Fresh wet wood vs. absorbed wood

[wahoowad]

Some recent scrounges have been downed trees, seemingly dead for several years, and have absorbed some moisture from the ground. I'm curious what your experiences have been with the drying rate of this absorbed water vs. water from a live tree?

My unscientific opinion is the absorbed water is released faster, usually within a year. The more aged the wood the faster any absorbed water leaves the wood fiber.

 

[Jags]

I would agree but maybe for a little different reason. Part of the slow drying process is the breakdown of cells to release the water. In long dead wood, those cells are already damaged allowing for retained moisture to exit faster.

 

[wahoowad]

I hope we're both right - a certain amount of next year's wood has some ground moisture in it.

 

[Soundchasm]

I think wood that was dry, got wet, will get to 15-20% MC much faster than freshly cut wood (especially cut live). I scored wood last summer that came down 5/10, but was wringing wet. It was good to go this winter, much to my surprise, but only because it had been split and covered. Five months tops.

"Re-drying" wood seems totally different from initial seasoning. Re-drying splits can be measured in weeks, not months.

 

[Paulywalnut]

The pithy or punky red oak that was dry and now wet from rain or snow will dry out quite quickly in the hot sun.

 

[paul bunion]

I did a little science project the past 2 weeks to test this. I weighed a dry split of oak and tossed it out into a slushy snowbank. One week later it had gained 120 grams or about 4 oz or 1/4 cup. I brought it back inside and now a week later it is back to its original weight. So wood can re-dry fast. I did have it inside on my hearth to dry. I would have expected it to take considerably longer to get back to its original weight had I left it outside.

My theory is that if you have green wood and let it get wet it will prevent or slow the water that is chemically bound up in the cells from getting out (the water that is slow to leave) thus inhibiting the drying time by a great deal. So if your wood went down onto the ground green the water within the cells might never have had a chance to escape.

 

[Jon1270]

I did a little science project the past 2 weeks to test this. I weighed a dry split of oak and tossed it out into a slushy snowbank. One week later it had gained 120 grams or about 4 oz or 1/4 cup. I brought it back inside and now a week later it is back to its original weight. So wood can re-dry fast. I did have it inside on my hearth to dry. I would have expected it to take considerably longer to get back to its original weight had I left it outside.

4 oz. is half a cup, but this still doesn't surprise me so much. The water absorbed in a week would all be near the surface, with a short path to escape. I suspect the distribution of moisture is very different in wood that's been lying in damp soil for years.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I'm curious what your experiences have been with the drying rate of this absorbed water vs. water from a live tree?

Long dead wood dries much quicker than fresh dead

 

[Paulywalnut]

I did a little science project the past 2 weeks to test this. I weighed a dry split of oak and tossed it out into a slushy snowbank. One week later it had gained 120 grams or about 4 oz or 1/4 cup. I brought it back inside and now a week later it is back to its original weight. So wood can re-dry fast. I did have it inside on my hearth to dry. I would have expected it to take considerably longer to get back to its original weight had I left it outside.

My theory is that if you have green wood and let it get wet it will prevent or slow the water that is chemically bound up in the cells from getting out (the water that is slow to leave) thus inhibiting the drying time by a great deal. So if your wood went down onto the ground green the water within the cells might never have had a chance to escape.

Paul, you're like Bill Nye the science guy. Good experiment.

 

[ArsenalDon]

4 oz. is half a cup

Ok, now you sound like my wife with technical corrections that do not really matter....