Just bought my moisture meter and tested my hickory and maple. maple was at 18%, but the hickory was at 25%. Unfortunately its all mixed together. Am I ok to burn the hickory or do I have to wait? Also how accurate are these meters. I got it from Lowes for 30 bucks. I measured the outside of the wood and it was low. I split a couple pieces in half and tested following the grain. Did I do it right? And also am I in trouble?
25% moisture on hickory yeaay or naey to burn
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"Because 25% MC dry-basis is the moisture content the stoves are designed to burn, and the moisture content that the EPA test procedure specifically demands, and the moisture content that those idiots in white lab coats have been saying for over 30 years burns most efficiently in an air-limited wood stove. Or to say it another way, a 25% MC reading on a moisture meter IS the Holy Grail of 20% MC by weight."
This is from a post by our resident wood expert BK.
This is from a post by our resident wood expert BK.
You can try but 25% is pretty wet. I would let it sit if you can but IIRC, you don't have a lot of wood stockpiled.
That's the same meter I have...plus or minus 3%. My brother got a HQRP meter. 1% accuracy, and smaller.
That's the same meter I have...plus or minus 3%. My brother got a HQRP meter. 1% accuracy, and smaller.
If it were mine, I'd wait on it but most would probably burn it. I just like my wood to be dry. If in doubt, I wait.
I thought you had some 25% (MM reading) at Woodstock that burned really well, as BK says 25% on moisture meter = 20% dry weight.Backwoods Savage said:
That depended upon whose MM was used. I highly doubt (with all due respect) any of that wood was 25%. It sure was fun watching Tony trying to split that wood. Hey, cherry and ash splits easy; right? Ask Tony.
With out being there that whole story is whacked but BK did say one time they had 3 MM all reading about the same. I have money that says my cheapie MM is close to spot on.Backwoods Savage said:
Can't hurt to try. I have some shagbark that will probably be close, so if you wait 'til about late December I'll let you know what you should do.
oldspark said:
God help us all if I'm the resident wood expert, but I do know a wee bit about moisture meters and wood drying.
OK... I just ran around the place sticking my cheap little blue HF meter into every unfinished piece of wood I could find. Looks like a snake's been attacking everything, but I'm being forced out of here, so what do I care?
Results? Just about every dang thing in the place reads about 10% MC, with a few items in the kitchen up around 11-12% MC. With no heat or AC running, this is just about exactly the EMC that any furniture maker or lumber dealer would tell you to expect to find indoors in my location during this time of year.
I went down to the basement to check a split of black birch. It read 14% MC. This wasn't just any old piece of black birch, it is the same one that I tracked the changing weight data on during last year's wood drying experiment. At the end of that experiment, BG suggested that I put it outside to see how much more weight it lost. It didn't. It gained weight (as I knew it would).
As you can see in the table below, after 42 days in the Battenkiln it had lost 3.11 pounds (3lbs, 2oz) and was down to 11.06% MC. I put it out in a recessed place on top of the AC for my shop where it wouldn't get a drop of rain on it all season. A few weeks ago, I brought it in and weighed it. It had gained 3.4 ounces, and the MC had reached equilibrium with the outside air at 14.19% MC.
When I just went down and stuck it with my meter, guess what it read? Like I said - 14%. Exactly what it should have read according to my weight data.
Just last week I changed the batteries on this unit and tested a few of my outside splits. One was a cherry split that had sat all winter in the Battenkiln and then was put into my shed to keep it from getting rain on it, so it was at least as dry as the black birch test split. It read 14% MC.... the same as the black birch stored in similar conditions. Then I grabbed a cherry split that had sat in all the rain we have had the last two months. A re-split showed in to be 17% MC... 3 points higher than the wood that never saw a drop of rain. So yes, wood IS like a sponge (albeit a very slow acting sponge). Wetter? Yup. Still burnable? You betcha!
So, should there be any reason to doubt the accuracy of my meter? It seems to me to be spot on with any expected MC I can come up with. What more can I say? Buy one for $12 and trust the damn thing. They are really only resistance meters with a scale calibrated for wood MC instead of ohms. Do you doubt the accuracy of your multimeter just because it ain't a $300 Fluke? C'mon, they all are using the same chips and printed circuit boards made by our good friends in China.
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Seriously, BK. I'm gonna need to start seeing a "Cliff Notes" version of your posts. Too much info for my internet attention span, lol.
I am running a Regency Insert Medium size. I have burned Oak my first year which did not burn the best, and following year was Ash, after that was maple and this year its both maple and Hickory. Im sure the maple is good to go. Im not too sure about the hickory. I do burn all day and night. Bark is falling off all of it and it has the check marks on the sides. Hope I have heat this winter?
Thanks Battenkiller, pretty much confirms what I'm seeing around here. 11% is about as good as it gets under "normal" conditions in my house. 2X4's in my basement (shame, unfinished project) run 11. 14 +- is about as good as it gets in my covered and aged stacks. I think you have helped us greatly put this one to bed. I think the OP is gonna be fine as long as he checks and keeps up with any buildup of schmuuttch.
Like everyone says, you can burn the 25% Hickory. It might hiss or even bubble a bit if you toss it in on a hot bed of coals. You'll lose a little potential heat, but it will burn. You can bring Hickory splits in and let them dry near the stove (not too close!) for a few days before you toss them in. You might also put a couple on top of the Maple when you reload for your overnight fires. You will be warm this Winter.tumm21 said:
red oak
Minister of Fire
Woody Stover said:Like everyone says, you can burn the 25% Hickory. It might hiss or even bubble a bit if you toss it in on a hot bed of coals. You'll lose a little potential heat, but it will burn. You can bring Hickory splits in and let them dry near the stove (not too close!) for a few days before you toss them in. You might also put a couple on top of the Maple when you reload for your overnight fires. You will be warm this Winter.tumm21 said:
+1 - I think you'll be fine - especially if you mix up the maple and hickory in your stove. Check your chimney occasionally, relax and enjoy the heat!
maxed_out said:
blaze king recommends 13% or less MC for the Chinook.
Interesting... as it might not even be possible depending on your climate then.
"Buy one for $12 and trust the damn thing."
I agree completely...every time I use my HF meter, it gives me readings consistent with what I would have guessed. As we used to say in the Navy, "You don't need to micrometer a brick".
I agree completely...every time I use my HF meter, it gives me readings consistent with what I would have guessed. As we used to say in the Navy, "You don't need to micrometer a brick".
Reference this thread for some good info on moisture meter readings on hickory, and my experience seasoning hickory https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/44360/
Hickory has a pretty dense grain structure. A common moisture meter that doesn't account for the wood type is probably going to read the hickory a little high. If you are reading 25% with a $30 moisture meter, the reality is that it is probably 22% or so - pretty close to what you want for your stove, but not quite ready.
You will really love the hickory in the stove if you let it get to <=20% m.c. Save it for later in the season, keep it outside covered in the sun and wind, and burn it in January and February, and it will probably be under 20% by that time. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
Hickory has a pretty dense grain structure. A common moisture meter that doesn't account for the wood type is probably going to read the hickory a little high. If you are reading 25% with a $30 moisture meter, the reality is that it is probably 22% or so - pretty close to what you want for your stove, but not quite ready.
You will really love the hickory in the stove if you let it get to <=20% m.c. Save it for later in the season, keep it outside covered in the sun and wind, and burn it in January and February, and it will probably be under 20% by that time. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
REM505
New Member
If this Hickory is all you have to get you through the winter I would try to put off burning it as long as possible. You need to work on getting ahead and there is no shame in even buying a couple of cord if that's what it takes to get a jump start on next years wood.
DBoon said:
No need for a fancy meter with built-in species correction. Just use this table from Delmhorst. In the old days with analog meters, even the best resistance meters in the world had to use a conversion table to correct for species because programable chips hadn't been invented yet.
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That's a good chart - subtract about 3% for hickory from your moisture meter reading. That fits with my observations.
OK... Im a little slow..... what are the #s on the top of the chart? 7,8,9,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24? I dont get it.
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