Hemlock Down - High Moisture

[toddnic]

Well, we dropped the large hemlock today. It was somewhat scary since it was close to the house. It was around 30 inches at the base. The tree was dead but the moisture content was still in the mid-30's. Any idea if it will be ready to burn by the end of this season - say March or April? That will give it 8 or 9 months to season.

Also, for anyone that is going to burn hemlock....make sure you have a log splitter! It was unbelievable trying to split it with all of the knots.

 

[schlot]

That's a lot of moisture to get out in less then a year.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For sure figure on 2014-2015 winter for burning.

 

[1750]

For sure figure on 2014-2015 winter for burning.

+ 1

I tried today to knock through some rounds of a large hemlock we cut up 6 months ago (it had been on the ground for about a year.).

While the rounds weigh about half of what they did when we cut them, they are still so full of water that the splitting axe just gets buried and goes nowhere. I was able to split a bit off of the very edges of the smallest logs (20" dia), but that was a lot of pain for very little gain. Without a splitter I bet it will be another year before I can get through these with the axe.

 

[oldspark]

Rounds dont dry for shiit, split it small and stack in single rows, mid 30's aint all that bad, the larget amount of moisture comes out of the wood in a short period of time and then it slows way down (the drying).

 

[hobbyheater]

[quote="toddnic, post: 1495650, member: 27949. Any idea if it will be ready to burn by the end of this season -.[/quote]




We burn largely long butt hemlock. Usually 24 months split and stacked under well ventilated cover is required. It is a species of wood that unless it is split, it rots instead.
Have used the splitter for 30 years now. Long butts are generally hard to split anyway and on these rounds, the water just ran out as the knife entered the wood.
.

 

[toddnic]

Dropped the hemlock on August 18, 2013. Immediately cut, split and stacked it in two rows. Today, February 27th, I tested a few pieces (split in half and then took a moisture reading) and they were both 20%. Can't believe that the moisture dropped that quickly. Well, I guess I am going to be burning some hemlock in the upcoming shoulder season .

 

[BrotherBart]

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Thanks for the update....

 

[1750]

If I would have had a splitter (other than me), I think this would have dried very quickly.

Once I got the bark off of the rounds they dried much better, and then after I could finally open them up, they dried extremely quickly.

It's a light (non dense) wood that is good to start fires with, but I don't feel many btus coming off this stuff.