I got a huge load of white oak logs this spring and early this summer. They were all green from freshly cut trees. You could see the water dripping out when you hit them with an axe. I split pretty thick, perhaps about 6 inches. Most of the wood was stacked in the barn in May and early June and did not have direct sunlight. I just tested some fresh splits and they are all around 26%. Summers here in central oregon are dry and warm with some wind, but not what I would consider ideal drying conditions. From everything I was told oak takes 3 years to season correctly. It is looking like this oak will be ready to burn for the winter of 2023.
From dripping wet to 26% in one summer.
- Thread starter sirlight
- Start date
-
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. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Not sure how to calibrate a meter, but it appears to be working. The 2 year old cedar is reading 15% and green wood reads really high.
The ultimate test will be when you toss some of that oak in the stove and see what happen. If water bubbles out the ends, then it is time for a new meter.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Drying slows. It takes much longer to loose the last 5% than the first 5%. Good air flow in a barn seems plausible. Not going to but it this winter but next winter seems possible. Two summers for oak to get to sub 20% MC not many would say that’s not possible.
sirlight - your drying sounds suspiciously fast, but then again, I've always thought these 2-3 year claims sound suspiciously long. I think a great deal just depends on the local area. There seem to be a lot of north-easterners and upper mid-westerners on the form. I think they tend to have soggy wet and relatively cool summers and that generates a lot of the 3 year claims.
Get out here where it's not uncommon to have multiple weeks of 100F+ temps and sub 30% RH and wood tends to dry down pretty fast. I've cut plenty of oak and hedge one late summer / fall and burned it the next fall with not hint of issues from moisture. Though I still try to stay a couple years ahead!
You also mention 'in the barn' - so not sure how that affects drying, but probably doesn't hurt. Around here, 'in the barn' could easily be 120F+ (machine / storage barn vs animal barn - I don't want my steaks seeing 120F until they are on the grill!) But at 120F, you have a low-grade kiln.
Obviously technique and measuring can play into it a lot, too... Generally a fresh split through the center of the original piece, then measure at the center of that new split with the pins fully inserted in the wood would give you a 'max' reading
Get out here where it's not uncommon to have multiple weeks of 100F+ temps and sub 30% RH and wood tends to dry down pretty fast. I've cut plenty of oak and hedge one late summer / fall and burned it the next fall with not hint of issues from moisture. Though I still try to stay a couple years ahead!
You also mention 'in the barn' - so not sure how that affects drying, but probably doesn't hurt. Around here, 'in the barn' could easily be 120F+ (machine / storage barn vs animal barn - I don't want my steaks seeing 120F until they are on the grill!) But at 120F, you have a low-grade kiln.
Obviously technique and measuring can play into it a lot, too... Generally a fresh split through the center of the original piece, then measure at the center of that new split with the pins fully inserted in the wood would give you a 'max' reading
My barn is a 36 by 70 foot pole barn with uninsulated metal sides and roof. It faces east/west toward prevailing winds. I left the doors open all summer. And yes, it gets warm in there during the summer. I have not measured the temperature, but no doubt a number of days 110+ when the high for the day is in the high 90s. Most summer days are 80 to 85 for a high with a week or two over 100. Heck, just a couple days ago the high was 97, and this is in October. We had almost no rain over the past 3 months. Will be interesting to see what this oak moisture reads after next summer.
Rain starts tomorrow afternoon and will not be seeing the sky much again until next spring.
I got a load of large diameter cherry and other hardwood logs this spring/summer. They were sitting out in the open stacked on a gravel spot. I just split a bunch and its reading 16-23. Got a second meter to try tomorrow.
If a tree is really slow growing, I believe it will hold moisture longer than a tree that grows rapidly without competition around in optimal soil conditions, water, sun, pest free etc. At least, that is what an arborist told me.
I have been drying my wood the same way for the last 43 years.
I use 60 % sugar maple, 30% red Oak and the rest is Elm, Cherry, Ash, and ironwood mix
In late Aril early May, the fresh splits are stacked in the top of my drive shed
6 to 7 cord . The shed has a steel roof that gets sun on one side in the morning and afternoons
on the other. The airflow is slow but constant. The temps on a sunny June, July, and August day
will reach 145
Kind of a kiln.
In October the maple is at a constant 15% MC the Oak will be 17% MC the rest is normally at 12 to 14 % MC
Like I said been doing this for 43 years same results year after year
So I can see his Oak being ready next year
Just my nickles worth.
I use 60 % sugar maple, 30% red Oak and the rest is Elm, Cherry, Ash, and ironwood mix
In late Aril early May, the fresh splits are stacked in the top of my drive shed
6 to 7 cord . The shed has a steel roof that gets sun on one side in the morning and afternoons
on the other. The airflow is slow but constant. The temps on a sunny June, July, and August day
will reach 145
Kind of a kiln.In October the maple is at a constant 15% MC the Oak will be 17% MC the rest is normally at 12 to 14 % MC
Like I said been doing this for 43 years same results year after year
So I can see his Oak being ready next year
Just my nickles worth.
If you are unsure you could always make a small fire outside in a fire pit and put one piece on and see how it reacts
I get little sun, alot of rain, tons of humidity and almost no wind during the warm months aside from a storm. My wood that I stacked last year was in the 30s MC. It was split the year prior but sitting deep inside a pile of probably 50 cords of wood before I had this delivered. Today ok averaging 18mc. I also just had two cords delivered a couple months ago that was ready to burn for the most part but a couple of months it should all be.I have been drying my wood the same way for the last 43 years.
I use 60 % sugar maple, 30% red Oak and the rest is Elm, Cherry, Ash, and ironwood mix
In late Aril early May, the fresh splits are stacked in the top of my drive shed
6 to 7 cord . The shed has a steel roof that gets sun on one side in the morning and afternoons
on the other. The airflow is slow but constant. The temps on a sunny June, July, and August day
will reach 145
In October the maple is at a constant 15% MC the Oak will be 17% MC the rest is normally at 12 to 14 % MC
Like I said been doing this for 43 years same results year after year
So I can see his Oak being ready next year
Just my nickles worth.
I'm actually amazed how well seasoned wood does burn. I never knew much about that as a fireplace owner until I started getting into wood stoves.
If you can get sugar maple and oak css in Apr/May and have it ready to burn by Oct then you have utopian drying conditions! Unheard of in these parts of the continent. If I cut a sugar maple fresh, put a meter to it, it will read off the scale. I will stack it and not look at it for at least three years. And I am next door to you😆
The majority of folks where I live get their cords delivered in spring. They dry it over the summer months and burn it over the winter. Summers are breezy warm/hot and relatively dry.
I just got a cord (green as hell though) today. Another coming on Sunday. A mix of Birch oak maple and ash. I will stack this fall for next fall. The hope is I don't burn through my other six cords I dried this summer and have some remaining for next winter. Then continue the cycle. I just don't have space for a two-three year drying cycle.
I just got a cord (green as hell though) today. Another coming on Sunday. A mix of Birch oak maple and ash. I will stack this fall for next fall. The hope is I don't burn through my other six cords I dried this summer and have some remaining for next winter. Then continue the cycle. I just don't have space for a two-three year drying cycle.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Im burning mostly oak and have been using oak since the day I started burning.. I can say that 3 years is way to long for oak.. if its taking someone that long.. thars either doing something wrong or the drying conditions are poor. For oak in my area sitting in a wood shed since the day it was split is no more then 18 months.. 2 summers thats it.. I split my wood say March 2022.. that woods ready to burn in October 2023. It doesn't matter white, red, black, pin oak.. all.dries the same.. Oak will take longer if not top covered and sits out and rains hitting it.
You can't get that to dry for three years in Ottawa? Really? Ottawa doesn't make my brain say 'rainy' when I think of it. Cold winters I bet but most likely hot dry summers no? What Mc % are you going for?
I stacked this cord today. South facing, loads of sun and very breezy in both north and southerly winds. The optimum spot. We'll see how green this is next fall. Its very green now. Another row will go in front.
![[Hearth.com] From dripping wet to 26% in one summer.](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/301/301193-fd281092d8b3a5707ee1882f5cf1c540.jpg?hash=Ama3xpANf1 "[Hearth.com] From dripping wet to 26% in one summer.")
![[Hearth.com] From dripping wet to 26% in one summer.](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/301/301194-841385066d3e01ba80fd326bca48a05d.jpg?hash=xbAIy_BeS- "[Hearth.com] From dripping wet to 26% in one summer.")
We are going from a "My (stack) is bigger than yours" to "My stack dries faster than yours".
As is always the case, YMMV. It all depends on the wood, location and weather.
As is always the case, YMMV. It all depends on the wood, location and weather.
Similar threads
