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Storing Wood - Shelf Life


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I've read that fallen trees that lie on the ground start to rot and then aren't great for burning probably deteriorating more the longer they're left like that.

 

I'm trying to find if

 

A/. If it's cut into 6' Long sections, kept off the ground and piled in stacks  (and if should it be covered or not)

and

B/.  If it's cut, split and stacked in a covered well ventilated log store

 

 

If they're both good kept like that will it last indefinitely??

 

Also interested if it's kept as per A .... Does it start to season albeit slower than if it's cut and split.

 

 

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Best get replies from more knowledgeable others but the answer is "it varies" when they are wet.  Some rot quickly (Silver Birch I think is in this category) if not dried but others are fine.

 

If you haven't read Norwegian Wood (Lars W...) yet then I recommend you do, it is a good read and plenty of useful info in there.

 

The book does talk about very long storage of dry wood and again it varies.  Some woods contain more volatiles (generally softwoods) that do slowly get lost to the atmosphere but it is fair to say it is a very slow process.

 

I have a stack out at the moment in 3' lengths that is VERY roughly covered (maybe 50% covered) and on pallets but traditionally stacking in the wood is the first part of drying wood.  I think the book talks about why transport water back from the woods, better to get rid of it near where you fell it, then take it home.

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In my experience, wood stacked off the ground, ideally with a cover on the top (but not the sides, you need to let air through) will keep pretty well. It will probably season a bit in 6' lengths, especially if you stripe the sides (cut grooves in the bark to let the water out), but nothing like as much as if it was cut and split to final stove size.

 

If B, it will keep for a long time, years, but not I think for ever. My logs never stay unburnt long enough to test!

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I reckon if its dry it keeps a long long long time.  if i didn't have time to get it al CSS and had lots and lots, I'd probably buck to 4-6' and stack off the ground, top cover over winter.  once that was done I'd go back over the stack and buck and stack to stove length, then go back and start splitting.  i reckon once cut to stov length it would dry quickly enough to dry before it rotted....but it does depend on wood type.  birch or similar shiny waterproof bark, need splitting straight away.  awesome firewood though, i love a bit of silver birch.

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oh and not sure if it is right or wrong but I only tarp for the winter.  well about 1 september to 1 May i guess.  my view is with the less rain and more sun its better not to cover over the summer, no point letting the UV destroy your tarp for those months.

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58 minutes ago, neiln said:

oh and not sure if it is right or wrong but I only tarp for the winter.  well about 1 september to 1 May i guess.  my view is with the less rain and more sun its better not to cover over the summer, no point letting the UV destroy your tarp for those months.

Glad it is not just me...but then my tarps are old advertising banners so not that worried about them, just figure the you want the direct heat from the sun.

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Brilliant everyone and cheers for all the replies ... always appreciated!!!!

 

I was asking as I have a one off opportunity to grab a huge amount of wood that could last me for a long, long time but it'd be too much to store in my covered seasoning area and also will take ages to cut / split but could store it elsewhere uncut and do it bit by bit .... but if it was going to rot there's no pnt in picking it up as I'd then have dispose of it at a later stage.

 

Cheers to all again ?

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