Firewood drying and storage in cheap silos

[Tron]

All,

As this storage method seems largely unknown here, I'd like to introduce it. It's really cheap and dries wood perfectly.

You just need a sheet of construction remesh (heavy duty, size can vary but I used 8*20'), some nylon rope and a tarp. The remesh is rolled into a tube and tied close with the rope, overlapping one segment You can add wood to it whenever you want, as you can see in the picture the upper half is newer wood. No need to stack it, just toss it in.
When you want to retrieve some, you cut a door into the lower part of it, bend the remesh open, and take the wood out. That is best done where the mesh is joined.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask.

A silo of this size holds about 2 full cords, maybe a little bit less because it is not stacked.

 

[bholler]

All,

As this storage method seems largely unknown here, I'd like to introduce it. It's really cheap and dries wood perfectly.

You just need a sheet of construction remesh (heavy duty, size can vary but I used 8*20'), some nylon rope and a tarp. The remesh is rolled into a tube and tied close with the rope, overlapping one segment You can add wood to it whenever you want, as you can see in the picture the upper half is newer wood. No need to stack it, just toss it in.
When you want to retrieve some, you cut a door into the lower part of it, bend the remesh open, and take the wood out. That is best done where the mesh is joined.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask.

A silo of this size holds about 2 full cords, maybe a little bit less because it is not stacked.

View attachment 257588

How do you get airflow to the interior of that column?

 

[jetsam]

How do you get airflow to the interior of that column?

Bigger splits! I think home depot sells a 4x8ish piece of that bar mesh.

 

[bholler]

I will stick to my single row stacks to dry fast

 

[Tron]

As the splits are just thrown in, there is plenty airflow throughout the column.

I put fresh hardwood in last spring, and retrieved it last weekend with 14% moisture, if I can trust my meter. But it burned without hissing, so I guess it is dry. In colder climate it may take two years, which is what we did back in Europe.

 

[Tron]

Oh, I forgot: there are big sticks pushed through the second-from-bottom row forming a floor of sorts which prevents the wood from sitting on the ground. I think if you zoom in you can see that. The wood sits about 4 inches from the ground.

 

[SpaceBus]

I'm going to try this with pallets for the bottoms so I can move them with the tractor.

 

[jetsam]

I'm going to try this with pallets for the bottoms so I can move them with the tractor.

You need to build a frame around the outside too. That stack is going over as soon as you hit the first bump.

 

[Tron]

Pallets as flooring are perfect, but those silos are not designed to be moved. I don't think that's going to end well.

 

[SpaceBus]

Glad for the advice ahead of time. I assumed I could fasten the tubes to the pallets, but I'm OK with not moving them.

 

[velvetfoot]

I like it. Could lighter stuff be used?

 

[Tron]

What do you mean by lighter stuff? Thinner remesh? Wouldn't recommend it, it needs a bit of rigidity to stay upright. After all, the whole thing probably weighs 8-10.000 lbs when filled with oak.
For the size with 8*20' remesh, the volume is about 6.8 m3 or 240 cu ft. Do the math.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

What do you mean by lighter stuff? Thinner remesh? Wouldn't recommend it, it needs a bit of rigidity to stay upright. After all, the whole thing probably weighs 8-10.000 lbs when filled with oak.
For the size with 8*20' remesh, the volume is about 6.8 m3 or 240 cu ft. Do the math.

I use lighter welded wire fencing to do the same thing, because it is what I had laying around. It's mainly for shorts and uglies. I currently have three in service, and it works fine. The heavier remesh would be better, but not necessary, just don't throw heavy splits into the side, I just drop them in.

One is on a skid, the other two are on the ground, with a few layers of rough bark to keep the wood off the ground.

I don't like the idea of cutting access doors into them, I just tie the ends together, and untie from the top down. I'd say it's the weak link in the system.

 

[Tron]

With wire fencing you can probably just untie it from the top down and bend the wire out of the way, but the remesh is much more sturdy and does not bend easily, thus the doors. They are not huge, anyway, about 3x3'. You just pull the wood out from the bottom and the top comes down by itself.

I had a dead tree (about a foot trunk diameter) come crashing down on a half-filled one last spring during a storm. Just a little cosmetic damage to the remesh, it didn't topple or anything. They are pretty sturdy.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

With wire fencing you can probably just untie it from the top down and bend the wire out of the way, but the remesh is much more sturdy and does not bend easily, thus the doors. They are not huge, anyway, about 3x3'. You just pull the wood out from the bottom and the top comes down by itself.

I had a dead tree (about a foot trunk diameter) come crashing down on a half-filled one last spring during a storm. Just a little cosmetic damage to the remesh, it didn't topple or anything. They are pretty sturdy.

I was thinking that might be the case with the ridgidity of the remesh. I guess you can just tie the door shut after you cut it. Seems like there must be a better way, or probably I'm just trying to overcomplicate things as usual. The simplest solution is often the best one.

 

[Tron]

My simple solution is a couple zipties around the door keep it closed. Works for me, but so would some straps or pieces of wire. The advantage of the door is that you keep the structure intact and can easily re-use it. When one is empty, two people can easily move it if necessary, but I just fill it up again with fresh wood.

The only disadvantage compared to stacking is that you need to throw the wood over the ledge when filling. But I've seen people load them with a frontloader as well, I just don't have one.

 

[SpaceBus]

Do you think snap links (carabiners) would work well for a "door" closure? I like the idea of a large tall silo that I can fill with my tractor. I could make the "lid" with skids to put in place with the loader as well.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Do you think snap links (carabiners) would work well for a "door" closure? I like the idea of a large tall silo that I can fill with my tractor. I could make the "lid" with skids to put in place with the loader as well.

I don't think carabiners would be your best bet. I'd just do a few wire wraps in three spots for the hinge, and tie the other side with an overhand knot in a few places. I use overhand knots with some strong cord to keep all my wire cages shut, and the work perfectly, and super easy. Just like tying your shoes.

 

[Tron]

Carabiners would work in theory, but they'd have to be long. As you are cutting the wiremesh for the door, you need to link two segments together to "close" the door, at least at the top and bottom. Which are usually about 4" apart. So a foot of wire, some string or zipties are probably the better option.

 

[SpaceBus]

I've been googling where to find tall remesh, but most of what I'm finding is metal fencing rolls. The tallest I've seen is locally is 6' tall.

 

[Tron]

I've been sourcing that from a local construction company. Any company that does concrete work should have those. They did have two different wire gauges, I went with the heavy duty variety as it is much more stable. I guess the wires are about 5-6mm in diameter, so like gauge 3 or 4. Don't go with the lighter gauge 6 panels that are also available.

 

[Bad LP]

It's just wire mesh for concrete floors. Any decent lumber yard with have it.

 

[Grizzerbear]

I've been googling where to find tall remesh, but most of what I'm finding is metal fencing rolls. The tallest I've seen is locally is 6' tall.

If you have a concrete workers supply store in your nearby area that is where I would look. They should have it.

 

[Highbeam]

Do you think snap links (carabiners) would work well for a "door" closure? I like the idea of a large tall silo that I can fill with my tractor. I could make the "lid" with skids to put in place with the loader as well.

Everybody should own a huge sack of black 7” zip ties. They are exceptionally strong, cheap, sunlight tolerant, and durable. That big sack from Home Depot has lasted me like 10years. It’s amazing how many problems you can solve with zip ties.

 

[SpaceBus]

Everybody should own a huge sack of black 7” zip ties. They are exceptionally strong, cheap, sunlight tolerant, and durable. That big sack from Home Depot has lasted me like 10years. It’s amazing how many problems you can solve with zip ties.

I used to have a lot more when I was doing racecar stuff. The black zip ties do indeed last longer in the sun.