Where do you keep your firewood?

[keegs]

Thanks Keegs! Here is another recycled effort. Got these 4x4 containers gratis. They had been used for storing cardboard boxes and had a hinged door in front. They were on wheels and not in the best of shape so took the wheels off, put them on skids, beefed them up structurally and cut an angle on the sides and used metal roofing on top. Tried to make them rodent proof as well. They old a tad over 1/2 of a full cord of masonry stove wood. Easy to move with the tractor up to the back door. Gonna use up some old paint on the exterior when time and weather permit.

Don't know too much about masonry stoves other that what the Mrs. has told me about them. If you don't mind me asking...what's the flue diameter of your masonry stove?

 

[MNBobcat]

For anyone that is interested, here are several pictures of the firewood bag being filled. The first one is of the empty bag, followed by a picture of it on a pallet with wood in it just before I lifted it to disperse the wood. Lower the bag back down and continue filling till filled. The next one is of the bag full, and the last is it being on the pallet taking to get stored. I fill it about a foot or so from the top. You can store them inside or outside. I'm going to tarp mine, as there is no more room in the garage. Removing the wood to burn I'll have to wait and see if it's worth it. So far, everything else is. Takes about 15 minutes for a 56 year old to load it.

How much did they charge you for those bags? Did you buy them direct from dino?

 

[Pushing_Tin]

Here's my setup.

 

[magicheater]

Don't know too much about masonry stoves other that what the Mrs. has told me about them. If you don't mind me asking...what's the flue diameter of your masonry stove?

The one I currently have is 8". I tried some smaller units with 6" flues but they breathe better with the 8". Would consider an 8X12" for a large one.

 

[LD1]

We store all of our wood in the big old barn. We use the front two bays of the barn which are 11' wide and 20' deep each. Once we get one bay full, we start on the next. We also have access from the back so we can "rotate stock" and use the wood in the reverse order if needed. But we usually dont need too because we are usually a winter ahead and the wood is pleanty dry.

Nice thing about the barn is that it is big enough to also do the splitting there. If it is a nice enough day to go cut wood, we don't mess with splitting it. We haul home the rounds and save them to split on a rainy day.

If you wanting to build something like a 12x16 shed, you biggest cost is probabally going to be roofing and siding (assuming you put sides on). Metal is the easiest way to go and as expensive as it is, it is still usually cheaper than shingles by the time you factor the sheeting.

As for posts, contact you electric/utility company. They usually have used poles that they give away free or cheap. dimensional lumber is cheap also.

 

[Mande1992]

My Holz Hausen!
First pic is the ring 10' in diameter.
Second pic is paint mark at 8'.
Third pic is first course of split wood at an angle inward.
Fourth pic is several courses of split wood angled inward and internal area of circle with wood both split and small unsplit pieces stacked vertically.
After it was about 3' high I put another course of shims around the outside ring to keep the wood angled in and continued.
According to the instructions, if you stack green wood 10' high and let it shrink down to the 8' mark on the pole, it is dry and ready to use. Since I started with mostly dry wood, I just stopped at 8'.
1 cord of wood is 128 cubic feet of wood.
A pile 10' in diameter and 8' tall contains 628 cubic feet of wood, or, a tad over 4.9 cords. If you would stack it 10' it would be a tad over 6 cords.
It looks nice, takes up less room, and is kinda fun to build.
I liked it so much last year, that I build another one this year. However, this year I just tossed the wood in the center, not stacking it vertically as last year. I keep a tarp over the top, only so the sides can breathe. I cut a hole in an old tarp and slid it down over the center pole. Works great. :thumbsup:

Yikes, if my kids saw that, they would be asking... can we light it up!

Although we have 20 acres of small trees to be cleared, we went geothermal... much less work

 

[MossRoad]

Yikes, if my kids saw that, they would be asking... can we light it up!

Although we have 20 acres of small trees to be cleared, we went geothermal... much less work

Couldn't you dig your geothermal stuff by hand? :confused3:


:laughing:

 

[irwin]

Here's my setup.

That's what I'm thinking... looking good. I would have to keep the area cleaned up but that would work. Any plans?

 

[irwin]

We store all of our wood in the big old barn. We use the front two bays of the barn which are 11' wide and 20' deep each. Once we get one bay full, we start on the next. We also have access from the back so we can "rotate stock" and use the wood in the reverse order if needed. But we usually dont need too because we are usually a winter ahead and the wood is pleanty dry.

Nice thing about the barn is that it is big enough to also do the splitting there. If it is a nice enough day to go cut wood, we don't mess with splitting it. We haul home the rounds and save them to split on a rainy day.

If you wanting to build something like a 12x16 shed, you biggest cost is probabally going to be roofing and siding (assuming you put sides on). Metal is the easiest way to go and as expensive as it is, it is still usually cheaper than shingles by the time you factor the sheeting.



As for posts, contact you electric/utility company. They usually have used poles that they give away free or cheap. dimensional lumber is cheap also.

That barn of your's would be nice indeed.:thumbsup:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Currently, on pallets under tarps.

 

[Pushing_Tin]

That's what I'm thinking... looking good. I would have to keep the area cleaned up but that would work. Any plans?

I didn't build it, not that handy. We had our contractor build it for us when the house was built. I upgraded my tractor so now the whole thing is full of wood and I had one of those metal car ports built for the tractor.

 

[keegs]

I notice you guys in the PNW have allot of pine in your piles. How's that working out for you? What if any are the issues with burning pine as opposed to hardwoods...e.g. oak, ash, maple..?

 

[Pushing_Tin]

I notice you guys in the PNW have allot of pine in your piles. How's that working out for you? What if any are the issues with burning pine as opposed to hardwoods...e.g. oak, ash, maple..?

Pine and fir work fine for me, but I only use it to make kindling and get the fire going. Otherwise I burn oak, ash, maple and locust, all of which I have on my property. I do know people that burn it almost exclusively. Those that buy the softwood pay considerably less than the hardwoods.

 

[magicheater]

I notice you guys in the PNW have allot of pine in your piles. How's that working out for you? What if any are the issues with burning pine as opposed to hardwoods...e.g. oak, ash, maple..?

HOW you burn pine is the issue. If you choke it down in a wood stove you will have lots of creosote. It works well in a masonry stove as I have heated my home for many years on old pallet wood free for the hauling. I use it in my boiler also but intersperse other types of wood with it to keep the smoke down.

 

[keegs]

HOW you burn pine is the issue. If you choke it down in a wood stove you will have lots of creosote. It works well in a masonry stove as I have heated my home for many years on old pallet wood free for the hauling. I use it in my boiler also but intersperse other types of wood with it to keep the smoke down.

This is somewhat off topic but I remember many years ago while serving in the military in Sicily, a few friends and I were on liberty taking in the Sicilian countryside. We stopped at a small pizza restaurant for lunch. An elderly woman, working alone took our pizza orders and the first thing she did was light up (ignite) a small bundle of wood (branches and twigs really) in a masonry pizza oven. By the time she prepared the pizzas most of the wood bundle had released its energy into the oven and apparently made it warm enough to cook our pizzas. And boy were they good.

 

[Sap Masta]

I built a three bay shed 23 years ago. Each section is 8 feet wide and 8 feet deep. 12 foot slanted metal roof sections, cedar poles in the ground - dipped in creosote at the time. This old war horse withstood over 4 feet of snow for several winters. I tore it down last summer and replaced it with a barn with an open baker on the side.

Considerations on wood storage:
proper ventilation
up off the ground
ability to rotate stock - fill one side while burning from the other - thus always having access to dry, seasoned wood
frost heaving
proximity to stove (tough to get mutha to go out when it gets 30 below)

 

[magicheater]

I tore it down last summer and replaced it with a barn with an open baker on the side

Very nice looking Barn!

 

[jimmyj]

I second the "nice barn" comment!

We use some softwood to start fires or when we don't need a really hot fire. My uncle used to say...

"Soft wood for soft times, hard wood for hard times"

 

[clemsonfor]

Pine and fir work fine for me, but I only use it to make kindling and get the fire going. Otherwise I burn oak, ash, maple and locust, all of which I have on my property. I do know people that burn it almost exclusively. Those that buy the softwood pay considerably less than the hardwoods.

But use more volume due to lower BTU's per cubic foot.

 

[beenthere]

Currently, on pallets under tarps.

Can't dry any under those tarps. But then, you are in OR so drying is prolly out of the question anyway.

I put a cover on, so the rain doesn't go down through the stack. But leave the sides open for the air to dry the wood. Also, tarps around wet wood will just cause mold, mildew, and decay (here, anyway )