# Should I be stacking the wood pile off the ground?



## FarmHouse (Jan 2, 2010)

I had 3 bad trees dropped, which I ended up splitting last month. I started stacking it on a (concrete) driveway pad at the rear of the property. But now I'm thinking whether I should have put down some 2x4's to get the wood off the ground? The stack is near a small wooded area (if that makes a difference).

Thanks.


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## LLigetfa (Jan 2, 2010)

OK, which is it, on the ground or on concrete?  Wet ground or wet concrete?

My woodshed has a concrete slab and all my wood sits on it.


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## FarmHouse (Jan 2, 2010)

LLigetfa said:
			
		

> OK, which is it, on the ground or on concrete?  Wet ground or wet concrete?
> 
> My woodshed has a concrete slab and all my wood sits on it.



It's on a concrete driveway, but it's near a small wooded area. I didn't know if that made a difference or not.
Wet? Not constant;y wet. If it rains, water runs off into the wood area nearby.

Sounds like it should be ok then. Thanks.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 2, 2010)

Put some 2 x 4's or cut some saplings in the woods. Just a couple inches off the concrete will not only keep dampness of the bottom of the stack but will also allow air under the stack to help the drying process.


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## FarmHouse (Jan 2, 2010)

I may re-stack it in the Spring. It's a bit chilly here now (~15*F). Hopefully over winter it wont be too big of a deal.


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## LLigetfa (Jan 2, 2010)

FarmHouse said:
			
		

> I may re-stack it in the Spring...


Restack?  Are you nuts or just bored?

If there is a chance of standing water, the next time you stack wood there put down a few small poles as BWS suggests.  If you need all of it it to season really quick, elevate the bottom row a foot off the concrete to keep it up out of the layer of cooler humid air that that blankets the ground.

Often when I stack outdoors directly on the ground, I would put down a first course of junk Poplar rounds as sacrifice wood.  Last year I tried pallets for the first time.  It gives rodents somewhere to go and entertains the dog all day long whilst guarding my stacks.


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## quads (Jan 2, 2010)

FarmHouse said:
			
		

> I may re-stack it in the Spring...


Don't bother restacking just for that reason.  Someday, years from now when you go to burn that wood, if the bottom layer of splits seems a little wet or heavy, just toss them on top of the next year's stack.


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## Wood Duck (Jan 2, 2010)

I think you are better off than most people, and most people manage to do just fine. You'll do just fine as well. If I was stacking the wood, I wouldn't bother with 2x4's or poles because the stack will be more stable on concrete than on poles.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 2, 2010)

Wood Duck, that does not need to be true! Stacking on poles can be very solid or stable indeed.


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## PapaDave (Jan 2, 2010)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Wood Duck, that does not need to be true! *Stacking on poles can be very solid or stable indeed*.



Very true. Oak or pine logs under every one of 'em. The first year, everything went right on the ground! DOH! Wood that has frozen and sunk into the ground is tough to get up. Pretty stable though.
My stacks are each 16' long, 5' high. Total length is 96'. Nothing has fallen over.......yet. Only been doing that for 2 years, and the 1st year didn't take into account shrinkage. Those ALMOST fell over. They looked like the leaning tower of Pisa.


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## ansehnlich1 (Jan 2, 2010)

You can let that wood right where it is and it'll burn just fine next winter if it's split. That stuff won't rot a bit in the next year laying on that concrete. I've seen regular 2x4's lay around on concrete for several years and not rot...they get a nice grey weathered look to 'em though. 

Now, if you stack on the ground, you want to get it up so that bottom layer does'nt begin to rot on ya.


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## westkywood (Jan 2, 2010)

Get it up off the concrete..........


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## FarmHouse (Jan 2, 2010)

Hmmm.....mixed opinions. I think I will leave it for the time being, but any new stacks will be off the ground.

Thanks a lot.


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## Battenkiller (Jan 3, 2010)

Won't make a damn bit of difference AFAIC, as long as you don't need it this year.  Using a sledge to pound out about a hundred splits sunken into 6" of ice in the middle of March because that's all you have left... been there, done that.


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## woodhound (Jan 4, 2010)

I get free pallets from work so that is what my woodshed floor is made of.   When they go bad just get a new one, has been 3 years and have yet to replace one.


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## FarmHouse (Jan 4, 2010)

Just a few pics of the trees that were dropped and the aftermath. I didn't want to drop 2 of them, but one was already hollowed out and the other one was getting there. The pics of the ants in the logs is from the tree where the upper half was rotting. That's going into a separate firepit stack. 


http://imgur.com/9aAiS.jpg
http://imgur.com/1r7na.jpg
http://imgur.com/O5add.jpg
http://imgur.com/JTRx6.jpg
http://imgur.com/0S9aV.jpg
http://imgur.com/1n2B3.jpg
http://imgur.com/WRzBN.jpg
http://imgur.com/6BMW1.jpg
http://imgur.com/1Zwfp.jpg
http://imgur.com/6a6zO.jpg
http://imgur.com/aQ6mT.jpg


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