After the wood is split, handling, drying, storage

[escavader]

I burn about 3 to 4 cord per year. I cut the wood down,in my woodlot,and saw it to stove length where dhe falls.That way i dont get it dirty dragging it. I load it in my trailer which i haul 1/3 cord,and haul it home.When i get home i take it off the trailer one to a time and put it direct on the splitter.The wood piles up in front of the splitter,the ones that dont need splitting i throw in the same pile.I only start a new pile when ive done three loads[a cord]I do this in early spring it weathers there til fall.[it will have another year to dry in side]
The kids haul it to the shed with atvs and trailers.My shed is open stud walls,with lattice,two inch plank floors with an inch space between,so the air can circulate.It is open on both ends,and holds 10 cord.I replace what i have burned that winter,and burn from the other side the following,so my wood gets dryed almost two years.I cant think of a better system.I never have creasote in my chimmney.You dont want to split to small when it gets dryed like this,or it dont last long.I lug it in the house to the woodrack by my stove as i need it.Im handling the wood as few of times as i know how.My experiances have taught me an open air shed will season better than an enclosed,and partially air dryed out side helps.I have always thought wood that gets rained on will dry better...that sounds stupid but it does work.Hope i helped
ALAN

 

[scott_vt]

I have always thought wood that gets rained on will dry better...that sounds stupid but it does work.Hope i helped
ALAN

I always felt the same way Alan, Im not sure waht I base that fact on other than watching it weather and dry /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scotty

 

[erich]

Gunnar,

For a commercial operation I think those bags would be a good idea especially if you are supplying city folks. It would be easy for the city folks to deal with. The pallet size would sure make it easy for using machinery. I also think it would be a value added item that would give one supplier an advantage over another.

Eric

 

[rox]

turnkey,
if you have a moment it would be great to show a couple photos, I found it jsut a little hard to follow your description. Thanks for sharing your experience though.

 

[rox]

Nice catalog! Nice Products! I read the whole catalog. I am not aware of any catalog like that in France. Perhaps it exists, but in France it is so difficult to find anything on the internet.

I see in Norway you must have most businesses on the internet. I am surprised with really big companies in France and no website or, if they do have a website, it is very limited in information.

Thank you very much for sharing your information. Some of he peole who have responded to your topic live in areas that do not get a lot of snow like you do in Norway. So the way they handle firewood is perhaps not as sophiticated as you need to have for your climate.

 

[jimmysisson]

My setup is about the same as escavader. 3-4 cords. Cut the trees in November in the woodlot, maybe winch them to a handy place to buck into 22" my stove length. An after-Thanksgiving work day with my grown kids we split it all and stack it in the woods between trees. I have some old strips of swimming pool liner I put on top if I think of it.
The next handling is the next fall, from the stacks onto the trailer, about a half-cord capacity, then down to the shed. The shed is open to the west (and east) in the ground level of my barn/shop/garage/ company storage/woodshop/guest room building. I toss the chunks into the bin that holds 3 cords. Wood is held in west and east by 2x6s that fit into joist hangers on each end and keep the pile together. I take the wood as I need it from the inner side of the bin, set up the same way with 2x6s. As the pile goes down, I can take out the 2x6s to reach it easier. I pile it in a garden cart and bring it onto the porch. I don't like storing much wood on the porch; bugs, mess, not too much room anyway. The cart makes a good storage bin and isn't used in the winter anyway.
It seems like an ok system for labor. I move the pieces at my own pace in December when I like being in the woods. Some days I wish I had a conveyer but I wouldn't get much use of it and need the exercise. Some days.
It's work I like, so it doesn't seem like a hardship. Maybe when I'm 80.
Jim

 

[leaddog]

I have a couple of ways that I handle my fire wood. I have an outside boiler so I don't split ANYTHING as long as I can pick it up or roll it into the stove. The smaller stuff I put into these wire mesh gons. I picked up about 20 of them at an auction for $5 a piece and they work very good. I just put them where I have the wood cut down and through the wood in. When it is full I pick them up with my forks and transport them up close so I can get them in the winter and set them next to the boiler. They dry very good and I don't have to manhandle them. All tractor power.
The other thing that I do with the BIG stuff is load them into 2 trailers that I built. I roll them into the bucket and dump them into the trailers. One trailer is 18 ft long and the other is 30 ft. They have slat bottems so the air can get to the wood. I just back them up to the stove and unload right off the back. I'll post some pictures latter this spring when I have them loaded. It sure saves alot of work stacking, and moving them. I want the wood to heat my house and not me and I like to use my tractor and not my back I'm just getting to old for that.

 

[turnkey4099]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( turnkey,
if you have a moment it would be great to show a couple photos, I found it jsut a little hard to follow your description. Thanks for sharing your experience though. )</font>

I'll give it a try a bit later. Have to free up my phone for a few hours. I tried on the other post but got frustrated.
May have to resort to sending you a PM.

Harry K

 

[MadDog]

Fall of yr 1: Felled, bucked and left unsplit over winter.

Spring to Fall, yr 2: split and palletized on 1/2 pallets (1 1/2x4 base) 4' high and stored outside until fall, then taken w/FEL pallet forks into barn for winter, yr2.

Yr 3: stored in barn until early winter, then brought 2 pallets at a time into workshop.

Wood is handled only twice; once when when split and stacked on pallets and once after pallets are moved inside when taken for use.

 

[Boondox]

This past winter we've also had an infestation of asian beetles, but no vineyards anywhere near us.

In past years we have harvested trees just as they start to bud out, then leave them on the ground for a few days. They continue to leaf out for a week or so, and it seems to dry them out a bit. Then we cut them into rounds and split them right away. We split small than the big chunks you get from commercial operations, and stack it under a carport-style shelter facing the sun and wind with about six inches between rows to promote air flow.

This past autumn we dropped a very large rock maple and several white birches, cut them into stove-length rounds and stacked them on pallets (but largely unprotected from the elements since we had no additional shelter space). We're starting to split it now, but I'm noticing a bit of spalting and there are earwigs under the bark. It might have been better to split it last autumn.

If I get ahead of chores this spring I might try some of the palletizing ideas you folks have shared. Thanks! Pete