only, in the spring I stack it in woodshed and it sits in there for 2 seasons


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## iron (Feb 4, 2019)

pacific northwest guy here, so maybe sim precip pattern as OP, but slightly cooler. 

i had open stacks for my first 3 years. the stuff i burned in october and maybe november was okay, but come later season, it started getting wet. just too much precip to fight. my tarping wasn't perfect, but that's pretty hard to do AND get easy enough access. i build some sheds closest to my door that i use to get wood in the house. game changer. we'll see how green stacked and dried for 2 years works, but i'm thinking it should be better than the alternative. 

moving the split wood 1 time instead of 2 should be a priority of every wood burner.


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## AlbergSteve (Feb 4, 2019)

I think it really depends on your climate, both in the winter and summer. I split and stack all of my wood in the winter, top covered outside in long open rows. It goes in the shed in September before the rain starts. Last summer all of my cedar and doug fir dried to 13-18%MC. I have in the past put green wood away in the shed only to come back to a pile of mould or mush - I want neither of those in my house.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 4, 2019)

PapaRoo said:


> Hi folks
> 
> New to the forum although I’ve been reading the last week or so. We’ve just moved into a. We house with a wood burning insert and I am planning to start cutting and seasoning wood for the coming winters.
> 
> ...


Sheds are great if the wood isn't so wet when it goes in, that it molds.  NC is a humid place, so you need to get it dry enough to avoid the mold.

Any other type of top cover is fine.  Ignore all nonsense about leaving it open to the rain and snow.  If you are trying to dry something, keep it from getting wetter.


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## Gunfixr (Feb 4, 2019)

Woodsplitter67 said:


> Your shed needs to be oriented facing south.. and the shed needs to be vented in the back and sides so it breaths.. doing this will allow all the southerly winds to go through the spring summer and fall.. drying the wood.. if your shed is set up properly its a wood drying machine


It's a ratty little shed that was already here. We just moved here a few months ago. Tearing it down is on the list, but not real high. Once I realized I needed more wood storage, I went in and added support posts so it wouldn't collapse on me, and put a tarp on it so rain wouldn't wash the wood constantly. It seems we may have just come out of a monsoon season that would make se Asia jealous.
So, I will be working on deciding where, and how exactly to store wood for proper seasoning, as most available for purchase is not seasoned.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 4, 2019)

I can only tell you what I do and that it works.

I stack my wood outside for a minimum of a year or two . . . and then move it into my woodshed where it sits for another year or two (or more . . . I am currently burning a 2013 vintage) before I use it.


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## weatherguy (Feb 4, 2019)

Shed can mean different things, enclosed on three sides with solid walls to just a roof with all sides open, I think the latter would season wood quicker.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 5, 2019)

weatherguy said:


> Shed can mean different things, enclosed on three sides with solid walls to just a roof with all sides open, I think the latter would season wood quicker.


I use tarps over single rows.  Works ok.  My folks have a roof over posts open on all four sides, skids on the bottom.  Works great.  Much better than mine, and is 4 rows deep.


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## Sawset (Feb 5, 2019)

Just for the fun of it, I put together some regional/individual recomendations per this thread:

NY  hay barn, inside with air flow
MT  hay barn, then enclosed utility shed for current use
OK  open field, dang cat
PA  hay barn, retrieve as needed
ME  open field, but covered
ME  hay barn, utility shed use as needed
NY  hay barn
IN   open field, covered,      then hay barn
OH open field, uncovered,  then hay barn or utility shed
NJ  hay barn, oriented south
VA  hay barn, or open field covered
OR open field, uncovered till fall
NJ  open field, cover in the fall, then hay barn
WA open field, covered,    then utility shed
WA open field, covered,    then utility shed
PA  open field, covered,    then hay barn or utility shed, try to initially prevent mold
MA open field, uncovered, then hay barn or utility shed
WI  open field, uncovered, then hay barn or utility shed in fall for current use, our current setup


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 5, 2019)

Sawset said:


> Just for the fun of it, I put together some regional/individual recomendations per this thread:
> 
> NY  hay barn, inside with air flow
> MT  hay barn, then enclosed utility shed for current use
> ...


Thanks Sawset.  That was good!


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## Gunfixr (Feb 5, 2019)

So, from 18 posted opinions, there's about 3 that say open field, with most of those also saying covered, or to cover it at some point. There's 7 saying hay barn, or utility shed, with some variance on the specifics of things like air flow. Then there's 8 saying open field, then hay barn, or utility shed.
There's clearly some variance on what precisely constitutes a hay barn and/or a utility shed, but it looks like the general consensus would be that a hay barn is large (er, ish?) and airy, while a utility shed would be smaller and more closed in.
Here in VA, I am in se va, but have traveled around some of the rest, wood is stored outside. While it's possible it gets moved, I haven't seen any evidence yet, and through the winter, the outside stack, usually closest to the house, gets smaller. While sometimes I see it under a pole barn or car port, just a roof on posts, mostly I see it stacked along a building of one sort or another. It may be uncovered, a tarp draped over it, roofing tin laying on it, or some type of covering roof mounted over it. Sometimes a type of free standing wood storage is built, with a base to keep the wood off the ground, uprights at the ends to retain it, and a roof of some type over it.  Sometimes it's free-stacked, away from buildings, with any or none of the above coverings, or stacked between trees. Usually, there's something under it, I think landscape timbers are the popular option. Rarely, there is the pile, as if dumped from a truck.
Granted, we don't tend towards long cold winters. We do tend towards rather high humidity a good portion of the year.
Most season one year, with a fair number burning it unseasoned, apparently. I know a few who keep several years worth on hand, so they are using wood seasoned more than a year.


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## aaronk25 (Feb 5, 2019)

The fastest way besides kiln to dry is to stretch film it tight on a pallet.  Oak will dry in 3 months to 20% the problem with this is in the fall with trapped moisture the wood molds.   

So the key to drying is HEAT in a hurry or time.   Venting it has very little to do with drying unless there is little heat.  Remember wood re-absorbs very little moisture once it’s expelled.   That’s why fire wood floats.

With that, unless your a couple years ahead I’m thinking stack on pallets under the trap edge of property then use tractor with forks to move where you want them when ready to consume or when dry.   


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 5, 2019)

aaronk25 said:


> The fastest way besides kiln to dry is to stretch film it tight on a pallet.  Oak will dry in 3 months to 20% the problem with this is in the fall with trapped moisture the wood molds.
> 
> So the key to drying is HEAT in a hurry or time.   Venting it has very little to do with drying unless there is little heat.  Remember wood re-absorbs very little moisture once it’s expelled.   That’s why fire wood floats.
> 
> ...


Please stop.  Where's the water going to go if it's not vented.  And dry wood absorbs moisture all the time.  Anyone with wood floors knows this if their house has experienced any periods of high humidity.  The boards will even buckle from swelling so much.


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## aaronk25 (Feb 5, 2019)

ED 3000 said:


> Please stop.  Where's the water going to go if it's not vented.  And dry wood absorbs moisture all the time.  Anyone with wood floors knows this if their house has experienced any periods of high humidity.  The boards will even buckle from swelling so much.



You stop.   Nice choice of words, kinda a prick thing to say.   Anyhow I didn’t say wood absolutely doesn’t re-absorb I said it does very little.  You took that out of context.   

I just dried 10 cords of green burr oak wood last summer. You are very bold for being so incorrect that stretched filmed wrapped pallets don’t dry quickly.   


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## aaronk25 (Feb 5, 2019)

The water condenses on the inside of the plastic and literally rains put if the pallet, it’s called condensation and itts what happens when the temperature meets the dew point, 7th grade science Ed.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 5, 2019)

aaronk25 said:


> You stop.   Nice choice of words, kinda a prick thing to say.   Anyhow I didn’t say wood absolutely doesn’t re-absorb I said it does very little.  You took that out of context.
> 
> I just dried 10 cords of green burr oak wood last summer. You are very bold for being so incorrect that stretched filmed wrapped pallets don’t dry quickly.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro



I didn't say wrapping film wont work.  I think it would work great.  Just that unvented is not going to work.  Your moisture escaped somewhere.  Must have run down the film onto the skids and out.  Which is what your second response says.  Important details.

No need to get personal.  I did say please.


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## Sawset (Feb 5, 2019)

I get down to Sumpter SC a couple times a year.  Where we stay they have some wood stacked in back in the shade, for a couple years now or more.  It seems to always be wet and getting wetter, and slowly becoming unusable for much of anything.  Open air sheds down there are fairly common, and have things inside - machinery, hay, wood - that are in good shape.  Even things left in the sun - fields, crops like cotton, equipment, laneways - always seem damp.  Maybe it's the time of year that I'm there, fall or early spring that is different, or the fact that they always seem to have a hurricane or two come through right before we get there.  For the OP's benefit, I'm thinking under cover with open air would be step in a positive direction.


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## vwmike (Feb 5, 2019)

After 5 years of top covering my wood I built a proper wood shed.  Wood has never been dryer, seems no matter what I do tarp blows off once during winter and wood gets a bit wet.  A proper wood shed has a roof and no walls, just enough slats or cross bracing so the wood doesn't fall out. Just my experience in the very wet PNW


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## firefighterjake (Feb 5, 2019)

Sawset said:


> Just for the fun of it, I put together some regional/individual recomendations per this thread:
> 
> NY  hay barn, inside with air flow
> MT  hay barn, then enclosed utility shed for current use
> ...



Where's ME Open for a year or two or three uncovered and then in woodshed for another year or two or three?


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## Woodsplitter67 (Feb 5, 2019)

Some of you guys make this into much work. Take the time to stack it outside let it sit.. move the stacked wood to a shed and let it dry.. why not skip the part when you leave it out side. Cut out that step and just put it in the shed from the beginning, and save youself all of that additional work.... just saying..
wood actually drys well in a shed from the verry beginning.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 5, 2019)

This is great. 

As i understand it, there has been, for many years in the Nordic countries, a similar heated debate about whether to stack bark side up, or bark side down.  There, with a homogeneous climate and similar wood, they have found something even more meaningless to debate passionately.

I'm top covering my wood from now on, at least when rain or snow is called for, and hopefully have a large open sided woodshed in the not to distant future, with a roll down on the west, prevailing wind, side.  Here in humid, wet, SE PA.   30+ years experience heating with wood. 

God speed on your choice.


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## Sawset (Feb 5, 2019)

firefighterjake said:


> Where's ME Open for a year or two or three uncovered and then in woodshed for another year or two or three?


Sorry Jake. MA sounds like Maine. I'll need to get that corrected. Your comments noted.


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## Simonkenton (Feb 5, 2019)

My woodshed dries hickory to 17 percent in 10 months.


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## Easy Livin’ 3000 (Feb 5, 2019)

Simonkenton said:


> View attachment 240309
> 
> 
> My woodshed dries hickory to 17 percent in 10 months.





Simonkenton said:


> View attachment 240309
> 
> 
> My woodshed dries hickory to 17 percent in 10 months.


That's a beautiful shed, Simon.  Really well done.  I'm envious.

I might need a few of them to get me through the winter, but I'm north of you, and I really need to get this place insulated better.


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## Gunfixr (Feb 6, 2019)

I have a good friend who is quite knowledgeable about many things like this, about 15yrs more life experience than I, and wood heat is his only heat.
He has his wood stacked in the open sheds described above. Built with a way to keep it off the ground, enough framing to hold the stack and support a proper roof, which extends past the stack maybe a foot in all directions. He always has several cords kept this way.
If it did not work, he would change it.
This is my most likely plan. I think i've figured out where i'll put them.


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## vwmike (Feb 6, 2019)

Simonkenton said:


> View attachment 240309
> 
> 
> My woodshed dries hickory to 17 percent in 10 months.




No disrespect but I'm surprised it does, with walls that enclosed. If I put green hemlock or fir in there it would go mouldy around here.


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## weatherguy (Feb 6, 2019)

My plan is to put up 4 4x4s, a sloped roof and open on all 4 sides except for some bracing. I have 10 foot pallets for the floor. I have the supplies just need some time to put it together.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 6, 2019)

Sawset said:


> Sorry Jake. MA sounds like Maine. I'll need to get that corrected. Your comments noted.



It's OK. In fairness we were once part of Massachusetts and are still happy to acknowledge that fact on April 15th . . . at least I am since I get the day off to do Spring chores, enjoy the Spring air or run the Boston Marathon (which I have yet to do.)


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## Gunfixr (Feb 6, 2019)

Pallets on the ground here bring termites, quickly. Might be why so many here use landscape timbers, they are treated, termites don't like them.


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## mcdougy (Feb 6, 2019)

Cut the tree....and split it up....touch 1
Load the trailer and haul it up to barn to dump......touch 2
Throw it the window of the barn touch 3
Stack it.  Touch 4
Throw it out the barn window 2 years later in trailer and dump.at house touch 5
Grab it and put it in the stove  touch 6
That's how efficient I am ....works well if you don't mind the work. Some gets handled 1 more time if I have to rearrange the stacks to keep the drying cycle going.
So far a barn with walls works just fine here, one storage area is a concrete bunker room with a couple opposing windows.


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## Snapdragon III (Feb 9, 2019)

I just finished this shed yesterday.  I am super excited to get it packed with wood.  I will stack it in there when I split it, and not move it again till I load it into a wheelbarrow to bring to the front door for burning.  I am excited to be done with tarps and moving wood piles!  One bit of advice if you are building a shed in a visible location and want it to look good.  It was shocking how much better this shed looked after I gave it a coat of solid bodied deck stain.  Night and day difference.


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## weatherguy (Feb 9, 2019)

Snapdragon III said:


> I just finished this shed yesterday.  I am super excited to get it packed with wood.  I will stack it in there when I split it, and not move it again till I load it into a wheelbarrow to bring to the front door for burning.  I am excited to be done with tarps and moving wood piles!  One bit of advice if you are building a shed in a visible location and want it to look good.  It was shocking how much better this shed looked after I gave it a coat of solid bodied deck stain.  Night and day difference.


Perfect, exactly what I have planned  that will serve for many years to come.


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## baseroom (Feb 9, 2019)

Snapdragon III said:


> I just finished this shed yesterday.  I am super excited to get it packed with wood.  I will stack it in there when I split it, and not move it again till I load it into a wheelbarrow to bring to the front door for burning.  I am excited to be done with tarps and moving wood piles!  One bit of advice if you are building a shed in a visible location and want it to look good.  It was shocking how much better this shed looked after I gave it a coat of solid bodied deck stain.  Night and day difference.


Beautiful!  Did you design those yourself?


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## Gunfixr (Feb 10, 2019)

That's pretty sweet right there.


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## vwmike (Feb 10, 2019)

Nice work! That will dry wood nicely.


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## Snapdragon III (Feb 10, 2019)

baseroom said:


> Beautiful!  Did you design those yourself?


 Yes, It was modeled after another similar one I built last year on the other side of my driveway that worked out very well.  The second  one I made the walls a little deeper with less overhang since it is oriented 90 degrees from the first one and not as exposed to southern wind driven rain as the first one I built.  I put about 3 inches of 5/8" clear crushed gravel on the ground in them that does a pretty good job keeping the wood dry and the bugs out.


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## AlbergSteve (Feb 10, 2019)

I like those splits!


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## rowerwet (Feb 10, 2019)

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/simple-pallet-firewood-rack.167322/
I build racks of pallets,  with roofing from whatever is handy when they are built. 
Currently I have 15 cord stacked.

I started building these almost 2 years ago,  and just recently started refilling the first few racks. 
All they needed was a few more screws and a few more chunks of broken fire brick to bring them back to level again. 

The wood gets wet on the outer ends in heavy rain,  but it is perfectly dry for burning after a  year or so.


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## Woodsplitter67 (Feb 11, 2019)

Its snowing. Its going to snow intill tuesday. Then turn to freezing rain than rain the next 2 days after that.. never a tarp, wood never gets wet. My wood seasons quick 
	

		
			
		

		
	











	

		
			
		

		
	
 when wood never gets we, it dries faster than being left out in stacks. Also the time saved not moving it to a different location as some do.. this is a simpler way with great results


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## baseroom (Feb 11, 2019)

Snapdragon III said:


> Yes, It was modeled after another similar one I built last year on the other side of my driveway that worked out very well.  The second  one I made the walls a little deeper with less overhang since it is oriented 90 degrees from the first one and not as exposed to southern wind driven rain as the first one I built.  I put about 3 inches of 5/8" clear crushed gravel on the ground in them that does a pretty good job keeping the wood dry and the bugs out.
> View attachment 240573
> 
> View attachment 240574
> ...


One question.  How did you anchor the uprights?  Thanks.


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## rowerwet (Feb 24, 2019)

My pallet firewood racks cost almost nothing, and keep my stacks dry




I haven't bought any lumber to build them, even the 4x4 beams along the center of each rack are Craigslist scrounges.




I swing by the steel roofing at the big box and look for the buckled, cracked and dented panels, then buy them at a discount. 
	

		
			
		

		
	





	

		
			
		

		
	
they're also a great place to store my kayaks

I also use IBC tote tanks to cover my wood racks




A free fiberglass tonneau cover to make a shed for the splitter

The other nice thing is that each pallet works out to about a third of a cord, making it easy to see how much I have, and have burned.

Once my wood is stacked , it isn't touched again until it goes to the stove, I'm currently burning wood that seasoned one year this way, I don't bother doing a moisture check, I can see it is seasoned by how much the stack has shrunk , and how easy and hot it burns


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## Highbeam (Feb 27, 2019)

Snapdragon III said:


> Yes, It was modeled after another similar one I built last year on the other side of my driveway that worked out very well.  The second  one I made the walls a little deeper with less overhang since it is oriented 90 degrees from the first one and not as exposed to southern wind driven rain as the first one I built.  I put about 3 inches of 5/8" clear crushed gravel on the ground in them that does a pretty good job keeping the wood dry and the bugs out.
> View attachment 240573
> 
> View attachment 240574
> ...



I'm a first year shed owner in the cascade foothills. Open sided 10 cord shed. I do have 3-6 inches of clean 1.25" crushed rock on the floor but I still use pallets. Is there just dirt under your rock? Doesn't the bottom row soak up the water and turn to mush?


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## FTG-05 (Mar 5, 2019)

Strictly firewood amateur here checking in from SC TN.  Don't listen to me, I don't even know how to spell firewood, much less how to dry it.....


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