Minimum seasoning time for cat stove

[Maverick302]

I just moved into a house and plan on replacing the pellet stove, likely with a BK Ashford 30. It's on 12 acres of wooded land, and there is quite a bit of downed timber to be had. I have already collected a variety and have it c/s/s in a wood shed. Most everything I split had a MC of about 35% on average, including white and red oak, birch, and tulip poplar. I stacked the white oak at the bottom/back of the shed and tried to fill the front/tops in with the birch and poplar. I plan on having the stove by next winter.
Would it be unwise to burn the oak after 1 year in a cat stove? Splits are 16-18" and most are about 3-5" in diameter. What is a typical MC of green, freshly cut oak?

 

[Hasufel]

I just moved into a house and plan on replacing the pellet stove, likely with a BK Ashford 30. It's on 12 acres of wooded land, and there is quite a bit of downed timber to be had. I have already collected a variety and have it c/s/s in a wood shed. Most everything I split had a MC of about 35% on average, including white and red oak, birch, and tulip poplar. I stacked the white oak at the bottom/back of the shed and tried to fill the front/tops in with the birch and poplar. I plan on having the stove by next winter.
Would it be unwise to burn the oak after 1 year in a cat stove? Splits are 16-18" and most are about 3-5" in diameter. What is a typical MC of green, freshly cut oak?

I've split a lot of oak and found that it really holds moisture, even if it's been down for a while. In a couple of cases I had red oak down long enough for the sapwood to turn punky, but the heartwood was pristine and the MC was >50% (that's as high as my meter goes). I split it extra thin to speed up the drying but after a year it's still mid-30s or more. I'm hoping some will be ready next winter but most probably will need an extra year. Now that I think about it, the only unsplit oak I found to have a MC below 50% was some small stuff that came from branches.

If it were me, I would stack outside to get as much sun and wind as possible and bring it into the shed only when it's dry enough to burn. I know that's an extra step but oak needs all the help it can get. That's really its only down side--I love everything else about it, from the splitting to the burning. Good luck with it!

 

[tpenny67]

Do you have standing dead timber too? That's a great source of nearly-seasoned wood as it's not been laying on the wet ground.

One thing I do is to try to move some wood into the basement a few weeks before it will be burned so it gets a good "final dry" and certainly won't be frozen. This is definitely easier if you're only burning a couple times a week because you don't need to store as much wood indoors.

 

[kennyp2339]

You want to aim for 15% moisture for a cat stove like a BK, your pushing the limit for low and slow burn times when using 20% to give you an idea.

 

[Maverick302]

None of the downed stuff has touched he ground. I live in a rocky area (BIG rocks), so it usually ends up laying across a couple boulders, suspended in the middle. Doesn't seem to get too punky that way. The wood shed is open to allow circulation, so I have that in my favor too. I'm just wondering if I should pull the oak out and stack it somewhere else and keep the lighter wood covered to dry out for next year, or if I would be ok with the oak I have stacked by then.

 

[kennyp2339]

Maverick - get a canopy shed from tractor supply, I have one in my driveway that is 7X10, it holds approx. 2.5 cords when stacked to 6.5ft high, that would be perfect for your beginning of the season wood.

 

[kennyp2339]

 

[Maverick302]

This is what I'm working with now (roof was not on yet in pic)

 

[Maverick302]

You want to aim for 15% moisture for a cat stove like a BK, your pushing the limit for low and slow burn times when using 20% to give you an idea.

Ok, that's a little lower than I thought. Maybe it would be best to put the oak aside.

 

[Maverick302]

So is the general consensus just to burn what I can get below 20% (not much), or would it be ok although not ideal to throw the oak in as well?

 

[kennyp2339]

Unfortunately burning 35% moisture oak will only foul up the stove, you wont get hot burns and can clog up the cat which will cause more work to clean and new gaskets if you remove it, the risk does not meet the benefit with this idea.
Separate your dryer stuff from the oak, test your dryer stuff to make sure its in the low 20%'s (make sure the piece is warm to room temp, resplit it, then test the new fresh face)
Look at tractor supply of another supplier for compressed wood bricks, look at pallet wood *must remove nails, burning wood with nails will hurt your cat, scrounge construction sites for any untreated wood like 2x4's and such, you don't have to worry about a run away stove, the BK's are T-stat controlled and will not run away on you like a tube stove.
Finally...if the pellet stove is working, run pellets for the rest of the season then install the stove / hearth / chimney in the spring and be ready for next year.

 

[Maverick302]

Unfortunately burning 35% moisture oak will only foul up the stove, you wont get hot burns and can clog up the cat which will cause more work to clean and new gaskets if you remove it, the risk does not meet the benefit with this idea.
Separate your dryer stuff from the oak, test your dryer stuff to make sure its in the low 20%'s (make sure the piece is warm to room temp, resplit it, then test the new fresh face)
Look at tractor supply of another supplier for compressed wood bricks, look at pallet wood *must remove nails, burning wood with nails will hurt your cat, scrounge construction sites for any untreated wood like 2x4's and such, you don't have to worry about a run away stove, the BK's are T-stat controlled and will not run away on you like a tube stove.
Finally...if the pellet stove is working, run pellets for the rest of the season then install the stove / hearth / chimney in the spring and be ready for next year.

That's the plan - I am running pellets for the rest of the winter then replacing it with the BK for next season. So the 35% wood (of all species mentioned) will have a year to season.

 

[Wickets]

View attachment 192055View attachment 192056

my goodness, that looks so organised. if youre ever in need of a second source of income, please feel free to stop by and sort out my giant mess

 

[Destructor]

The birch and tulip will be ready for next winter. let it have air and make sure all your birch is split. Construction scraps are great if you don't care about not getting long burns. Do you have more tulip you can cut? Tulip you can cut and split in the early spring and burn next winter if you stack it in the sun then get it under cover in the fall.

 

[Maverick302]

The birch and tulip will be ready for next winter. let it have air and make sure all your birch is split. Construction scraps are great if you don't care about not getting long burns. Do you have more tulip you can cut? Tulip you can cut and split in the early spring and burn next winter if you stack it in the sun then get it under cover in the fall.

Plenty of tulip to be had. I got the oak because it was down and hanging up right next to the driveway, so it was kind of priority to remove. Thanks for the responses so far.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

So is the general consensus just to burn what I can get below 20% (not much), or would it be ok although not ideal to throw the oak in as well?

Negative ghost rider, the pattern is full.

 

[spirilis]

I've split a lot of oak and found that it really holds moisture, even if it's been down for a while. In a couple of cases I had red oak down long enough for the sapwood to turn punky, but the heartwood was pristine and the MC was >50% (that's as high as my meter goes). I split it extra thin to speed up the drying but after a year it's still mid-30s or more. I'm hoping some will be ready next winter but most probably will need an extra year. Now that I think about it, the only unsplit oak I found to have a MC below 50% was some small stuff that came from branches.

If it were me, I would stack outside to get as much sun and wind as possible and bring it into the shed only when it's dry enough to burn. I know that's an extra step but oak needs all the help it can get. That's really its only down side--I love everything else about it, from the splitting to the burning. Good luck with it!

My experience similar; I cut up a downed oak that had sat mostly above the ground rotting for several years, sapwood is punky as heck but heartwood in good shape; it was around 32% after the first year, then a few read high 20's this year but it sat in a sunnier spot from August 'til now and it catches almost as fast as my super-dry (1yr + several more stacked at its original source) poplar, but with significantly better coaling. Worth the 2 year wait.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yep, leave the Oak split and stacked for at least a couple of years, three is better. Upper branches of long-dead Oaks can be fairly dry though. Poplar (Tulip?) is a fast dryer as is soft Maple. Any small, dead trees with no bark, standing or down, should be low-20s moisture. It takes a while to gather, but it will add up. I'm talking 6" diameter or less.

 

[Maverick302]

Yep, leave the Oak split and stacked for at least a couple of years, three is better. Upper branches of long-dead Oaks can be fairly dry though. Poplar (Tulip?) is a fast dryer as is soft Maple. Any small, dead trees with no bark, standing or down, should be low-20s moisture. It takes a while to gather, but it will add up. I'm talking 6" diameter or less.

That's a good idea, I'll definitely start collecting some smaller stuff.

 

[snavematt]

That Poplar should season pretty quickly. to speed it up you can also remove the bark

 

[Woody Stover]

That Poplar should season pretty quickly. to speed it up you can also remove the bark

Good idea. The bark will pop off of dead Tulip pretty easily.

 

[weatherguy]

I separate the oak from the other stuff, except hickory which goes in the oak stacks. Look for some as, that stuff will dry in one year no.problem. my BK ran great with wood 15% or so, good with 20%, anything over 20, even 22-23 was a noticeable difference.