Stacking in single rows

Hi fellow wood burners, I have had Black Walnut stacked for going on two years in a double stacked row and split small and when i tested it this weekend i still had some reading of 21-23% moisture ( inner heart wood). I have starteded moving my fire wood around to try and get some of it stacked in single rows because it will season faster. I see a ton of post on here where some people have wood stacked two three even four rows stacked tight together, is this stacked that way because its already seasoned to the owners liking or is it that it will not be needed in five years? I never would have thought it would have taking this long for Walnut to season.

Two seasons with bw and still that high is very odd. Yes singal row it in the sun and bur it!

I cut, split and stacked some walnut in May. I split it small and stacked it in a single row. I don't have a moisture meter, but going by the Thistle test, this stuff is ready now.

Thistle test?

Your MM may not be as accurate as you think. I would not hesitate to burn any black walnut CSS'd two years in typical conditions.

Tap two pieces of wood together - a dull thud sound= not ready. A high pitched crack(like basebal bat) ready to go

I didn't know that Thistle had patended the test though

Yeah I wouldn't hinge your final decision on a MM, use your better judgement. I stack many, many rows wide and have not had any problem with moisture content, but I'm letting the wood sit for three to four years. The Thistle test is what I've been doing for years!

21-23% on the meter will burn fine. As for the seasoning what works for seasoning in one environment may not work well in another. It might take a year or two to figure out what works for you but once you do you'll be golden.

agreed, as silly as it sounds there is a bit of skill and learning involved with how you season your wood. call me crazy but depending on where it is in the stack and what type of wood it is will factor into whether i put split side up or split side down etc.

I know I was thinking of some of your stacks as I typed lol.

Do you stack in single rows or double it up?

Thanks - I'm familiar with the test, just not the name apparently!

2 years for any wood & it should be burnable if off the ground with reasonable air circulation.
Try a "burn test" (see how well it burns) , it's a little better than the "Thistle test " which requires a calibrated trained ear & good hearing.
MM are a good reference if you get a reading when you first split & stack for a base line starting point, close but not nuts on accurate.

I stack double rows (mostly birch) with space between for 6 months, then to the wood shed, 4 - 5 rows tightly stacked for 1-1/2 - 2 years.

Not many of us have PapaDave's mile long area to stack single rows but it is the best method if you have the space
Papadave's "Gold Standard" seasoning stack:

First off I stack several rows deep like Scotty - give it time and it will dry fine. Single row is best but we don't have unlimited space.

Second, Walnut I have heard seasons reasonable fast. Should be fine after a year and definitely two. I cut a small walnut tree in July. I had a campfire the other night and my son threw a piece of the walnut on the fire. I expected it to hiss and sizzle but it actually burned quite well. Now I am not planning on burning it this winter but from I saw I would burn it over the oak I cut last winter.

Thank you for that pic ! I dont know how I missed it before! I've got tons of galvanize pipe like that , and just didn't have an idea of how to put them to good use .

Im sure at 21-23% it will burn fine, I just want to burn as clean as i can. I expected lower readings after so long. I have alot of space and will stack in a single row as much as I can. I

Definitely the MM is not always spot on. Use it as a general gauge. If you are in doubt, put 3 pieces in the fire pit and light it. How does it do there?

Also, we have for many, many, many moons stacked in multiple rows. Now that I think about it I really do not remember if I've ever stacked in a single row except for one year. That was the ugly year that I was forced to buy wood. From a very good friend I expected some good wood. Sad part is he went out and cut it, split it and delivered it in the same day. Fortunately it was white ash. Didn't burn worth a hoot but we got through the winter. Certainly never want to do that again.

Dennis - do you think the wood in the center row dries as much as the outside? And is 3 rows the max that you stack it?

We've had no problems with the center rows. As I've stated, we've stacked 20 or more rows together many times. One must also keep in mind we like to give our wood time to dry properly before burning. This year we will burn wood that was cut during the winter of 2008-2009 but there might be a partial exception because I have a couple stacks from 2009-2010 that I'd like to move so I can increase the size of one of our food plots. However, we won't burn enough wood this winter to burn the whole thing, but, we might sell some of it too.

I've had BW that took over two years to dry. It was stacked in multiple rows in the shade. I only stack single rows now with anything. Believe the moisture meter. It is definitely the more accurate than hand weight or the bang test, but don't forget ignorance is bliss.

I have the same situation two rows in the shade with lots of wind. I tested the mm on the palm of my hand and it read 33%, I think its pretty accurate.

Dennis, Do you keep very many rounds or do you split it all? Its looking to me rounds may not be ready after three years.

I had some wood stacked in a semi shaded area. I moved it into the hot sun and the sun did the trick. I read here where alot of woodburners have limited space.
If that is the case, the sun is your friend.

At my place in Northern NH, I have two issues that makes single row stacks difficult, frost and snow. Both of these conspire to push over single row stacks. Piling up a couple of rows against each other give the wood piles a lot more structure. I expect it impedes drying but I eventually rotate the wood into a woodshed for about 6 months prior to burning season.

I've had mixed results knocking the splits together. I've got stacks of fast-drying wood like dead standing Ash and BL, but if I start knocking splits together I can find a few clunkers that just don't have that sharp, ringing sound. I'm pretty sure it's all dry though. I will get some more of those, then re-split and compare meter readings, just to be sure, but I think I'll find that the knock test isn't 100% reliable.

I've had trouble keeping some single rows upright, I think because the soil in the woods isn't packed down firmly. So I've been stacking double rows on pallets, leaving about 8" between. Seems a lot more stable but we'll see how they hold up over the long run...