Thursday, January 24, 2013

Stacking Wood


There is nothing more satisfying than stacking your own wood into a neat little woodpile. It’s been several years since we have heated by wood, but I remember it fondly each time we venture off to one of our favorite vacation spots in Northern Maine.



A carefully planned, stacked, and dried woodpile means easier living in the winter months. Placed nearby a door and you can pop in and out with the winter winds are blowing and grab a few pieces without freezing your buns off.

Wood is purchased by a measurement called a cord. One cord of wood is equal to roughly 4x8 feet of stacked wood or roughly 128 cubic feet. A few cords of wood will warm a small to medium sized house for a winter.

Just as there are this is more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to stack your firewood.When determining where to stack your wood, look for someplace with a lot of direct sun to help dry out the wood. Having a garage wall or gate to line the wood up against is also a great idea and should still dry appropriately given time.

The most traditional way to stack wood is by creating a long single stack of wood. Stack a few pieces at a time and then turn the next line of wood in the opposite direction. This is called cribbing and is absolutely necessary to avoid an avalanche of wood when the wind blows. By the way, nothing stacks wood quicker than stopping to sip a beer. So I definitely recommend considering that as well.

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