Does it really take a year for firewood to dry or can it dry in warm weather in 3 months if it's stacked right
Thank u CMminimum a year if its cut green and that is depending on what type....some hardwoods take much longer than soft woods
Does it really take a year for firewood to dry or can it dry in warm weather in 3 months if it's stacked right
If it's a fast-drying wood, split to splinter size, maybe...can it dry in warm weather in 3 months if it's stacked right
Whre are you, what wood, split when, and which three months? ; )
The first year I cut all the standing dead Elm, Ash, and Silver Maple I could. I judge by the sound, the more like wood baseball bats the splits sound when clunked together the better.
Split finer and cut shorter (14") the faster they dried. Yes drying occurs enen in the Winter but it's slow. I set aside the upper limbs for use sooner as they were already pretty decent. It was a bit of a pain the first year but it got the job done.I'm in Yorktown NY. I have some oak birch maple most of it was logs that I split in late June and we had a hot summer. I had it covered for those rainy days. I took the cover off on those nice days. I'll check for the clunk sound and thanks for your advice.
Hang in there,
Mike
Does it really take a year for firewood to dry or can it dry in warm weather in 3 months if it's stacked right
Yes....and no.
You will quickly find there can be a tremendous difference in different types of wood. You no doubt know that oak is one of the very best for firewood. Some say you can burn it in 2 years, we say 3. Yet, there are some woods that you can cut in the spring and burn that next fall. (March-November = 8 months) However, you will also find these generally are not the best woods for heating the home. They usually work okay in the spring and fall but won't hold a fire as long so night burning presents a problem.
Two types of wood you can cut in the spring and burn the next fall are soft maple and popple. This also is providing that you split and stack the wood as soon as it is cut. Stack it in the windiest spot on your place. Stack it loosely because air circulation is what you want. Sunshine can help too but wind is the most important.
Sometimes you can find some dead wood to cut but most are amazed at how wet they still are even being dead. A case in point is on our place we cut a certain amount of dead elm most years. It is so dead that the bark has even fallen off before we cut the tree. While some of the very top of the tree can indeed be burned rather quickly, the bottom of the tree will still have lots and lots of moisture.
Please keep in mind that wood won't dry, except for on the ends, until the wood has been split. To dry it the fastest one would split it small, stack it loose and in the windy spot and hopefully some sun.
With all this in mind, it is time right now to be thinking about next year's wood. We always recommend people have a 3 years supply on hand at all times. With this you are assured of having dry wood to burn and of some disaster hits and you can not put up wood one year, you will still have wood to burn.
Good luck.
Savage, I have had a few good size ash fall in the woods dead with no bark left on it. Would this still be good wood to burn? I figured because the bark has fallen off it would probably be punky and not worh the effort.
Tiger, I'd be willing to bet that ash will be okay to burn this year. Most of the ash in our area has been dead a few years now. I've only had one fall so far and cut that up last winter. There was no doubt in my mind that I could have thrown any of that tree into the stove right away.
It indeed may have some punk to it but unless it is all punk, worry not. Burn it.
Some day I'm going to look you up when I get over that direction. Just don't go that way very much.
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