I had logs about 6-10ft long that had been stacked for over a year.I belive they were oak ,ash, maple,hedge apple and beech.I cut and split them in Augest. Are they going to be seasond enough for this year?
Good enough?
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The ash, yes, although it won't be optimally dry. The maple, maybe, depending on the species and the size of the splits and your climate. The oak and beech, no way. Hedge I don't know but assume no way. Basically, you are starting with green wood. Large/long rounds don't season much until bucked and split.
How about bucked but not split? I've got maple that was cut into 14"-18" rounds a year and a half ago, but split last month. Should I wait a few more months?
^ imo your wood might be drier than Ibjamn's but I doubt it's seasoned. Yes bucking does help but splitting the wood is when the clock starts ticking.
you guys are set for next year (09-10) as long as you get it split before summer rolls around AGAIN.
Over the weekend, I finally decided to buck a tree back in the woods that I know has been down for at least 6 years, probably more. It was laying across some other trees and I figured since it wasn't rotten, I might be able to use it right away. 2-3 foot diameter and 40 feet in length - some kind of hardwood. I cut it into 18" sections. I stuck my hatchet into the end of the big rounds to get it out of the way and water immediately can oozing out around the hatchet. Like it was freshly dropped.
I cut a standing dead oak this spring that was well saturated at the bottom. Split and stacked since then- it should be ready to burn now despite our wet summer. The "live" moistue in the cells is gone, the rest moves out quicker.
Now if you had all those species seperated before they were cut and split you'd be able to tell us which ones seasoned quicker and were best to use first. With a couple of comparative test fires. 
Can you pull the ash and maple out and use those first ?
Can you pull the ash and maple out and use those first ?
Moisture escapes through exposed surface area at a fairly constant rate.
Moisture content is proportional to volume.
How long it takes a given piece of wood to dry depends on the ratio of surface area to volume, the higher the better.
When you split up the log length, you increase increase the surface area 30-40 times ( someone can check the math).
The smaller you split it the faster it dries.
Moisture content is proportional to volume.
How long it takes a given piece of wood to dry depends on the ratio of surface area to volume, the higher the better.
When you split up the log length, you increase increase the surface area 30-40 times ( someone can check the math).
The smaller you split it the faster it dries.
caber said:
I stumbled upon some hickory one day, looked like it had been down a few years. Bucked it and it was like it was just cut down.
The hedge apple is at leat 3 years!(and when its cut your chain will threw sparks)DiscoInferno said:
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