How dry would you guess this wood is?

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stee6043

stee6043

Minister of Fire
Aug 22, 2008
2,648
West Michigan
I cut, split and stacked maybe 2/3 of a cord today. All of it was from trees that have been laying on the ground for several years. No bark on any of it. Some was rotten, which I tossed. But the rest seemed to look great and dry. Anyone want to take a guess at whether or not this wood could be dry enough to burn this winter? These trees have likely been down for 5 years or more. Most of it was gray. Some was a little more "yellowish".

I should be able to get at least 5 cords of wood from the trees laying on the ground behind my house. I'm just hoping I can use some of this for this year and not have to buy any....

2811119397_0eb3b4fbe9_o.jpg
 
its ready
 
One thing that would help is to get the wood off the ground. I use landscape posts - alot cheeper than 4by4s. Some people use pallets or even small trees as poles. Also, get it out of the shade and let the sun and wind dry it faster.
 
It has certainly seasoned long enough. The stuff you already have stacked I would leave alone, but in the future, pallets work well and are usualy free. Cover the top of the pile with plywood, rubber roofing or old tarps to keep rain and snow off and it will burn well.
 
We call this pole timber over here. Usually hard maple, the pieces sound like baseball bats when struck together. Some apper to have powderpost beetles in them, dust like flour grains. I leave the standing poles, cut and burn in spring and fall when I do nott want to steal from the woodshed as it is quite dry. You should not have any problem by heating season.
 
Fantastic news. I'll keep cutting! I've got 6 or 7 standing dead trees I plan to take down this fall as well. But I hope to use those for next heating season, not this one. I need to see about covering the top of the stack I suppose. I can't do much about the shade at the moment but my stack(s) will get late day sun from about 3pm on.

Thanks again, folks....
 
An accurate but kind of geeky method... the more accurate your scales the more accurate the MC reading.

Cut a representative piece from the center of a log. Should be ~ 1/2 - 3/4 inch think.

Weight it and write down the weight. I usually write it on the chunk itself.

Put the chunk in the oven at 200 degrees for an an hour.

Weight it again.

(Weight before - Weight after) / Weight before = Moisture Content.
 
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