Bottom of the pile soggy wood.

[Bigkahuna427]

I have some wood that has been sitting on the ground in a pile. The wood on the bottom is really soggy. It has been sitting for a couple of years mostly 4 to 6" rounds a mix of maple and ash in one pile and 12 to 20" rounds red pine in the other pile. I have just split it all up and the stuff laying right on the ground was pretty wet. Is this wood that won't be dry until next season?

 

[johneh]

Here If it were stacked off the ground it may be ready next year
But more than likely it will be 2 years
Depends on your drying conditions

 

[begreen]

It depends on the wood species. Out here alder would punk out quickly under those conditions and be useless, but I split up some maple rounds that had been sitting in swampy condition for a year, gave them a year to dry out and they were fine.

 

[Sodbuster]

I have some wood that has been sitting on the ground in a pile. The wood on the bottom is really soggy. It has been sitting for a couple of years mostly 4 to 6" rounds a mix of maple and ash in one pile and 12 to 20" rounds red pine in the other pile. I have just split it all up and the stuff laying right on the ground was pretty wet. Is this wood that won't be dry until next season?

My wood shed is a carport, and that has a landscape fabric base, covered with crushed stone. I can tell the bottom layer is still a little damp although the rest of the pile is great. I leave the bottom row, and re-stack it in the Spring. By the following winter it's fine.

 

[maple1]

On the ground in a pile, unsplit - I don't think there is any way you would be able to burn that this year. The hard wood, maybe not even next year if you don't have it stacked in good drying conditions now. Wood doesn't really start to dry out much at all until it is split - so sitting unsplit on the ground at the bottom of a pile, it might have actually gained some moisture. I'm a bit surprised there isn't some rot starting, actually.

 

[Woody Stover]

Is this wood that won't be dry until next season

On the ground in a pile, unsplit - I don't think there is any way you would be able to burn that this year.

That's what I was thinking, when he said he just split it..none of that is going to be real dry. Maybe soft Maple would be getting close, but I think they mostly have Sugar Maple up there..