SUGARHOUSE WOOD SHED

[MASSEY JACK]

In a booklet I got from Bascom's about "Sugarhouse Design" that is written by the University of VT it states on the plans for the 16 x 24 sugarhouse that concrete floor is "not recommended" for the wood shed. Does anyone know why???????

[cheesegenie]

Only a guess, but cost?

[maple flats]

I can only think of the concrete drawing moisture from the ground. I use my sugarhouse for about 1/2 of my wood storage and will be adding a concrete floor this year. In the future I plan to add an open sided extension to the sugarhouse with gravel floor for wood but that is a couple of years off.

[Fred Henderson]

My guess would be moisture. I got a leanto off one side of mine for wood and a dirt floor. I put cedar slabs on for a stockade like look and the wood dries very well. Smells kind of sour out there right now beacuse of all the Hickory I just put into it.

[Parker]

I would guess it would be cause of moisture,,I know my sugarhouse floor will get very damp during the summer if the weather is just right,,I would guess that if you put some pallets down and stacked your wood on top of that it would take care of the problem,,,I would like to pour concrete for my sugar house woodshed BUT it is 20'x40',,,,and that is a lot on $$$ I would rather spend on tubing at this point,,,

[Toblerone]

I don't understand. How can a concrete floor produce more moisture than a bare dirt floor? My guess would be cost. There is no need for concrete under stacks of wood.

[mountainvan]

concrete should not draw moisture from the ground, but it does from the air if the conditions are right. I f you have a cool concrete slab and hot humid air, water will condense on the concrete and this could cause the wood to have a higher moisture content. This happens here in the mountains alot on hot humid days rocks in the forest "sweat" sometimes making it hard to get around without slipping.

[maple flats]

SoCondensation may be the biggest part but why do codes call for plastic vapor barrier under concrete if moisture is not drawn or wicked from the ground? Can it just be for Radon leaching?

[mountainvan]

sorry, forgot to add if concrete is poured/installed correctly, ie plastic, perimeter drains, thoroseal, etc.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have several inches of gravel in my wood storage area and in my opinion, gravel would be better than anything else. The 24x48 section of my building which is the sugarhouse is all concrete, about 6" thick.

[cheesegenie]

Fred, about the hickory, a neighbour just cut a bunch down , he said
they were diseased and had warts on them. I have some hickory trees in the fence rows etc. some have those lumps, I thought they were kind
of a burrell or something. I never worried about them or cut a tree
down for that reason. What are they?

[Fred Henderson]

I am not sure either what they are in the hickory trees. I must have been told but I probably forgot. The one I cut for fire wood did not have them but 30 feet away another bigger older tree does. That is going to fire wood also as part of my thinning plan. The warts, burrels or what ever does not sem to hurt the wood if you want to take a log out for sawing. I have in the past made outdoor furtinure from hickory . It is one tough wood.

[Sugarmaker]

I think I used that Vermont book to design our sugarhouse and it was very helpful. The part about the wood shed not being cement is not clear but I would guess cost was the reason. We used the basic 16 x 24 foot layout but added a 10 x 24 woodshed. I did not cement the wood shed mainly because I can never keep it free of wood long enough and because I am cheap. I have good heavy pallets for the floor and all the wood junk falls through and I never have to clean it.
One thing I did not agree with in the Vermont book was that the side walls only need to be 8 foot. I designed ours at 10 feet to allow a lean to addition and the extra headroom in the boiling room would allow the easy addition of a steamaway.
Chris

[brookledge]

I know that when I rebuilt my sugarhouse a few years ago I added a concrete floor but did not poor it over the wood storage area which is about 225 square feet. The only reason I didn't do it was because of the cost. And with concrete over $90/yd. I'd certainly not do it.
As for any other reason I don't know.
Keith

[MASSEY JACK]

Thanks for all the replies. Chris, I was thnking of a 10 foot ceiling also. I am also looking for wood handling ideas. I plan on visiting several wood fired sugarhouses to get some ideas that will help minimize the handling of wood. If anyone has any input on that I would appreciate it.

[Fred Henderson]

Some have a small set of tracks from the arch to the shed and run a cart on the tracks.

[ennismaple]

We use wood pallets to stack and move our firewood. We figure we get between 2 singles and a full chord on each pallet - I've never measured it exactly to figure it out. The rails under the wood are 4x4 hemlock and they have a 4x4 under them in the same direction as the wood to get it up off the ground so we can get the forks of the tractor under them to move it. We stack them 2 high in the wood shed.

Send me a PM and I'll e-mail a pic of one to you.[/img]

[Sugarmaker]

Jack,
Most of my stuff is 'sugarhouse improvised'.
For the wood handling: First I made the wood shed floor match the level of the concrete in the evaporator room. Cheryl had purchased a 4 wheel (wire bottom and sides) wagon for general garden use. I found this so handy for moving wood I bought another. I fitted the front and back end gate with 3/4 x 6 x 30 inch high wooden gate extensions and it tripled the capacity of the wagon. Easy to load/ and I pull it right up to the evaporator so that it is with in easy reach for firing directly from it. The newer wagons have a wider foot print and may be more stable. These are the $75 wagons from TSC or Lowes.
I can boil for about 35- 45 minutes on a wagon load of pallets and about double that with chunk wood.

I also use them to haul bee boxes back and forth to the apiary. Chris

[Pete33Vt]

Alot of people around here use old manure track out of barns and build a cart to handle the wood. Just load it up and push it around to the front of your rig. All you have to do is open a door the throw wood ight into your arch. Also have seen people use a rack built to hold a couple firings worth of wood also in front of your arch. Just load up the rack, then when it comes time to fire open two small doors and throw into arch. This way keeps the wood at just the right height. Not so much bending over.

[forester1]

I bought one of those garden carts from Northern. They cost around $100 and hold 1000 lbs. I made wood rack sides for it.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Good wheelbarrow works great too and no bending required! :D Besides, it can be used year around and don't take up much space! :D

[markcasper]

I use a 20 bushel fiberglass silage cart for handling wood in and out of the sugarhouse. Being on a dairy farm, it was easy to decide to buy another one and use it year round. The tires are very narrow like bicycle tires, but heavier. You would be amazed at how easy it is to push it around even in the muddy areas.

My wife just asked me tonight what I would use for wood once we get the new shed up. I said we'd probably buy another one and have 2 of them.