Mid summer check

[Woodsplitter67]

Here it is the 4th of july and I am pretty much half way through the drying season. There are 88 days untill october 1st and the drying will slow some the weather will cool and it will be time to burn
I checked my wood today and here is where i am
I split some pin oak that I put in the wood shed as well as some white oak and cherry. This wood was split as stacked in the wood shed this past march. I was done with my wood this year by the 5th. This is what I got
The MC of the pin oak was already down in the low 20s( this was split a little thinner) and some of the thicker logs were at the low 30 ish
The starting point of the wood was anywhere from 34% to near 40% with the amout of time left this wood should be ready to go for this season. Its not needed as i have a little over 4 cords for this year that was split in 15/16

So were half way through, whats your MC of the wood your working on.

 

[Rangerbait]

Great thread! Here's my status:

First up is some Mulberry that was felled a couple of years back on my buddy's farm, but just C/S/S back in January/February...I plan to be using this stuff for the upcoming season:




Here's some Shagbark Hickory that I felled in February at a co-worker's place...this was a live tree, and was around 40% MC...I plan to let this season for another year so that it's ready for the 2018/2019 season:



Here's some Ash that was also living in February when the same co-worker had a tree service take it down to just a 40' pillar; I did the rest. I also plan to season this stuff for another year and have it ready for the 2018/2019 winter:



Here's my shoulder-season and filler Poplar that I cut from green logs at another buddy's property where he's been clearing to build his dream home. Most of these were felled in October/November of 2016, and were dripping wet when I cut them. Man this stuff dries ridiculously fast...was heavy af when I cut it, and now it's paper light:



And finally, some Ash that's been split and stacked for probably 4 years...another co-worker bought a cord to burn in his fireplace when he first moved here 4 years ago...he only used it a couple of times and decided it wasn't worth the hassle. He needed it out of his rental's yard before he moved a couple months back in order to get his security deposit returned. He still had almost an entire cord left, although some of it was already south of prime. I gladly took it all off of his hands, and will be burning it this season:

 

[Rangerbait]

Wow...really thought this thread would take off. C'mon fellers, what you got?

 

[fishki]

I guess I really need to buy a moisture meter

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I guess I really need to buy a moisture meter

Yes.. its like a prerequisite for wood burning. I got mine on amazon for like 20 bucks. Its well worth it to see if i should be putting in the stove and where i am at in the seasoning process

 

[Rangerbait]

Need to take this thread over to firewood hoarder's club where this kind of wood passion is appreciated ;-)

 

[Lakeside]

Wow...really thought this thread would take off. C'mon fellers, what you got?

Let me put my beer down, and break out my moisture meter. Watching firewood dry is hard work sometimes it takes me three or four beers to complete my inspection of my stacks. Geez these interruptions are slowing down my work.

 

[Dobish]

i was thinking the other day that I should bust out the moisture meter. It looks like some of the walnut that I split this spring that was standing dead is almost bone dry now. Some of the locust is a lot lighter, and even some of the aspen that was literally soaking seems a lot lighter....

 

[Woodsplitter67]

i was thinking the other day that I should bust out the moisture meter. It looks like some of the walnut that I split this spring that was standing dead is almost bone dry now. Some of the locust is a lot lighter, and even some of the aspen that was literally soaking seems a lot lighter....

Pull out the moisture meter and show us where you at.. how do you stack.. and how is it covered

 

[Poindexter]

The dripping wet spruce i bought in march was down to 18% on june first. I got about six weeks of summer left before i light the stove in the mid 20ths of august. Its alll spruce.

I do have about enough birch to fill my stove maybe twice thats hanging on the high 20s, the bark is just starting to loosen on those splits.

I am using passive solar drying kilns to take the excitement out of the waiting.

 

[D8Chumley]

The stuff I'm burning this year has been c/s/s since 2013 so I'd guess it's in the 15ish % range. Too lazy to go out right now, enjoying some central A/C after working outside in the heat all day

 

[Locust99]

Here's a piece of a medium split of ash cut to 16" and split towards the end of may 26% moisture, some of the bigger splits are low 30s. I will be burning it this year. Some maple that I cut in the beginning of may is high 30s to low 40% I'm hoping it will be 25% before October.

In the mean time I will be cutting at least another cord of ash to hopefully use later in the winter.

 

[venator260]

Just checked what I plan to burn this year yesterday. It was c/s/s in the Spring of 2015 in an enclosed shed. The ash and maple are at 18-19. I think I'm going to give the oak mixed in another year as the 2 pieces I checked were at 21-22.

I shouldn't have to burn wet wood again. The shed should have somewhere between 12-15 cords in, and I've processed another 6 since last fall that I stacked outside.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Just checked what I plan to burn this year yesterday. It was c/s/s in the Spring of 2015 in an enclosed shed. The ash and maple are at 18-19. I think I'm going to give the oak mixed in another year as the 2 pieces I checked were at 21-22.

I shouldn't have to burn wet wood again. The shed should have somewhere between 12-15 cords in, and I've processed another 6 since last fall that I stacked outside.

I can see you are a wood connoisseur who is into slow-curing! Slow cured wood should have a more even moisture profile through out each split (and probably between splits).

Observations over the years leads me to think slow cured wood might have superior burn characteristics. I've never intentionally slow cured my wood but it happens to some degree every time we have a cold rainy Spring and early Summer which is common. Then it can take two summers to cure if it's split softwood and perhaps longer if it's hardwood. But we have had exceptionally good drying weather for the last 9 weeks or so. Warm, dry and steady breezes.

This warm, dry and breezy weather is good for me because last winter was exceptionally cold and I burned a lot more wood than anticipated. Now I'm sure the maple I got in February and the alder in early June will be ready in time for winter. Vagaries of the seasons are a very good reason to always stay a bit ahead.

 

[firefighterjake]

Wow...really thought this thread would take off. C'mon fellers, what you got?

Moisture content? What's that?

I'm a bit ahead so I honestly don't worry too much about the moisture content. The wood in the shed I plan to burn this upcoming winter has been seasoning since 2013-2015.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Wow...really thought this thread would take off. C'mon fellers, what you got?

Just surveyed my stacks.

5 1/4 cords of Doug Fir, Alder, Maple and a bit of Spruce, Gary Oak, Pacific Madrone and Cedar. All split, stacked and covered with fiberglass roofing panels (except for about 1/2 cord that is split and piled in two mounds).

Half of it was cut in the last 4 weeks or so and measures well above 40% last time I checked. Of the other half, mostly Maple, Alder and Douglas-Fir, ranges from so dry it won't register to about 24%. Mostly 18-20%. With over 2 months of prime drying weather it looks like I'll have plenty of dry wood to get me through next winter. Even if it's another extra chilly one.

 

[Dobish]

i split one piece of box elder that was on the bottom of the pile, buried quite deep down in there and not split. It was still at 43% I'm curious to see what that one is after a few weeks of being on the top of the stacks.

 

[venator260]

I can see you are a wood connoisseur who is into slow-curing! Slow cured wood should have a more even moisture profile through out each split (and probably between splits).

Observations over the years leads me to think slow cured wood might have superior burn characteristics. I've never intentionally slow cured my wood but it happens to some degree every time we have a cold rainy Spring and early Summer which is common. Then it can take two summers to cure if it's split softwood and perhaps longer if it's hardwood. But we have had exceptionally good drying weather for the last 9 weeks or so. Warm, dry and steady breezes.

This warm, dry and breezy weather is good for me because last winter was exceptionally cold and I burned a lot more wood than anticipated. Now I'm sure the maple I got in February and the alder in early June will be ready in time for winter. Vagaries of the seasons are a very good reason to always stay a bit ahead.

Ha.

Well, it wasn't the point, but it is how it happened. My grandfather had built a 3 sided shed for three tractors. When he pared down to only one tractor, it seems foolish for all involved to mess with tarps, tin, and skids when there was a good sized area under cover. So that's where the wood went. When he passed on and I inherited the place, I kept the practice up.

I have as much as I do because of a combination of processing for a much more wood hungry old stove and then needing to clear off a spot for a sand mound. So, while the wood does dry more slowly in the shed, my plan is to keep far enough ahead so as to make this a non issue. My outdoor stacks are sub-optimum for drying as well, as they get no sun whatsoever. But again, I'm far enough ahead so as to make this a non-issue.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I have various wood from various scrounging over the last year. I split small due to limited space and only fair drying location. Most of what I have is 1 yr old maple and ash, pine I scrounged over last winter, and oak between 1.5 to 2 yrs old. I split small to medium.
The maple and is is low 20's. Pine is low 20's. Oak ranges from 20-26%.(I'm burning this year as the last few months of summer should knock off a few percentage points of moisture).
I also have ash I CSS about 3 months ago, which started over 40% that is now around high 20s to 30%. This ash will wait another season to use.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Good idea to check! I'm getting readings on my stacks anywhere from 21 to 25%, this was all split and stacked either late last summer or last fall, so I'm pretty happy with the progress. I stack mostly on a low hill that catches a good amount of wind if there is any, so that probably helps.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I am lucky as I keep my wood inside our huge double car garage, and it has been sitting in round form before being split for years, and that garage gets like a kiln, so dry it sucks the moisture out of me if I stand in there too long! Yesterday in the evening the thermometer said it was 100 degrees in there, so I don't have any worries or need to check any moisture readings, very lucky that way!

 

[lowroadacres]

The majority of the wood I have been gathering has been flood killed standing dead Ash. Most of what I have been cutting has been dead for a minimum of three years. The highest any of it is testing on a fresh split is 19 percent. This includes the bottom 2 feet which is often wetter on standing dead firewood. Some of the wood I have been cutting has tested as low as 10 percent. The wood is consistently showing a "split" all the way up the tree trunk. Even if my moisture meter is off, which I don't believe it is, everything I am cutting is good to go for the coming winter.

The best part is, I have not travelled more than 3/4 of a mile from my home acreage yard. continuing to cut/split and stack at around the half cord per week average.

Still aiming at having next year's heat stacks ready before the snow flies.

As well I am planning to have the new stove in place before the real heating season begins.

Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

No MM here. Trying to learn from mom and grandad's way of holding
a fresh split close to the cheek and temple. It really works feeling the
water vapor coming off of a freshly split piece. Go figure.

Much of my scrounge stash was dead ash so it needed to just dry, not cure.
This winter is done and ready, and bustin' up rounds for next year or an
especially cold season this time around. Gotta few years worth of rounds
on site aging gracefully. The greens are popping sprouts in a vain attempt
at regrowing themselves.

With the power company now dropping wood in the driveway the mix is getting more
pine and soft species that no one wants. They said that "no one wants this stuff" and
my reply was that "we burn everything here and run the chimney brush down the exhaust
monthly anyway during burn season". Plenty of ash/ oak for the overnite burns.

 

[ValleyCottageSplitter]

My first decent stash for first year of burning. I posted it in another thread. Surprisingly a lot of it is about 18-22% on the end or side of the split (not fresh split). It was hanging around 28-32% for awhile but I've had good progress the last few months after top covering everything and trimming to let some more light in. The Maple and Oak were crib stacked and split pretty small for hopes it would be ready this season.

From left to right: 1/3c Norway Maple (4/2017), 2/3c Green Ash (7/2017), 1/6c Red Maple, 2/3c White/Chestnut Oak (5/2017), 1/8c Beech (5/2017). Then in the little shed there is 1/4c green ash, cottonwood, BL, hickory; all 2yr+ seasoned and very dry.

I was trying to figure out if there is a good way to estimate the inside of the wood without fresh splitting it every time? I will probably wait until I get closer to burning season to check the inside because I don't want to collapse the towers. I have a feeling the oak is still 30%+ on the inside.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Probably right about the mc of the oak. The middle of summer will dry wood out pretty well. Not all months are created equal. June July and august will dry wood out way more that dec Jan and feb for instance. I have oak that is on summer number 2 that is at mid 20's, (split medium sized). My drying location/conditions are ok-not ideal, not terrible either.