Who cuts their own wood? How to organize?

[Cast_Iron]

I am lucky enough to live on a large enough property where I cut my own wood for heat and the smoker.

I am having trouble keeping all the smoker wood separated and organized (oak, hickory, apple, persimmon, cherry, etc.)

Some woods are easy enough to tell apart, but sometime they can be confusing, especially for others when they stop by to grab some.

Input would be appreciated on how to organize.

 

[crankybuzzard]

I sure wish I had that problem! All we have are oaks, more oaks, and a few cedars here on our place. I have seen some friends in East Texas make different rick racks for each type of wood. Another I know "dots" the ends with a paint pen.

 

[Cast_Iron]

I sure wish I had that problem! All we have are oaks, more oaks, and a few cedars here on our place. I have seen some friends in East Texas make different rick racks for each type of wood. Another I know "dots" the ends with a paint pen.

I thought about the paint pen, and I know it's a small amount, but I didn't know if the paint would taint the smoke at all.

 

[02ebz06]

Do you put the wood in racks?
You could paint the rack to identify species.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

The Woodpile...

I have been accumulating a variety of woods to smoke with. I had made one rack to store some on and quickly filled it up so I bought a couple of sets of these to make a couple more racks... Filled them up, as well. I still had a fair amount of wood on my utility trailer so I built a 4th rack...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Go to the first post...

 

[SmokinEdge]

The Woodpile...

I have been accumulating a variety of woods to smoke with. I had made one rack to store some on and quickly filled it up so I bought a couple of sets of these to make a couple more racks... Filled them up, as well. I still had a fair amount of wood on my utility trailer so I built a 4th rack...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Go to the first post...

That’s exactly my thought as how to organize. Simple enough.

 

[bill ace 350]

Stack in simple racks?

 

[Fueling Around]

I am lucky enough to live on a large enough property
...
Input would be appreciated on how to organize.

Separate stacks? If you have the room space them out.

I place my cut wood under the eaves of my garage (ssh, don't tell my insurance company).
Down to only 3 varieties of wood: oak, maple & ash.

 

[1MoreFord]

The biggest problem is trying to keep too many varieties of wood.

Simplify things folks.

 

[Cast_Iron]

The biggest problem is trying to keep too many varieties of wood.

Simplify things folks.

I agree, but I have such a hard time tossing these speciality woods out for use in a burn barrel and fire pit.

 

[mike243]

I use the airplane method pilot here pilot there and pilot it over yonder, works great unless you had to much to drink

 

[1MoreFord]

I agree, but I have such a hard time tossing these speciality woods out for use in a burn barrel and fire pit.

Don't throw them away. Just use them and restock only what you need and use. You don't need more than 2 or three.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Try selling some if you have that much.

Warren

 

[chieffan]

I only keep the apple. Do the sawing on a trap and use the saw chips with the smaller limbs cut into 1" rings for the smoking. One old apple tree will provide many years of smoking for two people. Saw chips are kept in a burlap bag along with the blocks in a 55gal steel barrel with lid.

 

[gnappi]

I don't know how much wood you need to store but I made two wood cribs from PVC and they work fine.

 

[ReelFaster]

I am lucky enough to live on a large enough property where I cut my own wood for heat and the smoker.

I am having trouble keeping all the smoker wood separated and organized (oak, hickory, apple, persimmon, cherry, etc.)

Some woods are easy enough to tell apart, but sometime they can be confusing, especially for others when they stop by to grab some.

Input would be appreciated on how to organize.

Same, we partially heat our home with wood so I have racks and racks of wood and a large wood shed. But not much variety around here that I can get my hands on. Oak (Red&White), Cherry, Maple, and occasional Hickory so I am able to easily tell them apart. For right now they get cut to size and split and put into a two sided wood bin. One side is wet unseasoned wood, other side is dry seasoned wood and I rotate them in and out.

I also have mike crates full of smaller splits for the smoker just floating around the pole barn, organization can be challenging at times. I don't worry about mixing in a few splits of a different kind of wood here and there.