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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Wood shed considerations
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paulz
Member
# Posted: 28 Feb 2017 20:21
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Gonna build a wood shed. Pretty simple thing I know but curios about things like ventilation, varmints, ease of access to the wood...

Or do I just build a box with a door..

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 28 Feb 2017 22:38
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Are you in fire territory? If so, you want it 50 feet away from the cabin, and make it totally enclosed so embers can't get in. Other than that, I guess, it just has to shed water. And keep out critters so you don't get surprised by a mother raccoon when you go in there at night

spoofer
Member
# Posted: 1 Mar 2017 09:00
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Mine is against my camp wall, I know a no no... I get mostly mice and snakes in mine. In the tug hill you want it with in reach, because of all the snow.
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old243
Member
# Posted: 1 Mar 2017 09:21
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I guess it depends on , if you are full time and how much wood you will burn in a year. In my case, we have a full size house, burn about 10 -12 face cord a year. Our wood stove rarely out during the heating season. Our woodshed is attached to the house. Has a proper block foundation, concrete floor. Door opening to the outside and another to the house. We don't have to go outside to get wood. I also have a roof hatch, that I remove and fill , with the use of a bale elevator. We don't pile our wood , just fill the shed full and put the lid back on. This works well for us. I cut my wood a year ahead , have a concrete slab that I pile it on ,to season. Move it during a hot spell to the woodshed , so it is nice and dry. Our weather is cold and a lot of snow , so don't want to be bringing in wet wood to burn. old243

paulz
Member
# Posted: 2 Mar 2017 10:53
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Thanks for the replies. I don't have a cabin wall suitable even if I wanted to. I do have an area about 30ft. away from the front door that is out of the way and easy to back the truck up to. But a tall shed would block the view so I'm thinking a long low shed accessible through the top rather than the side. About the size of a picnic table. Hmm...

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 2 Mar 2017 11:49
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That would be interesting. Lift up the roof to get to the wood. If it's heavy you could counterbalance it with a weight, rope and pulley.

30 ft from the cabin has been the standard fire rule, but I think they are now recommending 50. In a fire some years ago near my place, a house burned to the ground. He had done everything they said to do- thinning, clearing etc., EXCEPT for one thing. His wood pile was within 30 feet of the house, it caught fire, the house caught fire. Ouch.

paulz
Member
# Posted: 19 Jul 2018 18:13
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I have so much wood scrap from my never ending deck project that I finally had to take yesterday off and build a firewood box. Yes, the lid is a bit heavy, maybe some hatchback struts.. Anyway there is no floor, it's sitting on an old steel railing, I thought it might be good for air circulation. So, before I fill it up, should I raise it up on bricks a couple inches off the dirt?
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stitch
Member
# Posted: 20 Jul 2018 01:47
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I debated on the best route for me was to build a lean-2 of a existing shed that I built last summer. Its about 50ft away from the shack. I wanted to place it in front of the shack but saving that spot to build a sauna.
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Gary O
Member
# Posted: 20 Jul 2018 09:21
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Quoting: paulz
Or do I just build a box with a door..


Quoting: bldginsp
make it totally enclosed


no

have at least one end, exposing the cut ends, open
preferably two opposing ends

unless you have completely cured wood...even then, not so advisable

NorthRick
Member
# Posted: 20 Jul 2018 13:42
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What Gary said. The wood storage needs to ventilate so that moisture coming off the wood can escape.

paulz
Member
# Posted: 20 Jul 2018 15:02
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Well I filled that up, plus a barrel. This is just kindling, board ends and scrap, 30ft from the cabin. My rounds, splitter and logs are down the hill on the flat by the road, I have to haul that up as I burn, no room up here. That's all out in the open, need to build something there. Well ventilated, point taken.
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moneypitfeeder
Member
# Posted: 22 Aug 2018 20:28 - Edited by: moneypitfeeder
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Paulz, I can't offer much advice, our shed is attached to the cabin, but depending on your climate you might prefer that if is it is an option (if it is possible). We can go through the bunkroom and access wood whenever. To Spoofer, nice to see another Tug Hill owner here! I'm not sure how many of us there are, but I share the same issues with critters in an cabin, our closest town is Redfield.

paulz
Member
# Posted: 23 Aug 2018 18:27
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Thanks mpf, I'm fortunate my cabin is in a non-freezing climate. Also in a somewhat fire prone area, although with the amount of fuels surrounding my cabin, and the cabin itself, it probably would't make much difference. The fire dept. told me that with the difficult access road, if a fire were approaching they would probably just make sure nobody was there and not try to defend it.

ICC
Member
# Posted: 23 Aug 2018 18:37
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I do not believe that it is a good idea to have the woodshed attached to a building. That makes for too easy a path for wood eating insects to gain access to the home. That's the same reason none of my firewood is brought into the house until it is going directly into the stove.

justins7
Member
# Posted: 24 Aug 2018 11:47
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I've been using a pre-fab metal wood holder, like this, until I build something more substantial.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200622247_200622247

Anyone use these? Last year the whole thing toppled over, and since then I've secured it better. Now it works great.

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