Speed Seasoning (literally)

The extra gas you'd burn hauling that wood around would make kiln dried look like a good deal.

FATANDY21 said:

Hey so I tried searching both here and google and got nothin but...theoretically speaking, wouldn't a face cord of uncovered small split firewood in the bed of a pick-up driven daily say 10 to 30 miles a day at speeds from 0-60mph depending on the situation, season tremendously quicker? Near daily sun, black bed liner, not much rain... common sense right? The more high-velocity airflow the better or am I missing something...

I know it's extremely variable-dependent but anyone do it? I don't see why it couldn't cut the time in half, provided there was still any left by the end.

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Yes it would work,but it wouldn't be nearly as quick and efficient as this method.

Most novel excuse I've seen if you're pulled over for speeding: "Officer, we're short on firewood and I was only trying to keep my family warm over the coming winter!"

Roll the tonneau over back on when you get to work and let it bake in the oven while your at work. High temps will expedite the process of drying/splitting wood cells. However high velocity airflow has minimal effect given how dense hardwoods are. It takes time for the wood cells to die, split, release moisture, and have moisture work its way out to the surface of the hardwood. Also, air efficiently flows over the bed of a pickup (like a bubble) at high speeds, so the winds are probably only 25 mph tops in the bed. That is why it makes no sense to drive with a tailgate removed for gas purposes (as the air smashes the bed and increases drag).

Also, be prepared for a much higher gas bill and extra wear on your vehicle.

It would probably be cheaper to put a load at a time in your oven to dry it out.

The biggest factor is seasoning wood is humidity and dew point. These 2 indicators tell you how much moisture is in the air. It could be 80 degrees and 20 mph winds, but if the air is saturated with moisture the wood will season slow. The drier the air, the faster the wood will season. If you want to season wood faster dehumidify the air around the wood.

FATANDY21 said:

Interesting, didn't realize it would have that great of an effect on the mpg's... ehh my truck only gets 12/gallon at best anyways.

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guess thats why ford is making a huge deal about shaving pounds off their truck with aluminium parts for the 2015 F-150.

As you've now read, wind is only part of the equation of drying wood and higher winds without the other components in play equally will not increase the drying process.
Good to see you're thinking about it and asked.

I do believe you can cut the time in half with a proper cover and placed in an open sunny area.
I'm testing a couple of ideas to see if that can be cut again in half..