# Comparing covered vs uncovered wood



## dave11 (Jan 28, 2014)

I know this issue has been argued/debated to death, but I'm just going to toss in my experience, and others can do what they want with it.

Three years ago, I split and stacked several piles of black locust, pin oak, and poplar. They had each come from the same trees, and had been split/stacked at the same time. Some of each I put in my outdoor racks near the house, in full sun and wind, the rest I stacked inside an old stable on my property, which never sees the sun inside, and has only tiny windows for cross-vent. My plan was to move this indoor wood to the outdoor racks later, for additional seasoning, and to have it closer to the house for winters down the road. I move the outdoor wood into an unused corner of my garage several months before I plan to burn it, so it has time for rainwater etc to dry.

Fast forward to the present. I have been burning, for the past 12-18 months, only the outdoor wood, with pretty good results, even in my finicky stove. But as I used up this most recent rack, I decided I needed to make more room in the old stable by burning some of that same wood. I wasn't sure if it would burn well, since it's been much more protected from sun/air.

Surprise, it burns much better. So good that I've had trouble keeping the stove under control with the primary air fully closed. Again, it's exactly the same wood in all ways, except that it was always covered.

I know many people here leave their wood outdoors right up till they burn it, and seem to do fine. But I inadvertently did a controlled experiment, and based on what I've seen, wood that is always covered burns much better than wood that was ever left exposed. 

From now on, i'm keeping the stable full, and the outdoor racks will only be for overflow. 

Just tossin' it out there...


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 28, 2014)

Dave, you no doubt saw my thread about how I experimented with some uncovered wood. It had just been so darned long since I had left wood uncovered and kept reading about some who never cover, one year when we didn't cut much wood I decided to leave it uncovered. To make a long story short, it will be a really long time before that experiment is done again. The uncovered wood could not compare in any way to the covered wood. Shorter burn times and a lot more ashes. 

The only difference was in the wood we did this with. There was dead white ash, red oak, pin oak and a little bit of cherry if I remember right. We're still burning through it and won't get it all used this year for sure but hopefully next year we'll be done with it. I've already given a bunch of it away so maybe I'll even give the rest of it away.


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## xman23 (Jan 28, 2014)

I cover up right after the split and two row stack. I use a gable roof frame that creates 1 ft air space above the stack and the tarps. Besides a huge increase in the life of the tarp it keeps the wood dry dry dry for years before I burn it. I can't say I ever did a comparison, but non of the seasoned uncovered stacks of shoulder wood around the yard come close to burning like my main covered wood stacks.


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## cptoneleg (Jan 28, 2014)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Dave, you no doubt saw my thread about how I experimented with some uncovered wood. It had just been so darned long since I had left wood uncovered and kept reading about some who never cover, one year when we didn't cut much wood I decided to leave it uncovered. To make a long story short, it will be a really long time before that experiment is done again. The uncovered wood could not compare in any way to the covered wood. Shorter burn times and a lot more ashes.
> 
> The only difference was in the wood we did this with. There was dead white ash, red oak, pin oak and a little bit of cherry if I remember right. We're still burning through it and won't get it all used this year for sure but hopefully next year we'll be done with it. I've already given a bunch of it away so maybe I'll even give the rest of it away.


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## Studdlygoof (Jan 28, 2014)

I recently joined the club of  "Those who have experienced a chimney fire". After having the chimney sweep out to do some inspections we were discussing my process of burning wood. I don't cover my wood at all and throw it in the stove no matter the weather conditions. (Please take in mind this is my first season burning wood). He told me this was a big factor of creosote build up in my flue. As for me I will be a "covered" wood guy from now on.


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## dave11 (Jan 28, 2014)

But there are loads of people, here and otherwise, who swear their wood seasons better in full sun and wind. That's nearly always the recommendation new folks are getting. And it makes sense that wood should season better out in the sun and wind. It just turns out that it's not true.

But why? Does even occasional exposure to rain/snow soak the wood enough to make a difference, enough to negate the sun and wind?

And should it be a universal recommendation, to keep the wood covered all the time?


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## cptoneleg (Jan 29, 2014)

dave11 said:


> But there are loads of people, here and otherwise, who swear their wood seasons better in full sun and wind. That's nearly always the recommendation new folks are getting. And it makes sense that wood should season better out in the sun and wind. It just turns out that it's not true.
> 
> But why? Does even occasional exposure to rain/snow soak the wood enough to make a difference, enough to negate the sun and wind?
> 
> ...





No-  But is is a proven fact that wood split with a hyd. wood splitter gives you longer burn times and less ashes than wood split with a Friskers.


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## infinitymike (Jan 29, 2014)

I split mine and stack them in these covered racks that are 10' long , 2' wide and 6'-6" tall
It keeps all the leaves out which in my opinion get into the piles then get wet and then start to decay and clog it all up and then the air can't move through as nicely.




Two racks are 6" apart and then there is a 30" separation and then another 2 racks. 
I just walk a wheel barrel in like I'm in the supermarket isle.


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## infinitymike (Jan 29, 2014)

Now all this was top covered with a tarp right after I finished stacking it. Start to finish was about 3 months. March to May and then it was covered.


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## infinitymike (Jan 29, 2014)

And I have all this top covered.


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## infinitymike (Jan 29, 2014)

Oh yeah and this is covered too


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 30, 2014)

Studdlygoof said:


> I recently joined the club of  "Those who have experienced a chimney fire". After having the chimney sweep out to do some inspections we were discussing my process of burning wood. I don't cover my wood at all and throw it in the stove no matter the weather conditions. (Please take in mind this is my first season burning wood). He told me this was a big factor of creosote build up in my flue. As for me I will be a "covered" wood guy from now on.



Just make sure it is top cover only. If you cover the whole pile, you'll hold the moisture in rather than letting it out.


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## red oak (Jan 30, 2014)

Studdlygoof said:


> I recently joined the club of  "Those who have experienced a chimney fire". After having the chimney sweep out to do some inspections we were discussing my process of burning wood. I don't cover my wood at all and throw it in the stove no matter the weather conditions. (Please take in mind this is my first season burning wood). He told me this was a big factor of creosote build up in my flue. As for me I will be a "covered" wood guy from now on.



I've been burning uncovered wood for 13 years, and have never had a chimney fire, nor gotten more than a coffee-can size container of creosote when I clean my chimney, which I do once each year.  The moisture on the surface of the wood burns off rather quickly.  It is the moisture inside the wood (i.e. wood not properly seasoned) that is the biggest factor in producing creosote.


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## tsquini (Jan 30, 2014)

I do agree that a top cover will keep the leaves  and junk out of the pile. 

I will be running my own experiment over the next 3 years on this. I have 4 stacks 1/2 cord each single row. 2 hard wood consisting of oak, locust... 2 soft wood consisting of maple, ash, poplar... One of hard and soft will be cover and one of each will be open. My very simple hypothesis is that hard wood will dry at the same rate without rot covered or not covered. Softer wood will do better with a top cover vs. open. I would like to take a moisture reading of each pile once a month for the 3 years. This will help determine the rate to evaporation of the 4 stacks.


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## Studdlygoof (Jan 30, 2014)

Envious of some of your wood piles. Found some wood shed plans I'm going to get to working on so my piles are top covered.


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## paul bunion (Jan 30, 2014)

tsquini said:


> I do agree that a top cover will keep the leaves  and junk out of the pile.
> 
> I will be running my own experiment over the next 3 years on this. I have 4 stacks 1/2 cord each single row. 2 hard wood consisting of oak, locust... 2 soft wood consisting of maple, ash, poplar... One of hard and soft will be cover and one of each will be open. My very simple hypothesis is that hard wood will dry at the same rate without rot covered or not covered. Softer wood will do better with a top cover vs. open. I would like to take a moisture reading of each pile once a month for the 3 years. This will help determine the rate to evaporation of the 4 stacks.



Instead of moisture readings you might want to get a reasonably accurate scale and weigh them.  You will get a much better overall picture of what is happening.  And it gets around the problem that you can't measure the inside of a piece of wood without destroying your test subject.   You can figure out the overall pct moisture if you bake a few small pieces dry and weigh them before and after.


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## tsquini (Jan 30, 2014)

paul bunion said:


> Instead of moisture readings you might want to get a reasonably accurate scale and weigh them.  You will get a much better overall picture of what is happening.  And it gets around the problem that you can't measure the inside of a piece of wood without destroying your test subject.   You can figure out the overall pct moisture if you bake a few small pieces dry and weigh them before and after.


That is a good idea. I have a digital scale that I can use. I can figure out the average moisture content and calculate the loss my weight.


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## 1750 (Jan 30, 2014)

I think I'll make a better effort to top-cover the wood I'm planning on burning for the winter going forward. 

Last year I covered it with some exterior plywood I'd ripped for use as silt-fencing, and it worked great.  The snow caught me flat-footed this year, and it's been a hassle digging snow out of the stacks -- and it's messier to bring into the house.


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## Soundchasm (Feb 1, 2014)

I had several miserable and (with hindsight) dangerous winters with wet wood.  It was such a rude lesson I decided my best effort is going to be "never wet".  So far it's saved my bacon this winter when coupled with splitting small with soft wood like cherry, silver maple and walnut.  Single stack rows.  Scavenged wood this summer that was soaking wet but from 2010 (osage and hickory).  It dried out and works really well.  Since I was out of time, I bought 3'x50' plastic sheets from Lowes, top covered and stapled the sides to the wood.


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## cptoneleg (Feb 1, 2014)

If you Burn right out of your stacks-  you need to cover.- unless you like to burn rain and snow soaked wood

Usually we are talking about cover non cover for drying (seasoning) purpose only I leave uncovered for 2 -3 yrs then  on some dry weeks before burn season I put in shed. Usually sometime before September my shed is packed with all the dry wood I could possibly need for the winter. And there is usually some wood that spends 2 yrs in shed, It doesn't burn any better, because it is all ready to burn, before putting in Shed.


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## mnowaczyk (Feb 1, 2014)

I thought some said that even rain can actually help wood season.  The soaking and drying can make the wood expand and contract, but for this, I'm guessing it really needs full exposure, and probably more than a year or so of seasoning.  

I like the post above where:
- you've got so many years worth of wood that covering it all is ridiculous.
- you know to cover your wood at the beginning if the burning season and stay a few weeks or months ahead of it so you can assure what you are putting in the stove has no rain or snow water in it.  

Seasoned wood has got to be covered at the beginning of the burn season.  How it gets seasoned before that??  Not sure it matters.  right?


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## cptoneleg (Feb 1, 2014)

mnowaczyk said:


> I thought some said that even rain can actually help wood season.  The soaking and drying can make the wood expand and contract, but for this, I'm guessing it really needs full exposure, and probably more than a year or so of seasoning.
> 
> I like the post above where:
> - you've got so many years worth of wood that covering it all is ridiculous.
> ...





That is a yearly discussion here-  some top cover as soon as c/s/s some do it later on, or never - I personally do not - and will not argue with those that do.

Not saying that it is a bad thing to cover,  just that when someone comes to my place the first thing they see is all the stacked wood, and I think it looks good not covered.


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## firewoodjunky (Feb 1, 2014)

Sorry about the garbled message (which I just edited),my 21 mo old got her paws on the laptop 

Nothing to add here.


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## infinitymike (Feb 5, 2014)

This why I'm glad I top cover.


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 5, 2014)

firewoodjunky said:


> Sorry about the garbled message (which I just edited),my 21 mo old got her paws on the laptop
> 
> Nothing to add here.



That is okay. Many times a 21 month old child makes more sense than some more grown up people do.


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## ihookem (Feb 6, 2014)

I got my wood covered in a wood shed this year for the first time. The wood gassifies much easier when it's in the wood shed for 6 months. I think wood outside dries faster, but doesn't get as dry than in the shed. I even got some puffing today with 4x4 in. hardwood.


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 6, 2014)

ihookem said:


> I got my wood covered in a wood shed this year for the first time. The wood gassifies much easier when it's in the wood shed for 6 months. I think wood outside dries faster, but doesn't get as dry than in the shed. I even got some puffing today with 4x4 in. hardwood.



Not sure I totally agree with that one but it is nice to have the winter's supply in the shed so you don't have to wade through the snow to get it. We've done it both ways; with a shed and without. The only reason I like the shed is for what I already stated. As for the wood gassifying easier, I don't buy that one. We had no problems with the outdoor stacked wood and have never noticed any difference in the way it burns. 

What we have found though is that it depends upon how you handle the wood and how long you let it dry before burning. We also have found a huge difference if it is top covered vs not covered. We'll continue to top cover.


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## tsquini (Feb 6, 2014)

It all depends on the kind of wood  you are seasoning. I can place locust out and have it season for 4 years uncovered no problem. Hard as a rocks and burns great. I place maple out for over 2 years uncovered it turns into junk. Soft and really bad burn quality. My solution is to top cover softer woods like maple, poplar, ash and cherry. Harder woods oak, locust, beech, and Osage orange you don't have to cover.


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## Free BTUs (Feb 7, 2014)

I cut up a big apple tree last year.  I split and stacked most of it outdoors in single stacks with a tarp over just the top of the stacks.  Some of the biggest rounds I left whole and put them in my garage.  I was saving them for a friend of mine that turns bowls.  I forgot about getting the big rounds to my friend and they sat in my garage for nearly a year.  I just remembered them last week. I was cutting the sap wood off and making them square before giving them to my friend and I noticed that they looked drier than the single stacked wood that had sat out in the sun and wind for a year.  I took one and split it down the middle and checked it with my moisture meter...13%.  I then went outside, resplit some of my stacked splits and checked them...26%.   That is a huge difference, especially when you factor in that the 13% came from a 24" round and the 26% came from a 6" split.

Not a scietific study to be sure, but in this single case, it seems that keeping wood completely out of the weather is far better than stacking it out in the sun and wind but having the ends get rained and snowed on.


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## ryjen (Feb 7, 2014)

Sorry to be a bit off subject, but I REALLY like infinitymike's set-up. I like the idea of room for the wheel barrow in between the rows.

Carry on.


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## paul bunion (Feb 7, 2014)

Free BTUs said:


> I cut up a big apple tree last year.  I split and stacked most of it outdoors in single stacks with a tarp over just the top of the stacks.  Some of the biggest rounds I left whole and put them in my garage.  I was saving them for a friend of mine that turns bowls.  I forgot about getting the big rounds to my friend and they sat in my garage for nearly a year.  I just remembered them last week. I was cutting the sap wood off and making them square before giving them to my friend and I noticed that they looked drier than the single stacked wood that had sat out in the sun and wind for a year.  I took one and split it down the middle and checked it with my moisture meter...13%.  I then went outside, resplit some of my stacked splits and checked them...26%.   That is a huge difference, especially when you factor in that the 13% came from a 24" round and the 26% came from a 6" split.
> 
> Not a scietific study to be sure, but in this single case, it seems that keeping wood completely out of the weather is far better than stacking it out in the sun and wind but having the ends get rained and snowed on.



Assuming an attached garage it is also warmer in the winter.    Probably has something to do with it.


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## Free BTUs (Feb 7, 2014)

paul bunion said:


> Assuming an attached garage it is also warmer in the winter.    Probably has something to do with it.


 

It is an attached garage.  I call it "Garage-zilla" or the "Garage-mahal".  32'x36', 2 stories.  It is not heated, but it has a big concrete slab foundation, so that is what keeps it warmer in winter.  It rarely gets below 36 in there.  If I could build another one and load it with firewood, I would.


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## firewoodjunky (Feb 8, 2014)

Backwoods Savage said:


> That is okay. Many times a 21 month old child makes more sense than some more grown up people do.


 

Very true!


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## __dan (Feb 8, 2014)

I have/had three stacks this year and there is no comparison. All three stacks came from the same source, cuts and splits that have been in the yard since the 2011 storm, 1/3 red and white oak, the rest junk swamp maple and some kind of tough to split evergreen. I have been burning the worst stuff first and keeping the best oak splits and rounds for future years.

All three stacks were put up last spring from cuts in the yard. All went up on pallets.

One stack went under the front porch roof, no rain but very little sun. That stuff burns like a dream. Have to be careful loading too much or it will drive the Froling into slumbering from excess heat. No attendance, great burnouts, and little ash.

First stack burned this year was put on pallets with and without a tarp. Open, but I tried to cover it for bad weather but not always. Getting it on pallets made the wood a lot drier but it was obvious, the times it got rained on, the wood burned *a lot* less easily, burned more of it.

Third stack was the same, on pallets with and without a tarp. Because of the wind, I lost the tarp more and it got more rained on, but more sun also. That stack is the worst of the three. I'm burning it including some nice 2+ year seasoned oak splits, but it burns slower with less heat and more attendance.

None of the wood makes steam from the ends much, they gas from the ends.

I need a wood shed and it will be heaven, in the range of three cord for the year, unlimited heat and DHW.


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