I bought one of those log stacking thingies from Wal-Mart. I got the half-cord size which fits nicely between two foundation vents on the patio. Then I started transferring wood from the carport. I stacked the wood in a neat and orderly fashion and found that even though I had gone a few rows over the top of the rack, there was an amount equal to twice the rack's contents still on the carport. Hmmm! Good value for money--hickory, dry, and $100 for a cord and a half.

I called the guy who sold it to me. He had just two cords left, so I had another "cord" delivered last night. Same quality and quantity, by the looks of it. I asked him if people were calling earlier this year. He said, yes, definitely, people were calling much earlier than usual, considering the warm weather. I asked if anyone had mentioned Y2K, and he said, oh yes, indeed they had, and he was keeping a little extra for his own family in case the power went off and it was a worse winter than usual.

As most of you know, I live in central North Carolina--pretty warm part of the country, considering. Anyone living in a similar climate area (Zone 7 and south), better get your wood soon. It may be going earlier in your neck of the woods too. (I presume those in colder areas have their wood already.)

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 02, 1999

Answers

Hi, OG. I'm sure you didn't do this, but thought I'd mention it for the benefit of newbies using wood for the first time. It's a good idea to avoid stacking the wood in direct contact with your house, garage, or other structure. To keep insects and other pests in the woodpile from invading or damaging those structures, and to reduce the potential for rot in wood siding, leave some air space between the woodpile and the building. (I use 6-8 cords per winter, keep it stacked 50' from the house, and stack only my immediate needs near the house, with a 4' separation.)

-- Norm Harrold (nharrold@tymewyse.com), November 02, 1999.

Incidentally, Northern Tool & Equipment Co. is the only source I've found so far for ready-made tarps sized to fit the standard woodpile. Their url is: http://www.northerntool.com.

-- Norm Harrold (nharrold@tymewyse.com), November 02, 1999.

Norm, I was thinking about putting a few days worth in my unheated attached garage once the weather gets cold- the idea being that the bugs would stay put. Any thoughts?

-- (rcarver@inacom.com), November 02, 1999.

Um, well, I thought about that but the house is solid brick, no chinks in the mortar, and the aluminum clad window frames are quite a ways above the rack. The crawl-space vents are covered in fine mesh. The rack and logs are about 6" away from the wall so that I can keep an eye on any activity in back. Only half a cord is over there, the rest is on the far side of the double carport, about 30 feet from the house . I intend to replace the blue tarp presently covering the rack with a thick, clear one for further ease of observation on any livestock taking up residence therein. We're a bit limited as to suitable places to store the wood so did the best we could.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 02, 1999.

To Norm Harrold:

This would be an excellent point under normal circumstances, but if you envision a really bad scenario I think it would be far better to take your chances with insects (e.g., wood close to a door) than with someone stealing your wood or perhaps taking a pot shot at you while you go out to get it.

-- eve (123@4567.com), November 03, 1999.

for rcarver: I'm surely no expert, but your plan sounds OK to me. My caution was really directed at the inadvisability of piling wood in direct contact with structures for an extended period. I've done the same as you on occasion, but I sprayed a ring of residual insect poison around the pile, just to limit migration. No fun having to deal with black widows, brown recluses, lizards, scorpions, slugs, and all the other stuff that calls my woodpile a home.

-- Norm Harrold (nharrold@tymewyse.com), November 04, 1999.