wood seasoning REALLY fast or bad moisture meter?

[wccountryboy]

The rule of thumb seems to be that most hardwoods require about 1 full year c/s/s to season properly, and oak needs 2. Just for kicks, I tested a few pieces of hickory that I cut and split in July or so. 18% was the averege reading I got. Oak from the same timeframe came in at 23%. I live in the North Carolina Sandhills, so I get pretty hot summers; well over 90* for most of July and August, with several 100*+ days.
Im wondering if my cheap Harbor Freight meter it way off, or the enviroment can really reduce seasoning time by about half.... Has anybody in warmer climates noticed this?

 

[pen]

Well, I would say anything is possible and either is a legitimate explanation. Wood can dry quicker in the right environment and electronic tools (especially cheap ones) do lie at times.

pen

 

[CountryBoy19]

Was the wood cold or room temp? Temp makes a difference with moisture reading. High end meter normally come with temperature correction charts.

IIRC, colder will show MC lower than actual MC. (just going by memory from grain moisture testing so I could be wrong on which way it goes)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The proof is always in how the wood burns when you are ready to burn it. Then it matters not what the meter says. Either it is good or it is bad or somewhere in the middle.

 

[wccountryboy]

The wood is outside, daytime highs have been mid 40s. Maybe I'll throw a load in tomorrow and see how it burns. I was just shocked to get such low readings after only 6 months.

 

[LLigetfa]

Are you resplitting and testing on the fresh split face?

 

[-PB-]

Funny... I'm in the same boat. I also c/s/s 2 hickory trees in late may. My nieghbor had them cut green out of his front yard. I never thought they would be ready for this year but I also tested them after reading this and got between 17 and 18%. My MM seems to be ok, I tested older oak splits that seemed to be accurate. The only thing I can think of is we had an unusually hot and dry summer. They were stacked single row getting plenty of sun and wind. I burned some the other day with good results. Good luck.

 

[Kenster]

I would also ask if you guys are measuring the inside of freshly split wood. You can't test the outside or the ends. I would be extremely surprised if hickory, more so than oak, was really hitting 18% after only eight months? And not even standing dead would season that fast. You say this was fresh cut green?

 

[wccountryboy]

All the readings I took were from the center of a fresh split. The trees were standing live when I cut them. As was pointed out, the proofs in the burning. I've brought some inside, and will use it tomorrow morning. Im thinking it may be a combination of both the enviromental conditions and a cheap tool. I'll report back tomorrow.

 

[-PB-]

I would also ask if you guys are measuring the inside of freshly split wood. You can't test the outside or the ends. I would be extremely surprised if hickory, more so than oak, was really hitting 18% after only eight months? And not even standing dead would season that fast. You say this was fresh cut green?

I was suprised as well, thought I was doing something wrong or had a bad MM as well. I frshly split one from the pile outside and one that had been in the garage for a few days (a little warmer). Jammed the MM prongs in the center of the split good, one was 18.2%, one was 17.4%, I dont remember which one was which. Maybe my MM is off but I also tested my 22 month chestnut oak at 17.7%. I would think that should be pretty accurate?????

 

[gzecc]

Test from fresh splits (unseasoned) and some demensional lumber for relativity. You can also touch the probes to your hand and get a reading. I forget what you'll get on your hand, someone my chime in.

 

[wccountryboy]

Well, I used a load of this wood for the morning fire. It burned fairly well, no hissing or steaming, but not like I'd expect if it was less than 20%. It was a little slow to get going.

 

[ChillyGator]

Test from fresh splits (unseasoned) and some demensional lumber for relativity. You can also touch the probes to your hand and get a reading. I forget what you'll get on your hand, someone my chime in.

Approximately 35% on the open palm

 

[murphyslaw1978]

Well, I used a load of this wood for the morning fire. It burned fairly well, no hissing or steaming, but not like I'd expect if it was less than 20%. It was a little slow to get going.

I think the above results is why some people do not rely heavily on these meters.

 

[gzecc]

Well, I used a load of this wood for the morning fire. It burned fairly well, no hissing or steaming, but not like I'd expect if it was less than 20%. It was a little slow to get going.

I think the above results is why some people do not rely heavily on these meters.

I think the above result is exactly why the inexperienced should have a meter.

 

[Battenkiller]

Hickory needs a 4 point upward correction from an 18% MC reading on the meter. That makes it 22%, not 18%.


I wouldn't dismiss these cheap meters out of hand. Even the most expensive moisture meters are merely resistance meters with a MC scale instead of an ohm scale. If the cheaper moisture meters can't be trusted, I think we need to re-evaluate the use of cheap multimeters as well.

It's pretty hard to screw up a pre-programed IC chip. The Chinese are making them, just like they make the circuit boards in computers, cell phones, as well as many very inexpensive devices we take for granted. FWIW my $12 HF meter has done very well when tested against wood whose MC was later confirmed using the extremely accurate oven-dry method. I really was kinda stunned by its accuracy, but they all work better at the lower end on the moisture range (closer to 10% MC), even the best of them. At 10%, they need very little added or subtracted for species correction.

 

[Battenkiller]

Oops! Forgot to add the chart.

 

[OhioBurner©]

The rule of thumb seems to be that most hardwoods require about 1 full year c/s/s to season properly, and oak needs 2.... Im wondering if my cheap Harbor Freight meter it way off, or the enviroment can really reduce seasoning time by about half.... Has anybody in warmer climates noticed this?

I cut some cherry last winter, left in the round until mid/late summer when I split and stacked. After reading these forums I thought it wouldnt be ready, but I checked a few of the largest peices I had on a warm day in november and I got readings from 18-22%. I would have questioned the meter but it did show over 30% on them when I split em in august. We do get good wind here and it was a pretty warm & dry summer.

Then the more I read ont he forums the more it seems different species dry differently, and cherry does come up as a faster one. The individual location makes a big difference - think microclimate. My mother in law struggles with wood, her stack is in the shade (her whole property is), her whole property is shielded from strong wind because its all on the downwind side of a large hill. Not a whole lot she can do about it. My property has a wide open field to the west, and the property is on a bit of a knoll. Where I process wood is in full sun too.

 

[Battenkiller]

Then the more I read ont he forums the more it seems different species dry differently, and cherry does come up as a faster one.

There is lots of info online from the kiln-drying industry. You can find drying schedules for most species and they will show you which are the fastest and which are the slowest. I know cherry dries super fast, so I'll bet the kiln info would agree with both of our experiences.

 

[murphyslaw1978]

Well, I used a load of this wood for the morning fire. It burned fairly well, no hissing or steaming, but not like I'd expect if it was less than 20%. It was a little slow to get going.

I think the above results is why some people do not rely heavily on these meters.

I think the above result is exactly why the inexperienced should have a meter.

Well, my point is, his fire was slow going and apparently to him, the wood may have been a little too wet. But the moisture meter said 20%, which if solely relied upon, is giving poor results.

 

[DanCorcoran]

In addition to testing on the inside of a freshly split piece of firewood, the two contacts should be parallel to the grain, per the instructions with my meter.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Well, I used a load of this wood for the morning fire. It burned fairly well, no hissing or steaming, but not like I'd expect if it was less than 20%. It was a little slow to get going.

Have you burned hickory before? I ask because it's my experience that the densest, highest-BTU woods are a little slow to get going even when they're dry as can be. I prefer to burn high-BTU beech and black birch, but I always have some maple and/or ash, etc., around to give the harder woods a jump-start in the stove.

Try thowing some on after you get the fire going, or when you've built up a real hot coal bed.

 

[Kenster]

I love hickory but I never start a fire with it. I never split it small enough for that. I split the rounds just in half, maybe quartered at the most, and I use them only for overnight burns after I've had the fire going for a few hours with a really nice size coal bed. Of course, those large splits need to season at least two years. Three is better. Hot and slow burner. With a few splits of hickory in there I never worry about getting up in the middle of the night to add wood to the stove.

 

[-PB-]

Test from fresh splits (unseasoned) and some demensional lumber for relativity. You can also touch the probes to your hand and get a reading. I forget what you'll get on your hand, someone my chime in.

Approximately 35% on the open palm

interesting... finally got around to testing my palm. 34.8%