Storing fossils outside?

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

So due to family complications some of my fossil collection will have to stored outside. The best pieces are inside my house but my B-grade specimens are going to be left out in the dead of winter. I'm not worried about the ridiculously hard limestone specimens I have (it might even be good for them) but some Green River material and some U-Dig will be outside which I am worried about. Does anybody have some experience with this that they'd be willing to share? 

[ynot]

Just keep them dry and there should be no problem.

[FossilDudeCO]

I would not leave the Green River material outside, especially if it is from the Split fish or sandwich layers.

 

We leave the 18" layer capping outside all winter to wear it down on purpose so it will split better in the spring when it dries. Any good 18" layers are moved inside before the snow and split during the winter.

 

After the winter snows and spring rains though, the Split fish and sandwich layers will be bulldozed out until we get down to good solid rock again.

[Kane]

On the cheap, I would invest in a tarp, which should keep off most moisture from rain or melting snows. This will not prevent all moisture, though. 

 

Even better is if you have some backyard space and a few large coolers for stacking outside. Alternatively, those big Rubbermaid or equivalent stackable containers might also be an option as long as they are plastic or rubber, with good lids to seal the contents. 

 

If you have stuff that you want to weather for easier splitting, I know I cycle a lot of materials into my back garden and let winter do most of the work so that, by spring, I can split stuff apart easily. I usually only commit to the outdoors large slabs I take home from distant sites, usually about 300 or more pounds of spare material (I call it the Canadian squirrel method ). 

[Miocene_Mason]

All I can add is that the cold will cause the stone to contract a little and any moisture to expand, so do keep it dry (as others have said).

[FossilDudeCO]

Big tubs like Kane suggested may not be a bad idea. Our Home Depot here in Denver has the big 27 gallon black tubs with yellow lids on sale for $5.97. I just picked up 12 of them to help me sort the garage. I would stack these outside and then put a tarp over them!

[jpc]

Put the tubs where you want them, then fill them.  Much easier than filling them then moving them.   : )

[FossilDudeCO]

58 minutes ago, jpc said:

Put the tubs where you want them, then fill them.  Much easier than filling them then moving them.   : )

You and your pesky planning ahead!

[RJB]

The plastic totes are a great way to keep things dry in bad weather.    Good luck.

 

RB

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

10 hours ago, FossilDudeCO said:

I would not leave the Green River material outside, especially if it is from the Split fish or sandwich layers.

 

We leave the 18" layer capping outside all winter to wear it down on purpose so it will split better in the spring when it dries. Any good 18" layers are moved inside before the snow and split during the winter.

 

After the winter snows and spring rains though, the Split fish and sandwich layers will be bulldozed out until we get down to good solid rock again.

They aren't from the 18" layers. How bad are they going to get damaged if they are dry but have some heat fluctuation?

9 hours ago, Kane said:

On the cheap, I would invest in a tarp, which should keep off most moisture from rain or melting snows. This will not prevent all moisture, though. 

 

Even better is if you have some backyard space and a few large coolers for stacking outside. Alternatively, those big Rubbermaid or equivalent stackable containers might also be an option as long as they are plastic or rubber, with good lids to seal the contents. 

 

If you have stuff that you want to weather for easier splitting, I know I cycle a lot of materials into my back garden and let winter do most of the work so that, by spring, I can split stuff apart easily. I usually only commit to the outdoors large slabs I take home from distant sites, usually about 300 or more pounds of spare material (I call it the Canadian squirrel method ). 

I was thinking about those. I am going to store them in a 2 1/2 foot gap between my garage and fence underneath an overhang so they shouldn't get too much snow and ice. This limestone has been sitting outside for decades now and it endured thousands of freeze thaw cycles and it's still here. It's amazing how hard this stuff is . 

 

9 hours ago, FossilDudeCO said:

Big tubs like Kane suggested may not be a bad idea. Our Home Depot here in Denver has the big 27 gallon black tubs with yellow lids on sale for $5.97. I just picked up 12 of them to help me sort the garage. I would stack these outside and then put a tarp over them!

That's good to know. Hopefully it won't be extremely expensive.

 

9 hours ago, jpc said:

Put the tubs where you want them, then fill them.  Much easier than filling them then moving them.   : )

I definitely would have filled it then tried to move it on a skateboard or scooter or something. I will remember this.

 

3 hours ago, RJB said:

The plastic totes are a great way to keep things dry in bad weather.    Good luck.

 

RB

Sounds like there's a consensus here so that'll be what I'm going with.

[ynot]

1 hour ago, UtahFossilHunter said:

They aren't from the 18" layers. How bad are they going to get damaged if they are dry but have some heat fluctuation?

I have a split layer fish in My unheated / cooled shop for 2 decades and it has suffered no degradation.

As long as it stays dry it should be fine. You can always pack some desiccant in with it.

[FossilDudeCO]

Yup, the water and moisture will destroy it much faster than the temperature.

I have had some minor issues cutting the rock if it is too cold though.

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

1 hour ago, ynot said:

I have a split layer fish in My unheated / cooled shop for 2 decades and it has suffered no degradation.

As long as it stays dry it should be fine. You can always pack some desiccant in with it.

That's a good idea. I will find some to put in there with them.

 

7 minutes ago, FossilDudeCO said:

Yup, the water and moisture will destroy it much faster than the temperature.

I have had some minor issues cutting the rock if it is too cold though.

I won't be working on them. I just need them to not fall apart while stationary.

[Sagebrush Steve]

I just got back from U-Dig and Gene there told me they leave slabs out all winter and the repeated freezing-warming cycles cause the trilobites to pop out of the matrix on their own.  By the next spring they just have to scoop them up.  I can't say what that does to the quality of the specimens, though.

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

1 hour ago, Sagebrush Steve said:

I just got back from U-Dig and Gene there told me they leave slabs out all winter and the repeated freezing-warming cycles cause the trilobites to pop out of the matrix on their own.  By the next spring they just have to scoop them up.  I can't say what that does to the quality of the specimens, though.

I have been there in the spring and they really are just laying around. I found several  that weren't in bad shape for being through some freeze-thaw cycles. After a while I'd imagine they'd get pretty bad. 

[caldigger]

No need to store outside, I am sure there are many members here that would be more than happy to "store" them indoors for you.

[Miocene_Mason]

4 minutes ago, caldigger said:

No need to store outside, I am sure there are many members here that would be more than happy to "store" them indoors for you.

Yeah just send them all to me and I'll store them indefinitely

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

1 hour ago, caldigger said:

No need to store outside, I am sure there are many members here that would be more than happy to "store" them indoors for you.

 

1 hour ago, WhodamanHD said:

Yeah just send them all to me and I'll store them indefinitely

I'm glad there's so many helpful forum members who have large storage containers that they'd let me store fossils in rent-free indefinitely.

[Arizona Chris]

You arent the first one to have so many fossils nearly drive your family out of the home!  I had to build a shed with metal shelves inside to store our 2000 pounds of collection.  Even then, all is in plastic bags inside each beer flat.  The nice thing about a shed is they are cheap, hold tons of fossils and you can even go out and collect more!

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

4 hours ago, Arizona Chris said:

You arent the first one to have so many fossils nearly drive your family out of the home!  I had to build a shed with metal shelves inside to store our 2000 pounds of collection.  Even then, all is in plastic bags inside each beer flat.  The nice thing about a shed is they are cheap, hold tons of fossils and you can even go out and collect more!

I'm in the process of looking at these. I just don't know where I'd put it in my yard. I can definitely see the advantages of them. They'd have their own little home just like a dog house but instead for 500 million year old trilobites!