Is my wood Dry?

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schortie

Member
Nov 6, 2008
243
michigan
I have ash that was standing dead for a few years, cut down last February and stored in a corn crib since. Is it seasoned?
 
I would think that yes is the answer here.

From what I understand, people love ash because you can split and then burn it in a few months. I've been told it's a nice wood to hand split also, like maple.
 
Is the wood still in the round? If so I would recommend splitting it and letting the air get to it for a bit and then your ready to go. I have burned ash that my buddy had laying around after the trees were topped for logging and it burned well for me.

Shipper
 
White ash is a great wood. From standing to burning in hardly any time! The only thing I caution is that white ash does not coal well. It provides great heat, but is not good for overnight burns.

Black ash is another story. It is a very wet wood. But either way, if it was standing dead when cut and then stored in a corn crib for a while, you should be good to go.
 
I cut and split some dead standing Elm in late August that I'm burning now,if Elm is ready in that time there should be no problem with Ash.
 
anything left in the round will season slower than if split. But like others have mentioned, ash is good for short seasoning. If you have a moisture meter, I would split a few pieces and see what kind of reading you get.
 
Shipper50 said:
Is the wood still in the round?
Until the OP comes back and answers that, it is all just conjecture.
 
Most of the larger rounds have been split. I'm assuming it's all seasoned, just wanted to hear some opinions.

Thanks for the replies.
 
Ash does NOT split easy. I had a trunk that I beat the snot out of with a monster maul (17 lb) and it was bouncing. I ended up using the ramp method to get it back to the house and use the splitter on it. I've heard that it was easy, not the case here. It sucked!!! I've had 28-32" oak trunks that split easier.
Just my story.
Chad
 
chad3 said:
Ash does NOT split easy. I had a trunk that I beat the snot out of with a monster maul (17 lb) and it was bouncing. I ended up using the ramp method to get it back to the house and use the splitter on it. I've heard that it was easy, not the case here. It sucked!!! I've had 28-32" oak trunks that split easier.
Just my story.
Chad
Are you sure it was white ash? White ash splits the easiest of about any hardwood. It has a very straight grain that seperates well.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Ya, one time I missed a white ash log with the maul and it split anyway.
X2

I make a lot of kindling from the white ash that I have. It splits very nicely and burns really well.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Ya, one time I missed a white ash log with the maul and it split anyway.

My experience with white ash has been similar. Look at it mean and it will split for you. I've also burned dead standing white ash with zero seasoning time. I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you have to, but it will burn.
 
MarcM said:
Adios Pantalones said:
Ya, one time I missed a white ash log with the maul and it split anyway.

My experience with white ash has been similar. Look at it mean and it will split for you. I've also burned dead standing white ash with zero seasoning time. I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you have to, but it will burn.
Hell, I've burned standing live ash with zero seasoning time and it burns too.
 
A standing white ash should have ~40-50% moisture content. Not ideal, but not terrible either.
 
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