"Seasoned" Log Lengths

Some trees will dry a little through the bark but no way in one year. Trees like Birch would simply rot if left log length in the round with bark on.

Logs that are bucked up will dry somewhat through the end grain but splitting them will speed up the drying.

Never gonna happen.
The first inch may be seasoned.

Crabbypatty said:

Settle a bet for me please. i have a friend who swears if a tree has been cut down and stored in log length form, it is seasoned after a year.I explained to him that the moisture won't travel out of the wood until it is split, and preferably stored under cover for a year or so. we are talking about mixed hardwoods in the northeast ie: birch, oak, maple, ash, etc. i don't have a moisture meter yet, but i hear harbor freight has a reasonably priced one.

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Haul the biggest, freshest oak log you can find to Phoenix AZ and leave it out for a year. I guarantee it will be dry.

Crabbypatty said:

Settle a bet for me please. i have a friend who swears if a tree has been cut down and stored in log length form, it is seasoned after a year.I explained to him that the moisture won't travel out of the wood until it is split, and preferably stored under cover for a year or so. we are talking about mixed hardwoods in the northeast ie: birch, oak, maple, ash, etc. i don't have a moisture meter yet, but i hear harbor freight has a reasonably priced one.

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I have cut dead standing white and red oaks with diameter up to 8" at the base and found them seasoned.. I burned them right after splitting and not even a sizzle.. When I knocked 2 pieces together they sounded like bowling pins..Wood was not punky and was checked everywhere.. I think they had been dead standing for at least a couple years..

Ray

Crabbypatty said:

Bucked up? does that mean cut to lenghth? ie 18"

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Yes.

When you see heavy checking just on the ends that don't go all the way through the round, that means the ends are dried more than the center, suggesting that wood dries quicker on the end grain than through the bark. A check that goes all the way through indicates a more thorough drying throughout.

Some wood species dry better than others through the bark and/or through the end grain.

It can dry in log length, but the vast majority of trees will take more than a year in MA (exception may be ash, or very small diameter stuff).

If i score a large batch of rounds i like to 1/4 them before i stack them in the back yard .It doesn't always work out like that . I think if you split the wood small in the fall and cover the top it will dry by January. I start off burning last years left over wood in the fall and have to switch to new splits in mid winter . I'm planing to build a wood shed in the spring .16x12x8 I think ricks shed is sweet ,I have to dig mine into a hill so i will have concrete block on the bottom with 3' wood walls on top and a roof like ricks. I mite leave mine open or make doors that open all the way . John

Crabbypatty said:

Settle a bet for me please. i have a friend who swears if a tree has been cut down and stored in log length form, it is seasoned after a year.I explained to him that the moisture won't travel out of the wood until it is split, and preferably stored under cover for a year or so. we are talking about mixed hardwoods in the northeast ie: birch, oak, maple, ash, etc. i don't have a moisture meter yet, but i hear harbor freight has a reasonably priced one.

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Under ideal conditions, big logs can dry that way. Historically, that's exactly what was done to get large timbers for building barns in the 1700s- 1800s. They'd get cut, and covered for at least a year - and stored off the damp ground when possible.

But, trees cut, laying in the woods, someones lot, etc.? Forget it. I just cut up a huge pile a large red oak, beech, hard maple, and pig nut hickory - cut and stacked three years ago by the power company and left in the woods. All wet inside, and some - maybe 1/3 of it starting to rot. Not a single piece was anywhere near dry and would of rotted first.

jdemaris said:

Crabbypatty said:

Settle a bet for me please. i have a friend who swears if a tree has been cut down and stored in log length form, it is seasoned after a year.I explained to him that the moisture won't travel out of the wood until it is split, and preferably stored under cover for a year or so. we are talking about mixed hardwoods in the northeast ie: birch, oak, maple, ash, etc. i don't have a moisture meter yet, but i hear harbor freight has a reasonably priced one.

Click to expand...

Under ideal conditions, big logs can dry that way. Historically, that's exactly what was done to get large timbers for building barns in the 1700s- 1800s. They'd get cut, and covered for at least a year - and stored off the damp ground when possible.

But, trees cut, laying in the woods, someones lot, etc.? Forget it. I just cut up a huge pile a large red oak, beech, hard maple, and pig nut hickory - cut and stacked three years ago by the power company and left in the woods. All wet inside, and some - maybe 1/3 of it starting to rot. Not a single piece was anywhere near dry and would of rotted first.

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I agree the log lengths left on the ground will rot before long if raised they will not rot as fast but will not season much either unless the bark falls off or is removed. Removing the bark is how the big timbers are seasoned for the post buildings
However if you cut the logs to say shorter lengths say 16" to 20" and stack on the sides they will season without being split but it take a little longer. I have a bunch right now I am splitting and throwing then throwing right into the boiler.

I see most firewood dealers around me buy in logs from the winter to summer and in late fall, they cut and split and call it seasoned. I understand the dilema of the OP. Guys who cut firewood all "know" what they are doing.

Bigg_Redd said:

Haul the biggest, freshest oak log you can find to Phoenix AZ and leave it out for a year. I guarantee it will be dry.

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In Southern Calif. it might take a few months longer, but I find that any wood rounds will season well in one year and be bone dry in two. That includes 18" to 22" gum, eukie, pine, etc. Two years, bone dry. High summer heat and low humidity will do that. If you have high humidity and low heat, I suspect the folks sayin' "it'll never happen" are more on the money.

peace,

- Sequoia

kenny chaos said:

I see most firewood dealers around me buy in logs from the winter to summer and in late fall, they cut and split and call it seasoned. I understand the dilema of the OP. Guys who cut firewood all "know" what they are doing.

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I'm going to try to pick up a load of treelength before spring. The reason is, it's going to alot cleaner(i.e. mud) than stuff bought in the summer. Less dulling of saw. Probably same reason for the commercial guys, if wood stay about the same price for them. After reading all the posts on here, I think I would only buy "seasoned" wood with a moisture meter.
I also expect hardwood to be going down in price soon. Commercial hardwood market,up here, has come to a standstill. I know of one large contractor that has about 27,000 cord on the ground and no big market. Hardwood pulp took a bog nose dive.

Oh yeah, I got off topic....i don't believe wood will season properly in long length. $100 bet, I'll cut up/split one log and compare it with one not cut. Gentlemen, take 10 paces and draw your meter!

I would agree that one year of seasoning is not going to do much for stuff that is in the log. This fall I bucked and split 4 cord of 8' logs that have been sitting for a few years. That stuff was bone dry inside; I stared burning it a week after splitting it and it burns beautifully. Again that was only 8' lengths, and it sat for 3-4 years.

Hogwildz said:

Never gonna happen.
The first inch may be seasoned.

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And about six inches in on the ends. Small calibur stuff with no bark and well off the ground is plausable but anything 10"+ not so much. I've cut a lot of my firewood from delivered stick wood...even the sticks on the very top of the pile getting max sun and wind still are "green" when cut and the stuff I got was cut two years before I recieved it and it sat here for a total of three years.