Nice problem to have

[Matt Warfield]

I thought I'd tap into all of your experiences and get some advice on this problem that I have. First a little background to bore you. :D

My wife and I found a place in a nice small down that was being foreclosed on - Nice place, good lot, great town, 12 wooded acres behind our property. Well, that didn't last long. The spring after we moved in, they started cutting down trees to make way for a road into the new development.

Yep, you guessed it, I bought some logs. Being a bit strapped for cash, I picked out and paid for roughly 400 BF of cherry and 500 BF of red oak...or so I thought. I also paid the guy to deliver it to my yard since he had the equipment. Well, delivery day came and I came home to a pile of 36 logs - a couple 6', a dozen 12-14', and the rest 8.5'. Using the Doyle method, I estimated 2600 BF in the log. That was a daunting number considering I still had to have it milled. But that problem has been managed and four long days later, it's all milled, stacked, and stickered. I did lose some of the cherry to ants so I've only got about 950 BF left. :D

So, back to this problem that I have. What do I do with it when it reaches equilibrium? I suspect it will be this spring as all of it was in the 13-14% MC range in late fall. Would you guys recommend leaving it where it is(and deal with my wife for taking up her garden space), moving it into the second stall of the garage(and force the wife to park in the driveway), build a shed(and listen to the wife complain about that thing that's blocking the view of her flowers), or drop it off at your place? :eek: I realize that I could rent a storage shed but I'd rather not pay a rental fee to keep it.

Opinions anyone?

Thanks,

Matt

[Cecil Arnold]

I think you could drop it at my place, especally any cherry you may not have room for. Other than that I would think you might have to put it somewhere out of the wife's sight under some sort of protection.

[Steve Clardy]

Leave it stacked, sticked outside. Cover top and sides only with a heavy tarp, or sheet tin.

[Dan Racette]

storage space with a small amount of wood as payment?

I'm about 95 miles from the IA Border? Is that a possibility for you?

[Matt Warfield]

storage space with a small amount of wood as payment?

I'm about 95 miles from the IA Border? Is that a possibility for you?

Dan,

Very generous offer. I'd like to keep it a little bit closer though as I(read my wife) has quite a few projects in mind over the next year. A five hour round trip really cuts into the shop time. I'll keep that in the back of my mind though as I do have in-laws in the Madison area.

Thanks,

Matt

[lou sansone]

Well what will happen once it reaches EMC @ 13% is stay there unless you find a way to store it in a space with a lower relative humidity. That can be a heated shop in the winter ( it will drop down to between 10 to 30 % RH ) or some other space that has a dehhumidifier running. Depending on where you live the EMC can range from maybe 10% and upward. most places in New England average in the 11 to 13% range. Obviously you don't want the wood getting wet with rain, so you will have to move it into a covered area. Even if you do put a tin roof on it, I personally do not like the sun beating down on the sides of the pile. It seems to weather the wood from my experience. I ended up building 2 different buildings for my lumber storage, plus about 300 sq feet in my shop dedicated for lumber storage. The shop area is the space where my wood is the driest, sometimes in the 6% range in the dead of winter ( shop is always heated ).

lou

[Jim Becker]

Leave it stacked and stickerd outside....just bring inside what you expect to use in a reasonable period of time and that you have room for. My pile has been in place since late 2000 and I'm still pulling boards from it. The only damage is on boards that were "questionable" to begin with...

[Matt Warfield]

Thanks for the input guys. I currently have two stacks that are covered with greenhouse panels and about 400 lbs of sandbags each. I suspect that I'll build a shed to get the lawn tractor out of my shop and then use that space to store a good portion of it. At any rate, at least I won't have to go looking for lumber for a while. :)