Seasoning wood on Vancouver Island

[WestCoastIslander]

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to wood burning but we just moved to a house with a beautiful stove this October so am behind the curve with getting set up with seasoned wood for this year.

I bought a cord and a half of mixed wood (fir, cypress, willow, apple, plum) off some guy on craigslist who claimed it was seasoned and needless to say it is not and is not going to be able to burn this winter. Now my problem is trying to figure out the best way to season this wood as we live on Vancouver Island and it is pretty much torrential rain and humid from October to May. Right now I have the wood neatly stacked in our wood shed, but the shed is in the shade and definitely not fully exposed to the wind, although it has a complete opening on one side and slats on the other walls so it has lots of ventilation.

I can't decide whether to re-stack the wood in the shed so it is as spaced out as possible or stack it on pallets out in my yard totally exposed to the elements. It will get soaked being out in the yard but in May-June it will be hot and dry til the end of September so that will be good.

Right now my plan is to leave it in the shed til May and then re-stack it outside then... Is that a good plan for it to be ready to burn next November?

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Leave it in the shed to season. There's no point in moving it twice now. In the meantime get some Doug Fir in Jan or Feb and stack it on palettes, top covered. With our dry summers it could be ready to burn next fall and you can mix in some of the shed wood with it.

 

[WestCoastIslander]

Leave it in the shed to season. There's no point in moving it twice now. In the meantime get some Doug Fir in Jan or Feb and stack it on palettes, top covered. With our dry summers it could be ready to burn next fall and you can mix in some of the shed wood with it.

Thanks begreen! Do you think the shed wood will also be good to burn next winter? We probably only need 2 ish cords to get through the cold months as it is a small house.

 

[begreen]

It depends on the moisture content. The fir and cypress could be ready. Fruitwood typically takes a couple years. Not sure about the willow, it often starts out with very high moisture content.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Outside in good weather should speed up the seasoning -- but the question is whether it'd speed up enough to be worth moving it.

 

[weatherguy]

Get an inexpensive moisture meter and take out the guesswork.

 

[WestCoastIslander]

Thanks for the tips everyone

 

[AlbergSteve]

I'm 30 minutes north of you and I cut split green Dfir last February and stacked it in long, single, open rows with a poly top cover. It was so hot and dry this summer that even my wet Doug fir dried to under 18%! A lot of it was 13- 15%. Personally, if it's only a cord or so, I'd restack out in the open for the summer - the value of properly dried wood should not be under estimated.


Are you in Victoria proper, or closer to Metchosin/Sooke? Metchosin and Sooke can be 5-10C cooler and much wetter and foggier than Vic in the summer.

 

[WestCoastIslander]

I'm 30 minutes north of you and I cut split green Dfir last February and stacked it in long, single, open rows with a poly top cover. It was so hot and dry this summer that even my wet Doug fir dried to under 18%! A lot of it was 13- 15%. Personally, if it's only a cord or so, I'd restack out in the open for the summer - the value of properly dried wood should not be under estimated.
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Are you in Victoria proper, or closer to Metchosin/Sooke? Metchosin and Sooke can be 5-10C cooler and much wetter and foggier than Vic in the summer.

Hi Steve, thanks for the post and the great info. I think you are right about moving the wood out during the summer months with the weather we've been having.

We are located in the Highlands so I think it will be more like Victoria climate rather than Metchosin/Sooke since we are away from the ocean. Our lot gets lots of sun too.

Thanks again for the tips. Awesome seeing another Islander on here.