Seasoning Begins When???

Seasoning begins once the wood is cut and split and stacked in a windy place. That's what has worked best for us. If the stacks are covered, only cover the top. Welcome! Search on posts by Backwoods Savage. Real good advice.

My definition: Seasoning is wood cut, split, and stacked off the ground. I stack so a west wind can blow through and sun can hit them. If I cover, it's just the top. Never cover the entire pile while seasoning--it will rot. As for time, my general rule is that it must season for at least one year. Species like oak season for at least two years. Trees like soft maples may be ready to burn in less than a year.

States and municipalities have legal definitions of "seasoned" firewood. These definitions can be more or less detailed. I can't recall which state, but their rule for seasoned wood can mean bucked wood (not necessarily split) that sits somewhere for as few as 6 months. Not very helpful to the buyer.

I believe seasoning starts as soon as you cut the wood,the rate of seasoning is increased dramatically by splitting and stacking!

Gary

+1 what Gary says.

TreePointer said:

My definition: Seasoning is wood cut, split, and stacked off the ground. .

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+1
C/S/S, let the seasoning begin.
Splitting is real important for birch, not so important for spruce.

+1 for Gary. But not all wood will give you 'stuck wedges' if your trying to split it green. If & when I get my hands on some red oak I'm a kid in a candy shop with the Fiskars. In contrast, I also have some well seasoned rounds of elm in my yard that raise my blood pressure just looking at them, how am I ever going to split these guys???

By definition for burning wood: "seasoning is getting it dry enough to burn efficiently" IMO

By that definition seasoning is started or happening with dead wood standing and live/green wood as soon as it has been felled. As long as no more moisture is coming in the drying has begun. That said, the process is greatly shortened through CSS.

Wood is not a sponge so if it is not taking water in naturally the process has begun. Many other things to consider to expedite the process regarding location of cut wood and stacks. Wind, sun and cover help. Shade and wet conditions hurt(obviously)

opinions vary but I have plenty of dead ash standing that I will leave to blow in the wind and take the greener stuff down to get CSS started. I look at the big standing dead as "money in the bank" so to speak.

Some trees will retain moisture more than others, oak for example, so getting even dead oak CSSing is best from what I have learned.

dorkweed said:

...I've always split wood that's sat a year or more. Never split green wood before as I've always split by hand, and green wood would only get my wedges stuck in them

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Sounds like a procrastinator making excuses.

I always buck and split it right away. I split everything with an axe until I turned 50. I found that wood split better on the fresh cut face than on the old cut end. When I was scrounging, I would buck them up into double lengths to get them home. If I didn't have time to split them right away, I would hold off making the final cut so that I always had a fresh cut face to work off of.

As Gary said . . . technically seasoning starts when the tree comes down . . . but cutting it up, splitting it up and stacking it will substantially increase the drying process.

For me personally, my seasoning time starts when the wood is split and stacked . . . I like truly dry, seasoned wood.

BobUrban said:

By definition for burning wood: "seasoning is getting it dry enough to burn efficiently" IMO

By that definition seasoning is started or happening with dead wood standing and live/green wood as soon as it has been felled. As long as no more moisture is coming in the drying has begun. That said, the process is greatly shortened through CSS.

Wood is not a sponge so it it is not taking water in naturally the process has begun. Many other things to consider to expedite the process regarding location of cut wood and stacks. Wind, sun and cover help. Shade and wet conditions hurt(obviously)

oppinions vary but I have plenty of dead ash standing that I will leave to blow in the wind and take the greener stuff down to get CSS started. I look at the big standing dead as "money in the bank" so to speak.

Some trees will retain moisture more than others, oak for example, so getting even dead oak CSSing is best from what I hae learned.

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Well said.

Enough definitions here to understand why after the tree is down, it's seasoned wood.
We don't have to complain anymore, when someone buys wood that's not ready to burn, but it is still seasoned
Wood sellers have known this for years

dorkweed said:

Searched and read back quite a ways and really couldn't find a post that answered my question.

Does seasoning firewood start when it's first cut into log lengths and stacked to dry; or does it start when it's split and stacked to dry further????

When I used my fireplace, I've always split wood that's sat a year or more. Never split green wood before as I've always split by hand, and green wood would only get my wedges stuck in them

Just a wondering how you's guys time your "seasoning" here!! Thanks!!

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Seasoning starts generally once the wood is split. It should definitely then be stacked off the ground in a windy spot. Sun is good too but wind will dry the fastest.

As for leaving your wood a year or more before splitting, you are making it harder on yourself. The wood will split easier right after it is cut. Besides, if you wait a year before you split, you've basically lost a year of drying. Sure, the ends will dry but the center of the log won't and that is why you split.

It is good that you are getting some wood before you get the stove. Also it is not too many times we see someone with a McCullough saw any more. I've ran several of them through the years.

Seasoning begins when the tree stops taking up moisture. I cut a 9" dbh dead standing White Oak yesterday. Bark and sapwood coming off the trunk. I'm burning a big split right now...17% MC on the biggest round. I don't know how many years it took that standing tree to dry, but dry it did.

I like what Gary said. Seasoning starts when you cut to length and finishes when you split and stack.

LLigetfa said:

dorkweed said:

...I've always split wood that's sat a year or more. Never split green wood before as I've always split by hand, and green wood would only get my wedges stuck in them

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Sounds like a procrastinator making excuses.

I always buck and split it right away. I split everything with an axe until I turned 50. I found that wood split better on the fresh cut face than on the old cut end. When I was scrounging, I would buck them up into double lengths to get them home. If I didn't have time to split them right away, I would hold off making the final cut so that I always had a fresh cut face to work off of.

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ive noticed that as well. sometimes i remember flipping the round over to the fresh cut side if i had taken some off of an older round. very true.

pen said:

In the end, I don't see there being a hard fast rule to follow other than to try like hell now, and if that fails, try like hell later.

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Never meant it as a hard and fast rule for all. There will always be some exceptions. I too had left some stubborn rounds to dry some. When wood dries, it shrinks and it shrinks more on the outer rings than the center. This results in tension forming and deep checks that go all the way through the round and a well placed blow can split it. The minor checks that one sees on just the cut face which don't go very deep, serve to soak up the energy of the axe rather than impart a splitting force.

Anyway... we digress... back to seasoning. It starts the moment the leaves or needles start to drop as the tree is dying. One might even argue that it starts in Fall on live trees as the sap recedes to the roots. Whenever possible, I always went for Winter cut wood both for the lower sap content and because it stayed cleaner and was easy on the saw. Frozen wood also seems to split easier. That, and I hate to sweat.

Wood will dry faster through the end grain if bucked to length than if left in log form. Bark or lack of is another factor, with intact bark slowing the drying. Splitting wood exposes more surface without bark and will speed the drying.

I say that if you lay up your wood well and get years ahead, it will be dry regardless of when the seasoning actually started.

Old timers use to drop there firewood by June 30th to burn that year. Buck and stack after the harvest.

smokinjay said:

Old timers use to drop there firewood by June 30th to burn that year. Buck and stack after the harvest.

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Ja, growing up on the farm we used to clear land for more pasture and hayfield after the hay harvest and we burned that wood that coming Winter. Doesn't make it right or smart. We never felled trees with a chainsaw, we always chopped the roots so that the stump came out with the tree. I didn't do any felling until after I left home.

For years I would take delivery of Winter cut wood on frozen ground and then burn that wood the next Winter. Didn't make it it right or smart either but as they say, the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. We grow too soon old and too late smart.

Gary_602z said:

I believe seasoning starts as soon as you cut the wood,the rate of seasoning is increased dramatically by splitting and stacking!

Gary

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*2
Exactly what Gary said .. many of the others have given you the way to speed it up.. log length will season its just gonna be a very, very long time.. standing trees that are alive don't season lol
Cut split and stack is best way to reduce seasoning time