Who else in the Northeast is getting concerned their wood isn't drying

We have the wettest Spring that I can ever remember here. My wood was pretty dry when it was stacked but it has been getting lots of rain. Last couple of days have been in the 80* with no rain so I think we are moving into our more usual summer weather.

I am just trusting that it will be good and dry by Dec. I have two stacks with tops covered that has stayed dry so it will be burned first.

Kinda the 'wait and see' mentality. Always something new to experience.

OOOPS I just read that you were addressing Northeasterners...I am in the West. In the shadow of the almighty Rocky Mountains..Ususally DRY country.

Me too. Things started to take off but then stopped abruptly when the rain and cooler weather hung on. Even my house plants shut down for awhile...

You better get off your duff and cut those 5 Oaks down while you have the weather.

Ditto . . . my garden looks more like I'm getting ready to stage some Monster Truck Mud Run.

Summer - June 21 to Sept 21. Relax and have a beer...

Could it be? I don't think i felt a raindrop yet today!

We've had rain for weeks here but, the sun actually came out a little yesterday finally.

Its amazing how a little sunshine makes the garden explode after all that rain. The woodpile looks good in the sun too.

Sun? Whats that thing? I don't think we have seen it for a week, whatever it might be.
Firefighter....same thing with my garden this year....I got some plants that have not grown 1 inch since planting....going to be a bad years for gardens

Over the weekend I commented to the wife about how wet the wood stacks are from the rain - they were soaked! After two days of no rain and windy weather they look bone dry.
I agree with CT, relax and have a beer

i learned last ... i left my wood covered as it rained alot but this past winter once i got into the wood much of it was still so-so ... the wood is still covered as but it is bone dry... but the part that get wet dries as son as it stops raining........ wood isnt going to soak up water that much after it has been cut unless you leave it on the ground.... i would bet that wood covered on the top will take in just as much water as uncovered during a long lengthy rain... if wood does take in water than believe me on days it rains rains and rains it is soaking in the humidity ..... but wood only takes in so much so either way covered or uncovered ... should be the same
i say this because the 3 cds or so that was dumped in my yard last nov is looking real good and its not covered at all just stacked same thing it gets wet and dries within hrs of it not raining...i am sure if i had to i could burn it this dec ... but its for next year

Smokin
Where are u located? I'm just inside of Little Egg Harbor

I just got two cords of green mostly hardwood that I'm stacking up. Is it best not to cover it at all until later September or so?

Thanks.

If it were me, I'd cover the top somehow but leave a small air space by elevating whatever you use to cover it with a few inches. It's kind a late in the year trying to get green wood to dry enough for this up coming burn season unless it's a fast drying species.

I am worried that my fore wood will never dry, I know we have a long summer ahead of us but I want every minute of seasoning time that I can get! I have also noticed as someone stated, Some of my stack are cracking and stuff but when it rains, it looks like it was just cut!

if you plan on burning it this year you have very little hope if its greeen now.... but if you have sun and wind stack it in a single row and try to cover the top with something... like plywood something that wont drop down over the sides

Skinny when did you split it?? and when do you plan on burning it?
it it was split by march you should be ok... hopefully but it won't burn as good as if it was march 08! however what i learned was if you plan on usinf it this winter and have recently split it .... it might be worth your time to resplit the larger pieces ... just burn small splits as the decent size wont be ready by oct-nov
if you have wood that is ready but not enough then resplit what you need in oct and it should be ready by jan

It's New England, just remember what Mark Twain said about that.

I'm not terribly worried because I have 5 cords drying since Nov/Dec 2008. Prior to this June, it’s been relatively dry as we were below average for rainfall in NE. I believe aging wood in the winter months is as effective as any other time of the year.

Maybe someone can answer this simple question that many have on there minds. How come wet wood from rain only takes a few days to evaporate all that absorbed water whereas fresh cut wood takes 12 to 18 months? I understand wood has fibers with moisture in them. Is is that rain soaked wood absorbs moisture outside of the fibers and it's evaporates rapidly?

Stejus, Think of wood being made up of millions of 12" straws (running length wise). Depending on the species they are either very large diameter staws filled up with water or very small diameter straws with very little water to begin with.
If you don't cut into the straws (leave the wood in log form) the straws can't empty. If you cut the logs too long (>18"), a lot of the straws will remain intact.
Rain water doesn't penetrate the straws. It quickly evaporates.

How come wet wood from rain only takes a few days to evaporate all that absorbed water whereas fresh cut wood takes 12 to 18 months? I understand wood has fibers with moisture in them. Is is that rain soaked wood absorbs moisture outside of the fibers and it’s evaporates rapidly? All living things need to have clear boundaries: This is me and that is the outside. Just like our skins are very good at keeping us dry ( NOT IN THIS WEATHER!!) on the inside, plants have a similar system. Once we spend energy getting nutrients, water etc inside we want to make sure it does not leak out easily.

Trees/Plants have an ingenious way of using small diameter tubes to suck water to the trees. Capillary action is the force whereby things can move against gravity if in a tiny diameter tube.
Think of how amazing that a 300 foot giant sequoia can transport water to the leaves on the top from deep underneath the ground.I suspect water which has hydrogen bonds can attract one another up the tube as well.


2 types of tubes

Xylem transports water up

Phloem transports sugars sap etc up in the spring and down in the fall to store all that energy for next springs regrowth.

Tom

I'm in the North East, too: New Brunswick, Canada, just about 1 hours East of Maine.
We're getting lots of rain this summer, too. My wood has stopped drying...for now.
Get a wood moisture meter. They are about $23 on E-bay. Free shipping to North America. Get stats!
My just-cut maple and birch (2 weeks) has only gone from 38% to 31-36%, but it will take a leap in our hot July weather.
By fall it should be in the mid 20's.
Most of my wood is split - 18" long and nothing wider than 5". Stacked and spaced well in an open field. Dries better that way.
It helps that I stack my wood in a heated basement for the winter. I get the last moisture out/off there.
Happy burning!

April/ Mayish.

and I hope to burn it in the fall.

Just got in from stackin what was left of the split stuff. And man were the splits on the bottom wet! Im talkin drippin wet after all the rain we've had. Some even seem like they started to rot in only a few weeks.

I covered my tops for next years wood today. They still get plenty of air flow and sun all day but I wanted keep at least some of the moisture from getting to the middle of my stacks. This is only my second year burning and this wood was split last June/July. I really want drier wood then the "seasoned" stuff I bought last year. BTW its mostly red oak with some black cherry all free from craigs list stacked on pallets. If we hit a dry spell the tarps are coming off.