Is my firewood dry?

[pro5oh]

Hello again, I have four cord single row stacked on pallets. It has been out drying since April, I noticed alot of the ends havent cracked/checked yet. Do you think I'm in trouble for the burning season? Should I do something different, how much drying actually goes on in sept/oct? Thanks in advance!

 

[11 Bravo]

Stacked and split since April.....if you have it in a somewhat sunny area where the wind can get at it, then don't worry........you will be just fine. I got my 4 cords from standing red oak, Red Elm, Cherry, and Maple on April 30th and split/stacked it that day in the sun and I'm not worried a bit. As long as it is split/ stacked the hottest months of June-August at least, then you're fine. April is my typical month for my wood gathering and splitting and never had a problem.
If you're really concerned, get a $10 moisture sensor from Harbor Freight, split open a piece you've already split and test one of the insides...........Sit back with a cold Samuel Adams Ocktoberfest beer and watch it continue to dry in the fall months... ;-) ....Paul

 

[savageactor7]

Yeah, what 11B says...you should be good to go as long as the wood isn't Oak. Never burned it myself but those in the know here says it takes 2 years to season...and I was recently convinced that wood seasons in the winter too don't we all get chapped hands and lips in the winter?

 

[Vic99]

Welcome Greybeard.

Last year was my first season burning and my wood had seasoned for 6-7 months and I did alright. This year my wood will be seasoned a year. I expect a small, but significant difference.

I'd keep the wood outside in Sept/Oct and cover just the top whenever the autumn rains come. Obviously NE has had a rainy July/Aug this year.

This year, I plan on moving at least half of this season's wood into a woodshed sometime by the end of Oct, early Nov. There's a lot of time lost trying to get ice and snow off of wood. Light fluffy snow is easy to deal with, but realistically there will be times when it melts and freezes. Thick ice doesn't always break off easily and can add significant moisture to the stove. Learned all this the hard way last year.

 

[Todd]

Split some pieces in half, put up to your cheek and see if they feel wet and cool inside. Or you can do the bubble test. Take some liquid soap, smear it on one end and blow the other end. If you make bubbles your firewood is dry. I'm not kidding! It works since the wood fibers are like straws you can blow air right through when the water evaporates out. Just don't let anybody see you doing this, you may end up in the looney bin. %-P

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Split some pieces in half, put up to your cheek and see if they feel wet and cool inside. Or you can do the bubble test. Take some liquid soap, smear it on one end and blow the other end. If you make bubbles your firewood is dry. I'm not kidding! It works since the wood fibers are like straws you can blow air right through when the water evaporates out. Just don't let anybody see you doing this, you may end up in the looney bin. %-P

Todd, were you out on the town again last night? lol

 

[smokinj]

Hello again, I have four cord single row stacked on pallets. It has been out drying since April, I noticed alot of the ends havent cracked/checked yet. Do you think I'm in trouble for the burning season? Should I do something different, how much drying actually goes on in sept/oct? Thanks in advance!

April 1 st wohooo set back and in joy the fruits!!

 

[Todd]

Split some pieces in half, put up to your cheek and see if they feel wet and cool inside. Or you can do the bubble test. Take some liquid soap, smear it on one end and blow the other end. If you make bubbles your firewood is dry. I'm not kidding! It works since the wood fibers are like straws you can blow air right through when the water evaporates out. Just don't let anybody see you doing this, you may end up in the looney bin. %-P

Todd, were you out on the town again last night? lol

No, just started early today. :lol:

 

[ansehnlich1]

Only way to really tell is get yourself a moisture meter and check it.

I'm tellin' you for me I like my wood to sit for a year at least, I cut and split in March of this year the stuff I'll burn winter of 09/10, which will be about 18 months of drying time.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Only way to really tell is get yourself a moisture meter and check it.
.

You can also weigh a piece on a gram scale, then bake it a good long time to drive off water, and re-weigh it. This will actually be more accurate, but more effort.

 

[iceman]

don't worry your single row is good we have had a lot of rain but now that fall is coming...(unless it keeps raining) you'll be fine ...actually late august sept oct is whenour wood seasons the most....why you say ....these are our less humid months before winter....in the ne when its hot out its always humid air which isn't the best for drying wood.... better than constant rain though... don't worry

 

[gyrfalcon]

I'm one o' those "don't worry be happy" types about rain on the wood stacks, but after the summer we've had, we finally got a nice dry break of a few days, and when the forecast called for heavy downpours and then another 10 days dry at least, I couldn't stand it anymore, broke down and went out and covered about half my spread-out stacks with all the tarps I have and then uncovered the next day. Good thing since we got another almost 2 inches of rain overnight.

The cold front that brought the rain brought strong dry breezes behind it, and I can almost hear the wood drying. Most of my stuff when split again seems to be around low 30s on the moisture meter while still pretty sodden with rain, so I have hope.

Whether April--->October is enough to season your wood really well depends on how well split it was when you stacked it and how much sun (as little as we've had in the NE this year) and air circulation it gets. I got mine in April, most of it split down to 3 to 4 inches to be sure of having it dry in time, and it's stacked in single rows about 10 or 12 feet apart in full sun and the nearly constant breeze my location gets.

Why the heck doesn't some smart entrepreneur manufacture and market tarps of a size designed for covering the tops of firewood stacks? I cut down several cheapies I had to make long strips a couple feet wide, but the holes I had to make along the cut sides to tie them down will surely rip through by the end of summer. Next year I'll be smart enough to lay down some rope lengths every few feet under the bottom row of wood so I can just pull them up and tie them over the top, but since we're all too soon old and too late smart, inexpensive special-purpose firewood tarp covers would surely be something that would sell.

 

[RedRanger]

If the ends are starting to look the same colour as your sig. Then it`s probably getting there, aging, and aging ;-)

 

[clamp01]

Here is a place with those 'partial' wood rack covers: http://www.firewoodracks.com/detailsandordering.htm

 

[gyrfalcon]

Here is a place with those 'partial' wood rack covers: http://www.firewoodracks.com/detailsandordering.htm

They're looovely, but they don't sell them separately from the racks, and didja get a look at the price on those? 225 buckaroonies for a half-cord rack with top cover. If I could afford that for my firewood, I could afford to heat my house with oil this winter.

I'm thinking cheap, as in $4 or $5 apiece or less. Maybe I'll just get myself a grommet tool and some more tarp and wait for a day that's not windy to cut 'em up to size and put in the grommets.

 

[clamp01]

aw, come on, it's only Money ;-)

I do like your idea of using a tarp and a grommet maker...We've had a dry summer for the most part down south here in PA, so I haven't had to cover...I guess the best solution is a woodshed or a roof covering for the racks :cheese:

 

[gyrfalcon]

aw, come on, it's only Money ;-)

I do like your idea of using a tarp and a grommet maker...We've had a dry summer for the most part down south here in PA, so I haven't had to cover...I guess the best solution is a woodshed or a roof covering for the racks :cheese:

Prolly so, but the woodshed's not so hot if you're trying to get it seasoned fast just between spring and fall, and any kind of solid material for roofing for my stacks would just end up being blown over and taking my precariously perched stacks with it down the hill in the wind I get here. I'm lucky because I have a roomy, fully enclosed but well ventilated attached woodshed at the back of my house, so I don't need more than a lightweight cover to keep the rain off outside stacks during bad summers like this one. I doubt I'd bother in a normal summer, so all the more reason to want to do it as cheaply as possible. I think I just convinced myself to look into getting a grommet doobie, though.

 

[JayD]

I found some nice size poly tarps 6' x 30' here and cheap http://www.tarpfactoryoutlet.com/hmpg/tarps/tarps_main.htm look under the silver tarps

 

[gyrfalcon]

I found some nice size poly tarps 6' x 30' here and cheap http://www.tarpfactoryoutlet.com/hmpg/tarps/tarps_main.htm look under the silver tarps

Hey, those are great prices. Thanks for doing my research for me before I could get to it! Looks like you get whacked pretty good on shipping, but still appears to be a better quality than I could get for the same cost even adding the shipping charge at the local Agway or Tractor Supply or whatever. Appreciate it!

 

[BrotherBart]

If you are going to use tarps scrounge up some big pieces of cardboard to put under them on top of the wood. Split wood will shred tarps in nothing flat.