Do you stack your split logs

12-10-2020 8:51pm #1

Curious do many out there go to the effort of stacking your split logs?
Excluding processor logs now. Just talking windfall and down trees etc. that are clean up around the farms.

Here typical approach is cut to manageable lengths... block and split later. Heavy branches cut into big rings for splitting later. Probably outside for couple months before splitting and storing in a loose pile in a airy shed.

Prefer the idea of nice stacks but in practice trying to get windfall to consistent length for a stack does not seem realistic. So am curious... do you stack yours?

memorystick · 12-10-2020 10:53pm

I store in half ton vented bags. Less handling. Don’t block If I can get away with it

Agent_47 · 12-10-2020 11:01pm

I have a purpose built lean to that takes up to a cube and a half.
I cut, split and stack ASAP. Rings will harden quickly if left for a few months. Can be ball breaking to split.
Did two cube of oak recently. Easy peasy

forgottenhills · 13-10-2020 1:14pm

49801 wrote: »

Curious do many out there go to the effort of stacking your split logs?
Excluding processor logs now. Just talking windfall and down trees etc. that are clean up around the farms.

Here typical approach is cut to manageable lengths... block and split later. Heavy branches cut into big rings for splitting later. Probably outside for couple months before splitting and storing in a loose pile in a airy shed.

Prefer the idea of nice stacks but in practice trying to get windfall to consistent length for a stack does not seem realistic. So am curious... do you stack yours?

I stack cut logs outdoors under a couple of sheets of galvanise to let them dry out for a few months then bring inside on a dry day to an airy shed for chopping and further drying. I find that if you bring them inside (particularly sycamore) anyway wet, or still with much sap, then they can go mouldy even in a fairly airy shed. Its difficult to stack very small diameter stuff outside though so I often just pile that outside under cover from rain to season a bit before bringing into a shed.

21-10-2020 2:54pm

I had been liking the idea of orderly stack.

But after measuring stove mouth at 14inch... logs should be 10-11inch max long.

10-11inch logs does not seem that practical to be stacking.

Had been targeting to have logs cut and split and stacked promptly.

forgottenhills · 21-10-2020 3:09pm

49801 wrote: »

I had been liking the idea of orderly stack.

But after measuring stove mouth at 14inch... logs should be 10-11inch max long.

10-11inch logs does not seem that practical to be stacking.

Had been targeting to have logs cut and split and stacked promptly.

I cut them that length too but stack them 3 or 4 deep with plenty of gaps to ventilate. So its possible if you are careful stacking so the stack doesn't fall over. Larger ones on the bottom etc. I'm talking here of stacking logs of say 4 to 20 inch diameter. Any larger rings that are too big to stack I leave standing out on their side for a while to season a bit, or chop and stack if i have time. Also a good idea to build your stack off the ground using something like pallets if available or a pile of small branches if nothing else available. Damp comes up from the ground otherwise.

blackbox · 22-10-2020 9:34pm

I stack them on pallets (europallet size) in two rows with a gap in the middle. I throw the unstackable (odd shapes) logs into the gap in the middle.

blue5000 · 23-10-2020 2:06pm

I don't think this would work in our climate

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144855555@N08/49723565817/in/faves-66506052@N04/

forgottenhills · 23-10-2020 5:58pm

blue5000 wrote: »

I don't think this would work in our climate

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144855555@N08/49723565817/in/faves-66506052@N04/

You're right. I think that sort of construction might only work in Ireland if you threw a tarp over it or put the entire construction under a roof of some sort! It rains on too many days here and that stacking is so deep that it would be difficult for wind to get into the centre to dry it out.

A rough and ready alternative to stacking for this country is to simply pile up large branches (I'm talking about hardwoods) randomly in a massive pile for a couple of years. The ones off the ground will have dried reasonably well at the end of two years or so and can be sawed up, best to do this at the end of a week or so of good drying of course.

accidental forester · 23-10-2020 10:43pm

I use a similar system to Blackbox. I get tree crates from the local nursery/garden centre. They part with them for about for €10 to €12.50 each. I bring logs back in 8 foot lengths, cut them to 1 foot blocks and try to get them split within two or three weeks. I feel like the Sitka rounds get tougher to split as they dry. I stack the splits straight into the crates and can then shunt them around with a pallet jack to allow access to the driest material.

blackbox · 24-10-2020 1:02pm

Accidental Forester's setup looks very professional. Mine are purely for my own use. They stay outside for at least a year before going under cover.

Mixture of alder, oak and pine.

forgottenhills · 25-10-2020 4:40pm

blackbox wrote: »

Accidental Forester's setup looks very professional. Mine are purely for my own use. They stay outside for at least a year before going under cover.

Mixture of alder, oak and pine.

Lovely stacking there. The likes of oak probably can do quite well being left out for a long time as its a pretty hard wood.

I stack in a fairly similar way but to top it off I put some loose sheets of old galvanise that I have lying around on top of the stack, weighed down by a few big stones so that it doesn't blow off. Stops most rain getting onto the stack.

My system is also different to yours in that I am dealing with ash and sycamore firewood and in my view it doesn't do it much good to be exposed to too much wet weather. So I cut it down in December when the sap is low and basically I stack it outside until August or September in an effort to to get rid of most of the residual sap. I will then be aiming to have it thrown in loose heaps inside airy sheds by end September. Also by cutting and stacking in dry weather and bringing it inside to a shed on a dry day you can remove the risk of bringing in moisture in the bark as much as possible. By doing this and leaving it in an airy shed for 3 or 4 years I find that I can get firewood down to 10% moisture or so before it's turn to go in the stove. So I'm always cutting 4 or 5 years ahead.

have2flushtwice · 29-10-2020 1:29pm

Some serious work there lads going by the pictures, fair play, ye keep a tidy outfit.

Robbair · 02-11-2020 10:23am

I lived in SW France for a number of years and they have an excellent systematic approach to firewood with regional variations. The basic unit of firewood is a cubic meter of 1m split wood, the timber is prepared in this fashion at the time of felling, which would be the end of the year or winter months. Stacked in the forest until the following summer when a tractor can get in and extract with minimal effort.
Either sold as is or for a premium re-cut most often in half (but increasingly smaller in line with smaller modern stoves). I used to 'ballotise' it to make transfer and handling easier tightly tied ballots can be shifted with forks or hiab and with a big saw cut in half or even thirds very quickly and easily.
Most timber in my region was oak or chestnut, some hornbeam. Usable in 12 months and after 2 years down to 10 or 12% moisture and really excellent fuel. (of course the summer temps are just a bit higher on average!) I was going to add some snaps in here but I dont have url's for them, if you search for 'tas de bois de chauffage' or 'fagot de bois de chauffage' you will very quickly get the idea.

forgottenhills · 02-11-2020 4:10pm

Robbair wrote: »

I lived in SW France for a number of years and they have an excellent systematic approach to firewood with regional variations. The basic unit of firewood is a cubic meter of 1m split wood, the timber is prepared in this fashion at the time of felling, which would be the end of the year or winter months. Stacked in the forest until the following summer when a tractor can get in and extract with minimal effort.
Either sold as is or for a premium re-cut most often in half (but increasingly smaller in line with smaller modern stoves). I used to 'ballotise' it to make transfer and handling easier tightly tied ballots can be shifted with forks or hiab and with a big saw cut in half or even thirds very quickly and easily.
Most timber in my region was oak or chestnut, some hornbeam. Usable in 12 months and after 2 years down to 10 or 12% moisture and really excellent fuel. (of course the summer temps are just a bit higher on average!) I was going to add some snaps in here but I dont have url's for them, if you search for 'tas de bois de chauffage' or 'fagot de bois de chauffage' you will very quickly get the idea.

I love that part of France, around Biarritz and into the Pyrenees, great beaches and scenery, much preferable to the Cote D'Azur region for me. All areas of France seem to have great old forests everywhere. Of course as you say that area has much better drying weather than Ireland for keeping timber outside (especially the West and North of this island). Although it does rain quite a bit in the SW of France and I see from googling the term 'tas de bois de chauffage' that there are several images shown where tarps are placed on top of the stacks to keep off direct rain or drips from overhead trees.

CJhaughey · 02-11-2020 8:48pm

I see a lot of the continent seems to split timber into 1m lengths of ~150mmØ and then allow them to dry in lengths and then cut to length with a large circular saw.
It would definitely be easier to handle in longer lengths and stacking would be easier and more stable. And you can cut to the required length easily enough.
I might try that in the future to see if it works here.
Poly tunnel to dry it in the summer works very well.

Large bottle small glass · 03-11-2020 9:05am

https://www.kennys.ie/natural-history/norwegian-wood-chopping-stacking-and-drying-wood-the-scandinavian-way

If cutting and stacking wood is your thing, this is an enjoyable read

blue5000 · 03-11-2020 2:59pm

Robbair wrote: »

I lived in SW France for a number of years and they have an excellent systematic approach to firewood with regional variations. The basic unit of firewood is a cubic meter of 1m split wood, the timber is prepared in this fashion at the time of felling, which would be the end of the year or winter months. Stacked in the forest until the following summer when a tractor can get in and extract with minimal effort.
Either sold as is or for a premium re-cut most often in half (but increasingly smaller in line with smaller modern stoves). I used to 'ballotise' it to make transfer and handling easier tightly tied ballots can be shifted with forks or hiab and with a big saw cut in half or even thirds very quickly and easily.
Most timber in my region was oak or chestnut, some hornbeam. Usable in 12 months and after 2 years down to 10 or 12% moisture and really excellent fuel. (of course the summer temps are just a bit higher on average!) I was going to add some snaps in here but I dont have url's for them, if you search for 'tas de bois de chauffage' or 'fagot de bois de chauffage' you will very quickly get the idea.

Mod hat on first, you need 25 posts on here before uploading photos, welcome to F&F.

Used to see long rows of stacked firewood with sheets of galvanized iron on top in woods in Norway. Stacks would only be 3ft high. If you had them here they'd be nicked.

I've started doing it with Willow that grows wild in the spruce wood here. 2 man job with a chainsaw, leave a stump with a fork at a comfortable height to rest the log on, then stack the sticks near a forest roadway under trees until they can be bagged next summer. Being Willow the stumps should re-grow too.

memorystick · 03-11-2020 3:37pm

Do people here use those vented sacks? Cuts down on extra handling.

Large bottle small glass · 03-11-2020 3:47pm

memorystick wrote: »

Do people here use those vented sacks? Cuts down on extra handling.

I tried them once but have found IBC cages to be far superior.

Fill in wood, dry in yard and drop outside back of house when needed for burning.

00wyk · 17-12-2020 9:28pm

We use whatever crates we can get from the local fruit farms.

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Blackcurrants · 21-12-2020 1:40pm

It's all about surface area to dry quickly. The bark is used to keep moiture in and in log form the way the moiture comes out it through both ends and where the bark isn't whole. Splitting the timber exposes much more surface area to that allow for faster drying. Net bags are great for one use buy tear and rip espeically with heavier sharper Hardwoods. Its best to cover split timber if it is left outside as it can rewet in poor weather.
If anyones interested in learning all about the art of chopping and stacking there is a fantastic book called Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting. It was doing the rounds in irish book shops a couple of xmas's ago.

Grassy Knoll · 10-09-2022 9:44am

if you pick up a few old pallets - builders will readily give them away from sites in my experience - you can fashion a crate type structure to store chopped timber outside. A piece of canvas or whatever comes to hand can be used as a top cover. I usually bring the timber a day or so before I burn it to let residual moisture evaporate.

separately, I usually get some of my timber from a guy -no surprise this year he is flat out -

Do you stack your split logs

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