Bulk Firewood Bags - Will I Ever Use Them Again? 

The good ol' fashion way of stacking firewood in rows out in the sun is still the best. It is nice that people and companies try new things, however.

In Sweden we cut the wood during winter and start splitting during spring and let it dry until june . In June we stack the wood in the shed or in thouse bags if the wood is suppose to be sold or transported . We never put the wet wood in the bags its impossible to for the wood to dry properly . IBC totes is awsome too for storage too or transportation . We usally stack them in the tote so the buyer is getting maximum what he pays for when its dried . We use most birch that is the most common for fireplaces .

Thanks for taking the time to make this video. A stacked pile outside allows quicker drying than a pile that is wrapped up with less airflow in a bag. The bags will also take more time to dry after it rains. A better test of the bags would be to keep the bags covered with a roof. Regardless of what the instructions suggest. The bags will deteriorate quicker in uv light so covering would help with longevity too. They make for easy moving of material and are cheaper than ibc totes. Testing them after a year undercover would be a better test of efficiency and efficacy of drying time. You could save a lot of wasted time stacking. I think it is worth another test and perhaps it would be a good thing for you.

Good honest review Dan

Good Morning Dan, A good Honest Review, Take Care 🚜🪵👍🏼🇺🇸

I remember watching you load the bags and it looked like a lot of work! Good review Dan

Thanks Dan. Great experiment. And goof to know. Have a good one!

I used the bags, and have used the IBC totes with a front access cut out. Stacked in the totes like Mike Morgan is probably the best and I will get more totes at sometime. The Bags are OK, but I think that they are a bit ugly. I have a good solution for filling them without tying up the tractor. I had a scaffolding frame left over from a build project. I cut a new X frame from EMT tube that spaced the scaffolding frames at about 4 feet apart. I put a pallet down on the ground and just put the loops of the four corners of the bags over the top of the four corners of the scaffolding frame which holds it open at the right height. When the bag is full I use the tractor and pallet forks to pick up the pallet and bag which lifts the loops off the frame and I can transport the pallet with bag on top to where it will be stored.

Great review

I do not like stacking wood so I have a small wood processor with a belted conveyor which dumps the split wood directly into the bags, kept open by a rig I made, then I store them outside with a cover on top, then in winter I use the tractor to put them in the car garage entrance, then I push them with my truck further into the garage where I pick my daily ration of wood. Much less handling and endless stacking.

So I split stuff down to like 2-3" diameter and tightly stack it under a covered location. What matter most is average humidity and if we get any wind driven rain. . I've also tried the holzhausen method. We had one summer where we were under a fire watch almost the entire summer and had left 6 - 8 -in thick splits of fresh cut red oak just tossed under the shelter, and when I went to split again in the fall it was 15%. I had to actually go and trim a tree to check to make sure my moisture meter wasn't broken. This year I'm trying to split into a pile of stove side wood. Leave that pile out for a couple of weeks just sitting loose in the yard, then we'll stack underneath my wood shed. I have had really good luck just splitting to length and letting time in the chaos of New England weather (hot to cold cycles really drive the moisture out) do it's magic.

I like the IBC totes , they work out great for me. Stack wood in totes , easy to move around.

That's a good idea

Good review. Wasn't sure on bags either. Like the look of wood stacked vs bags sitting around. Nebraska WoodSTR

Have little boss man fill one up with leaves and paint it orange and it could be a giant pumpkin 🎃 for Halloween 🎃👍 nice video

I'm not a big fan of the bags either, although they may not be bad for the Japa if you had a stand to hold them open under the conveyor.

Might be a good option for a processor with a belt feed. I like the icb tots for wood. They are great for cookies

Works for some like farmer p, hes a farmer and RU-vidr. He also has a tree team that cuts trees on jobs pruning, takes back the wood chip for his cattle. When work is quite or his crew is finished early they cut logs and split into bags. Uses his Mustang skidsteer to stack the the bags three high into a shed. When seasoned he just loads the bag into his tipper van

Would be nice if you could try again next year with 1 bag each from a different manufacturers and fill them all with the same wood/size. Maybe some bags are much better then others??? Thanks for info...

I use the same bags. Work pretty good out in a field with perfect sun and wind. The longevity is going to be a factor but I’m selling for $100 a facecord this year so at that rate I can afford to replace bags every few years

Bags might be nice if you have the setup for it, but ibc totes are the way too go, since you have the tractor!

I use those bags. With my set up the cut and chopped firewood drops into the bag and eventually i use a tractor to move it. It is much faster than stacking. But the bags are expensive so I think some wood will be stacked.

Unless you have a tractor & forks, the bags are useless for firewood storage. (I would have to spend upwards of $25,000 just to use bags). They look good for composting though. :) Throw in the sawdust, leaves, table scraps - top soil in a year.

I use bags that big box stores deliver rock and sand in. They throw them away and I snag them out of the dumpster. They're great for limbwood. I store wood in them and I have round tarps to keep the weather off of the wood. If I need more wood I can easily drag one of those bags closer to the home. If its free its for me.

Nice demostration Dan.. I think these would be better out in an open field like at your Dad's place..

Them bags seem to be pretty handy...but don't seem to help dry out firewood!!! Them readings are very interesting hahahahaha!! Stay safe my friend 🍺🍺💪💪👍😎

Hi Dan. Thanks for the review. Were there any more signs of rot, mold, or mushrooms from what came out of the bags vs the stacked pile?

I bought 500 NNZ bags to store the wood while it drys.. much easier than stacking. Just fill the bag and move it out of the way.. also finding that it works extremely well for the bagging process.. ill try and upload a video tomorrow if the weather cooperates

My moisture meter is + or - 3 points . Take your average 17 outside 34 in =26 . I have cut down live ash 🌳 and started a fire. When tested it was 33 % the real test is to put it the pit and see what it takes to start and burn.

I LOVE using bags. I have a crane on my trailer for deliveries. Selling them for $395 each for premium hardwoods delivered. Customers love the clean look when you drop them at the end of their driveway. Hang them on the end of the conveyor and take HOURS per cord out of the production and delivery process. For me, its a no brainer when it comes to the numbers.

Good morning Dan, good review. It appears the wood doesn't season as fast as the stacking method. I too had my doubts when I looked into using bags instead of IBC totes.

I always thought that they would not work

I suspect that label pictogram about protecting from sun and rain is more for the benefit of the bag than it is the wood. Few things kill polymer fibres more effectively than UV light, even if you do include a stabiliser...

How do u know if you are getting the most btu’s for heating with if moisture is still that high. I know the boiler will burn it but how do u know?

I dont think those bags would last here in colorado. our sun( uv light) is just too intense and destroys everything. i have a feeling that material would just become compromised and break as soon as you tried to move it.

You still have the Japa? You could hang them at the end of that conveyor to fill them up?? I agree though…there are better stacking solutions.

Use them for sawdust and wood chips. We use them at the mill for animal feed. Also I don’t know what area you are in but I would think it would be way lower than 30% after a year unless it’s just because of how thick you left them…?

you cant beat stacking and drying you wood out in the open with the rows separated and just covered on the top

Did you find any problems with mold?

The bags may be good for shorts & cookies.

Can you give us the moisture of a comparable block of wood kept out of the elements and under cover for same 13 months. We might be surprised.

Hell i just keep pushing the pile up. Load it sell it. Does it realy pay to keep handleing firewood 4 to 6 times before you sell it. I sell by truck load bit over a cord of hard wood mixed. $250. All cut n split at 14 " fits in every wood stove.

North-west England here. Quite a damp climate here for 6 months a year at least. Perhaps not as cold (except on occasion) as yours but lots of rain and we're on a lot of clay subsoil so although the weather is nice right now and the top surface is pretty dry, you don't have to wait too long or dig too far to find moisture. I've found that those bulk bags are pretty useless for firewood, except maybe to keep a load together for just a day or two. Beyond that and the wood sweats, especially fresh cut logs. There simply isn't enough air flow into the centre and not enough on the sides either. Stacked outside and uncovered is no good either, although plenty of rain as I said. The only way for me to season firewood is in a large cage with a steel-cladding roof on it. It's only for me, not a firewood business. The cage is about 12 x 12 feet square x 6 foot high. Slightly less maybe because we're dealing with pesky Metric dimensions and also a base of pallets for obvious reasons of not stacking straight off the ground. Nevertheless there should be about 6 cords + of wood when full. I don't stack it inside, just chuck it in randomly so maybe there's slightly less than that but it's enough for me for use from about late October to mid April. I haven't lit a fire now for about two weeks as the weather has been mild enough this year since the first week of this month. But yeah - bags not good. Outside uncovered not good. Caged and roofed - good. That's my shilling's worth of advice, although you have a much larger and more pro operation than me. I like watching your content, just as I like fiddling with wood and logs myself.

The only way it would make sense to me is if the customer got the wood in these bags and paid for the bags but not as a way to store the wood.

I tottally agree, bags do not work, been there done that.

I am surprised with high reading. By looks and sounds I wood have thought they would be closer to 20 %.

Red oak?

I don't really see the purpose of those bags. Plus, those bags look like a nice place for mice to live.

First

I think a rodent ate a whole in the bag. Which would a big problem here. Mice, chipmunks and red squirrels.

Don't put Amanda in that bag.