aged wood dead or green

[relax]

when talking aging wood,seems people have a time period it takes to age it properly,but doesn,t different wood take longer or shorter time to age...I cut all dead standing and some from the ground ash and of my 11 cord my oldest was cut about 2 months ago.ive burned about 9 fires and it seem to be going good,,do people cut a lot of live trees to burn,i could see them taking a year or two to age...ZZZim

 

[branchburner]

I've been burning poorly seasoned wood for years in my fireplaces and in antique cookstoves. I only learned about EPA stoves this year, and when I got one I knew the green wood I just cut in June wasn't gonna cut it. I spent the last few months scrounging all the standing dead and dropped, dry-but-not-punky stuff I could find. Most of it is smaller stuff I'd normally never bother with, but I hope my Harman is gonna love it.

 

[MacKay]

I get a lot of firewood that is green and I dry it at least a year if it's oak sometimes longer. I don't cut down the live trees, the properties I have access to are selectively logged every 10 years and I cut up the tree tops and pieces the loggers can't use.

 

[Driven]

I've always heard that wood needs 6 months to age before burning. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering that if you take the same oak or ash log & mill it into a 1" thick plang for woodworking, they say it takes a year per inch to dry to a useable condition. Perhaps firewood is just fine with a higher moisture content?

 

[billb3]

millwood dry enough to control shrinkage and usability.
firewood dry enough to burn safely (or environmentaly responsibly).

 

[Backwoods Savage]

How long it takes wood to season depends on several factors.

1. What type of wood are you talking about? For example, oak takes a couple of years....depending upon what type of oak it it! Red oak and white oak are two different puppies. White ash can be burned green in a pinch but still better seasoned over the summer. In short, different times for different woods.

2. Was the tree live or dead when cut? And if dead, I suppose one could ask, how dead? Or for how long? For example, we cut lots of dead elm and usually wait until the bark has all or most all of it fell from the tree. Still, most of that elm needs to dry at least over the summer months. Some needs no time at all because it is so dry. Just depends on the tree.

3. Has the wood been cut into firewood lengths and split? You can cut a tree and leave it a year on the ground before it is cut up and say it has seasoned a year. But has it? Wood will not season very fast at all if not cut into firewood lengths and split.

4. How have you seasoned the wood? We cut all of our wood during the winter months and are usually done by March. Then we do the splitting and stacking. We never cover our wood until the following fall about the time the fall rains hit or at least before the snow flies. This allows for better evaporation. Then we cover the top only. Wood also should be stacked out in the sunshine and where it will benefit from the wind. The wind should hit the sides of the pile not the ends.

Of course this is not all, but gives those who are new some ideas.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Didn't you post this in the wood shed too?

Anyway- the "one year" guideline generally assumes that wood was cut live, split and stacked for a year. Lighter wod and ash takes less time. Oak and certain others may take more time.

White ash is a special case- a dense wood with less moisture live, and it dries quickly.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The length of the wood also makes a difference. If you think of wood as a bundle of straws that hold water, shorter straws will drain faster. If you cut all your splits to ~6" each, and set them in the wind and sun, you could probably have them dry in a month or two.

Matt

 

[11 Bravo]

My quick observations this summer. Freind and I cut green/standing red oak, red elm, and unknown maple on 05/25/08. Don't know what kind of maple it was but it split great, not real stringy like some I have split. Split and stacked all of it on 05/01 and took measurements and all of it was 28-35% moisture. It was stacked in single rows, open field-full exposure to wind and sun in 16"-18" lengths, about 8 cords.
I resplit some of it last week, and it is all now showing 12-18%, right around 5 months drying time.
Before gettin knowledge, I did the same but in July-August, and that 2 months of summer made all the difference ! I had a heck of a time keeping fires going that winter.

 

[relax]

adios yes i thought i posted ,where is the wood shed ,guess besides not knowing enuff about wood i may need to learn more about the computer posting...thank all you for your imput cuz all my wood is dead and on my 15 acres i wouldn;t dream of cutting live trees unless they were sick,so it just goes that i have never had to age green wood..I do keep all my wood inside a barn and the one wood shed that i do know its location....happy burning,,,,ZZZIm

 

[relax]

Adios thanks for opening my eyes ,did some looking and found all the other posts ,,get some Crown I see I have a lot of new reading to do...ZZZim

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Zim- it's funny that there are a few basics that you need to know, then it's just fun to read verything else here. I almost have myself talked into a wood fired boiler with storage- LOL. That ash that you have access to is pure gold my man. I would cut that over oak if given the opportunity.

 

[relax]

ausom or how its spelled yah i have 15 acres and 2 sq mile of live and mixed dead ash and no one in many miles who burns...my back hurts from getting 11 cord done in 2 months ...thanks again...ZZZim

 

[Wood Duck]

I think firewood burns a lot better after a year or two of seasoning split in stacks. However if you're cutting dead standing trees they might already be pretty well seasoned. Some dead wood I've cut is pretty dry. Some is at least as wet as live wood, maybe wetter. Try leaving one of those cords stacked out in a windy, sunny spot for a year or two and then burn it. If it is better you can change what you're doing, if it isn't better then you can rest easy knowing your wood is great.

To answer your question about live trees - yes, lots of people cut live trees and burn them. Most of my wood is from live trees that were damaged in storms or cut for some reason like powerline maintenance, homeowner wanted it gone, construction, etc.