Wood storage - how to save time, space and money?
The end of February is when, due to the upcoming bird mating season, the logging season in Polish forests comes to an end.
With the approach of spring also comes a busy time for all allotment holders and home gardeners. In the first weeks of March all kinds of pruning shears, saws and blades will be in motion. After all, early spring is the best time to trim garden trees and shrubs, in addition to late autumn.
What follows... many of us will become owners of a large pile of wood and a good few wheelbarrows of larger and smaller branches in the near future.
Wood, as we know, will always come in handy.
But how to sensibly store it until the first major summer bonfire, or perhaps save it for next winter? Let's take a closer look.
1. The basis is the right place
Moisture is the biggest enemy of wood. Wet wood burns poorly, smokes and forms sludge in flue pipes.
To protect wood from moisture, it is best to store it on an elevated place, without direct contact with moist ground. For this purpose we can use, for example, pallets.
A dry and well-ventilated space is also important. Wood should be stored in a place that is dry and sheltered from rain. A shed or any kind of roofing is ideal for this.
The way the wood is stacked is also important. It is best to do it in such a way that the spaces between the individual pieces are as large as possible. This will ensure adequate air circulation and prevent rapid rotting.
2 Appropriate seasoning time
Depending on its use, wood should be stored for different periods.
For a recreational campfire and baking the proverbial potatoes in its embers, any reasonably dry wood will be suitable, without prior seasoning.
The case is different if we want to fuel our wood for stoves or use it in a home fireplace. Firewood is best dried for at least 6 months, and ideally for 1-2 years, depending on the species. Younger wood (such as birch) dries faster, while hardwoods such as oak or beech may take longer.
3 Efficient chipping
It is not a discovery to say that finely chopped wood can take up less space than large branches in their entirety. Tedious chopping, an activity that is relaxing for some, but tiresome and cumbersome in the long run, can be replaced by the work of a wood chipper.
Wood chippers are mainly associated with logging work and may come across as specialized equipment for woodcutters. In reality, however, any farm or workshop that generates large amounts of wood waste can successfully use their functionality.
There are many types of chippers available on the market, with different ways of power supply. Adjustable blades allow you to control the size of the material passed through the chipper. Thanks to this, in addition to shredding firewood, out-of-shape branches or wood waste can also be turned into wood chips, and these have a number of practical uses. They can come in handy in horticulture, as a material for fertilizing beds or lining garden or park alleys. Woodchips are also used as insulation or material for making wood-based panels - such as particleboard.
4 Pelleting and briquetting.
If you are more interested in efficient heating of your farm using your own wood than in recreational burning in the fireplace, a good solution may be the production of wood-based fuels.
There are two most popular types of this type of fuel:
4.1 Briquettes
Briquettes are solid fuel in the form of small cuboids with high density. It is formed by pressing biomass, in this case wood-based, inside a device called a briquetting machine. The energy value of briquettes can vary depending on the type of biomass, the moisture content of the material and how it is processed. The most energetic: sawdust briquette, has an efficiency of 17 - 19 MJ/kg. Briquettes achieve the best efficiency in biomass stoves, but they also burn without problems in universal boilers, coal stoves with controlled air supply or industrial boilers. Less frequently, but also with say, they are burned in chimneys or so-called "goats".
4.2 Pellets
Pellets are a more specialized type of wood-based fuel. It is created in a similar way to briquette, with the difference that the finished product of the pellet machine is an easily transportable and storable pellet. This type of fuel is made from all kinds of shavings, sawdust, wood chips or branches.
A good quality pellet shows an energy value of 18 - 20 MJ/kg.
Pellets are burned in special pellet stoves that ensure that the maximum energy potential of the fuel is utilized with the least possible production of smoke and ash.
The advantage of wood-based fuels over untreated wood is the ease of transportation and storage. Heavily compressed briquettes or pellets take up far less space than the wood from which these fuels are made.
In the process of their production, the water content is also significantly reduced, making pellets or briquettes less prone to rotting.
The lower moisture content of the fuel also reduces smoke emissions relative to burning untreated wood. Another advantage of such processing is that there is no need for thorough drying of wood intended for pellets or briquettes.
Are you thinking about producing your own fuel? Learn more about pellet and briquette machines in our other article.
Summary
Wood is still one of the most versatile and available fuel materials in our region. Its growth, however, is a long-term process. Therefore, it is worthwhile to responsibly manage its resources and make full use of its energy potential. Good and loss-free storage, even on a small scale, is a key element in the wise exploitation of this raw material.
