Time to stack wood

[Scooby074]

Im trying a "solar kiln" for the first time. Nothing fancy, just pallets and poly. Ill be adding a second kiln section to the exposed area. I got the idea from here: Solar Kiln Firewood Drying | Firewood Hoarder's Club Forums

Opinions on the whole idea of a poly solar kiln?? It kinda goes against the convention that airflow is important for drying.

35% moisture going in

 

[MossRoad]

I'm about a half day short of finishing my bucking and splitting for this year. This'll be my first year using a wood stove, so I hope with our relatively mild winters, ten cords will be enough. Once it starts raining the little road back to the wood piles gets too slick for the tractor, and I need it to pull the logs out before I can limb them and buck them to length. But it's a good feeling to see all that wood stacked up neatly on the pallets and all ready to go, and know I won't be out suffering in the summer heat swinging the chain saw around. At least until next Spring...
View attachment 391591

10 cords in a mild climate.... I hope that's enough. We're on our 6th year with wood burner. One winter I burned October 1st through April 1st. The fire only went out about 4 times, so an almost continuous burn for 6 months and we only used 6 cords.

 

[tcreeley]

I like it - poly kiln. Keep an opening to let the moisture vent out. Great idea!

 

[Scooby074]

I like it - poly kiln. Keep an opening to let the moisture vent out. Great idea!

Thanks.

Hope it works.. Ive read online where it can take wood from 40% to under 20% in a couple months, but usually thats over summer. Even if it doesnt work 100%, hopefully it will help some. This is this years wood

 

[zing]

red maple, birch/yellow/gray, cherry, oak

I used to wheel barrow it to the house, or dolly it. But with my arthritis I can't manage that through the snow anymore, so I stack the wood so that I can keep the snow clear with the tractor, and get good and close with the tractor bucket and fill that. Then I bring the bucket to the deck and dolly the rest of the way into the house.

The cats love the wood, and sit up there for when we drive in. One cat waited while I stacked, waiting to be fed!

Love the cat story.

I have often thought that if I could get a cat to sit on the tractor with me while I am bushhogging the fields, he would be the happiest cat in the world. Those big fat field mice are just dashing around like fools non-stop. I will see dozens in a couple hours of mowing. Can't even imagine how many get squashed or chopped up.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Finished stacking my wood - 6 cords of it, I have 8 total, 4 for this year, 4 for next year.View attachment 392670

That's a lot of wood, and beautifully stacked! Nice job, tcreeley! Isn't having wood put ahead for next year a great feeling?

Do you try to keep snow and rain off the stacks? If so, what works for you?

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Im trying a "solar kiln" for the first time. Nothing fancy, just pallets and poly. Ill be adding a second kiln section to the exposed area. I got the idea from here: Solar Kiln Firewood Drying | Firewood Hoarder's Club Forums

Opinions on the whole idea of a poly solar kiln?? It kinda goes against the convention that airflow is important for drying.

Looks like it would go a long way toward driving up the temperature in the wood stack and help bake the water out. If you're in a humid, cool climate, that makes a lot of sense. Out here in Northern California we "enjoy" 100F plus temperatures and humidity that typically stays below 20% for much of the summer, and it never rains. Now that we're headed into the Fall I'm hoping I can get away with just tarping the tops to keep the season's light showers off and keep up the air circulation for a few more weeks of drying action. Once winter takes hold I'll be trying for more of a mummy wrap like you're using to keep the wind driven rain from the big Pacific storms from undoing all of Summer's work.

Thanks for sharing the Firewood Hoarder's link!

 

[tcreeley]

The wood I am burning this year I will cover with a tarp once we start to get the heavier fall rains, then the snowfall. I find it easier to handle if the snow hasn't sat on it and frozen to the wood. I tarp part of the side as well for the blowing snow.

 

[murphy1244]

Where did you get your Meter from? Thanks for the thread very interesting!!!!

 

[Scooby074]

Looks like it would go a long way toward driving up the temperature in the wood stack and help bake the water out. If you're in a humid, cool climate, that makes a lot of sense. Out here in Northern California we "enjoy" 100F plus temperatures and humidity that typically stays below 20% for much of the summer, and it never rains. Now that we're headed into the Fall I'm hoping I can get away with just tarping the tops to keep the season's light showers off and keep up the air circulation for a few more weeks of drying action. Once winter takes hold I'll be trying for more of a mummy wrap like you're using to keep the wind driven rain from the big Pacific storms from undoing all of Summer's work.

Thanks for sharing the Firewood Hoarder's link!

The jury is still out on whether wrapping speeds up drying in my climate or not. We're in the middle of some rainy and overcast weather right now so I have seen no increase in internal temps of the pile yet. Also the pile isnt complete so there is a big hole in the cover until it gets finished. Im trying this as a bit of a test. Sounds like you have the perfect climate for drying firewood.

Ideally (hopefully next year) I will build a firewood shed. This is one I drew up.

Where did you get your Meter from? Thanks for the thread very interesting!!!!

Is this addressed to me? If so, the meter is from Canadian Tire. You should be able to find similar in the states. YW for the thread.