Hi all,
Last year I made it through by burning wettish wood (25+% MC) and mixing in some kiln dried wood. It worked OK until it got really cold. So this year I was determined to do a little better.
I just finished moving my first load of wood up from the sunny area on my property. Had 5 cords delivered back in June and used the solar kiln method to dry everything. Of that 4 cord of wood was delivered split and green. 1 cord had been sitting in the shade for a few months split already. The wood is about half black locust and the other half oak with some hickory and a little bit of hedge mixed in. Also in June I cut down a pine and small apple tree in my yard to get some more sun on the wood. I split that fairly small and it all dried out already. Here are some pics.
The wood on the right is black locust. Left side is the pine, apple, and a little wood left over from last year.
Here is how I got the wood dry. The pile in the back has the wood that had been sitting around for a few months prior to delivery. I haven't touched that yet but it is all well below 20% MC. The locust (front row) is right around 20% MC on average. All the oak that was green is still in the high 20s. Should be ready later in the winter but if not I think I have enough of the other wood to make it through.
Around November I'm going to try and get a log load delivered... 4-5 cord. The local arborist has some locust logs I'd like to get ahold of... they sure do split nicely.
Last year I made it through by burning wettish wood (25+% MC) and mixing in some kiln dried wood. It worked OK until it got really cold. So this year I was determined to do a little better.
I just finished moving my first load of wood up from the sunny area on my property. Had 5 cords delivered back in June and used the solar kiln method to dry everything. Of that 4 cord of wood was delivered split and green. 1 cord had been sitting in the shade for a few months split already. The wood is about half black locust and the other half oak with some hickory and a little bit of hedge mixed in. Also in June I cut down a pine and small apple tree in my yard to get some more sun on the wood. I split that fairly small and it all dried out already. Here are some pics.
The wood on the right is black locust. Left side is the pine, apple, and a little wood left over from last year.
Here is how I got the wood dry. The pile in the back has the wood that had been sitting around for a few months prior to delivery. I haven't touched that yet but it is all well below 20% MC. The locust (front row) is right around 20% MC on average. All the oak that was green is still in the high 20s. Should be ready later in the winter but if not I think I have enough of the other wood to make it through.
Around November I'm going to try and get a log load delivered... 4-5 cord. The local arborist has some locust logs I'd like to get ahold of... they sure do split nicely.