Great Wall of Wooda

[jejeosborne]

Well in the past I have posted my racks for wood storage. This is the first spring that I have had them to start a whole season. Here are my first 20 racks of wood seasoning for next year. I cut and split this in three 4 hour days. My knees were telling me to stop after the 4th hour. I plan on picking up 10 more racks next week to complete my needed inventory.

 

[charliepff]

That is a whole lotta wood. I was wondering what kind of splitter do you use? Also; do you have problem with bees building nests in the wood you have stored?

 

[3RRL]

I love the rack storage idea.
I suppose each rack is the right amount of firewood to take to your stove area, right? How often do you need to get a stack like that then?
BTW, you building looks similar to mine. Being metal, I guess it's not too bad storing all that wood so close to it. Have you had any problems doing that ... with critters or insects that is? I've thought of doing the same thing.

 

[jejeosborne]

charliepff
I have never had a problem with the bees. Maybe because all I cut and burn is black locust. All of this wood is from a section of our woods that had a lot of storm damage over 10 years ago. Black locust doesn't fair well with storms but it also takes years to rot and is insect resistant. Notice that none of the wood has bark and is perfectly clean. My splitter is just a cheap swisher splitter from a local farm store (rural king). I chose it over others because it is belt driven to the pump which makes it easier to start when cold. Swisher Mower & Machine Co.: 7 HP Briggs, 22 Ton Log Splitter

3RRL
I like having the wood out in the open as much as possible to dry. This is the only place we have to store it out of the woods. We cut down as few trees as possible when we built our house so we don't have much free air space. I plan on spraying the ends of the wood a couple of times through the summer. As far as the rack size, I now have enough experience with these to know they are the perfect size for my trails and tractor. My B7800 can lift these up to the second level but it is maxxed out. In fact, a couple of times I would have to curl my bucket back to hook the front of the lower basket and cheat by raising and uncurling the baskets to raise it onto the top. Basically I can curl more weight than raise so I use that to my advantage. Here is a link to my original firewood post that shows how I bring the wood into the garage. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/114597-bring-more-firewood-easy-way.html
I have done a basic calculations and am estimating this to be about 4.6 cords of wood, or 11 face cords 20" pieces. I expect to burn about 6 cords next year too. I would like to get about 10 more racks to prevent double handling.

 

[AD18]

I have a question of black locust, you said they don't do well in storms. Do you mean thgey break up in the wind or snow damages them? I've planted 40 that were given to me to use for firewood in years to come. thanks.

 

[archerynut]

I had 4 that blew over in a bad storm two years ago (the remnants of hurricane somethingorother). Great burning wood, stinks a little but burns hot and long. Tough on the chainsaw though.

 

[jejeosborne]

AD18
Our woods are a mix of several species. For some reason the Black locust are the first to go in a wind storm. Most of the damage is the tops are blown off or the tree breaks. Rarely have I seen one blown over with the roots like on other species. I personally like this characteristic because I only like the black locust for the firewood. Some people consider this tree to be a invasive PCA Alien Plant Working Group - Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) which makes it easier on my concience to cut these up. I still have a couple of years worth of wood already on the ground and haven't touched any of the dead snags still standing. No hurry, they will never rot in my life.

 

[arrow]

If you're a wood burner and have a stand of black locust, its like having your own living coal mine. That stuff burns like anthracite. I once found an old fence post still stuck in the ground on my land back in the late 70's. There once was a farm on the property back in the 1850's to 1907. The fence post looked like it had been put in the ground the week before. It was unscathed by any type of rot.

 

[MikeD74T]

What am I missing about the wisdom of stacking firewood under the eves of your building ? I do envy the racks though. MikeD74T

 

[jejeosborne]

MikeD74T
The perspective of the picture may look as if the wood is under my roof eve but I actually place it far enough away from the building that the runoff doesn't hit the pile. I have also since covered the top of the pile with a tarp to divert the rain. Future plans are a lean-to on this side to store the wood and other items under.