Does this really cut drying time?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
I cut my firewood in the winter
it is bucked and split in April
stacked in the sun not covered
and it will be at 18 to 20 % by
mid-september. Been that way
for the last 42 years
3 years to dry total BS
But I would guess that it depends where you live
It's not BS with oak.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dmitry
What kind of wood are you talking about? Yes, where you live matters. Warmer, dryer, windier areas will season faster than cold wet still areas, but wood species matters even more. Softwoods can be split in April and burnt that winter. Not gonna happen with oak.
My firewood has always been a 50/50 split
between Red Oak and Sugar Maple.
some years a little Beach, Ironwood, and Hickory
depends in what area I have decided to cut
In a normal year, it is all below 20% moisture content
by the end of September
I just went to my leftover oak from last year in my rubble
rock basement grabbed a piece split it and the MC is 11%
That Oak is now 1 year and 5 months since it was felled
My splits are not small as I feed a furnace to heat my home
 
'Take of the fruit but guard the seed' - Robert Plant.
I have seen Red Alder fruit out after being felled, the moisture has to come from somewhere. Mother Nature will do whatever she needs to survive or produce the next generation.
 
I look at it from a scientific perspective. How are you going to get a whole seasons worth of water out of the wood by just doing this? The leaves certainly can't hold even close to this amount of extra moisture.
 
Leaves do evaporate much more water in a season while they are alive. However, leaves that die get crispy and evidently loose the connection to the branches to replenish the water in the leaves. Hence leaves will not evaporate much water and it won't help much. (But it won't hurt drying either.)
 
That my friend is the Angles share
Any good whisky drinker knows that

I may be a bit obtuse here, but are you sure that's right? I mean it's acute saying. ;) :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: ClintonH
lets put it this way. in massachusetts it takes me 3 years to dry oak enough so that it does not sizzle when thrown on a bed of coals five minutes later. i have been burning for more than twenty years and i have never seen oak dry fast. i always burn my oak 3 years later because at 2 years it feels light but it sizzles at 3 years old no sizzle.