Wood storage

[murphy1244]

I seem to be going thru a lot of tarps for my wood stacks. The tarps from HD and TSC seem to last 2 years or less. What are you using for tarps and how long do they last.

 

[TnAndy]

Tarps are temporary solutions to a perpetual problem. I went for a longer lasting solution.

4 cord sheds (have 4 of them, at various locations around the farm)

 

[dickfoster]

I seem to be going thru a lot of tarps for my wood stacks. The tarps from HD and TSC seem to last 2 years or less. What are you using for tarps and how long do they last.

If you're going to always use wood and lot of it, then a woodshed is the way to go. I have a wood shed and an RV shed with wood in it. The RV shed is just a roof and a back but does the job well enough. The wood shed is three sides and a roof with a tarp for the front and yes the tarp needs to be replaced. There is no real hurry as the wood is covered and a new tarp would only make the pack rats more comfy. Until they start paying rent, I don't care.

 

[farmer2009]

TnAndy. Any problems with skunks and such taking residence under your sheds?

 

[Zerk]

TnAndy. Any problems with skunks and such taking residence under your sheds?

Would it be much different then your wood piles with tarps? A little more tempting, maybe.

 

[RitchElbe]

Sweet Sheds

 

[CalG]

poly film
From the builder's supply
Cheap enough to be disposable, but it lasts several years before the UV makes it brittle.

'comes in several widths and weights.

Like I said, cheap! and works perfectly!

ps I attach short lines to the corners. the lines terminate with a loop that can be drawn over a short stick that can be shoved into any chink in the stack. That way, the pile can be accessed, and the covering moved with little trouble and covering refastening.

 

[roadhunter]

If you can find a commercial roofing job that had gravel ballast on the membrane you can usually get the guys to give you the materials. Around here they cut it into big squares and fold it up and toss it into a trailer headed for the dump. Stuff works great and is really heavy so it doesnt' flap in the wind like cheap tarps.

 

[TnAndy]

TnAndy. Any problems with skunks and such taking residence under your sheds?

No, none I know of. Plus there is enough clearance under them to 'sweep' with a 12ga.

Had a pile down against the basement wall outside one year. One day I hear the wife hollering about something down there, so I go to see what it is. "SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE !!!.......I saw a rattlesnake go in that woodpile !"

So, I'm thinking 'yeah....sure honey..." I went and go get the 12ga, stuck it in the pile and popped off a couple rounds, and said, tongue in cheek, "I got it honey"

Well, as it turned out, when we moved the wood pile inside the basement that fall, on the ground under it lay the skeleton/skin of a timber rattler with 12 rattles and a button !

"See...I TOLD you so !"

I'm sure the concussion killed it, not that a lead pellet did. Only rattlesnake we've seen here in 35 years. But no more wood was ever piled by the door.

 

[PhysAssist]

If you can find a commercial roofing job that had gravel ballast on the membrane you can usually get the guys to give you the materials. Around here they cut it into big squares and fold it up and toss it into a trailer headed for the dump. Stuff works great and is really heavy so it doesnt' flap in the wind like cheap tarps.

We have 2 kinds of wood covered- a really large stack of 10-20 foot mixed logs which we bought from a tree surgeon; and pallets of wood cut to length and split into wood bags (which are large 4w 'x4'd x5'h nylon mesh bags made for holding wood).

What we use to cover both are vinyl billboard "tarps"- sheets of a sandwich of vinyl top and bottom layers with nylon netting bonded between them, and with pipe loops on the edges.

We have gotten the ones we have from Repurposed Material
shttp://www.icontact-archive.com/gkR_CVldWcpPtQ1GQzq9wqrVF9i6Vv03?w=4

There are also some local sources our neice can access because she is a local beertender, and her hubby a bar manager- which I found out only after we had purchased 2.

We got one 20' x 60' for $55 at auction, and a 30' x 60' for $65 direct sale.

 

[Ken45101]

Personally I think closing in on three sides slows down seasoning.

I use one of the $800 carports.

Here is a neat and inexpensive idea. Designed as a shelter for animals, it would also be good for wood. It uses some pallets stood on end and a hog panel as a hoop top, with a tarp over the hog panel.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...set=a.1641231763112.2076528.1606351639&type=3

 

[KennyG]

Personally I think closing in on three sides slows down seasoning.

When I built my 3 sided woodshed from used material, I spaced the boards on sides about 2 inches apart to leave a gap. Kind of a corn crib concept.

 

[JRobyn]

Had my BIL throw this up for us. Quite cheap but effective and we like the rustic look. I asked him to make it big enough to hold at least the front end of the tractor (with ROPS UP) when it wasn't full of firewood. It helped that I had a bunch of salvaged tobacco barn tin roofing. Cedar logs for posts, 2x6 for rafter beams, shop-fabbed rafters. Being open on all sides promotes quick curing and only a little rain comes in and only when it blows hard.

We plan to extend the sides out some day to have covered storage for the chipper, riding mower, and other implements and tools. And I might plank in the back.

 

[turnkey4099]

I put my 'burning season' stock in a small woodshed 12x5.5'x6' plus several ricks in the back 3 season porch. Total 6-7 cord. Rest is all in outside stacks not covered with anything. Outside stacks are built where I will be splitting so it is split/stack right there. About mid summer I begin stockingthe shed and porch. A few wagon loads (one of thoe mesh nursery wagons) a day soon gets it done.

I have locust (some 60 cord) dthat has been out there since about 199something, no loss even what is direct on the ground. Willow (shoulder season) 3 years also no loss. But we are in a fairly dry climate, most moisture comes in late fall/winter/early spring

Even if I have to dip into the outside stuff, only the top few layers will be wet and I just toss that aside.


Harry K

 

[randy41]

tarps are cheap

 

[murphy1244]

tarps are cheap

The big tarps are 89.00 each.

 

[murphy1244]

Tarps are temporary solutions to a perpetual problem. I went for a longer lasting solution.

4 cord sheds (have 4 of them, at various locations around the farm)

Do you have any drawings for those sheds?

 

[TnAndy]

Nope....I build it as big as will go out the door of the shop.

They are basically 80" wide and 12' long on 14' 6x6 runners. Height is about 6' inside on the back running to 7' inside on the front. Stacked tight into the rafters, they hold right at 4 cords each.

Couple more pics. I use a 6x6 post in the corners, tenoned to fit mortised holes in the treated 6x6 skids.

The floor is 5/4 x6" oak on 2x6 joists about 2' on center. 4x6 beam between posts on front top, just 2x4 stud walls around the rest of it. Siding is tapered 8" wide lap siding, pine or poplar. Rafters 2x6 with 1x6 battens on top for the metal roofing. All materials except the skids cut on my band sawmill.

Takes me about 2 1/2 days to build one to the point of paint. I haul them out in the shop driveway and spray a couple coats of barn red latex, then screw the roof on, and move to where I'm thinning some of my forested acres.

 

[oosik]

The first couple years here, I used tarps. Too many critters & bugs liked living under the tarps. Built a wood shed that held eight full cords. I burned four cords/year so the green cut pine had plenty of time to dry out in the shed. My tarps were nothing fancy and I was lucky if they lasted two years. The wind is what tore them up around here. I would bet that a wood shed wouldn't be any more expensive than heavy trucker's tarps.

My wood shed was built using lumber from the old homestead buildings. It wasn't real pretty but kept with the feeling of the original buildings and it was a whole lot less expensive.

 

[KennyG]

The cheapest way to store wood is using recycled material. It doesn't have to be fancy.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/316884-50-wood-shed.html