Wood won't dry!!!

[Tfin]

Different locals throughout North America I'm sure require different approaches. Here in ME, I'm an advocate of leaving it uncoverd till just before the snows come.

For me, in my location, works. I stay with it and sleep fine at night, and am plenty warm come winter with nice dry wood to burn.

 

[Jags]

Get two + years out - then fugitaboutit.

I use tarps with lots of holes in it - best of both worlds. :lol:

 

[ansehnlich1]

Cover the tops of my piles, mostly with pieces of plywood, leave sides open.

Cover the whole dang pile with tarps in the fall.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

My uncovered wood piles are growing mold and some wood that had moss when cut has turned parts of the pile into a verdant habitat suitable for up to 3# lizards.

I threw tarps on the tops of the piles.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

My rows get top covered like Woodbutcher's (except his are nice and neat).
I'm not taking the tops off in the Summer and have to find someplace to put them.
I figure every day spent drying off the wet from the rain is a day not drying the wood. Might be, might not be.
The top covers are enough for me all year.
Rarely get that much driving snow.
Rarely have to bust out frozen splits with a maul.

Bill,
I'm with you.....especially if someone's stack is mostly Red/White oak.

WoodButcher

 

[RedRanger]

Get two + years out - then fugitaboutit.

I use tarps with lots of holes in it - best of both worlds. :lol:

Well, I got 8 cords in the woodsheds. No worries there. And for the rows outside I do have the tarps will some holes. Now I have asked the rain falling today to avoid the holes in the tarps, so no worries there ;-)

 

[iceman]

well the wood that i know is already dry is uncovered but the wood that has been split since april and the wood that has been split since the end of may is now covered on the top only,,,..... reason... they are on 20x12 platform and it has pt plywood floor so if it gets 2 inches of rain there is no telling how rain makes it to the floor and god knows how long it will take to dry it out so now its covered used tarps and put 6 inch pvc on top to give it air under the tarps....supposed to rain tomorrow...and as fate would have it ............freaking heat wave comin.......oh well i am done

 

[gyrfalcon]

well the powers that be here convinced me to stack uncovered .... after about ohhh 10-12 inches of rain the past 7 days i am covering ... this is bs .... i saw the forecast and rain to cover my wood.... but today i modified my stack and yes the floors are still wet from rain before i covered it last week so.. tomorrow i will come up with a better system to cover my wood and leave it that way till its ready to burn... hopefully august will be 70-90 and dry and windy
i am thinking of ordering a clear tarp to allow more sun on the wood

For me the only thing the sun does for the wood is to heat it causing it to dry faster. With a black tarp (or blue, or green)on top only it would still heat up the pile very well. I don't think clear would be any benifit. This isn't an exact science as some may think. In todays world we want to do the best, be the best, and worry about being perfect. I would just get it covered and walk away from it, checking back every once in a while with a beer in my hand.

my thought was clear would let more sun in....... what do you think

Sun isn't the deal, it's heat and air circulation, primariily air, in my experience. I don't cover my wood. It dries out from soaking rains lickety-split.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Sun causes direct heating.

I have spent a LOT of time gettintg wood to 6-8% moisture content (MC) for bow making. The humidity of the air will determine the ultimate %MC. At 30% RH air, the wood will stabilize at 6% MC. Heat and airflow both effect this. One of the best ways to drive out some serious bulk moisture in bow staves is to leave them in your car on a sunny day. It doesn't take too much wood to actually fog your windows.

Think about how this works- moisture is taken from the surface of the wood. Without airflow there's a stagnant layer of more humid air around the wood- effective higher %RH in the air, less driving force for water to go into the air and reach equilibrium.

Heat does 2 things- higher energy in water pushes it to evaporate. Also- hot air will hold more water- so even at the same %RH, hot wood/air will reach equilibrium quicker. If you put a woodpile in the sun in the summer- the surface of the wood can get quite hot! If the air isn't moving, then hot wood will actually heat the air around it and create a convective airflow.

Look up Prof. Gary Settles at the Penn State University Gas Dynamics Lab for some incredible Schlieren photography of the airflow coming off of humans just because they're warmer than their environment. Imagine the airflow off a log at say 120F in the sun!

 

[Jags]

.....is to leave them in your car on a sunny day. It doesn't take too much wood to actually fog your windows.

Oh great, now I gotta start stacking my cord wood in my jeep?? :lol: Them springs ain't gonna like it.

 

[BrotherBart]

.....is to leave them in your car on a sunny day. It doesn't take too much wood to actually fog your windows.

Oh great, now I gotta start stacking my cord wood in my jeep?? :lol: Them springs ain't gonna like it.

Where are those old AMC Pacers when you need'em?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

With the big bubble window...

 

[Jags]

The "Fish bowl" on wheels?? Talk about a solar kiln! :cheese:

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep. Commonly referred to as "The Terrerium" in their day.

 

[moondoggy]

Adios---"One of the best ways to drive out some serious bulk moisture in bow staves is to leave them in your car on a sunny day. It doesn't take too much wood to actually fog your windows."



i got 2 pallets in my little hyundai tiburon on lunch break one day last month, by the time i came out at 5:00 the INSIDE of my car windows were dripping w/condensation... i mean wet, like it was dripping on the dash. i was laughing my a$$ off.


AND a huge +1 for the Sun.
I have 2 small Holz in the yard, from the same tree, 1 gets no sun, the other gets about 5-6 hrs direct, and you can tell by looking at the piles which is dryer wood.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

LOL- how do you get a pallet into a Hyundai??

Moondoggy- say "hi" to Eric von Zipper for me

 

[moondoggy]

place near me does flooring, i actually think they are a smidge smaller then a standard pallet... and can get 2 in!.... i'm just a little closer to
the windshield then normally comfortable with.

 

[BrotherBart]

LOL- how do you get a pallet into a Hyundai??

Moondoggy- say "hi" to Eric von Zipper for me

And tell Annette and Candy that I am waiting at the beachhouse.

 

[moondoggy]

BB-think your board hit you in the head on that last wipe out..... so long as Gidget's with me

 

[Jags]

LOL- how do you get a pallet into a Hyundai??

Moondoggy- say "hi" to Eric von Zipper for me

And give him the finger for me. (really obscure reference ;-) )

 

[Adios Pantalones]

LOL- I got it.

 

[moondoggy]

still thinking about it... i'm to young i guess

 

[Adios Pantalones]

moondoggy was a character on the Beach movies. Eric von Zipper was the bumbling biker bad guy. If you poked him in the temple he would just freeze.

 

[moondoggy]

ah, knew the first sentence... not the last 2 sentences. thank you for the explaination.
now back to your regularly scheduled program....

......get that wood some sun and wind!

 

[Rich L]

I just recieved a cord of split oak which had been laying for two years and split two months ago.Do you think it'll be dry enough to use this winter?