Pine Drying Time?

[clemsonfor]

Heck I'd trade cord for cord some oak for some ash or other fast drying wood. 90% of what I cut is oak.

 

[BrianN]

Well, I have an endless supply of pine. Dry and ready to go.

 

[clemsonfor]

I could have more pine than oak but I don't find myself cutting it as it takes just as much effort for half the heat. But it is dry in one hot summer here!

 

[mecreature]

I css about a cord in early summer. I will burn them this winter. They are in full sun.
I did split them a tad smaller to help.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Hi Guy's

Been away for a while, but still at it. Hope everyone is doing good .

I had a neighbor take down a bunch of white eastern pine last year to put a pool in and he gave me the butts. I skidded them over to my house and let them sit for a year. I just finished bucking them up and starting to split them. I am stacking the splits in single rows between trees and it is only going to get some afternoon sun. My original plan is to let them season for 2 years, but someone told me white pine should be dry in a year. Any thoughts? Have about 4 1/2 to 5 cord. I know I can just check it after a year, but knowing ahead of time helps the planning.

Thanks,
Bruce

Split/stacked etc- 6-9 months isn't outrageous. Even unsplit- water seems to concentrate in the sapwood, while the heartwood may be quite dry. It can be surprising.

 

[USMC80]

Heck I'd trade cord for cord some oak for some ash or other fast drying wood. 90% of what I cut is oak.

same here

 

[Paulywalnut]

Heck I'd trade cord for cord some oak for some ash or other fast drying wood. 90% of what I cut is oak.

Yes it's nice to have a mix. All oak sounds good but you need some mixture in there. If you can get some Locust, that will burn well with something a little softer. Locust does take as long as oak to season.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sure do wish I could get my hands on some oak, and see what all this rave is about

If only the shipping wasn't so costly....

 

[clemsonfor]

Yes it's nice to have a mix. All oak sounds good but you need some mixture in there. If you can get some Locust, that will burn well with something a little softer. Locust does take as long as oak to season.

I have 1/4 cord of locust, bit its not very common round here. I know where there are several but there on gov property and not dead :-( there is one hanging over the road in our office compound I think I will try to talk mgt into letting me cut it for the wood. Only time will tell when it will fall on its own. Not a huge tree but would make a few days to weeks worth of wood.

 

[clemsonfor]

Even SYP cut green live will be dry in 6 month. If its dead or was cut that winter bucking n splitting in June will yield 17% or so in winter

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Great pictures, I love your propery....

 

[Bacffin]

Yes it's nice to have a mix. All oak sounds good but you need some mixture in there. If you can get some Locust, that will burn well with something a little softer. Locust does take as long as oak to season.

I agree here. Mixture is best. You will not like oak on a warm october day, way too hot, will blow you out. When I order my grapple loads, I specifically ask for a mix to adjust my heat for the season. Pine fits in here too.

Bruce

 

[Gasifier]

Nice score on the free wood there Bacffin! One other issue on drying time, with Spruce, Pine, or any wood for that matter, is the size you split the wood down to. If you want some of that wood to be "ready" or seasoned quicker, so you can use it sooner, the smaller you split it the quicker it will dry. Of course then the quicker it will burn with smaller pieces as well. But, as you probably know, you can get a good hot fire very quickly like that. I find that splitting and stacking White Pine, then leaving outside and uncovered for one year is long enough to get a good moisture content. The piles get some good sun and a little wind as well. Nice work and pics. Oh, beautiful place ya got there!

 

[Bacffin]

Hi Guys!

Ended up with just over 4 cord. All stacked and covered. Back to the hardwood now !!

 

[Bacffin]

Bacffin, I'm curious as to how well the hemlock works for you. I had a dead hemlock that I dropped two weeks ago. Extremely knotty and difficult to split so I'm not sure if I will try and cut more in the future. I've heard that it is a good shoulder wood for the beginning and end of the season. I'm wondering if it will be ready to burn in April or May 2014 at the end of the coming season.

Toddnic,

I have been burning the hemlock for a few weeks now. It burns ok. It seems to "glow" alot compared to the other evergreens i have burned. It also pops! The knots last a good long time. The hemlock btu's are higher on the chart than the white pine I burn, but the pine seems to burn better for me. If I had to choose between the two, I would pick the pine. The hemlock does have a longer burn, but it doesn't light as nice as the pine does. It's just different. Good luck!

Bruce

 

[toddnic]

Bruce,

Thanks for the info! I'm not sure if mine will be ready to burn by the end of the season. Hopefully it works alright since I have about 1 1/4 cords of it.

Todd

 

[PSYS]

My neighbor gave me the trunk of a decent pine tree he took out of his backyard a couple of weeks ago.
I got all that wood from my co-worker's place last weekend.

I did manage to get the trunk cut into 18" lengths and split them last night after work, as well.

It is INSANELY wet and fairly nasty. It's wet enough inside where once I split it, you could actually see the moisture dripping down the core of thee wood. Sap is everywhere. The pair of gloves I was using is completely trashed.
Now that it's all cut and split, should I simply treat it like any other wood that needs to dry? How long will this stuff take? 1 year? 2 years?

 

[clemsonfor]

Pine takes 1 year. Top cover it. I promise it will dry.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Yup, 1 year or less for that to dry out. Definitely top cover though, pine absorbs water like a sponge so rain and snowmelt will prolong your seasoning time more than it would with woods that have denser grain structure.

 

[PSYS]

Thanks, guys... I'll toss it in my 1-year plan stack and keep it top covered.

 

[Bacffin]

I'm planning on letting my pine dry for 2 years, but I will check it with a moisture meter after 1 year just to see how it is progressing. If it is in the 12-15% range, it should be good to go. FYI, I let my 20' butts sit for one year after cutting them down. That cut down on the slime greatly.

Bruce

 

[clemsonfor]

I can get it down to 20% here in the south in 6 months or less. I had some I split this spring at a buddies house and I checked a few pieces this week. It meausered at anywhere from 18-22ish% percent. This was checking smaller. Piece. And larger dense ones. Yea longer would be better but its in the this yerrs pile.

 

[Grisu]

One good summer and pine will be below 20% in my experience. However, that is different for knotty pieces which pine usually has a lot. Those still sizzle even after 2 years.

 

[clemsonfor]

Many times that is sap sizzelling. That will be there forever. I have busted lighter pine that is 25 years old I know and it still runs resin. That will never dry out.

 

[oldspark]

One long summer here in Iowa and it will be plenty dry, same as Silver Maple, Green Ash or Cherry.