Hi everyone. A local tree service in our town keeps logs on their property for several years, then cuts and splits them to sell for firewood. They advertise this as seasoned. How long would logs need to sit unsplit in order to dry out? I don't want to buy wet wood. Especially because I would need it this winter. (We had no idea of installing a wood stove last winter when we should have bought the wood.) Also, any advice for how to find well seasoned wood at this point in the year? Thanks
wood downed for several years, then split a month ago. could it be dry?
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btuser
Minister of Fire
It will help but not much. To give you an idea, I used to fell the trees and leave the leaves on them for six months before I'd buck+split. Marginal at best, in fact I found the wood to be dryer if I waited the whole Summer and cut in the fall when the tree has less water in it to start. I think it would have to be there for a long time, untill the bark fell off it.
A buddy of mine bought an 88-acre estate several years ago. The old guy that owned it before him had done a ton of clearing to sell the place and he had stockpiled damn near a lifetime supply of logs of various types, all dumped in huge heaps well off the ground. After a few years sitting they were OK for bonfires. When I went to his 4th of July party this year he was out cutting standing dead for the bonfire. What happened to all the wood he had showed me several years before? He said it had rotted away to basically nothing.
Long and short of it is, the first things I ask a wood seller when he says "seasoned" is how old the logs are and how long ago it was bucked and split. If he says the logs have been on the ground for six months seasoning then bucked and split, I know I'm getting a load of green wood. If he says several years sitting on the ground, I pass on it altogether.
Long and short of it is, the first things I ask a wood seller when he says "seasoned" is how old the logs are and how long ago it was bucked and split. If he says the logs have been on the ground for six months seasoning then bucked and split, I know I'm getting a load of green wood. If he says several years sitting on the ground, I pass on it altogether.
Battenkiller said:
To make sure I'm understanding, if it was felled six months ago then recently split, it's green. If it was felled several years ago then recently split, it might be starting to rot. Is there a sweet spot then, maybe felled 1 1/2 years ago then recently split? Thanks
The key to seasoning wood is exposed surface area. Wood simply does not season very well while still in the round. I've pegged the moisture meter (it stops at 40%) on standing dead red oak rounds once they were split open, for example. On average, you'll do fine with anything that's been cut/split/stacked for a year. Pine and like species may be ready after 6 months (depending on your climate). Some give oak 2 to 3 years (literally) to season.
If it is Oak you are missing out on some prime wood, I cut dead on the ground burr oak that has laid there for who knows how long and it dries over the summer to 20% or less, been cutting this type of wood for 15 years or so. That is the wood in my pickup in my avatar.Battenkiller said:
OhioBurner©
Minister of Fire
My last cutting session involved mostly all dead black Locust, one that had been on the ground for 2 years - still some bark on - and a couple that were standing still (no bark on). The stuff is so hard to split I have only split a few rounds so far, and it was some of the smaller standing dead ones. After I was trying to 'inform' my BIL about how even dead wood or log length wood would not dry out well I was kind of put in my place. He swore up and down that old dead stuff would lite with a match. Well whipped out the MM and it was at 17-18%. Thats marginally drier than some nice weathered grey splits that I had c/s/s last year out in the open in sun and wind.
So I would say you cant ever guess with any certainty. It just depends on each situation.
So I would say you cant ever guess with any certainty. It just depends on each situation.
Eric,
I know alot of wood processors season in log form. In my opinion, it really doesn't start seasoning until it's bucked and split.
If he has some ash - that might be good, otherwise you are likely going to get a typical delivered green wood load.
I know alot of wood processors season in log form. In my opinion, it really doesn't start seasoning until it's bucked and split.
If he has some ash - that might be good, otherwise you are likely going to get a typical delivered green wood load.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
It all depends upon the wood and if the wood was touching the ground. Some might be okay and others won't.
For what it is worth, I cut soft maples during some winters so the deer have some browse. If I leave those trees lay there for 2 years, I'd best be cutting them then (after 3 years it is not good for burning any longer) and burning it very soon. Most of it can be burned right after it is cut like this. Try doing this with most woods though and you won't get very good fires.
For what it is worth, I cut soft maples during some winters so the deer have some browse. If I leave those trees lay there for 2 years, I'd best be cutting them then (after 3 years it is not good for burning any longer) and burning it very soon. Most of it can be burned right after it is cut like this. Try doing this with most woods though and you won't get very good fires.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
ericj said:
As others have said . . . most seasoning only really starts once the wood is bucked up and split . . . I wouldn't count on this wood being seasoned if it was bucked and split recently (i.e. within the last 6-12 months) even if the trees were cut down two years ago.
Kenster
Minister of Fire
My buddy/neighbor gave me the twenty foot trunk (about 30 inch diameter) of a water oak late last winter. It had been standing dead but had been down on the ground for a while. No punkiness whatsoever. I bucked it into my required length. It was quite solid but not green at all. Split pretty easily. It's been stacked outside in the the hot Texas summer air. I checked on just today and it looks ready to burn.
It made about half a cord, maybe a little more. Should make a great burn.
It made about half a cord, maybe a little more. Should make a great burn.
Cluttermagnet
Minister of Fire
It makes no sense that they wouldn't split it right away. Then if it sat around for 3 years, it would darned sure be fully seasoned (if no ground contact). Those tree service guys are doing it exactly backwards IMO. BTW the problem is only that much worse if the wood is stored as logs, like 6ft or so in length. It would season much faster cut into rounds around maybe 18 in. But splits season so much faster than rounds, there's just no comparison. As far as I'm concerned they are not selling 'seasoned wood'. If you buy their splits, plan on another year to season.ericj said:
Wood Duck
Minister of Fire
I have cut lots of downed wood in the forest, and somtimes you get reasonably dry wood, other times it seems even wetter than live wood. This is true even with some wood that is well up off the ground. The drier wood I have cut seems to have been dead a long time. I think you shouldn't expect the wood from the tree service to be seasoned much, and perhaps not seasoned at all.
Cluttermagnet
Minister of Fire
(Emphasis above is mine)Wood Duck said:
Yep, exactly. Once you get into the deadwood, all bets are off. Even just in one species, Red Oak, I have seen it vary from 'ready to burn' all the way to 'wetter than live wood' and needing at least another year to season after splitting. OTOH some of that soggy deadwood seems to dry twice as fast as some green wood.
Bottom line for me is to prefer deadwood over fresh cut. If I ever do get fully 3 years ahead, it will no longer matter much- but right now, it does matter to me, too. I prefer wood that can be ready in a year or less.
Lumber-Jack
Minister of Fire
Just to add my 2 cent.
We routinely cut standing dead trees that are less than 20% moisture content. This wood is ready to burn right away, but this is a very specific type of wood. It is lodgepole pine that has died from beetlekill. The way the trees die and the fact that we have a very dry climate helps to speed up the drying process, so it doesn't take that many years for the trees to get below 20% MC.
The funny thing is is that as long as they are standing they dry out well and stay firm for a long time, but once they are lying on the ground they start to absorb moisture again and it doesn't take them very long before they start to rot.
Other than that it is very hard to find dead wood that dry. Every once in a while I'll find a standing Douglas fir tree that looks like it it's been dead since the time of Christ that will be pretty dry, but even then the larger trees often have a lot of moisture near the base of the trunk.
Here is a picture of some that we fell yesterday with the moisture contents reading at two different locations.
We routinely cut standing dead trees that are less than 20% moisture content. This wood is ready to burn right away, but this is a very specific type of wood. It is lodgepole pine that has died from beetlekill. The way the trees die and the fact that we have a very dry climate helps to speed up the drying process, so it doesn't take that many years for the trees to get below 20% MC.
The funny thing is is that as long as they are standing they dry out well and stay firm for a long time, but once they are lying on the ground they start to absorb moisture again and it doesn't take them very long before they start to rot.
Other than that it is very hard to find dead wood that dry. Every once in a while I'll find a standing Douglas fir tree that looks like it it's been dead since the time of Christ that will be pretty dry, but even then the larger trees often have a lot of moisture near the base of the trunk.
Here is a picture of some that we fell yesterday with the moisture contents reading at two different locations.
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