1 year old splits burn better than 2 year old?

jeffee, it is difficult to answer as we don't know what kind of wood you have nor how it was stacked and/or covered.

jeffee said:

I get 3 cords of cut and split hardwood (mixed) dumped in a pile in December, and stack it under cover in March. It gets burned starting in October. It kind of seems like my newer supply (delivered last December) is burning better than my older supply (one year older than newer supply). Last summer was good for seasoning around here, and the summer before that was quite rainy and humid. Am I just imagining that the one year old seems better seasoned than the two year old? How could this be? Anybody?

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Is that a Ben Stein request?

Too many variables. Too little info. Somebody has too much time on his hands, now that he has things "down." Enjoy what works.

I live in western MA too so our wood was exposed to the same weather. I am burning the same mix of 1 and 2 year old wood as you are. I have not noticed any difference between due to the age of the wood. In my experience, as long as the wood you have stay dry it will burn the same for many years.

I don't see how the older wood shouldn't be drier than the newer wood if both are in a similar location. The older wood may not have seasoned as much during its first summer as the new wood did during its first summer, but the old should have been ahead of the new at the start of last summer (since it was a year older, albeit a somewhat humid year), and both of them experienced the same dry summer. I can't think of any reason the the new wood should have passed up the old wood except if the type of wood is different. For example. two year old oak might be wetter than one year old birch. If the older wood was so wet the first year it started to rot, and thereofre it now absorbs more moisture than the new wood, that could explain it, but I think you would have mentioned punky wood.

you've named some of the wood, but are both years a similar mix? Like is the older stuff mostly oak and the new stuff is mostly maple (for example)?

jeffee said:

The older wood never had that 'cracked open' look that the newer achieved very quickly. Jeff

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Is there a chance the 2 year old wood was felled when the sap was up (before October), and the newer wood was felled with the sap down, say November - December?

Just musing over the possibility of a sappier woodpile and a wetter summer...........

I have had maple and black walnut that wasn't ready after a full year in the shade. Oak will never be ready unless it small to begin with, split very small, is very dead, dry when cut and in a primo drying spot.

jeffee said:

The mix of wood types seems about the same. Thanks for the insights, I guess maybe I'm just imagining it. The older wood never had that 'cracked open' look that the newer achieved very quickly. Both burn well, but I thought the newer burned a bit better when I turned the air down in my stove. Also, I thought I noticed a difference in the coals. But, I've only burned a few batches of the new. Just running out of the old this week. Thanks again ..
-Jeff

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Coals are funny things. Good oak will give you good coals. On the other hand, wood that is not as dry as it should be will also give you lots of coals...but they are harder to burn down and you don't get as much heat early in the burn cycle.

Like others have pointed out Jeff, there are lots of variables to consider. Also, even though you go through a period of high humidity or a wet rainy period, that may slow the drying process a bit but you say it has a roof so it should really not slow it down that much. Most of us have experienced periods of long wet spells followed by more high humidity, but the wood dries nonetheless.

Also, do not be deceived with the ends of the wood cracking or not cracking. I've always felt this was highly overrated. I have wood that is 7 years in the stack and very little of it is cracked on the ends. It is very dry though.

Wow 7 years in the stack and very little split ends? You need to find a drier place for your wood especially if you are 7 years up....

splitnstack said:

Wow 7 years in the stack and very little split ends? You need to find a drier place for your wood especially if you are 7 years up....

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split ends don't mean much. if all wood got split ends, then there wouldn't be any good furniture or building materials.

Oh o.k. thought we were talking about firewood and not furniture, sorry

but if you did build a chair with your firewood be sure to cut off any split ends. And yes splits on ends are indicative of wood drying out. I have dead dry wood without cracks on the ends too.

Cal, not all wood will give you the same split ends. Ash is one of those woods; some will split a little but not all of it. The other wood we cut does usually split on the ends. If you have seen any of the pictures I've posted showing our wood stacks you would not say I need to find a drier spot!

Backwoods Savage said:

Cal, not all wood will give you the same split ends. Ash is one of those woods; some will split a little but not all of it. The other wood we cut does usually split on the ends. If you have seen any of the pictures I've posted showing our wood stacks you would not say I need to find a drier spot!

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i did not say you needed a dryer spot, but if you would like me to test burn a cord or 2 for you i'd be happy to. haha