I have plenty of wood stacked up on pallets outside my walkout basement. I also have plenty of room inside my basement to stack wood for winter burning. My question is, what's the best way to transfer the wood from outside to the wood stove? Do I bring it in 1 bucket at a time and send it straight to the woodstove, or do I bring in a face cord at a time into the basement? I'm a little concerned about bringing in too much wood into the basement and leaving it there. I don't want to create a nice home for mice in my basement, but I don't want to have to go outside in the snow every day through the winter. What do you guys do?
Question about logistics
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I go outside but the entire season's wood is under a shed roof right outside the door and on top of an extension of an asphalt driveway that is maintained through the winter.
I keep one month's worth of firewood on the porch during season, and one day's worth in by the stove. I haul wood up from the snow-covered woodpile only once a month, to refill the porch.
I have a season . . . maybe even two seasons . . . worth of wood in the shed. I move a week's worth of wood on to my covered porch (half sides and roof) each weekend and then each day move a day's worth of wood into the wood box near the stove. It's more moving (something I need to do more of anyways), but it means I don't have to trudge out in a snow storm to get wood on a daily basis and my wife always has easy access to wood which in turn means she will be more inclined to keep the stove up and running.
I figure it is a balancing act between trying to minimize the number of times I have to handle/stack the wood and having the wood in the best possible shape to burn. I.e. if I were to bring it straight in from the pile outside and put it in the stove it would be wet with snow/ice/rain at times and not burn well, but if I go stacking it in the basement, then next to the stove etc in large quantities then I'll have to handle it too many times.
Last year my approach was a main pile next to the driveway, another under the deck, then on top of the deck next to the stairs to come inside with a couple days supply next to the stove. This year I cut out the under deck pile as I just didn't want to make that extra move even if it did keep the snow off the pile. So.. my plan this year is:
Main pile next to driveway (the wood borg cube with 4 1/2 cords in it). Then I have my 1/4 cord rack with mini-roof on it on top of the deck next to door that holds over a week supply during peak season. In the house I have rack storage for 2-3 days supply so that I can rotate between two racks there and always give the wood a day or so to finish warming up and dry off any ends that may have been exposed on the deck. This way I can roll my indoor rack (baker's wire rack on wheels) to the back door and load up from the deck every day or two. Once a week (or less) I refill the deck rack from the tarp covered pile next to the driveway - in theory on a day that is not raining or snowing
So far I have only filled the deck rack once - and it is still 1/2 full. So I guess it holds more than a month's supply in shoulder season.
What I have not really figured out is how to store/manage my kindling which is mostly sticks gathered in the yard. I have a heap of them under the deck and I have taken to putting them in a basket in the basement which I visit with a box to fill when I need to start a fire. I'd like to come up with a better (cleaner) system for managing these - but since they are so random in size etc they just don't pack well in any container. I also would rather they be super dry so indoor storage of a weeks supply seems to do them well. Open to suggestions if anyone has a good system here...
Last year my approach was a main pile next to the driveway, another under the deck, then on top of the deck next to the stairs to come inside with a couple days supply next to the stove. This year I cut out the under deck pile as I just didn't want to make that extra move even if it did keep the snow off the pile. So.. my plan this year is:
Main pile next to driveway (the wood borg cube with 4 1/2 cords in it). Then I have my 1/4 cord rack with mini-roof on it on top of the deck next to door that holds over a week supply during peak season. In the house I have rack storage for 2-3 days supply so that I can rotate between two racks there and always give the wood a day or so to finish warming up and dry off any ends that may have been exposed on the deck. This way I can roll my indoor rack (baker's wire rack on wheels) to the back door and load up from the deck every day or two. Once a week (or less) I refill the deck rack from the tarp covered pile next to the driveway - in theory on a day that is not raining or snowing
So far I have only filled the deck rack once - and it is still 1/2 full. So I guess it holds more than a month's supply in shoulder season.
What I have not really figured out is how to store/manage my kindling which is mostly sticks gathered in the yard. I have a heap of them under the deck and I have taken to putting them in a basket in the basement which I visit with a box to fill when I need to start a fire. I'd like to come up with a better (cleaner) system for managing these - but since they are so random in size etc they just don't pack well in any container. I also would rather they be super dry so indoor storage of a weeks supply seems to do them well. Open to suggestions if anyone has a good system here...
The biggest problem with bringing wood indoors is still insects. No matter how dry the wood, if we bring too much wood indoors we will soon have little millers flying around and occasionally there will also be roaches that get between the bark and the wood. With that in mind, we do not bring much wood indoors at all. We'll bring in enough at night to reload the next morning and that is enough.
Slow1 said:I figure it is a balancing act between trying to minimize the number of times I have to handle/stack the wood and having the wood in the best possible shape to burn. I.e. if I were to bring it straight in from the pile outside and put it in the stove it would be wet with snow/ice/rain at times and not burn well, but if I go stacking it in the basement, then next to the stove etc in large quantities then I'll have to handle it too many times.
Last year my approach was a main pile next to the driveway, another under the deck, then on top of the deck next to the stairs to come inside with a couple days supply next to the stove. This year I cut out the under deck pile as I just didn't want to make that extra move even if it did keep the snow off the pile. So.. my plan this year is:
Main pile next to driveway (the wood borg cube with 4 1/2 cords in it). Then I have my 1/4 cord rack with mini-roof on it on top of the deck next to door that holds over a week supply during peak season. In the house I have rack storage for 2-3 days supply so that I can rotate between two racks there and always give the wood a day or so to finish warming up and dry off any ends that may have been exposed on the deck. This way I can roll my indoor rack (baker's wire rack on wheels) to the back door and load up from the deck every day or two. Once a week (or less) I refill the deck rack from the tarp covered pile next to the driveway - in theory on a day that is not raining or snowing
So far I have only filled the deck rack once - and it is still 1/2 full. So I guess it holds more than a month's supply in shoulder season.
What I have not really figured out is how to store/manage my kindling which is mostly sticks gathered in the yard. I have a heap of them under the deck and I have taken to putting them in a basket in the basement which I visit with a box to fill when I need to start a fire. I'd like to come up with a better (cleaner) system for managing these - but since they are so random in size etc they just don't pack well in any container. I also would rather they be super dry so indoor storage of a weeks supply seems to do them well. Open to suggestions if anyone has a good system here...
I'm not home so I don't have a picture, but what I did was build a more or less permanent rack system holding the week's worth of wood and several weeks worth of kindling.
The contraption was built cheaply with a handful of 2 x 4s I had on hand.
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It's about 8 feet long, 5 feet high. Two 2 x 4s at the base to keep the wood off the porch floor, three upright 2 x 4s five feet high and a single 8 foot 2 x 4 tying the whole contraption together at the top.
Firewood goes into the large "compartment" and kindling goes into the smaller section . . . I refill the sections when needed.
If you want a picture, let me know . . . although right now I have a whole bunch of odd-balls and chunks stacked up so it's pretty messy looking with wood strewn here and there vs. being in a nice, neat stack.
I have about a weeks supply in the attached garage and refill it on the weekends in the winter. From the closed garage every night I bring in a days worth of wood through the interior garage door.
Mid Michigan said:
If the time stamp on your comment is correct...you did not laugh until 3:45ish PM? You need to log on much earlier. try to get the first laugh in before 9:00am and you'll live much longer. (also, if you start laughing earlier you increase your chances of peeing your pants, which is the whole point of life).
I have a rack on the covered front porch that holds about a face cord. I load it from the big pile when it get s about half empty. I tarp the next couple feet of the big pile to keep the snow and ice off the next week's wood. I don't load the front porch rack until we get a few frosts. I figure most of the bugs should be dead before I bring a huge pile of wood right up to the house.
I pull from my 1st HH which is about 30 yards from the house by the wheel barrow full as needed. Load a 48" diameter ring next to the stove. Burn repeat till approximatly Jan 1st. Uaually have clear ground during Dec. in my area so I can keep using the wheel barrrow. 2nd HH gets broken down during Christmas vacation and restacked under the deck just outside the faminy room with stove. I know that means stacking 2 cords a 2nd time but I like keeping wood away from the house untill needed. This method allows me to walk just a few feet out to a covered pation to get my Jan - Feb supply . Works for me. Spring (march-april) burns are wheel barrowed in if necessary.
I use a wood cart that I got from HD. I wheel it up to my wood pile load it very full and park it next to the stove. It will hold about 2 - 3 days worth. I also have a wheel barrow that I keep full parked next to my deck as a back up if the weather gets to bad outside and I am not able to get up to the wood shed.
New this year, so I'm not sure how it will work out but here is my plan.
Currently I have 10 ft^3 yard cart that I load up at my stacks (50ft away from house) and drive it straight into the garage. From there I have a large tote (3ft^3 maybe?) that I strapped to a 2 wheeler, and I wheel it in near the stove. The tote gives me 2 to 3 days worth, the cart is a little over a weeks worth. So I will stay with this system until the first big snowstorm is predicted. before that snow falls I will load up a 8ftx6ft single row rack next to the garage (cement block walls). I will then should be able to use the 2 wheeler right from this rack while the ground is covered in snow.
Now my only flaw to the system is if we get an early snowfall, and we don't see grass again till late spring. hmmmm kinda like last year. Like I said its the first year so if there might be tweaks to the system.
Currently I have 10 ft^3 yard cart that I load up at my stacks (50ft away from house) and drive it straight into the garage. From there I have a large tote (3ft^3 maybe?) that I strapped to a 2 wheeler, and I wheel it in near the stove. The tote gives me 2 to 3 days worth, the cart is a little over a weeks worth. So I will stay with this system until the first big snowstorm is predicted. before that snow falls I will load up a 8ftx6ft single row rack next to the garage (cement block walls). I will then should be able to use the 2 wheeler right from this rack while the ground is covered in snow.
Now my only flaw to the system is if we get an early snowfall, and we don't see grass again till late spring. hmmmm kinda like last year. Like I said its the first year so if there might be tweaks to the system.
I've always stored my winter's wood in the basement. I've got just over 10 cord there now, and 2 more in the garage.
Yes, we get a few insects, but not many. A couple of spiders, a few flies. No moths, mice, crickets or cockroaches. I hang
a sticky fly catcher next to a light bulb in the wood room, and catch a couple of dozen flies on it.
I don't want to go outside in winter to get wood - daily, weekly or monthly. (But if I do go out, I'm clothed....)
Happy burning.
Yes, we get a few insects, but not many. A couple of spiders, a few flies. No moths, mice, crickets or cockroaches. I hang
a sticky fly catcher next to a light bulb in the wood room, and catch a couple of dozen flies on it.
I don't want to go outside in winter to get wood - daily, weekly or monthly. (But if I do go out, I'm clothed....)
Happy burning.
Depending on the year and the stack I am drawing from, I have about 15 to 30 yards to get the wood. I have a large canvas bag that I put in my garden wagon, fill it up and then fill the rest of the wagon, bring it back to the house and unload the bag and the refill the bag and bring the rest in. Rinse and repeat. I bring in about 2 days worth at a time, more if a storm is coming, less if the weather is good.
maplewood said:
im right there with ya. we load everything in the basement and wood shed thats attached to the house (enclosed). 5 1/2 cords in the basement, 3 in the wood shed. im not worried about mice, we have then anyways. i keep poison down there so they dont usually stick around for long. and for insects, we live in the country. they are a part of life here.
last year we only brought in about 2 cords in the basement and 3 in the wood shed. by late january/early feb we had to bring more in from outside. that sucked... i dont want to do that again!
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