Moistue content again, hard to believe

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jbreland55

New Member
Jan 28, 2011
14
Southeast
Hi, new burner, just starting my wood pile collection, so I'm as green and the wood I'm collecting.

I've been cutting and splitting for a about 6 months now.
Cut split and stacked some oak about 4-6 months ago. I read on here about letting wood dry for at leat 2 years.
Also lots of talk about moisture content.

Just for jollies yesterday I bought a moisture meter from Lowes. Check my wood piles and was suprised to find that most of my wood checks out
about 10% moisture content. The highest reading I get is only about 18%. For some reason I was expecting to see readings of around 30%

These numbers seem too low for wood that has only been drying for about 4 to 6 months.
I checked and rechecked lots of pieces and again most of my wood reads about 10-12%.

doubting the meter I checked some known kiln dried 2 x 4's I have had stored inside for quite some time and I get about 8 - 9% moisture.

Granted, I live is south Mississippi and it has been extremely hot and dry this summer temps between 90- 100 degrees almost every day.

Is it possible that this not so old wood could have this low of moisture content?

thanks
James
 
Was it dead standing wood? What kind of Oak? How small did you split?
Yeah, that does sound low. Some dead standing Black Oak I split in June was in the high twenties and I was planning to check it in the Fall, just to see how it's coming along...haven't done so yet. I hope to be surprised, but I'm not expecting 10%. :gulp:
I have the Lowe's meter (General.)
 
jbreland said:
Hi, new burner, just starting my wood pile collection, so I'm as green and the wood I'm collecting.

I've been cutting and splitting for a about 6 months now.
Cut split and stacked some oak about 4-6 months ago. I read on here about letting wood dry for at leat 2 years.
Also lots of talk about moisture content.

Just for jollies yesterday I bought a moisture meter from Lowes. Check my wood piles and was suprised to find that most of my wood checks out
about 10% moisture content. The highest reading I get is only about 18%. For some reason I was expecting to see readings of around 30%

These numbers seem too low for wood that has only been drying for about 4 to 6 months.
I checked and rechecked lots of pieces and again most of my wood reads about 10-12%.

doubting the meter I checked some known kiln dried 2 x 4's I have had stored inside for quite some time and I get about 8 - 9% moisture.

Granted, I live is south Mississippi and it has been extremely hot and dry this summer temps between 90- 100 degrees almost every day.

Is it possible that this not so old wood could have this low of moisture content?

thanks
James

Resplit a piece of that oak and check it again on the inside of that fresh split I think it will read much higher.. Welcome to the forum BTW!

Ray
 
raybonz said:
Resplit a piece of that oak and check it again on the inside of that fresh split I think it will read much higher..

Ray
OK, now I understand. :lol:
 
It was not dead standing wood, but was very much alive.
I would say average size splits.
will split another one and recheck it.
 
jbreland said:
It was not dead standing wood, but was very much alive.
I would say average size splits.
will split another one and recheck it.
I am sure you will get much higher readings on a resplit, you can never go with old split wood. The surface can be dry but the inside is what counts.
 
Also, make sure the two prongs are parallel to the grain, not across it, on the freshly split surface. You get a lower moisture reading across the grain (higher resistance).
 
DanCorcoran said:
Also, make sure the two prongs are parallel to the grain, not across it, on the freshly split surface. You get a lower moisture reading across the grain (higher resistance).
Have done that several times and my readings are always the same.
 
I split some red oak in Jan. and tested it in June. The moisture was too high to be read on the meter even though the outside was starting to look perfect. I may be wrong, but doubtful that its that low.
 
Woody Stover said:
raybonz said:
Resplit a piece of that oak and check it again on the inside of that fresh split I think it will read much higher..

Ray
OK, now I understand. :lol:

Yep, that is what I was going to guess. You are taking a moisture reading from the outside of the wood that has been sitting out for 4 to 6 months. The inside is where the moisture is. I'm curious to hear what your interior moisture level is.

Me, I started even later than you did. I started cutting, splitting, and stacking at the end of July. Didn't order the furnace until the end of July. I have about 5 cords on hand. is stacked and the rest is in two piles in the driveway. One is seasoned wood. Think I will have close to 2 cords of that. The other pile is the freshly cut and split stuff. I am just trying to get through this winter and will be set for next winter.
 
oldspark said:
DanCorcoran said:
Also, make sure the two prongs are parallel to the grain, not across it, on the freshly split surface. You get a lower moisture reading across the grain (higher resistance).
Have done that several times and my readings are always the same.




Me 2
 
I remember when I bought my MM I checked my wood I was so proud everyone was wrong in my world oak did't take 2 years just 6 months, when I finally did it right the 6 month oak I thought was 19% was actually 37%. :shut:
 
cptoneleg said:
I remember when I bought my MM I checked my wood I was so proud everyone was wrong in my world oak did't take 2 years just 6 months, when I finally did it right the 6 month oak I thought was 19% was actually 37%. :shut:

LOL oak is the camel of firewood as it stores it very well.. Great after a few yrs. though!

Ray
 
9 to 10% seems high for a 2x4 that's been inside to me, dunno
 
Welcome to the forum jbreland.

After 50+ years of this we still don't use a moisture meter....nor do we have need of one. Cut your wood ahead of time and let Mother Nature be your friend by drying the wood. If she needs a little more time, like with oak, that is okay too. Just have 2-3 years wood stacked up and you'll be fine.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Welcome to the forum jbreland.

After 50+ years of this we still don't use a moisture meter....nor do we have need of one. Cut your wood ahead of time and let Mother Nature be your friend by drying the wood. If she needs a little more time, like with oak, that is okay too. Just have 2-3 years wood stacked up and you'll be fine.

Not everyone has cords of petrified wood like you do!!

:lol:

Ray
 
:lol: Ya, some are like rocks Ray.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
:lol: Ya, some are like rocks Ray.

LMAO I hear that Dennis and rocks are not absorbant... So you need a chisel to resplit them :p

Ray
 
Bought some birch not long ago, was cut 2-3 years ago and not split. Was so full of moisture it was dripping off the splitter after a while.
 
NATE379 said:
Bought some birch not long ago, was cut 2-3 years ago and not split. Was so full of moisture it was dripping off the splitter after a while.

Birch bark is to wood what baggies are to sandwiches.. Surprised the wood wasn't rotten..

Ray
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Welcome to the forum jbreland.

After 50+ years of this we still don't use a moisture meter....nor do we have need of one. Cut your wood ahead of time and let Mother Nature be your friend by drying the wood. If she needs a little more time, like with oak, that is okay too. Just have 2-3 years wood stacked up and you'll be fine.




Sometimes known as an "Old Indian Trick"
 
you guys were right, I was just checking the moisture content on the outside of the splits and getting 10-12%.

now that I re-split a few it went up to about 25-27% on the inside. Seems more realistic to me.

thanks for the input, I'm still learining.

now I'm trying to figure out how you guys get so far ahead on your wood and where do you keep it.

1st season I had NO wood to burn. was scrounging pallets and burning them.
This season I will be a little better off, but will probably still struggle while I'm waiting on the wood I do have to season.
I guess it just takes a couple of years before you can ever think of getting ahead of the game.

Now I've run out of sheds to keep my wood in, any more that I get is gonna have to start going outside.
Got to build some racks.

thanks again

James
 
jbreland said:
now I'm trying to figure out how you guys get so far ahead on your wood and where do you keep it.

thanks again

James

First year was tough for me, I c/s/s 20 cords of wood my first season. It sucked having all that wood and not having all of it ready to burn well the first season. Now that I'm ahead I try to keep about 15 cords on hand which is good for about 3 years. It's a lot easier cutting for one season instead of three!
 
jbreland said:
I re-split a few it went up to about 25-27% on the inside. Seems more realistic to me.
1st season I had NO wood to burn. was scrounging pallets and burning them.
This season I will be a little better off, but will probably still struggle while I'm waiting on the wood I do have to season.
You can mix pallet wood in with your not-quite-dry stuff to get it to burn better...

Now I've run out of sheds to keep my wood in, any more that I get is gonna have to start going outside.
Got to build some racks.
All my wood is outside, stacked on pallets. I made two half-width pallets out of each standard pallet, and stacked the wood single-row to get maximum wind through the stacks. I've got access to some half-width concrete blocks, so I may use them with landscape timbers on top for stacking wood from here on out. Seems like it would be more stable and rot-proof than pallets on the ground...
Hang in there; You'll figure out a system that'll work for you. :)
 
jbreland said:
you guys were right, I was just checking the moisture content on the outside of the splits and getting 10-12%.

now that I re-split a few it went up to about 25-27% on the inside. Seems more realistic to me.

thanks for the input, I'm still learining.

now I'm trying to figure out how you guys get so far ahead on your wood and where do you keep it.

1st season I had NO wood to burn. was scrounging pallets and burning them.
This season I will be a little better off, but will probably still struggle while I'm waiting on the wood I do have to season.
I guess it just takes a couple of years before you can ever think of getting ahead of the game.

Now I've run out of sheds to keep my wood in, any more that I get is gonna have to start going outside.
Got to build some racks.

thanks again

James

That moisture level is more like it.. If you want your wood to season it's best to stack it on pallets so the wind can blow through it, sun helps too but wind is most important.. You will need to cross stack the ends so they don't topple over (hopefully) and if you must cover it just cover the top of the stacks..

Ray
 
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