How do you stack?

[Beer Belly]

I got a load in, and the Wife wanted it cut up and moved

then it looked like this.....

I moved it to the back of the yard, and now it's all mixed, not sure of what is what....so I'm just gonna split it and let it season for at least 2 years to play it safe. This was on top of 2 Ash, and 2 Maples I had dropped (see a little in the pics) at about the same time....those I'm sure of and hopefully be ready for next winter (2013-14), then the mixed batch will hopefully be ready for 2015-16

 

[Beer Belly]

OOOPS !!....How do I stack....

believe me....it doesn't look this neat at the moment

 

[Blue2ndaries]

I try to keep the oak separated from everything else (ash, maple, cherry, doug fir). After that it's just stacked to backfill wood taken out FIFO.

 

[clemsonfor]

You must have way to much time on your hands in the US producing all these nice stacks. All we do is process direct into IBC containers and then with pallet forks on the tractor load into the solar kiln where it stays until we need to use it.View attachment 88519

With wood that size it would take me forever to load it! i would have to put like 50 pieces into my stove at the time!!

 

[clemsonfor]

T

I stack chronologically. Whatever I get, I stack in the holz hausen (round stack) that is currently under construction. I burn one stack, then move on to the next. The exception is that if I come across some slightly punky wood I stack it separately, cover it, and burn it next year. I don't want to stack punky wood with solid wood because the punky stuff keeps getting punkier in my uncovered stacks. The solid wood stays nice and solid despite being uncovered.

Think the way to learn firewood ID is to learn one species at a time. Collecting your own firewood is the way to do this. When you get a downed tree or even a branch, ID the tree based on leaves, twigs, and other features that are shown in tree ID books. Then when you cut the wood you can learn what the wood looks like. Focus on bark, the color and thickness of sapwood (the lighter wood under the barks) and heartwood (center of the trunk or lrage branch). It takes a while but I find I cannot learn ID of trees, plants, birds, or anything else by doing it all at once. One tree at a time is the way to go.

This is exacltly how you do it when your taught in school. I am a forester, in Dendrology in school, you learn 1 tree at the time 15-20 trees a week till your through. In all i think we had something like 120-150 species of trees. I still know most of them, western firs and things that i only saw in the arboritum, NO, the smaller tiny trees that are more like tree shrubs that grow wild here, not so much, but every commercial species that grows in this state i can and should be able to identify. Some of the scrub oaks i have forgotten but there not usually commercial and i dont really mess with them much except to clearcut them or run them over! Scrub oaks do make good firewood, there so slow growing and dense there some of the best oak you will burn!

Oh that was latin name (family, genus and species) as well as common names.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Try to separate hardwood from softwood, then it's HH's- chronologically and alphabetic by height

(broken image removed)

 

[renewablejohn]

With wood that size it would take me forever to load it! i would have to put like 50 pieces into my stove at the time!!

Thats the difference of solar kiln dried logs. We only need to put a couple of logs on to get high heat output. Standard length is 8 inch although we do get requests for granny logs for small stoves which are 6 inch long.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just curious how everyone has their splits stacked. I'm new to the wood burning in fact I'm still in the process of getting my stove setup but the more I read the more it suggests that you guys stack your wood according to species. I seem to read a lot about shoulder season wood and then tapping into oak or locust during the cold snaps.

I got my grapple load last year bucked it, split it and stacked it in no particular order. As I said I am a newbie but where did you guys learn your wood identification skills? I can barely determine the type of wood when it's in log form. Now that all the splits are mixed in together it makes it nearly impossible. Anyone have any suggestions for upping my wood identification IQ?

So I ask how do you stack your wood?

A) chronologically.

B). By species.

C). Any other methods.

Each year get stacked in a different spot, or at least most years do. Sometimes I'll stack right by the last year's wood. I do tend most times to stack the oak separately from the rest because we burn that only during the coldest part of winter.

As for tree ID, take it slow and easy. Learn 1 and learn it well. Then learn another. If you get 3 or 4 new ones every year you can ID many trees after a few years. Then maybe as you age, you start mixing them up again and have to start all over.

 

[Berner]

Wow thanks for all the responses. As usual there are a lot of great ideas here. I think once I install my stove and see how this split burns different than that split I'm going to want some separation of species. I live on a smaller lot so this might be a little challenging but it should prove worthy.

Keep those awesome photo's coming I'm very impressed with all the wood processing!

 

[DexterDay]

In this 30' x 14' area (shed not included). I have 8 racks. I have LOTS of room, but the Wife wanted the area to look good. So some landscaping timbers and some River rock, and we away I went. Each rack has over a 1/2 cord (4.5' x 12' x 18" splits)

With each rack over 5/8 cord, there is a shade over 5 cord in that area. I could have went taller on the stacks, or longer, or made the rows closer. I have 6 other racks I plan to incorporate this Summer. I will likely go on the other side of the shed, or run perpendicular to the other stacks.

These were pics when I constructed it in Summer of 2011.

Wow thanks for all the responses. As usual there are a lot of great ideas here. I think once I install my stove and see how this split burns different than that split I'm going to want some separation of species. I live on a smaller lot so this might be a little challenging but it should prove worthy.

Keep those awesome photo's coming I'm very impressed with all the wood processing!

 

[Berner]

In this 30' x 14' area (shed not included). I have 8 racks. I have LOTS of room, but the Wife wanted the area to look good. So some landscaping timbers and some River rock, and we away I went. Each rack has over a 1/2 cord (4.5' x 12' x 18" splits)

With each rack over 5/8 cord, there is a shade over 5 cord in that area. I could have went taller on the stacks, or longer, or made the rows closer. I have 6 other racks I plan to incorporate this Summer. I will likely go on the other side of the shed, or run perpendicular to the other stacks.

These were pics when I constructed it in Summer of 2011.





View attachment 88584 View attachment 88585 View attachment 88586

Looks like some well used space. I like the landscaping idea it does add to the view.

 

[clemsonfor]

Thats the difference of solar kiln dried logs. We only need to put a couple of logs on to get high heat output. Standard length is 8 inch although we do get requests for granny logs for small stoves which are 6 inch long.

There is no difference in the end in solar kiln, kiln and air dried wood. 20% is 20% so your wood at 12% is no drier or burns better than my 12% wood. SO yes I would still need like 50 of your pieces of wood to fill my stove. Your kiln wood does not increase the BTU's in oak????

 

[Pallet Pete]

Try to separate hardwood from softwood, then it's HH's- chronologically and alphabetic by height

(broken image removed)

How many cord is that Adios ? What size are those ?

Pete

 

[Adios Pantalones]

How many cord is that Adios ? What size are those ?

Pete

3 big ones are 2 cords each, 2 little ones are 1 cord each, so 2x3+ 1x2= about 35?

I have another 2 cords to stack, but it's covered in snow

 

[Ozzie33]

I stack out side so it can air dry for a year or two. Then I split it up and put it in the wood shed. The wood shed will hold six rows and I burn about one row per month. First two rows are pine mix, next two are the good stuff - larch and red fir,last two rows are a pine mix. I stack so I have the most BTU's per armload of wood in the dead of winter.

 

[jatoxico]

3 big ones are 2 cords each, 2 little ones are 1 cord each, so 2x3+ 1x2= about 35?

I have another 2 cords to stack, but it's covered in snow

Huh?

 

[fossil]

Huh?

Give him a break, his Doctorate is in Chemistry, not Math.

 

[clemsonfor]

Wood stacked in the rounds does not dry very well.

 

[clemsonfor]

Huh?

maybe that cubic feet??

 

[billb3]

Pine (and hemlock ) way over there. ( points north ) Oak just over there. ( points northeast )
Everything else mixed together over there, ( points west , and that pile of logs behind that is white oak that needs cutting and splitting ) except for some white birch I wanted to see how it burns if it didn't rot first and some yellow birch because I never burnt any before . ( points east )

 

[renewablejohn]

There is no difference in the end in solar kiln, kiln and air dried wood. 20% is 20% so your wood at 12% is no drier or burns better than my 12% wood. SO yes I would still need like 50 of your pieces of wood to fill my stove. Your kiln wood does not increase the BTU's in oak????

What I am saying is that if your having to put that amount of wood on your stove either your stove is very inefficient or your kidding yourself on how dry your timber actually is. Looking at the billets in these stacks the length looks to be about 24 inches so 3 of my logs to one of your billets. So when you stoke up your fire you use 16 billets. Thats one awfully big stove.

 

[Gasifier]

You must have way to much time on your hands in the US producing all these nice stacks. All we do is process direct into IBC containers and then with pallet forks on the tractor load into the solar kiln where it stays until we need to use it.

It is a good way that you do it renewablejohn. It would be tough to stack those short little splits you have there to any height without them falling over. Why so short on them? How long do you cut them? What do you burn them in? I like the bins and the machinery. Nice.

 

[Gasifier]

I use pallets to make bins. Two rows on the pallets with a good size space in between the rows usually about 2-4 inches depending on size of wood.

 

[renewablejohn]

It is a good way that you do it renewablejohn. It would be tough to stack those short little splits you have there to any height without them falling over. Why so short on them? How long do you cut them? What do you burn them in? I like the bins and the machinery. Nice.

In UK insulation is cheap (subsidised by government) and wood is expensive hence in a well insulated house a 15kw stove is considered large and 5kw the norm. I run a 15kw Dunsley Yorkshire boiler which heats an old 1650 built stone farmhouse and runs the central heating. We have an Esse wood fired cooking range which does all the cooking and hot water and a Dunsley Highlander 5kw to keep the snug toastie.
Standard split log size is 8 inch but the smaller 5kw stoves quite often use smaller logs at 6 inch which we nickname granny logs

 

[clemsonfor]

What I am saying is that if your having to put that amount of wood on your stove either your stove is very inefficient or your kidding yourself on how dry your timber actually is. Looking at the billets in these stacks the length looks to be about 24 inches so 3 of my logs to one of your billets. So when you stoke up your fire you use 16 billets. Thats one awfully big stove.

OK i did exadurate a bit but i kind of did the math. My wood, that i cut is between 16-18"s. I thought you said it was 6"s long, if it were 6"s i seriously could fit 30 or more pieces in my stove. With it being 8"s your correct i could fit more like 15 or more in there my gut tells me i could still fit close to 17 or 18 because of the smaller pieces i could manuer them better and therefore fill the stove more completly.

As for my stove i have a 3.5cuft model Highvalley 2500. It is a CAT stove and, its been awhile but on the EPA list i think they list all CAT stoves like 90% effecient? Its somewhere in that range, at least 85% id say. I have very little insulation in my home but on a day where the high may be in the 50s and night in the 40s i can load up a good load and it will burn those 17 pieces of your wood and put out heat for say 26ish hours and still restart a fire on those coals. If i am pushing the stove as the nights dip in the 30s and upper 20sF i will load 2x a day MAX.

I do have a moisture meter, so i can tell you within the margin of error the MC of my wood. I have been useing oak on cold nights that is less than 20% maybe more like 15%. I also have been burning pine (i know about half the BTU of oak) that is 12% or less. I can still get 18 or so hours out of a full load of pine, the heat is just not as much.

Not trying to pick and argument i just dont agree that just because you have solar Kiln wood (which i am not saying does not work) that i can burn half the amount of it and get the same heat. Like i said BTU's are BTU's. I also understand my less primo wood in the 25% range is not getting all the BTUs that i can out of it due to moisture.