Best Way to Tarp Your Wood?

[Ashful]

That's enough of a controlled experiment for me.

I already have quotes on a 45-cord “shed”, of almost 1000 sq.ft., and it would already be built now, if my back yard hadn’t become wetlands this year. Waiting on dry weather for permitting application, since it is legitimately wetlands-adjacent, and will likely require some re-surveying of wetlands setbacks. It’s killing me that my good trailer is sitting out in the weather, it has taken a real beating in the last few years.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I already have quotes on a 45-cord “shed”, of almost 1000 sq.ft., and it would already be built now, if my back yard hadn’t become wetlands this year. Waiting on dry weather for permitting application, since it is legitimately wetlands-adjacent, and will likely require some re-surveying of wetlands setbacks. It’s killing me that my good trailer is sitting out in the weather, it has taken a real beating in the last few years.

Can't wait to see it, glad you decided to take the plunge.

Your dry wood system is gonna be fantastic, the final nail in this silly covered/uncovered debate that's been raging for years. And a dry trailer.

Seriously, the envy of us all. This weather is incredibly frustrating.

 

[weatherguy]

I left two cords uncovered for the three years it seasoned all oak, never again. I stack and keep uncovered a couple months then its covered til burned.

 

[tcassavaugh]

what about 2 x 4 framework you can pile the wood under then tarp the frame....keeps it off the wood...just a thought

 

[paulnlee]

The only time I tarp my wood is before it's split. Once it's split it goes into the stable. Keep your powder and your wood dry.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

The best way to tarp your wood... is to build a shed around it

 

[george255]

Build a small lean 2 and metal roof it, leave three sides open and wall the back of it. Now, let's have a Whiskey!

 

[They Call Me Pete]

I tarped this year but will be building a couple woodsheds outta pallets with a metal roof. Messing around with tarps with snow on them sucks

 

[weatherguy]

Build a small lean 2 and metal roof it, leave three sides open and wall the back of it. Now, let's have a Whiskey!

That's my plan, have the materials, dont have the time.

 

[rowerwet]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/simple-pallet-firewood-rack.167322/
This is how I season my wood.

If the wife is dead set against the best roofing choice, you should look into billboard tarps, they're meant to stand up to the wind and UV like nothing else will.

Personally I cover my stacks to keep leaves and black walnuts from collecting and then rotting out the wood and racks.
I've also had stacks get pushed over by heavy snow and ice, a roof prevents all that

 

[Ashful]

..,you should look into billboard tarps, they're meant to stand up to the wind and UV like nothing else will.

I can attest to this. We store loaner boats under these billboard canvases at the sail club, and they’re incredibly tough. They last several years, in full sun, without breaking down. Wasps love to nest under them, too!

 

[maple1]

Hey Guys...I've been burning wood for about 3 years now in my Hampton HI300 insert. Having gone through the whole wet wood stuff in my first season I can now confidently say I have caught the dry wood religion However, I have struggled with the whole tarp thing. I store about 4 cords in my yard and have used the crappy hardware store plastic tarps, but always find that they tear and wear out pretty quickly.

So I'm looking for advice on the best way to effectively tarp my wood. I can't afford, nor have time, to build a wood shed. I have looked on-line for some of the upgraded tarps from places like woodland direct and other sites, but they are ridiculously expensive to cover a basic 8x4 woodrack...about $150 bucks! Anyway, we had so much rain this past summer and fall...I want to really protect my wood this year and looking for the most effective way to tarp. Been thinking about doubling up on the cheapy tarps and using bungee cords to cinch them down tight?

People seem to make tarping way harder than it has to be. It amazes me sometimes. There couldn't be anything cheaper or easier.

I stack in double stacks, on pallets. You need tarps only as wide as the stacks. So maybe 3-3.5' wide for me. I can get those up here, they are made for that, they are something like 20' long. I have also cut wider ones in half when needed, or folded them double. Whatever it takes to get a tarp that wide.

Then you just roll/spread it out on top of the stack, and put another layer of wood on top. That's it - easy peasy. No tying or cording or nailing or fastening or anything else. The top layer of wood keeps it there (and will quickly dry out when it gets rained on), and added bonus is it also blocks the sun. Which is what most tarp deterioration is from - direct sunlight. Most of mine are between 5 & 10 years old and still going. And it also hides most of the tarp, if complaints are coming in about tarps being ugly. Get brown ones (that's what color the narrow ones are I get) and they are practically invisible.

To go along with that - first get your pallets up off the ground on concrete blocks or something similar (I can get them here for $0.50 each in the boneyard at the local block making place). The higher the better. Your pallets will last a long time.

And, contrary to what some might think, orient your stacks so that prevailing winds blow against the end of the stack (across the ends of your splits). As opposed to into the end of the splits/side of the stack. I can look out in a rain storm & the ends of my wood will be dry. Unless the wind is blowing in another direction, which does happen sometimes. The wind blowing across the ends will dry the wood real quick.

Cheap easy steps to dry wood.

 

[Ashful]

I just buy heavy 6 mil clear poly plastic sheeting in 8’ x 100’ rolls. That is enough to cover ten cords in double-wide rows each year, with a little left over. It hangs down 3 feet on each side, and I fasten it on with T50 staples in a hammer tacker.

The plastic will not last two years, though. So I pull it off if anything not used by spring, and throw it in the recycling bucket. Made of the same stuff as plastic coke bottles and milk jugs (polyethylene), so no one has complained.

This is a temporary solution, to get you thru your first few years. The only permanent solution is a wood shed.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I just buy heavy 6 mil clear poly plastic sheeting in 8’ x 100’ rolls. That is enough to cover ten cords in double-wide rows each year, with a little left over. It hangs down 3 feet on each side, and I fasten it on with T50 staples in a hammer tacker.

The plastic will not last two years, though. So I pull it off if anything not used by spring, and throw it in the recycling bucket. Made of the same stuff as plastic coke bottles and milk jugs (polyethylene), so no one has complained.

This is a temporary solution, to get you thru your first few years. The only permanent solution is a wood shed.

Not that you think much about it, but what's the cost of the roll of 6 mil clear poly vs. brown tarps of equivalent coverage as Maple described, which can last for at least several years?

A neighbor and long-time wood heater covered with clear poly. It is about as unsightly as white or blue tarps, definitely less attractive than brown.He had a long-time feud with a prickly neighbor about it.

Perhaps you were getting some solar kiln effect with the clear?

The wood burning neighbor won the feud with the neighbor who didn't like it. She died of a heart attack.

 

[Ashful]

Not that you think much about it, but what's the cost of the roll of 6 mil clear poly vs. brown tarps of equivalent coverage as Maple described, which can last for at least several years?

A neighbor and long-time wood heater covered with clear poly. It is about as unsightly as white or blue tarps, definitely less attractive than brown.He had a long-time feud with a prickly neighbor about it.

Perhaps you were getting some solar kiln effect with the clear?

The wood burning neighbor won the feud with the neighbor who didn't like it. She died of a heart attack.

lol... I used to use the black poly, which definitely looks better. But the last few years it hasn't been available in the width I use at the local store. Mine is hiding way out back, where no one really sees it. Can't remember what it cost, but it's not a lot. Again, not a permanent solution, but it has gotten me through the last several years, while other projects took precedence over the wood shed build.

 

[Wood1Dennis]

If you have any farms near by, see if you can get some remnants from silage bags. They are made of heavy plastic, designed to hold up to the sun. They have a black side and a white side, take your pick. Got mine for free from the brother-in-law.

 

[Kiotick4010]

I have a small, 10’x20’ shed that I keep the splitter, garbage and recycling cans, plus a little junk that should probably be thrown out in. It doubles as a wood shed for storing one row, about 7’ tall, along each of the 20’ sides. I try to rotate seasoned wood in there so I don’t have to knock snow off the splits when I bring wood into the garage where I burn most of it.

The newer wood gets stacked on pallets along side the shed. I have used the blue tarps. They sort of work, but the few pieces of rubber roofing I have work better. The rubber is heavier so it is easier to keep in place by putting a few splits on top.

The last couple of years, as my blue tarps disintegrated, I put some common Tyvek and a piece of lumber wrap (the stuff that is used to cover bundles of wood for delivery to the lumber yard).

The Tyvek seems to work particularly well, as it breathes to some extent, yet. Blocks the rain and snowmelt. The lumber wrap works, but doesn’t breathe as well.

I have used black plastic previously and it was an unmitigated disaster as far as getting wood to season. It doesn’t allow the stack to breathe at all, and I ended up with moldy, rotting wood.

There is no good way to tie the Tyvek down, but that doesn’t seem to matter if you weigh the top down with enough splits.

One other comment: don’t stack under trees. Your wood needs sunshine to expedite drying.

 

[fire_man]

I cover my stacks with plywood and then good quality tarps.

This is the next best setup to a woodshed for keeping the wood super dry and the tarps last a really long time thanks to the plywood.

 

[mar13]

Wood is uncovered during the summer (summer rain is rare), then sealed under a layer of tarps. If some wood isn't fully seasoned, it gets some air during the winter & is separate from the multi-year seasoned wood which is covered tightly. Brown tarps from Costco have been the best value & durable tarps I've found. Rebar & lead dive weights hold it down well & allow relatively easy access to the wood. Older tarps separate the new outer tarp from the wood to prevent holes. The moisture content measures fine when I pull wood out from beneath the tarps.

That said, I'm tired of tarping and want a wood shed. I just need to figure out a design that I'm capable of building & looks decent. The forum will hear from me when that time draws closer.

 

[TedyOH]

$14 20' x4' tarp, washers, sheet rock screws and a drill.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[fire_man]

I use to just tarp mine but rodents kept chewing thru the tarps and my stacks got soaking wet.

That's some looking nice dry wood in there!

 

[smittwood]

Wood is uncovered during the summer (summer rain is rare), then sealed under a layer of tarps. If some wood isn't fully seasoned, it gets some air during the winter & is separate from the multi-year seasoned wood which is covered tightly. Brown tarps from Costco have been the best value & durable tarps I've found. Rebar & lead dive weights hold it down well & allow relatively easy access to the wood. Older tarps separate the new outer tarp from the wood to prevent holes. The moisture content measures fine when I pull wood out from beneath the tarps.

That said, I'm tired of tarping and want a wood shed. I just need to figure out a design that I'm capable of building & looks decent. The forum will hear from me when that time draws closer.

Same issue. I'm tired of tarping too. I want a shed.

 

[buc74]

We so far have bought 3 rolls of the rubber roofing over the last 4 years I'd say. 10'x20 for $95 on sale from Menards. I can cover 2 cords with a roll nicely. Now that I'm far enough ahead with my 3 year plan I likely will so longer ever need to buy wood. Between our land up north and scrounging of wood we'll have plenty. So we have justified the rubber based on our wood savings. Not cheap way to cover buts works well and should last for many years I would guess.

 

[Petstang]

Hey Guys...I've been burning wood for about 3 years now in my Hampton HI300 insert. Having gone through the whole wet wood stuff in my first season I can now confidently say I have caught the dry wood religion However, I have struggled with the whole tarp thing. I store about 4 cords in my yard and have used the crappy hardware store plastic tarps, but always find that they tear and wear out pretty quickly.

So I'm looking for advice on the best way to effectively tarp my wood. I can't afford, nor have time, to build a wood shed. I have looked on-line for some of the upgraded tarps from places like woodland direct and other sites, but they are ridiculously expensive to cover a basic 8x4 woodrack...about $150 bucks! Anyway, we had so much rain this past summer and fall...I want to really protect my wood this year and looking for the most effective way to tarp. Been thinking about doubling up on the cheapy tarps and using bungee cords to cinch them down tight?

I top cover only. I use rolls of plastic sheeting from Home Depot. I cut it wide enough just so that it hangs down a couple of inches on each side of the stack. I hold it down with uglies, rocks, etc. Lasts about 2 years before I need to replace it. The clear plastic lets the light through to help dry the top layer.

I never cover the whole face of the stack. You need to let air circulate through the logs to dry it out. The amount of rain that hits the end of each log dries out quickly.

 

[fire_man]

I top cover only. I use rolls of plastic sheeting from Home Depot. I cut it wide enough just so that it hangs down a couple of inches on each side of the stack. I hold it down with uglies, rocks, etc. Lasts about 2 years before I need to replace it. The clear plastic lets the light through to help dry the top layer.

I never cover the whole face of the stack. You need to let air circulate through the logs to dry it out. The amount of rain that hits the end of each log dries out quickly.

That cheap pastic never worked for me. It disintegrates in a couple years and lets water in. I buy good quality tarps and put them on top of plywood - lasts years.

I'm too poor to buy cheap things!