When it comes to preparing firewood, stacking may be the most pleasant part of the job. The hard and sometimes dangerous work of disassembling a tree with a chain saw is done. The tedious splitting is over. Now comes the time to convert a loose, messy pile of wood into an orderly stack—a satisfying transformation that appeals to the builder in me.

But, unlike real construction, there's no noise or heavy lifting. You don't need tools. You just take each stick and fit it with another while enjoying the wood's pungent, earthy smell and the way its freshly split surface reflects light. Give me a quiet afternoon and a pile of wood to stack and I'm a happy man.

Well-stacked wood is attractive, but its real virtue is that it will be dry by the time you need it. Seasoned wood burns efficiently, doesn't require constant attention to stay lit, and creates less pollution in the form of smoke (unburned wood vapor).



Stephen Lewis

There are a number of stacking strategies that put the combustion odds in your favor. If you have trees on your property that are about 13 to 16 feet apart, you can use them as end posts and stack split wood between them in what's called a hammock span. This can work just fine for a few seasons, but in the long term it can damage the trees' bark.

Another approach is to build a wood rack, which is fast, easy, and inexpensive. On the other hand, split wood itself can be used as a building material. My two favorite stacks are the utilitarian end-pillar and a decorative German type known as a holzhaus, or wood house, which makes a smaller footprint than the end-pillar stack with the same volume of material.

They're both reliable ways to dry wood to about 20 percent moisture content by weight. Scientific research has found that you don't need to get wood much drier than that. Wood releases most of its moisture through its end grain, and both types of stacks expose the wood to capitalize on the heat of the sun and desiccating breezes.

After six to eight months in the stack, your wood is ready to be moved inside. If your stove or fireplace is small, you can lug a few sticks at a time in a simple canvas tote like the Custom LeatherCraft C390, shown on page 87. It's ruggedly built, with three rivets holding each leather handle to the canvas body. If you need to transport an armful or more, consider an efficient two-wheel caddie; Brookstone and Landmann both make sturdy models. But garden carts, dollies, or a well-built children's wagon can serve just as well.

As for the indoor stack, sure, you could toss the kindling in a 5-gallon bucket and dump the firewood in a corner, but if you want to extend the order and aesthetics of the exterior stack into your living room or den, there are plenty of attractive wood-storage systems available from suppliers such as Pottery Barn. Or, peruse their offerings for inspiration and then build your own.

6 Signs Your Wood Is Well-Seasoned

It doesn't smell like wood . Most of the woody scent you get is caused by moisture.

. Most of the woody scent you get is caused by moisture. It's dull in color . Seasoned wood should look gray.

. Seasoned wood should look gray. It's not heavy . Water makes up as much as three-quarters of the weight of a green piece of wood.

. Water makes up as much as three-quarters of the weight of a green piece of wood. The ends have cracks . As the wood dries out, it becomes more brittle.

. As the wood dries out, it becomes more brittle. The bark is missing or comes off easily . When the moisture goes, the bark usually goes with it.

. When the moisture goes, the bark usually goes with it. It sounds hollow when you hit it against something. (Probably best if that something is another log.)

How To Forage for Firewood

1. Find wood from spruce, aspen, birch, willow, or pine trees for kindling. Although these woods burn quickly, they light easily. (Fires made with them are also easier to extinguish because they don't leave much of a charcoal bed.)

2. Be wary of wood that you find on the ground, as it's more likely to be wet or rotten.

3. Most of your campfire wood should come from low branches. If they snap off easily, they're dead already and will burn well. If they don't snap off easily, leave them alone.

4. For larger, longer-burning pieces of wood, find a nut-bearing tree. Oak, hickory, walnut, and maple are all hardwoods, which means they're denser and have a higher Btu. (See below.)

Dry wood in descending order of Btu in millions per cord

Oak: 27.6

Maple: 25.5

Hickory: 24.6

Elm: 20

Birch: 20.8

Walnut: 22.2

Aspen: 18.2

Pine: 17.7

Willow: 17.6

5 Ways To Improve Your Firewood

Stack wood in a single row, out of the shade, with enough space between the pieces to allow air to pass through. This exposes more wood to sunlight and breeze, which helps dry it out faster. When stacking, use a crisscross pattern to make pillars at each end for stability. They act as bookends for the wood in the center. Before splitting wood on a stump, secure an old tire to the top of the stump. After you split the wood, it will lean against the tire instead of falling to the ground. Cut cords shorter than you think (around 14 inches long), split them smaller than you think (3 to 6 inches wide), and vary the size of the splits. The logs will be easier to carry, and the fire will be easier to build. Check your state's policies on cutting your own firewood. Many states provide licenses for a nominal fee, or even free, that permit people to remove trees from state land. (With thanks to John Gulland at woodheat.org.)

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