Checked moisture content of wood

[jatoxico]

Got MM from Harbor Freight on the advice of some here. Did some checking today for first time. No surprises but nice to have confirmation.

Locust split just over a year ago is around 16-18%

Dead standing locust taken down last weekend is less at 15%

Dead standing Oak split in Aug is 18-20%

Irene Oak split 3 weeks ago 34-37%

Irene Ash is about 24-27%

Sounds about right, so seems the meter works. Thanks for recommendation!

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

looks like a little peace of mind in a small package. Glad you are happy with it.

 

[BrotherBart]

As long as the readings were from the center of freshly re-split splits.

 

[onetracker]

cool.
thanks for posting these results.

hey gang...how about that oak?
standing dead and 18% after a 1/3 drying season after being split.

that's encouraging. i just dropped a 1 cord standing dead oak last week. these results tell me if i c/s/s it now it will be well ready by next winter. i was planning on adding it to my 13/14 pile. oh wait...i don't HAVE a 13/14 pile.

OT

 

[jatoxico]

As long as the readings were from the center of freshly re-split splits.

Did it by the book.

 

[jatoxico]

cool.
thanks for posting these results.

hey gang...how about that oak?
standing dead and 18% after a 1/3 drying season after being split.

that's encouraging. i just dropped a 1 cord standing dead oak last week. these results tell me if i c/s/s it now it will be well ready by next winter. i was planning on adding it to my 13/14 pile. oh wait...i don't HAVE a 13/14 pile.

OT

I hope you get the same results but there's dead standing and dead standing and your results may vary.

Incidently I got the wood, about 3/4 cord, for $40 bucks. Was cut to length but I had to split. This was just before Irene gave everyone a freebie so I thought my timing could have been better. But now that I see it's usable for this year I'm feeling pretty good about it.

 

[maxed_out]

sounds about where it should be. We have the same mm and its quite handy. fresh cut oak was greater than 40% (and sometimes infinite) over here but thats the minute after we dropped it.

 

[jatoxico]

sounds about where it should be. We have the same mm and its quite handy. fresh cut oak was greater than 40% (and sometimes infinite) over here but thats the minute after we dropped it.

I can believe >40%. The oak was Irene scrounge that was on the ground (actually in the street) leaves on for good two weeks before I even bucked it up. Still high 30's in moisture at first reading. Don't expect to use it for a couple years. Ash should be good next season.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Got MM from Harbor Freight on the advice of some here. Did some checking today for first time. No surprises but nice to have confirmation.

Locust split just over a year ago is around 16-18%

Dead standing locust taken down last weekend is less at 15%

Dead standing Oak split in Aug is 18-20%

Irene Oak split 3 weeks ago 34-37%

Irene Ash is about 24-27%

Sounds about right, so seems the meter works. Thanks for recommendation!

I picked up a MM at the dump today (Home Depot), it was a ryobi non prong style. When I re-split some splits I was getting 18-20% on red oak that is about 1.5 years old on the racks drying. I'm wondering if this number is safe enough for oak or should it sit a little longer?

 

[PapaDave]

As long as the readings were from the center of freshly re-split splits.

Did it by the book.

Which book?
I hope you're referring to the book of Hearth.com! :coolsmile:

 

[Jags]

When I re-split some splits I was getting 18-20% on red oak that is about 1.5 years old on the racks drying. I'm wondering if this number is safe enough for oak ..

That number is safe enough for ANY cord wood. Burn 'em if ya got 'em.

 

[jatoxico]

As long as the readings were from the center of freshly re-split splits.

Did it by the book.

Which book?
I hope you're referring to the book of Hearth.com! :coolsmile:

I am, is there any other?

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I was probably one of the ones that recommended it. Nice peace of mind to know the numbers in the first year or two. After you get far enough ahead you probably won't use it much. My batteries just died in mine and wondering if I should bother replacing them.

 

[jatoxico]

I was probably one of the ones that recommended it. Nice peace of mind to know the numbers in the first year or two. After you get far enough ahead you probably won't use it much. My batteries just died in mine and wondering if I should bother replacing them.

Yes I think you did recommend, thanks it seems to work well. It's been especially useful for my scrounge wood where I don't necessarily know when wood was cut or fell. My instincts are not too far off but it's nice to have confirmation and I may find some surprises now that I can actually check MC.