Hello guy's.. need advice with buying seasoned wood.

mwatt65 said:

I have just installed an Enviro Cabello 1200 now I'm looking to pick up a couple of cords of seasoned firewood
in northern New Jersey! please feel free to chime in with and help or thoughts.

I have looked on craigs list but I think most of it is unseasoned. I have two cords already that is not seasoned
and I scrounge as much free wood as I can.

Thank you.

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It can't be done.

BillLion said:

Is this true?

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As others have pointed out a few days by the stove will not make for kiln dried conditions but as far as I'm concerned any moisture loss is good. When burning Instead of using the heat to vaporize water out of the wood I get it as heat in my house. I don't care if it the drying is on the surface or deep within. I did an experiment a few years ago by leaving some dry splits next to my insert for a month and weighing them every few days. I burnt the study results as it was scribed on the pieces of wood with a sharpie, but I recall them losing between 8-16 oz each. I was amazed to realize that there was a beer bottle of moisture within the wood that you would consider seasoned and dry. And that is a significant amount of water to not have to boil off.

paul bunion said:

I did an experiment a few years ago by leaving some dry splits next to my insert for a month and weighing them every few days. I burnt the study results as it was scribed on the pieces of wood with a sharpie, but I recall them losing between 8-16 oz each.

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I think something wasn't quite what you thought it was, in that experiment. Say you had a really substantial split -- triangular piece of oak 6" on a side and 16" long, weighing a little over 6 1/2 pounds at 20% average MC. That split only has about a pound of water in it, total. To shed a pound of water weight, it would have to drop to about 0% moisture content.

mwatt65 said:

Great day today. Took your advice and scored some white oak ready to burn seasoned two years. Cost me $175- looks like 2 to 3 cords, but I had to pick it up. Well worth it and what a difference it makes

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You got 2-3 cords of 2-year seasoned oak for $175 in North Jersey? Here's to you, Mr. Luckyfirewoodfinderguy. I paid $160 for 1 cord of unseasoned oak last January.

Do they have any more? And was it a Craigslist score?

mwatt65 said:

Trying to work out how much I've picked up today, the first pile of wood is 12ft long by six feet high by four wide, plus three stacks eight feet long four feet high! all in a single row. Some off the pieces are over 22 inches long. split a few of them and the average moisture reading is 22 to 24 % all white oak!

Am I good to go or not?​

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I would say that you are. Maybe not totally ideal, but I bet that wood, if it is indeed at that moisture reading, should burn pretty good.

mwatt65 said:

Trying to work out how much I've picked up today, the first pile of wood is 12ft long by six feet high by four wide, plus three stacks eight feet long four feet high! all in a single row. Some off the pieces are over 22 inches long. split a few of them and the average moisture reading is 22 to 24 % all white oak!

Am I good to go or not?​

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Just make sure you split the wood and are measuring the inside.