fastest seasoning wood.

[ohiojoe13]

I have access to some woods and the owner says I can cut whatever I want. What trees do I go for that will be ready to burn 15-16 winter. I looked it over quick and didn't see any ash. But I saw a good amount of cherry. Going tomorrow to do some cutting. Thanks for the help.

 

[pen]

Cherry seasons pretty quick also. I always like cherry.

However, I'd be looking for anything dead standing / leaner / dead tops / etc, just to treat the woods as I'd treat my own property, in hopes of being able to cut there for a long while.

Good luck,

pen

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Silver Maple doesn't take too long to dry out either.....

 

[Hogwildz]

Pine

 

[claydogg84]

Pine

Skip the pine - look for soft maple, cherry, and black walnut.

 

[nrford]

ASH, if it isn't dead already odds are it will be soon!

 

[Hogwildz]

Skip the pine - look for soft maple, cherry, and black walnut.

Walnut ain't drying in a year. Ive plenty of Black Walnut, and it wasn't no where near ready by the next season.
Chery will be lucky to be ready by next season.
I'm not a soft Maple fan, but of course I'll burn it if I have it.
Discount pine all you want, it has plenty of place in burning and really excels in some circumstances.
You can skip it, but it will be dry in the time frame he is asking about.
Cherry and Black Walnut won't be ready 8 or 9 months.

 

[claydogg84]

Walnut ain't drying in a year. Ive plenty of Black Walnut, and it wasn't no where near ready by the next season.
Chery will be lucky to be ready by next season.
I'm not a soft Maple fan, but of course I'll burn it if I have it.
Discount pine all you want, it has plenty of place in burning and really excels in some circumstances.
You can skip it, but it will be dry in the time frame he is asking about.
Cherry and Black Walnut won't be ready 8 or 9 months.

He's looking for wood for 15-16 season. That starts around November for most folks - 8 months from now. Black Walnut and Cherry will be low 20s on the mm by then. If and when my pine trees fall down on my property line, they will be thrown in the woods, not in my stove. It's about as useful as Cottonwood, which is barely capable of holding my tarps down. I do agree with the other person that suggested looking for dead standing stuff, as that is sure to have a head start on the drying process.

 

[drz1050]

Everybody in NY hates pine.. I have no problem with it. Since everyone hates it, it's actually hard to find though. Most people just throw it away without telling anyone.

 

[Hogwildz]

He's looking for wood for 15-16 season. That starts around November for most folks - 8 months from now. Black Walnut and Cherry will be low 20s on the mm by then. If and when my pine trees fall down on my property line, they will be thrown in the woods, not in my stove. It's about as useful as Cottonwood, which is barely capable of holding my tarps down. I do agree with the other person that suggested looking for dead standing stuff, as that is sure to have a head start on the drying process.

Whatever you say. And sorry to tell you, but they won't be ready in 8 months. You best get yourself a new moisture meter. If you need a moisture meter to know your wood is ready, you best get a few more years under your belt. Anyone can literally pick up and observe a split and tell if it is dry enough to be burnt or not. Weight alone tells everything.
Toss what you want, there are plenty of out burning brothers out west that have nothing but pine, fur, and other evergreens to burn, and do just fine with it.
Comparing pine to cottonwood shows your ignorance right there.
As far as dead standing, some folks get lucky once in a while to find it dry enough to burn. But, if you do some research, you will find enough posts on this forum where folks had dead standing, or even cut poles that were dead for even a few years, that were no where near close to burn.
Your statements are just crap thrown against a wall.

 

[bholler]

Whatever you say. And sorry to tell you, but they won't be ready in 8 months. You best get yourself a new moisture meter. If you need a moisture meter to know your wood is ready, you best get a few more years under your belt. Anyone can literally pick up and observe a split and tell if it is dry enough to be burnt or not. Weight alone tells everything.

I am sorry but i regularly get cherry maple and ash below 20% in 7 or 8 months easily I have some stacks of oak locust and hickory that i let go for 2 years but the rest i am cutting now and it will be ready for next year. I with you about the pine i don't go and look for it but i will cut it up and burn it gladly in the shoulder season.

 

[jatoxico]

Dead standing is a good start and taking some is prob good from a land management point of view too. But, and I'm sure Pen would agree, it's no guarantee and can be a bit of a crap shoot. Dead standing oak can be quite wet for example. As mentioned tops are supposed to be more reliably dry. Dead standing locust is often quite dry around here.

Any of the softer woods are sure to season faster than hardwood. So true softwoods like pine but also hardwoods like aspen etc and most birches seem to dry pretty quick as does basswood. They're generally lower btu but heat just fine even if you do have to load a little more frequently.

 

[DougA]

Pine, poplar, willow, basswood, ash all will dry in one summer if split and stacked properly. Silver maple and some others will be OK if split smaller.

 

[Hogwildz]

I am sorry but i regularly get cherry maple and ash below 20% in 7 or 8 months easily I have some stacks of oak locust and hickory that i let go for 2 years but the rest i am cutting now and it will be ready for next year. I with you about the pine i don't go and look for it but i will cut it up and burn it gladly in the shoulder season.

If you split it small enough, it may very well dry in time, but personally, I don't split small. Most that do that, then complain of suffering short burn times & flaming nuclear fireboxes.
Depends on the stove you're using also. I may be wrong, but your stove is an older pre-epa model, which is much more forgiving to higher moisture content than the new EPA stoves are.
The OP didn't mention what stove he has, or is getting, so he may get by with less than optimal wood.
I have had both Cherry and Ash split in good sizes for what I use, 6x8ish in size, and they weren't ready in a year, closer to two.

The issue have with Cherry, is it leaves a shitload of ash, which lays on top of everything under it, insulating and choking off the lower splits from burning as well as they could. Just the experiences I have had with it. And this is 3+ year old Cherry I am speaking of. Not a moisture issue, but a def ash issue. Black Walnut is another notorious high ash wood. Both Medium heat, and tons of ash. I will burn them, but usually during the day.
I can get an easy 8 hours out of a load of dry pine. Little ash, and little coaling compared to Oak or Cherry.
I don't have a problem with Pine, and even as large as I split it, its ready the next season.
I have 6 x 8 and other large white oak, red oak & hickory splits in the barn, and have had them stacked outside at times also, that will need/needed a full 3 years to be dry for optimal burn. Will it burn in 2, sure, but not like it will in 3. If you can burn Oak & Hickory in two years drying time, kudos to you, I'll wait 3 and get the full benefit from it.
Hickory, I won't even think of burning for 3 years. Been there, done that. And I know I am not the only one that tried Hickory less than 3 years, and had issue with it.

If hes in a pinch, then he needs whatever will dry enough to burn in 8 months.
Bottom line is, it is best to get 3 years ahead minimal when one can, then it won't matter what you have, it will be ready, with no issues.
Processing year to year, for the next years season, is just asking for problems unless you're in a very dry or arid area, and this side of the country ain't that. Not yet, anyway.
Of course if one splits little 2x2 splits, they will dry sooner, and in my opinion be useless for what my needs are.

 

[jdogg]

No bark deadwood has always burned fine for me. I'd start by taking out the deadwood and downfalls on your friends property. Next I would take out the crooked trees and leaners. Show your friend the nice straight ones you left, tell him they will now grow faster with more sunlight and be worth more $$ if he ever sells them for timber. Tell him you will be glad to cut up the tops the loggers leave. Cut your stumps as close to the ground as you can without hitting dirt and stack the brush you leave in piles for the critters etc. If you treat his woods as if they were yours you may have a spot for life. If you just go in their and start cutting what ever is easy you may wear out your welcome in short order!

 

[HDRock]

Walnut ain't drying in a year. Ive plenty of Black Walnut, and it wasn't no where near ready by the next season.
Chery will be lucky to be ready by next season.
I'm not a soft Maple fan, but of course I'll burn it if I have it.
Discount pine all you want, it has plenty of place in burning and really excels in some circumstances.
You can skip it, but it will be dry in the time frame he is asking about.
Cherry and Black Walnut won't be ready 8 or 9 months.

walnut drying time depends on when it was cut, when it was split and stacked, what size it was split and where it was stacked, same as all other firewood

 

[claydogg84]

Whatever you say. And sorry to tell you, but they won't be ready in 8 months. You best get yourself a new moisture meter. If you need a moisture meter to know your wood is ready, you best get a few more years under your belt. Anyone can literally pick up and observe a split and tell if it is dry enough to be burnt or not. Weight alone tells everything.
Toss what you want, there are plenty of out burning brothers out west that have nothing but pine, fur, and over evergreens to burn, and do just fine with it.
Comparing pine to cottonwood shows your ignorance right there.
As far as dead standing, some folks get lucky once in a while to find it dry enough to burn. But, if you do some research, you will find enough posts on this forum where folks had dead standing, or even cut poles that were dead for even a few years, that were no where near close to burn.
Your statements are just crap thrown against a wall.

I could bicker with you all day long here. I don't agree, or respect most of your opinions. When someone doesn't agree with you, you resort to calling them ignorant, how nice. You shouldn't compare the guys out west to the guys on the east coast. They are forced to burn pine, and given the chance to burn hardwoods, I'm sure they would. To the OP, sorry about the derailment here, but I still recommend dead standing first followed by soft maple, cherry, and walnut. Everything should be split on the smaller side for 8-9 month dry time.

 

[Gboutdoors]

Pine, and dead standing with no bark on. Cut 16" and split 3-4" and the pine will be ready FOR SURE. I can go out back today cut a dead standing Red Oak 8" round or less with no bark and it will read 20-24% main trunk and in the teens on top. Split to 3-4 stack and burn this fall. I do not cut ANY GREEN unless its a blow down from storms then c/s/s for two years at least.

As said by others out west all they burn is pine and softwood or freeze. I have my own land with hundreds of dead standing Oaks and White Pine. My stacks are 70% Oak the rest Pine and have been that way for three years now. We have been heating with wood for 5 years now,the first two were a fight trying to burn the Oaks cut down to make room for the house most of which were green.

A fellow employee that also cuts and sells wood told me skip the Oak and to split the Pines that had been dropped to get us going. By the way he has burned wood for heat for 60+ years and burns almost ONLY PINE because all his customers want all the hardwood he cuts.

After finding this sight and learning more about cutting,splitting and stacking different types of wood pine will always be my got I wood for fast seasoning and clean burning.

Good luck with your new found wood supply and let's us know what you find.

 

[ohiojoe13]

Well that escalated quickly. I still don't have a stove yet. I want to make sure I have enough wood before I buy one. Most likely it will be a non cat epa stove. When I walked the woods the first time I don't remember any pine. There were only 2 down trees one that was rotted and the other one I think was maple. I may check that one out. The woods is a valley and no way to get my truck back there so everything will be done by hand. Will try to take a few pictures today so you guys can id some of the trees. Thanks for the help.

 

[ckitch]

First year burner and have to say soft maple was a big dissapointment, I think its comparable to willow JUNK. Now pine has exceeded all my expectations burns hot, not as long as ash but great stuff

 

[wahoowad]

Standing dead. Go look for it.

 

[bholler]

I may be wrong, but your stove is an older pre-epa model, which is much more forgiving to higher moisture content than the new EPA stoves are.

My stove has no bearing on the moisture meter reading sorry. And my stove needs dry wood in order to get the secondary combustion working just like any other stove. Just because you cant get wood dry that quick doesn't make everyone who can an idiot It just means you don't know how to get wood dry that fast. Now yes if you have a stove that tends to toke off on you then yes you will have to split larger and it will take more time to get it dry but i have never had an issue with it and neither has my father with his quad. And with my smaller splits i can fit more wood into the fire box with much less space between them which for me means longer burn times.

 

[DougA]

have to say soft maple was a big dissapointment, I think its comparable to willow JUNK.

I guess if you have lots of wood, then you would only burn the best but some of us have to burn everything. I've got six 30"+ soft maple trees that went down last year that have to be css this spring. It's either that or pay hundreds of $$ to haul away the stuff. I found that all wood, including willow, burn just fine if you intermingle them with better hardwoods and burn the best wood only at night. I don't even sort my wood into species, I just burn it when it's dry enough. The only wood I call junk is under 2" or has rotted. If I had 10 acres of 50 yr hardwood that is 70' high & perfectly straight, then my opinion would be far different.

 

[claydogg84]

I guess if you have lots of wood, then you would only burn the best but some of us have to burn everything. I've got six 30"+ soft maple trees that went down last year that have to be css this spring. It's either that or pay hundreds of $$ to haul away the stuff. I found that all wood, including willow, burn just fine if you intermingle them with better hardwoods and burn the best wood only at night. I don't even sort my wood into species, I just burn it when it's dry enough. The only wood I call junk is under 2" or has rotted. If I had 10 acres of 50 yr hardwood that is 70' high & perfectly straight, then my opinion would be far different.

I actually like the soft maple. Sure, it's not Sugar Maple, but it did fine mixed in with other hard woods.

 

[Hogwildz]

Well that escalated quickly. I still don't have a stove yet. I want to make sure I have enough wood before I buy one. Most likely it will be a non cat epa stove. When I walked the woods the first time I don't remember any pine. There were only 2 down trees one that was rotted and the other one I think was maple. I may check that one out. The woods is a valley and no way to get my truck back there so everything will be done by hand. Will try to take a few pictures today so you guys can id some of the trees. Thanks for the help.

Grab that maple before it rots. Any EPA stove is going to be less forgiving on less than dry wood. They will burn, but the wetter it is, the less efficiently it will burn, and less heat you will get out of the load. Do yourself a huge favor, and get an idea of how many cord you will need a season, and get 3 years ahead. The keep getting more, so you can have a nice 3 year rotation. If you can get ahead at that plan, almost anything you stack will be waiting and ready, and burn very nicely when the time comes to burn it. Plus, the stacks are nice to look at, and a put a smile on your face knowing you will have optimal wood ready when needed. It is a nice feeling.
Enjoy.

Access can be a real PITA. I have wood on the property here, that I just don't have the equipment to access the wood. So I bring in pole length, set it in an easily accessible area, and chip away at it at my leisure.
Another benefit of being ahead with stock.
What you think you need cordage wise, figure another cord to cord and a half, and you may find you're glad you did.

One more suggestion, you could also process and stack the wood in by species if you have the time and space. Then you will have stacks that are ready, and others in the waiting for next season or the season after.

Just be careful how small you split the wood. Anything real small will go up like a tinder box, and if this is your first go around with a wood stove, and you load that firebox full of small stuff, you will need a few changes of shorts until you get comfortable with the stove, how it burns, and what it can do.

Get what you can for next year, but try to concentrate on the denser hardwoods for the following stockpile, you will see the drastic difference between oak, hickory and a few others, as compared to pine, cherry, walnut, maple etc. And it will be a pleasurable difference.