Ash dries faster than most hardwoods, which is probably what you're picking up on. You can get ash down to 20%MC after one summer of drying, as opposed to three summers for most specie of oak.
There are always exceptions, such as poorly-designed sheds that prevent sufficient airflow, but that would be an exceptional case. In general, wood does not dry very well at all in log form, in fact in most parts of the US where it's cold enough to desire wood heat, the climate is such that the logs will rot before they dry. The general (and proven) advice is to get it split and stacked ASAP, only then does the drying really begin.
Weird. I've never had trouble burning ash, certainly not after it's seasoned for a year.
What the size of that shed, I been storing wood like you past 20 year, this year a shed is getting built.
Its 10' by 24'. Definitely adequate for my needs.
Appreciate the compliment, thanks.I usually get a load of logs in winter, between now and April. If winter isn't to bad I get out and cut logs into 17" pieces, in April / May I will split to size, leaved piled up until September. Usually get enough wood for 2 season out of a load of logs. The stuff I split this spring will get burn this coming winter. I never have issue with wet wood, clean the chimney and stove pipe every fall with minimal creosol.
I have been stacking in rows on pallets covered with plastic. It works but shed seems like a nice upgrade. Was going to do it last year but lumber was crazy high around here. I like the way you designed yours, hope you don't mind it will be my starting point on my build.
I been doing this for over 20 yrs, I am like a few on here that getting up in age and getting to point when least amount of handling the better things will be. Plan on upgrading my Kioti tractor this spring which will be geared towards my fire wood operation. Have to try and make it fun too
I will say TBN has guys on here that come up with some great ideas, appreciated that they share them with others!
Happy New Year
I see you have cherry. Does the bark on it act like a rubber coating? Mine does and i have to score the bark on both side of where i'm going to split it. At least when im hand splitting it.
I use a 25 ton hydraulic splitter, I've never tried splitting cherry by hand so I couldn't tell you.
I have clear poly panels two sides of a building, best idea that relatives had for wood storage. I inherited the building, it really helps in the drying process.
I agree on the IBC totes. I now have 30 totes and plastic lids which equates to almost 3 years of wood supply for my use. I also stack the split wood directly into the totes from the splitter and also built a deck off my back door that will hold 4 totes at a time. I have since bought 2 rubber tired - heavy duty 4 wheel wagons from Northern Tool which will each hold appx. 1/4 cord with the extended plywood sides I have attached to them. I then fill the wagons from the totes on the back deck and wheel them onto my back porch. The wood stove is appx. 20 ft. from the wagons on my back porch. My back is already feeling 20 years younger - just telling this story. The biggest impediment to this whole story is just having a tractor with a loader strong enough to lift IBC totes filled with hardwood to a height of 4 ft. to get them ont the deck.Good thread. Some very nice woodsheds in here, but I can't help but think of the repetitive handling whenever I see one. That's the way my dad operated when I was a kid also, we'd take the lawn tractor and 10cu cart over to the woodshed, load it up and back over to the house to unload and stack. I thought it was all fun. Now I am 39, back is starting to ache, and never have any time. So I bought IBC totes. Straight off the splitter into the tote, doesn't get unloaded until it's burning time. Currently I unload the totes by hand into a rack in my screen porch (french doors to it just 6' from the woodstove), but I think I might modify my screen porch to have a giant swinging door opening, and then I can just set the IBC tote directly into the porch and unload/burn directly.
As for seasoning, that was a large part of my motivation to get a metal carport. I used to keep these totes outside, under tarps (I didn't have the plastic liners like Don) - but I would often get mold on my split wood, not fun. This setup is high and dry, and I am finally getting more than one winter ahead on ym production after living here for 7 years with woodstove heating.
In our first years here, I would go after the standing dead ash trees, because while often wet when cut down, they would dry very quickly. I felt ok about burning them in the woodstove after just 3-4 months drying (cut and split). Our green black walnut and black cherry also dry pretty quickly once split, but I'm aiming for 15+ months of curing nowadays on everything I burn. I bought a moisture meter and promptly lost it, doh.
