Norwegian's Take Their Wood Seriously

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Norwegian's Take Their Wood Seriously
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Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 11:16 am Post subject:
In terms of storage, you may want to stick with rectilinear stacking. You should get more wood on the same footprint, and many people find the circular stacks don't dry out all of the wood as well. It may take a bit more care to setup the stack so that it doesn't shift and fall over as the wood dries and shrinks.

Erikht

Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 3358

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 11:34 am Post subject:

Mistress Rose wrote:

The difference is that in the UK most people have their firewood cut to length, split and delivered so all they have to do is stack it. We do all the hard work, mainly by machine. We recommend stacking on a pallet with a cover such as corrugated iron or tarp on top and the sides open to the air.

I love wood fires, and sometimes sit and watch the flames of ours, but think I would find 8 hours of it on TV very boring.

It's pure Zen, is what it is. An autum sunday, cold and clear, splitting the logs you sawed the day before, and then stacking them before you retire to a nice book, an artisan porter, and some woodburning on the telly. Bliss.

Erikht

Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 3358

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 11:40 am Post subject:
Treacodactyl, follow Slim and Mistress Roses advice, and it will be fine. Stack on a pallet, corrogated iron on top. I like to stack towards a wall sometimes, and if the wood is reasonably dry already you can put another pallet in front and fasten the whole thing to the wall with a rope.

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 11:57 am Post subject:

I currently do stack on a pallet with a cover on top. However, it doesn't hurt to try other ideas and pallets are not that easy to get hold of, certainly not decent ones.

I would also like to store wood to at least partly season where it's cut, and like the idea of a round stack for stability.

I've seen plenty of other ideas such as a simple round container made from stock fencing. Making some smallish crates up is also appealing as I could then move them around as required.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 12:36 pm Post subject:
Got any potato farmers near you? Spud pallets are handy. I think one of the best investments I've made is a pair of forks for the back of the tractor.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 1:09 pm Post subject:

We do have potato farmers in the area and you often see wooden boxes going too and fro, not seen any advertised for sale or old ones piled up.

At the moment I wouldn't be able to move them as I don't have a trailer but I know people use them for storing logs and that sort of gave me the idea of making something up myself.

I know people also use those steel framed IBC baskets, but they seem pricey.

I'll keep my eye out for anything going cheap locally, I've bagged some cheap steel roofing panels already.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 4:39 pm Post subject:

Storage depends on equipment but a few ides:-

Heritas fencing
Sheep hurdles or spare gates
sheep wire fencing in rings
sheep wire fencing fixed to pallets
pallets as walls
wind break plastic fencing in rings
wind break fencing on pallets with corner posts
Vented log bulk bags (sized from 0.2m3 to 2.5m3)

All above can be on solid ground or raised on pallets. Raising is always best.

All can be covered on top by plastic, metal roofing or what ever you have. Dont cover the sides. long and thin is better than big squares for air flow. Random fill is better for drying than stacked but stacked takes up less space.

The big saver is stop double handling. Fell cut split & store is as few process / movements as possible. Pick the log up once & it stays up till its in the store.

With the processor, bring all the wood to one site & get them to split straight into your storage using the conveyor belt.

We stack our lengths next to the tractor, on the back of the tractor is the log saw & to the right of that the splitter & the right of that the storage. Lengths to storage is less than 4m.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 4:55 pm Post subject:

Until I get a tractor sorted though I'm going to have to process stuff in stages. At them moment I have to cut and even split logs in situ to enable loading them into a car and moving to the house.

If I can cut, split and stack some of the smaller stuff then it'll lose some of its weight before transporting it. Also at the moment I don't have any long term storage, I make up pallet bays as I go.

I do understand what is ideal (buying in crated kiln dried wood from Eastern Europe

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 5:00 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

You move your firewood in your car?

I bet that gets old quick.

I don't have a woodburning setup right now, but the ideal for me is a hillside woodlot. Cutting in early spring as buds are breaking so that bud break draws a bit more moisture out of the log, then bucking for summer curing, splitting when the temps start getting below freezing, and stacking for another year of drying. Hopefully the process proceeds down the hillside so that gravity does most of the hauling.

Ah, fantasies......

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 5:07 pm Post subject:

Slim wrote:

You move your firewood in your car?

I bet that gets old quick.

Yep, and plenty more besides. I often have to use covers to keep things clean from the car.

But then many small outfits deliver logs commercially over here using a trailer so I'm not doing too bad.

A small tractor and all the trimmings (trailer, splitter, loader etc) is on the 'to be sorted' list.

Still, I cut a few cube with just a bow saw until I sorted out a chainsaw, that's progress.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 5:21 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Slim wrote:

You move your firewood in your car?

I bet that gets old quick.

Yep, and plenty more besides. I often have to use covers to keep things clean from the car.

not as quick as collecting by bicycle

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 6:42 pm Post subject:
I use my bike to collect thorns. Anyway, anyone read the book apart from Erik?

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2571
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 8:41 pm Post subject:
Holzhaufen here at BelleWood Gardens

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 15 10:02 pm Post subject:
A roof with some airspace underneath it! I feel like that is a big leg up for drying, regardless of stacking style.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Thu Dec 31, 15 9:29 am Post subject:

When we cut firewood just for ourselves we used the car. Had to replace the rear springs I will admit, but the car also carried stuff for craft stalls, tentage and everything else we needed to shift. Our current one sometimes has up to 10 log sacks in it for delivery, as that is the maximum I am happy with shifting by myself in one go. Any more and husband and son use the truck.

You seem to be going the best way for you at the moment Treacodactyl. It does take time to develop. We started selling firewood splitting with axes; my duty to supply the logs for splitting and pick up split ones, which kept all of us fit. We currently tend to season in the length and cut directly into the truck for delivery, but if we put some in store, we put the processed logs into a sort of polytunnel with open ends. For the amount you are dealing with, I would suggest a stack, ideally off the ground if you can get the pallets, or make up a frame, with just cover over the top. As long as it isn't too high, and stacked, you shouldn't need the mesh sides. Erikht, we don't very often get crisp, dry, autumn days; more likely to be wet and mild.

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