Wood drying time

[Swedishchef]

Hey guys

Upon lots of reading of older posts I am yet to find a "proper" answer.

Last fall I cut 4 cords of maple. SOme sugar and some rock. I did not split it.

The last week of April I split the wood into pieces no bigger than 6-7 inches in thickness.

My drying season so far has been great. For every 1 day of rain we get 10 days of sun with winds of 20-30 KM/H blowing through it.
Some of my wood is already dry, some is not.

The wood is not yet all stacked, 1/4 of it is. The rest is in piles that are 2-3 feet high and spread out over a large surface area.

Do you guys think this wood will be ready to burn this winter? No big deal if not, I just gotta go find someone with some seasoned wood for sale. Atleast I will then have 4 cords of maple for next winter and then I will officially be ahead of the game!

Regards

Andrew

 

[oldspark]

You say some of the the wood is dry, do you have a moisture meter or are you thinking it is dry, I would say it might be dicey on all of it being dry.

 

[FLINT]

I'd probably burn it.


and this is just me being particular - but isn't rock maple just another name for sugar maple? or are you talking about black maple - I think both sugar and black maples are called hard or rock maples.

 

[stint9]

Spring for el cheapo moisture meter

Well worth it

 

[smokinj]

We got 4 inchs last night and around 1 inch a day all month Wow it is wet. It will be the best wood in your area (better than what you will buy) may not be perfect but very good firewood for sure! (corn is chest high before 4th of july lol)

 

[peterc38]

Based on your description I think if you get it stacked pronto it will be ok.

 

[Swedishchef]

I think I may just stack it within the next week and hope for the best. I would hate running out of wood that is seasoned in the winter time. Does putting it in my basement with a dehumidifier and a fan help accelerate the process?

I will take some pictures and upload them tomorrow or Thursday.

Andrew

 

[willworkforwood]

I am yet to find a “proper” answer.

That's not happening. There are different ways to process wood, and we all give advice based on our own prior experience. So here's my opinion, but that's all it is ;-P. First of all, you are concerned about how dry your wood will be - that's a great start because too many folks don't know or care about seasoning. Your chances of buying wood seasoned better than what you already have are probably not too good. In my experience the best drying will happen if you stack with a loose pattern in single rows, with maximum sun and wind exposure, uncovered until late Fall. Your 6-7" splits also aren't the best for quickest seasoning. Two years ago I was in your situation, and split to 3-4", which resulted in everything getting to 20%. Yes, all of this is a lot of extra time and effort. Take my .02, and add it to all the other .02s and then make your call on how to go with it, and good luck!