A bit late with the log stack this year, but with the best of the drying weather still to come, it should be just fine.

Technically, the log stack is built in a windrow configuration, lying in the direction of the prevailing wind. Air circulation is the key to a single summer’s seasoning – lots of space between each log and the end grain exposed to the breeze. Moisture in the timber travels 10-15 times faster longitudinally than radially, so as the air passes the end grain it wicks the moisture along the wood fibres to the atmosphere.

The windrow will remain uncovered for the summer. Any rain will not be a problem, as there is very little penetration radially. In the autumn the stack will be covered with weighted tarps, and then used throughout the winter.

I’ve found that with conifer wood, it’s best to stack the logs bark down, as the rough, flaky bark tends to trap rainwater and increase the stack’s internal humidity.

By September, the logs will have dropped their moisture content from about 40% to an acceptable10%, in a traditional tumble-stack this would take two or three years to accomplish!

As you can see, this is a double-row windrow. A single row would be even faster to season, but then stability becomes an issue and there’s nothing quite so demoralising as watching a wood stack slowly collapse after a week’s work!