Moisture Meter recommendation

[Ashful]

Any recommendations on a moisture meter? Cheap and functional is the goal.

Only have one cord stacked and drying for next year, and plan on needling 3 - 4. Got more than that amount of wood sitting on the ground waiting to be split and stacked, but no time to get to it for a few mroe weeks. Timing will be critical / might be checking moisture week by week next winter!

 

[fox9988]

I have a General brand from Lowes-$30. Works great so far.

 

[DexterDay]

I have a General here too... But as long as you get ahead. You wont need one.. Stopped using mine in the middle of Winter.

What type of wood do you have now (your 1 cord) ? And what type is already bucked up (needs split)?? The best thing you can do, is to get the wood split ASAP. Is any of it Oak?

Having at least 2 yrs of wood will help with M/C issues. Last year I got ahead and plan to stay that way.

Me and my Son split about a Half cord today. All Ash and Cherry. But this wood wont be burned for at least 3 yrs...... !!

I get some people dont have the space. But if done correctly. You can keep a lot of wood on a city lot and make it Look very nice.

 

[pen]

I have the general meter that fox mentions and it seems to work well. Would like to do a side by side w/ another unit at some point though.

Going to move this thread over to the gear room.

pen

 

[rawlins02]

I also have the General meter. I've been wondering if the average split has much variation in moisture throughout. Let's say it's been split and seasoning for 6-9 months. If there's a large gradient from outer areas to interior, how useful is a meter when the prongs only penetrate less than half an inch? Guess the test is to measure M/C of the split and then 'split the split' and check the M/C of what was the inside. Do this enough and generate some idea of the variation for a type of wood give how long it seasoned, and what the weather was like during that time.

Mike

 

[pen]

I've tested splits that read in the low teens on the outsides, then when split again, read 30% on the freshly split face.

pen

 

[Ashful]

What type of wood do you have now (your 1 cord) ? And what type is already bucked up (needs split)?? The best thing you can do, is to get the wood split ASAP. Is any of it Oak?

The stuff already split is walnut, some softish white hardwood (Aspen?), cherry, and a bunch of cedar for kindling. The stuff bucked but not yet split is poplar, swamp oak, aspen, boxwood, and walnut. There's still about a cord of walnut bucked two years ago by the previous owner of this house, which is now on the bottom of this pile.

Photo of pile was Saturday morning, which has now grown by two more pickup truck loads (but I forgot to take another photo). The big rounds (~100 lb. each) are the swamp oak.

 

[DexterDay]

Yep... Split it now. You will be in better shape than most that split wood in November, for November, December, January (cut more wood in Jan because you ran out) Feburary, March......

Having the whole Summer to season will help. Single rows, with Sun and Wind exposure.

 

[MasterMech]

+1 on the General meter. Cheap and functional.

 

[surviverguy]

I bought one off ebay for $15.00 and you can too. It took a couple weeks to get here FROM CHINA. It works just fine. Digital unit, takes a 9 volt battery and has two pins. It comes with a slip on pin cover/protector and instructions which are almost written in English.

 

[Ashful]

Went to Lowes to check out the General at lunch time, got everything else on my shopping list, and forgot about the moisture meter! Oops. Guess I'll be back there tomorrow.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I recommend not getting one. Just burn and hope for the best. All that moisture meter is going to do is stress you out and cause you to come here and ask these yahoos a bunch of panicky question and in the end shorten your life span.

 

[HittinSteel]

hahaha Redd...... I think I will send my moisture meter (they pay postage) to the first person to PM me their address. Mine was used a couple times my first year. Panicked because the numbers were "way to high". Had a great winter burning the "to wet" wood and had very little creosote at cleaning time. It now gathers dust in my kitchen junk drawer

 

[DexterDay]

hahaha Redd...... I think I will send my moisture meter (they pay postage) to the first person to PM me their address. Mine was used a couple times my first year. Panicked because the numbers were "way to high". Had a great winter burning the "to wet" wood and had very little creosote at cleaning time. It now gathers dust in my kitchen junk drawer

Yep... I doubt I will ever use mine again. It was nice to know that my Silver Maple (soft maple) dried to about 20% (some less, but bigger splits were still about 20%/ 6" or 8" large splits) over 5-6 months and my Pine did better than that. The Ash wasn't as low, but only using a split here and there managed me to not use a lot.....

My 2 pins are slighty bent. But I will give the same offer. Allow me a week to get it to you... PM an Addy... Only willing to do it, because last year, I would have PM'd someone to get one. Great tool for the 1st year.

Do your best to get ahead that year and you will Never worry about that MM again! !!

This year will be better than last year (2 yr seasoned wood). Next year will be bettter than this year (3 yr seasoned wood and finally get to burn some Oak and Locust). After that, it should all be the same. Wood can only reach a certain M/C when stored outdoors.