How Many Cords On Your Property?

[Bushels20]

We all do what we can don’t we? That much on .5 is pretty darn good. Some of my neighbors have walked by and jokingly/not jokingly said “you got enough wood?” My response has been “not yet”.

I try to keep mine neatly stacked and capped on the ends with pallets that are in good shape. Tends to make it look a little nicer I think. I’m lucky enough to have some really good neighbors on each side who not only don’t mind my hobby of wood hoarding but will actually tip me off when they see trees going down that can be collected.

I like that response. “Not yet”. Ha!

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

I stack next to the fence and just below the top of the fence. The wood shed is behind the garden shed. Our left and right neighbors don't see anything of the wood. We have only trees between our back fence and our neighbors behind us.

 

[Bushels20]

I stack next to the fence and just below the top of the fence. The wood shed is behind the garden shed. Our left and right neighbors don't see anything of the wood. We have only trees between our back fence and our neighbors behind us.

That makes it nice. We are in the woods pretty heavily on our lot, so the stacks blend in, to a certain degree. Still can see them though.

 

[spudman99]

I have just over 5 cords on pallets in double rows with plastic top covered. Some under trees along rear fence, some in full sun but open and visible to my neighbors. I like to keep it hidden so they don't think I am a hillbilly. Total of 1 acre lot and I haven't burnt a log yet. Stacks are now 1 year old c/c/s. Looking to install an insert in the next 2 months.

 

[SpaceBus]

I'm up to eight cords C/S/S this year and on the property. I'd like to have 15+ by fall, but home repairs are putting a hurting on my time for wood processing. Progress would be faster if there were more flat ground available to stack on. Hopefully I can kill two birds with one stone...

 

[Sppako3]

I’m on two acres and try to stay about a year ahead on wood supply. Avg burn 4-5 per season, although last year we went through more than that.

Also, we started a large interior remodel right after Christmas and I haven’t done anything in preparation for this winter yet so as of now I have maybe 2 cords ready with more that needs to be split but has been cut and sitting in a pile for a year.

 

[johneh]

On 800 hectors 3 of us 2 sons and myself
And I have no friggen idea how many cords split and stacked
but I have next winter 5 cord in my shed and an extra five cord
in the lean too

 

[JohnDolz]

Good question. I split and throw into a pile and then load it into the shed. All within a few days so the wood going into the shed is relatively unseasoned.

If I can guess what you're thinking, it's that the wood in the shed won't be able to dry as quickly as if it were spread out in the open one layer thick on asphalt in the sun and wind. I think you're right but I also will leave this wood in the shed for double the normal drying time.

I sure hope it dries enough. I have as much ventilation built into the shed as possible. There are a few inches between rows and of course plenty of ventilation on top with a generous overhang.

Oh and in the photo, the first row is well seasoned wood used to top off the shed. I wanted the greenest wood to be in the back so I had to pull this wood out and start filling with green.

I have a couple of moisture meters to check this winter. It's my second winter working out of a shed. The top covering does not work well enough in my rainy climate.

I have a wood shed fairly similar except the sides are closed (pine board so not air tight) - It holds 12 cord when stacked full. The shed is a bit buried in the trees so medium/minimal sun and down low so minimal wind. I find that the wood is plenty dry in 1 year though I leave it for 2 years. In my opinion you will be more than fine.

 

[Eureka]

I have... a lot. I’d guess about 20 cords cut/split/stacked. A deal that I thought had fallen through on a semi load ended up reappearing the day after I got a load from another source. So now in addition to the 20 css, I have another 20-24 cords in 8 foot lengths. For what it’s worth I cut 24” long and split big for an OWB. Burned 13 last winter, mostly seasoned junk wood but decided to stick with maple/ash/oak this year.

 

[Prof]

I'm on 15 acres and have about one cleared. I try to stay about 3 yrs ahead (not counting the next heating season), which means that I have about 16-20 cords at any given time. I burn 4-5 cords per year. Currently I have about 16 css, 2 cut and waiting to be split and stacked, and probably 2-3 cords of dead-fall waiting for the saw.

 

[Cfran88]

Just curious how many of you can really build up a good supply. It's good to be several years ahead, and it has taken me several years to get there. I have 1.25 acres, and I currently have approximately 16 cords neatly stacked and covered, 4 of which are marked for this coming year, 4 for the year after that, and so on. The 4 for this coming winter are 2 years old. My stacks serve two purposes, seasoning as well as privacy fences as they are all 5 feet high (approximately).

Hey, do you mind posting photos (and maybe helpful hints) of how you've done this? I have about the same amount of land and have to keep in mind how it will look to the neighbors

 

[Sully1515]

We own over 4 acres with a former, very large goat shed that I had converted into a woodshed. I'm able to place at least 14 to 15 cord, but, I keep paths within my woodpiles for easy access. I currently have 11 cord stored. We burn approx. 2 cord per year. We have a smaller home that is very well insulated. We also have three sources of heat (Two wood stoves, oil heat, forced hot air electric).

 

[heavy hammer]

I have a little over 2.5 acres and I have some where I believe 25-30 cords of wood. I somewhere between 3-4 years ahead depending on the winters. With a few trees to drop and always looking for more wood.

 

[Ashful]

I have a little over 2.5 acres and I have some where I believe 25-30 cords of wood. I somewhere between 3-4 years ahead depending on the winters. With a few trees to drop and always looking for more wood.

You do yours in spaced double rows the same as me. About the same amount, as well.



The only difference is the stuff staging for splitting is left in 15 foot lengths, here.

 

[heavy hammer]

I try to keep my staging stuff Ashful in 8 foot lengths or less since some of my piles are getting over 6 feet tall. I need to be able to handle the log lengths. The tractor can handle anything thrown at it but my tractor paths are only so wide, moving in between trees in the woods i have to keep the lengths shorter.

 

[SpaceBus]

You do yours in spaced double rows the same as me. About the same amount, as well.

View attachment 245679

The only difference is the stuff staging for splitting is left in 15 foot lengths, here.

That's a nice pile of stones. Are you building a retaining wall?

 

[Ashful]

That's a nice pile of stones. Are you building a retaining wall?

That used to be a barn, built 1730’sih, knocked down and piled there around 1986. I’m sure I’ll do something with those stones at some point, some were already used in my patio and house addition but they’re just sort of serving to divide the finished part of the yard from the wood processing area, for now.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I stack next to the fence and just below the top of the fence. The wood shed is behind the garden shed. Our left and right neighbors don't see anything of the wood. We have only trees between our back fence and our neighbors behind us.

That’s nice if you can hide it like that

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Hey, do you mind posting photos (and maybe helpful hints) of how you've done this? I have about the same amount of land and have to keep in mind how it will look to the neighbors

I will do that yeah, I’ve got to remember to take pics

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I have... a lot. I’d guess about 20 cords cut/split/stacked. A deal that I thought had fallen through on a semi load ended up reappearing the day after I got a load from another source. So now in addition to the 20 css, I have another 20-24 cords in 8 foot lengths. For what it’s worth I cut 24” long and split big for an OWB. Burned 13 last winter, mostly seasoned junk wood but decided to stick with maple/ash/oak this year.
View attachment 245625

Wow, that is a nice supply

 

[SpaceBus]

That used to be a barn, built 1730’sih, knocked down and piled there around 1986. I’m sure I’ll do something with those stones at some point, some were already used in my patio and house addition but they’re just sort of serving to divide the finished part of the yard from the wood processing area, for now.

That's pretty cool. Every time I use a ground engagement attachment several boulders and stones come out of the ground. Usually the ledge will break apart, but the granite is in large round shapes. I've found the ledge breaks nice enough to use for stacking firewood. Back in topic - Most of my wood is a single row about 5' tall sitting on 4" diameter runners (tree tops, saplings, limbs) resting on stones between trees. Without much flat ground this was the most space efficient method I could come up with. Of my eight C/S/S cords five are stored this way. I hope to build a wood shed before winter, if just for ease of bringing the wood inside. We have 25 acres, but almost all of it is trees.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

All of the stacks are up on pallets, which are on top of tarps cut to fit beneath. You can see the street out in front of one of the larger stacks, that's the one that functions as a privacy fence. We are lucky in that we have a lot of trees to the rear, left and right of our house, so the only thing people can see is that one larger stack when they drive or walk by. This part of the yard that they run around the perimeter of has the leech field in it, so we don't do much on that ground anyway, so it works out. We did not really intend to have this much wood, but when I can get it for free I do, and this is what happened, lol. I'm also sick of running out of seasoned wood at the end of the winter, so we are making sure that won't happen again. The pile facing the road is the best seasoning location, tons of sun and wind, the wood dries very well there.

 

[Ashful]

That's pretty cool. Every time I use a ground engagement attachment several boulders and stones come out of the ground... Back in topic - Most of my wood ...

It’s all on topic, he didn’t specify cords of WHAT. You should stack the stone you find along your property lines, like the farmers of old.

All of the stacks are up on pallets, which are on top of tarps cut to fit beneath.

Brilliant! I like this idea, as I’ve been stacking on pallets without the tarps beneath, and a lot of moisture stays in the bottom row. But now folks here have me concerned with micro plastics from things like degrading tarps...

 

[SpaceBus]

It’s all on topic, he didn’t specify cords of WHAT. You should stack the stone you find along your property lines, like the farmers of old.


Brilliant! I like this idea, as I’ve been stacking on pallets without the tarps, and a lot of moisture stays in the bottom row. But now folks here have me concerned with micro plastics from things like degrading tarps...

After I manage to cut a path around the property line, this place has never been managed. 25 acres will take me some time to line with stone! I'm working on a small loop around the immediate vicinity of the house. I've been working on an area for wood stacking, processing, and storing some equipment. It's tough and slow work with this glacial till, I dare not call it soil. On the bright side all this stone would be quite expensive from a supplier.

Use some of your stones to elevate your pallets and you also won't have wet wood on the bottoms. No degrading plastic either. We have some canvas tarps ordered in specific sizes that are covering building materials for the house, perhaps that could work in lieu of the stone. Should have less environmental impact than the plastic tarps.

 

[buc74]

Around 8-9 cords I'd say.