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storing logs


kody
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Keep an eye on freecycle. I picked up a few old pallets, some old fence posts and roofing tiles and made a couple more aesthetically appealing stores. Only cost me a box of screws, a few nails and a pleasant Saturday drinking a few beers.

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This is what I did too. I'm not posting pics though because mine is nowhere near as nice as that.

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I have just made a lean to at the back of shed to dry logs for my recently installed log burner.

Don't mean to hyjack the thread but I have a related question, how do you know when they are dry enough to use

 

put it on the fire :lol::lol::lol: seriously, you can tell by the weight of it, or buy a moisture meter about £15. :good:

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I have just made a lean to at the back of shed to dry logs for my recently installed log burner.

Don't mean to hyjack the thread but I have a related question, how do you know when they are dry enough to use

You can buy a small electronic device with spikes on it you jab it into the log and it will give you a moisture content. You should aim for 20% irc. I bought one never use it. If it feels damp to touch don't use it. I just go by look and feel, a dry long will have lots of small splits and be nice and light. I try store my logs for two years before use.

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This is what I did too. I'm not posting pics though because mine is nowhere near as nice as that.

That was the third attempt and the only one to pass muster with the wife. The others were basically a pallet with four posts and some felt/tarp pinned to the posts. Apparently they were not good enough, I was quite proud of them.

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Nice log store. Spot on. I sell logs and try to suggest to folks that they put in a similar log store and cycle it. Yours is perfect where you can keep replacing empty sections with even new green wood and it will dry out ready for you to use in sequence and that way you never run out. Not all wood feel light when ready ..lighter maybe. Oak and ash in particular are dense and still feel heavy compared to say poplar. If you have a closed faced burner then when fully dry willow burns very well. NOT on an open fire as it spits badly.

At least twelve months from green to burn, split to requirements and a moisture meter is not a bad idea.

 

If you cannot have a real nice store like that above then stack on top of a pallet...the pallet on bricks ... and cover with a corrugated galvanised sheet. The sun heats this sheet up and aids drying. Another sheet leant against the sunny side will also get pretty hot through the summer and again aids drying.

Edited by Walker570
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Just to carry on with the Pallet theme, go to your local Builders Merchant, (I got mine free ) this was work in progress

 

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Job done, don't forget a big enough overhang or some guttering, don't make them too low, makes it awkward to load and unload

 

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When checking for the MC (moisture content ) with MC gizmo, take a log and split it, then take a reading from the freshly split face, taking it from the end will give a wrong reading, drier at the end, wetter in the middle

 

I have 6 stores, each store holds 1.75 m3

Edited by The Croc
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Yep, weight and also if you knock a couple of logs together the sound wet vs seasoned wood makes is very different.

 

This, wet wood thuds when knocked together and dry wood has a much clearer sound.

 

If it is hardwood you can do a neat little party trick and put some washing up liquid on one end and if the wood is dry enough if you blow hard into the other end of the log it will bubble. Will work up to about 12" - 14" logs with straight'ish grain.

 

For those that enjoy chopping and stacking wood then buy the following book, "Norwegian Wood. Chopping, Stacking and Drying wood the Scandinavian Way" by Lars Mytting

 

It is a book about the relationship man has with wood and the value in plays in life.

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For those that enjoy chopping and stacking wood then buy the following book, "Norwegian Wood. Chopping, Stacking and Drying wood the Scandinavian Way" by Lars Mytting

 

It is a book about the relationship man has with wood and the value in plays in life.

 

I picked up a second hand copy , great book.

 

It sounds like quite a few people in that book advocate just leaving the wood uncovered then moving into cover a few weeks before needed. I'm trying that at the moment, I'm thinking rainwater has traces of salt that may draw out moisture deep inside the logs?

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