Storing wood

[Christine S.]

Hi Folks!

I am planning on finding myself a local orchard so I might collect some branches for future smoke wood. The plan is to store them in the garage while they dry out. How do people store their wood chunks while they are drying? I read in another post that someone puts wood chunks in a burlap bag and hangs it from a tree. That wouldn't work so well for me as it rains quite a bit here. Would they have enough ventilation if I propped them against the wall in the garage in a burlap bag? I also considered getting those clear plastic rectangular storage containers and leaving the tops off so they can breathe. Or should I drill some 1 inch holes in the sides for extra ventilation? Is this going overboard?

I have also heard about building a kiln shed, and while that is a very cool idea, I think my requirements for wood would not warrant such a large scale effort.

I am a weekend bar-b-quer, and I am trying to figure out how much wood I would need to store to last me a year. Half a truck load of branches?

Also, what are people using for cutting up their branches? I am the type of person who wants to buy tools that will last a long time, so brand names of your favorite wood cutting tools would be good. I am not planning on cutting any logs up, so I don't imagine I would need a chainsaw.

Thanks for any tips.

-Christine

 

[Dan H.]

I have a "Ludell" (might be slightly mis-spelled) axe, every single year I use to split wood (firewood). I cut, and split everything! I burn every darn, cold year... grrr... anyway that may not be much help unless your chopping up big chunks. I personally think that more importantly is the handle. I hate the wood ones and love the fiberglass ones. Three years in a row now i've had that thing and anyone who chops there own wood knows how often the handles die. and after this last year it just looks the same, even w/ several mis-swings, and those really chew em up. hope this helps (pry doesn't

) but its all about the handle to me. by the way i never have heard to many people make to big of a fuss over apricot wood before, but I REALLY like it. Were both spoiled to have access to orchard wood. I wonder what else apricot resembles.. its certainly not apple, as I thought all those (apple, peach, apricot, plum, etc.) would all be fairly similar... well I didn't think so, apricot was awsome (on everything so far) thanks -Dan

 

[Bryan S]

Christine, I have a 12" Dewalt compound miter saw and use that for most of the wood. That's overkill but since I have it I use it. Once you get it cut down to size and split, I just use a very old hand axe that was my Grandfathers. You don't need anything big to chunk up some fruit wood branches and such. Even the chunks you buy in the store, a small hand axe works quite well, just got done splitting some store bought hickory for my butt cook later tonight. Once it's split and the size you want for use in the WSM just palce the wood in those plastic stackable milk crates and place then outside to dry. Bring them in if you know you are going to be getting some heavy soaking rains. It won't take long for the wood to dry out and be useable. You can get them cheap at the dollar store and they are nice cause you can stack em, put lables on and move them around without breaking your back. HTH

 

[Christine S.]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dan H.:
apricot was awsome (on everything so far) thanks -Dan </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your input. I am intrigued by your comment abut apricot wood. I have read comments about how some can taste the difference between different flavors of fruit wood and others can't taste the difference much at all. It will be interesting to experiment more and see if I can tell a difference. Hopefully at some point I can get my hands on some of that apricot wood. It sounds good.

-Christine

 

[Christine S.]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan S:
Christine, I have a 12" Dewalt compound miter saw and use that for most of the wood. That's overkill but since I have it I use it. Once you get it cut down to size and split, I just use a very old hand axe that was my Grandfathers. You don't need anything big to chunk up some fruit wood branches and such. Even the chunks you buy in the store, a small hand axe works quite well, just got done splitting some store bought hickory for my butt cook later tonight. Once it's split and the size you want for use in the WSM just palce the wood in those plastic stackable milk crates and place then outside to dry. Bring them in if you know you are going to be getting some heavy soaking rains. It won't take long for the wood to dry out and be useable. You can get them cheap at the dollar store and they are nice cause you can stack em, put lables on and move them around without breaking your back. HTH </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


I love the milk crate idea! I don't know why I didn't think of that before. And it's good to know a light rain won't be that bad for it. Excellent suggestion about the dollar store. I will keep an eye out for some deals.

Thanks for the suggestions!

-Christine

 

[Jerry N.]

I use the milk crates and they work real well. I don't have a ton of wood, so I just leave it in my garage to dry out and store.

As for cutting up the size and type of wood you'll get from an orchard (large branches), i think you'll do fine with a hand saw and a hatchet. While power tools are great and by all means, if you have them use them, I get by just fine with a hand saw. The main thing I've learned about sawing wood by hand is to get is secured real well so it's not moving around on you. Then with a good hand saw, you'll cut right through branch size wood in no time.