Moisture content under tarps unreliable, or am I losing it?

[fbelec]

i have the opposite here i buy black rolls of plastic 10 foot wide slice it in half then cover my stacks with the 5 foot plastic. i also make my rows like a house that peaks in the center of the row and works downward to the ends. snow and rain just drain off with no puddles. the black plastic acts like a oven and dries the wood underneath it and it stays dry no matter what season that we are in. during the winter with snows coming down and wind the edges of my wood gets snowy and if the temp goes above freezing it melts to wet the wood. only the black plastic stays dry and dries better than the rest of the stack

 

[fbelec]

also i have pallets that hold 1/3 of a cord of wood sometimes 1/2 a cord and if i leave them with no cover under the pines where they are there is so much debris coming off the trees that it clogs up any air from getting into the stack and they don't dry. even maple after 2 to 2.5 years are still heavy and not dry

 

[johneh]

The key to faster drying covered or uncovered is location
Lots of Sun with good air movement that is the best scenario.

 

[tabner]

I never got around to building my equipment barn/wood shed last spring. Also lumber prices were crazy at that point. So I’m suffering through one more winter with my crappy wood pile setup. I finally got my hands on some sheet metal which I’ve been throwing over the top of the tarps to shed rain and create an overhang. But we have a couple warm/dry days and I was pulling wood for the garage rack anyways, so I went ahead and pulled all the tarps to let it air out for a couple days, then I’m going to modify the stack heights a bit to create an angle and cover it back up with just tin - on a slant. But just for an idea of how crappy the tarps are I took some photos - puddles of stinking water all over them, with holes and rips interspersed. Plus I stacked all this years ago before I knew the importance of space between rows, and air flow, etc. all things considered though, the wood does look pretty dry through most of the pile.
Definitely looking forward to a real woodshed, after this experience I think some type of real roofed structure is the only way to go, at least for the current season’s wood.

 

[tabner]

under the tarp

 

[begreen]

I never got around to building my equipment barn/wood shed last spring. Also lumber prices were crazy at that point. So I’m suffering through one more winter with my crappy wood pile setup. I finally got my hands on some sheet metal which I’ve been throwing over the top of the tarps to shed rain and create an overhang. But we have a couple warm/dry days and I was pulling wood for the garage rack anyways, so I went ahead and pulled all the tarps to let it air out for a couple days, then I’m going to modify the stack heights a bit to create an angle and cover it back up with just tin - on a slant. But just for an idea of how crappy the tarps are I took some photos - puddles of stinking water all over them, with holes and rips interspersed. Plus I stacked all this years ago before I knew the importance of space between rows, and air flow, etc. all things considered though, the wood does look pretty dry through most of the pile.
Definitely looking forward to a real woodshed, after this experience I think some type of real roofed structure is the only way to go, at least for the current season’s wood.

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I had this happen to large stacks of maple one year. When I went to burn it after 2 yrs drying some of the splits were fine, but others were soaked through. In less than one month of burning our cap screen plugged with creosote. That was an awful winter for wood burning. We limped through it and I vowed never again. I built a shed for drying the splits and that firewood has been great for all years since.

 

[begreen]

In the valleys where the tarp leaked the wood may be soaked right down to the bottom of the pile. I actually found earthworms making a home about 2 ft down the stack in one place. Pick out the driest wood and burn that. Put the wet wood in a rubbermaid tote and bring it into a warm dry place if possible. In a month, it will burn better. Or set it aside for burning next year.

 

[rudysmallfry]

Are pallets strong enough to hold the wood for years or do they have to be replaced often? I've thought about scrounging for pallets, but the ones I'm finding don't seem very sturdy.

 

[tabner]

Are pallets strong enough to hold the wood for years or do they have to be replaced often? I've thought about scrounging for pallets, but the ones I'm finding don't seem very sturdy.

These have been under this pile for 4 years. The bottoms of them are half rotten, but honestly they could be used again if I needed to. I like them, if you can scrounge em for free, and then just throw them on the bonfire pile every 5 years or so.

 

[Eman85]

Are pallets strong enough to hold the wood for years or do they have to be replaced often? I've thought about scrounging for pallets, but the ones I'm finding don't seem very sturdy.

Best is to set the pallets on bricks or stepping stones or cap blocks. In the dirt they'll rot eventually just like firewood. Off of the dirt they will last a long time. Not all pallets are the same, many are oak.

 

[gzecc]

Pallets become nails on the ground eventually. If your driving a vehicle around the area you won't be happy in yrs to come. Pressure treated 2x6 lumber on brick or block I find to be the best support for stacking. As with any building it comes down to the foundation.

 

[Rusty18]

I’ve got a question for everyone, maybe more soft wood vs hard wood than leaky stack roofing though.
Back in December I was burning pine and oak out of the same stack (identical sun/wind/etc...). Both have been css and top covered for over 4 years and both burnt just fine. Fast forward to yesterday and the pine now sizzles when it goes in the stove but the oak doesn’t.
We had about 3” of rain last week and 60F days and I suspect the pine did it’s best to soak up all of that excess moisture while the oak did not.

Anyone else ever deal with this? Any theories?

 

[mrc]

I always carry two years worth of wood. Ash,maple,cherry,and hickory. I never cover it. But I do bring the wood I’m
going to use under cover in late August or early Sept. I time the move after a week of dry sunny weather. I see no need to cover except the wood I’m using that winter. If you have to use off a pile outside then that pile needs to be covered prior to winter. I don’t think tarps laying on top is a very good.

 

[gzecc]

Have to guess the pine has surface moisture?

 

[Wildflush]

I have various stacks. Some are single row 2x4 8ft long PT or 2x4 10ft long off the ground on patio bricks. Sides have two T post per side. Stacks 4 ft high. Top cover a folded commercial tarp with sides exposed and with 6” to 12” over the stack. Then I use masonary bricks with holes tied to poly rope to keep the tarps on. Works great and I can access the wood quickly. Also have two pallets with double rows and do the same thing. Should not home moisture. In the heat of the summer I can remove if necessary.

 

[tabner]

I went out today and covered it up. Tarp completely gone, stacked the wood higher on one end so my tin sits on an angle, and overlapped all the tin and overhanged it. Not as nice as a formal shed, but I think this is a vast improvement to sagging tarps with holes

 

[gzecc]

I went out today and covered it up. Tarp completely gone, stacked the wood higher on one end so my tin sits on an angle, and overlapped all the tin and overhanged it. Not as nice as a formal shed, but I think this is a vast improvement to sagging tarps with holes

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That will work well. Next time you stack, only stack two rows back to back. Put at least 2' between dbl rows.

 

[bigealta]

I’ve got a question for everyone, maybe more soft wood vs hard wood than leaky stack roofing though.
Back in December I was burning pine and oak out of the same stack (identical sun/wind/etc...). Both have been css and top covered for over 4 years and both burnt just fine. Fast forward to yesterday and the pine now sizzles when it goes in the stove but the oak doesn’t.
We had about 3” of rain last week and 60F days and I suspect the pine did it’s best to soak up all of that excess moisture while the oak did not.

Anyone else ever deal with this? Any theories?

My oak gets rained on but doesn't seem to absorb nearly as much water as pine or even worse spalted splits. The pine and soft woods act much more like sponges than the harder oak i usually have in my stacks.

But the oak that still has bark on never seems to dry under the bark. You can pull off the bark anytime and find it wet or at least damp underneath.

That's why i try to only burn bark free oak.

 

[mrc]

I went out today and covered it up. Tarp completely gone, stacked the wood higher on one end so my tin sits on an angle, and overlapped all the tin and overhanged it. Not as nice as a formal shed, but I think this is a vast improvement to sagging tarps with holes

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I covered exactly like that before with probably three times as much weight on top ( concrete blocks, tires, eight foot 6x6’s) and still had it blow off. Thirty or forty mile an hour wind catches that and it’s coming off.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I tarped my stacks this year and the one tarp has holes in it and I have wet spots, but I mis the wood in the stove so it's not so bad.
The big stack is tarped with a flatbed tarp, and it hangs down the sides a ways. I checked under it and the inside of the tarp is full of frost, so I know covering the sides is bad. I will fold the sides up and let the air blow through more.

 

[fbelec]

i cover my wood that is about five feet tall with a 2 feet over each side and no problem with wet wood. i also use 1 inch screws with fender washers to hold it down. if the covers are held tight with screws the air doesn't get under them and act like a sail and get pulled off. i use weather screws and the fender washers usually get quite a few years out of them before they have to be retired

 

[Woody Stover]

end of last winter I pulled off a section of tarp and left a full row of this old oak in its own separate, uncovered row....decided to move a couple wheelbarrow loads into the garage into my staging rack...pulled about five random splits, split them, and took moisture readings - 19 to 24%! Crazy, most of this wood has been CSS for FOUR years.
It seems sunshine is seriously important...

I went out today and covered it up. Tarp completely gone,...I think this is a vast improvement to sagging tarps with holes

Yeah, if that Oak row was buried in the stack, just one summer of drying after it was stacked separate probably isn't enough to get it fully dry.
I never conducted an experiment but I think that the most important drying factors are 1) air temp, 2) air movement.
If you think about sunlight hitting a stack, only the top row gets heated over the full length of the split; The rest of the stack is only getting sun on one end of the split..hardly enough to make a difference IMO.
The additional air movement that the sheet metal affords on the tops of the stacks should help quite a bit, I'd think.

I covered exactly like that before with probably three times as much weight on top ( concrete blocks, tires, eight foot 6x6’s) and still had it blow off. Thirty or forty mile an hour wind catches that and it’s coming off.

My stacks are in the woods where heavy straight-line winds are moderated, so several concrete blocks, car wheel rims etc. are enough to hold the sheet metal down most of the time.
Depending how much wind his stacks are subject to, he might need to figure out a rope system or something, to keep the lids on.
Those sheets aren't that easy to pick up and reset on the stack. 😖
It looks like his pics were taken from the south or southwest, the direction of the prevailing winds, so I would put a lot of weight on those sides.

Are pallets strong enough to hold the wood for years or do they have to be replaced often? I've thought about scrounging for pallets, but the ones I'm finding don't seem very sturdy.

Pallets do OK for several years, as others have said, if you have blocks under the rails. Oak pallets are harder to find than they used to be. Find some business that gets delivery of heavy items, and those pallets will be harder wood, and built sturdier. Below is a pic of a recent configuration I tried. Seems to be working OK. The 2x4 rails of the pallets are running across the stack, so I have a full 48" for three rows of 16" splits, even if the pallets are only 40x48". The left 2x4 rail is the center rail of that pallet. I have two concrete blocks under each rail, splitting it into thirds to distribute the weight. The blocks under the end rails bridge across to also support the end rail of the next pallet.
I'm trying out a new approach, though. I get dead Sassafras logs (a rot-resistant wood) and lay three of those running lengthwise with the stack, then lay on top a section of cattle panel made of 1/4" galvanized wire. They are 50"x16', so I cut them in half and each section holds a cord if stacked to 4'. These new stack bases might be stable enough to go higher than 4', I don't know yet. The 50"x16' panels were $25 each when I bought them last year.
The log bases in these pics were made before I found the cattle panels, with a double layer of concrete remesh. The panels will offer more rigid support, I'm sure. First pic is pallets, next three are of the Sass log setup.

the pine now sizzles when it goes in the stove but the oak doesn’t.
We had about 3” of rain last week and 60F days and I suspect the pine did it’s best to soak up all of that excess moisture while the oak did not.

Anyone else ever deal with this? Any theories?

Yep, seems like some of the softer woods are more prone to absorb a little moisture. I've seen Cherry that should have been dry do it, and it will sizzle a little bit from close to the edge of a split when I load it onto coals. The moisture burns off pretty quickly, though. The wood doesn't soak up water like a sponge, by any means. Semi-punky wood, or Oak sapwood that's spotty seems to absorb more, of course.

I tarped my stacks this year and the one tarp has holes in it and I have wet spots, but I mis the wood in the stove so it's not so bad.
The big stack is tarped with a flatbed tarp, and it hangs down the sides a ways. I checked under it and the inside of the tarp is full of frost, so I know covering the sides is bad. I will fold the sides up and let the air blow through more.

Yep, I've seen the same thing. That's why I like the sheet metal on top, which should get more air flow up there. Folding up the sides of the tarp should help, though.

 

[Garbanzo62]

Late to the game for this year, but I have been stacking on whatever and wherever I can. I've used Saplings, old pressure treat 2X4 or 4X4, pallets and cement blocks. They are spread around the yard at the moment. In the spring, I'll reorganize. Right now trying to get through the season. Hoping to scrounge enough pallets to have everything on pallets for consistency.