bulk firewood storage

[Randy88]

We handle and burn a lot of firewood, my current shed isn't anywhere near big enough to hold it all, we pile the logs outside till we have time to cut and split them, so most are dry except this year when we ran out.    I like to use skid steers to handle and move firewood, saves on handling and a lot of hand labor.     I like to have in that 40-50 cords on hand most times but this year we just never had enough time to get everything done before winter hit a month early.

I was wondering how others handle bulk quantities of firewood, do you keep just a month worth or so under cover or all winters supply under cover.   I usually have a couple months under a roof, but this winter, we have yet to have any nice weather to melt and get the snow off of anything, I had to shove my firewood cut wet, while it was snowing hard outside, into the shed and now its a mass of snow, ice and wet wood and a total disaster to say the least, we burned so much more my two months were used up in a month or so and now I'm thinking a whole winters supply should be under cover early, till I did the math on just how much room it'll take up and then comes the problem of getting it piled high under a roof with a skid steer.   

My first thought was, this is the only winter I've ever had issues with, it may never happen again, so why worry about it, then I got to looking at my current shed, its beyond repair and maybe I should either fix it or do something different completely in terms of storage and am looking for idea's for bulk storage of firewood.   

I'm never going to hand stack anything, for the volume we handle it just isn't feasible let alone have anyone wanting to do it, so its got to be skid steer handy.   Anyone have suggestions or idea's or are already doing something like this already and have advice on what to do or what they should have done differently.    Thanks for any input and advice in advance. 

[DaleK]

My shed holds 16 bush cords stacked, the rest is in an old concrete bunker silo I don't use anymore.

I guess it depends on what you have available and how much you want to spend.

At a minimum its probably worth throwing up some posts and a slab or rough cut lumber wall that you can pile your wood against, then attach a tarp to the top of the wall and run it over the pile. Then you can spend more from there.
Maybe there are some cheap grain bins around that you could pick up for scrap price and open up the door enough to get the skidsteer in?

[Holmes]

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,67474.msg1010954.html#msg1010954
Did you see this?

[Al_Smith]

I suppose of the 15-16 cords I had stacked maybe 8 were tarped .Dang tarps leaked ,rain ,holes I didn't see ,soggy  iced up .Strangely from a 6 cord stack of ash, snow covered it was dry as a bone under the first top layer .

Now if you mound it up in a big heap the bottom will rot .Plus it becomes home for the groundhogs,skunks,stray cats and 10 thousand chipmonks .You end up with a zoo .

[blackfoot griz]

Randy,
Are you currently using pallets for storing your firewood?
I stack my firewood on pallets as a lot of others on the FF do.   I am going to experiment with bags of some form. I spend more time stacking my firewood on the pallets than processing it.

[Randy88]

No I don't stack any on pallets, we just fill up the shed and when that's full we shove it into several piles, on warm days during the winter, when the weather is nice and we need the shed refilled, we fill it with a skid steer.   

[Ivan49]

They make  large bags that will hold your wood if you can find them. They have a big loop on the top to pick them up with and can be stacked 3 or 4 high. I checked on them sometime back and shipping was a ripoff. When I was in Germany they threw them away. They got bricks,sand and you name it in them. One of the wood processer companys has them but you have to buy a large amount at one time. I think this company was in Sweden

[DaleK]

They make  large bags that will hold your wood if you can find them. They have a big loop on the top to pick them up with and can be stacked 3 or 4 high. I checked on them sometime back and shipping was a ripoff. When I was in Germany they threw them away. They got bricks,sand and you name it in them. One of the wood processer companys has them but you have to buy a large amount at one time. I think this company was in Sweden

You can just use fertilizer/seed totes instead, should be able to get used ones for $10-15 from a farm supply place. Some factories will sell them cheap too.

[Randy88]

Thanks for the idea's, I'd have never come up with any of these, I guess it helps to get out more often and ask questions, keep the idea's coming.     

I thought a few years back there was a topic on here where someone built a shed with panel sides and used his skid steer to fill it, but I can't find it now, anyone remember seeing it?   I thought at the time it was pretty simple to do and didn't take much to build.   

Anyone know if you use totes or bags, if the woods not dry will it rot or mold and how does condensation affect them?

Yes rodents and critters are always a concern, but no matter what I do, I've got those to deal with, skunks are the worst in my opinion, this winter we found one in the back of the wood shed, dead and frozen to the ground, this coming spring he'll be ripe for sure, but he was frozen down so hard we couldn't get him out for anything, so we covered him back up again with the next batch of wood.

How does everyone else keep the snow out of the wood piles, no matter what we do, we've got wind blown snow in everything that sits outside, this winter is the worst I've ever seen for that unless it in a shed fully covered up somehow.   

We've thought about shipping containers too, just set them on a cement slab somewhere and fill it full, shut the doors and open them when needed, but I'm not sure it would work unless we cut vent holes in the sides somewhere to allow for air movement.

[Ivan49]

Farm down the road has 2 chopper wagons off the running gear sitting on each side of his OWB and he built a roof between the 2 so he is out of the weather when loading the stove. He just runs his skid steer in each to load

[Al_Smith]

One of the slickest deals I ever saw was what Bill Poor has near Columbus Ohio .He got a hold of a baggage cart from the airport which is enclosed .Like a little wagon with little garage doors on the sides .Looked to me as it held a short cord or so .

Bill has a beautuful place ,walk in basement with a wood burner .He can load that thing up and park right outside the entrance door .When he needs more he just pulls up to his stack  which the last time I was there looked to be at least 10 stacked neatly .

[currantvt]

I am trying bulk bags this year for the first time - main reason to try and cut down on the handling. The manufacturer reckons there is enough air movement through to dry but I'm unsure - I'll let you know. I have a big old cow barn to store them but even so they take up a lot of space, in theory you could stack them but not sure how safe that would be. One of the best ideas I remember seeing was someone who used big culvert rings - 6 or 8 ft diameter, 4ft long or so - he could store them outside full and forklift them to where he needed. Place them at right angles to the wind and the stuff should dry pretty well. I looked into it and the rings were expensive I thought, if there was a  big highway job going on nearby then maybe second hand ones would be available ? 

[r.man]

Most guys I know either have a shed with slatted sides or no sides and a long roof overhang on all sides. The outer rows get some snow in them so you leave them till spring. Others with enclosed areas season the wood in piles outside and then shift it before the cold weather the following season. I like the idea of racks or pallets of wood that can be moved close when needed. Later in the year the wood from the far ends of the piles is quite a ways away from my stove. 

[Hilltop366]

At my uncles house he put the indoor furnace in a trench silo, it is two sloped side walls and a end wall made from concrete in the side of a hill, originally the roof was designed to come off in sections and the silage was put in from the top.

[gspren]

  I have a bunch of "cattle panels" which are 4.5' high 16' long and made of about .25 wire that I bend in a circle overlapping 2' or so to make a basket depending on what size skids I have. Put the first layer on the skid by hand before putting the basket on and then just toss the wood in. If you toss in the first layer you will break the skid boards, I know. If your going to cover with a tarp mound them high or if you can find some 6' scraps of metal roofing stop short of the top. These can be moved with forks on a tractor but not a compact. I use binder twine to tie them together so when I want to unload I take some off the top and then untie with my knife. I stack along a fence row and most don't get covered until early winter.

[John Mc]

There's another thread on here somewhere where someone posted about a company in PA that sells firewood storage bags. They're ventilated and hold about 2000#.

[nk14zp]

How do you guys that sell firewood store your wood after it is split?

[goose63]

How do you guys that sell firewood store your wood after it is split?

Stacked off the ground on pallets no cover don't have a shed yet

[POC]

I stack mine on pallets and lay pieces of corrugated roofing over them.  Three pieces of roofing covers a cord with some overhang on each side.  Granted, I can't move this, but I stack it after it is split and toss it into my dump trailer when I sell it.  Or let the customer pull up next to it and toss in their truck.

[Corley5]

It's stored in the dump trailer or truck long enough to make it to the client  ;) ;D

[wheelinguy]

I was just going to post a question about where to get the bulk storage bags.  Does anyone know where they can be found, maybe a link to a website?

[currantvt]

They are from Tyoga Container Co in Tioga, PA - Dino Bags, I havent a web address but Gogle them and it should come up. OESCO in Conway MA also have them in their catalogue - expect to pay around $15 each. 

[kevin19343]

I stack 5 cords behind my shed and that lasts me all winter. I used to tarp the stack, but the wood always got moldy. If theres enough sun and air movement the tarp isn't needed.