Pine Drying Time?

[BCC_Burner]

I like splitting those particularly resinous pieces down to kindling size splits, they catch easily and burn hot and fast. Our pine out here tends toward the less resinous side as a rule, but every now and then I find a heavy pieces that is almost fatwood-esque when split.

Silver Maple, Subalpine Fir and mixed beetle kill pine are my primary shoulder season woods. Midwinter it will be a beetle kill pine, oak, ash and black locust mix.

 

[oldspark]

I have douglas fir joists in my house that oozed resin for about 10 years or so after we built the house.

 

[branchburner]

"Definitely top cover though, pine absorbs water "

Yup... I had a stack of uncovered pine last year that I thought would be quite "dry enough" but my stove rejected it as unfit. I never argue with my stove anymore about what "dry enough" is.

 

[clemsonfor]

It will mold and start to rot on me if not top covered.

 

[Bacffin]

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

You mean that cherry I split last November should be good to go? I'll throw a couple splits in the stove tonight for sure to test! This will get me up to 5 cords available for this winter. I refuse to turn on the oil burner for heat this year...just refuse!

 

[clemsonfor]

Yea cherry should b ready

 

[oldspark]

You mean that cherry I split last November should be good to go? I'll throw a couple splits in the stove tonight for sure to test! This will get me up to 5 cords available for this winter. I refuse to turn on the oil burner for heat this year...just refuse!

Not sure of your drying conditions ( how and where you stack, wind speeds) but yes it very well could be, I cut, split, and stacked mine in March of this year and it reads right at 20% in the very center of split and burns well, medium sized split.

 

[Bacffin]

Single stacked between trees and top covered only. I'll give a go this weekend!

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[firefighterjake]

Normally my wood is outside for a year, in the shed for a year and I burn it the third year. Late last winter though I took down a large white pine in an effort to improve my satellite service (that is a whole other story though). Early this Spring I started splitting it. Surprisingly enough some pieces are already dry enough to burn . . . but I have been pretty selective as some pieces that I heft are notably heavier and I've put them aside for further seasoning.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Normally my wood is outside for a year, in the shed for a year and I burn it the third year. Late last winter though I took down a large white pine in an effort to improve my satellite service (that is a whole other story though). Early this Spring I started splitting it. Surprisingly enough some pieces are already dry enough to burn . . . but I have been pretty selective as some pieces that I heft are notably heavier and I've put them aside for further seasoning.

Cherry seasons fast. There is a reason that on the east coast people think pine causes chimney fires. It takes 2 yrs to really dry. If everyone let eastern white pine dry like oak, there would be no bad rap for it.

 

[BrotherBart]

Agreed. I have burned every pine on this place already over the years. But dried it a year or two and it burned fine. Same thing with Tulip Poplar. That is two years dried to 15% and burning fin the 30 for the night as I type.

 

[branchburner]

If everyone let eastern white pine dry like oak, there would be no bad rap for it.

Exactly. I think people are deceived by the light weight of the wood when only partially seasoned. In a humid New England summer, I think pine needs single-row stacking well off the ground, with full exposure to sun and wind, and then should be covered in the fall. A rainy summer means uncovered pine will not season well.

The fact is, most old-school people don't fully season pine OR oak -- the definition of "seasoned" by many is a measly six months, and that is in a giant pile that is not single-row stacked up off the ground.

So I think another reason pine gets a bad rap is that sometimes it IS burned when very dry, and the hot fire in a pre-EPA stove ignites the creosote that has built up from burning green oak. The oak created the creosote, but the pine gets the blame for the chimney fire because burning it hot and fast lights off the creosote. The bad rap comes from burning in pre-EPA stoves, but the bias against pine remains even though it burns great in an EPA stove.

 

[clemsonfor]

The moisture meter does not lie lea than 20% in a year or less. I promise. I'll post some pics tomorrow with split size and m %

 

[Soundchasm]

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.

I took down two pines here (don't know the species) a few years ago. Split it into small pieces and used it to start fires. Then I started giving it away for fire pits. Was a big hit with my neighbor who has a young kid, and the fires would light easy and not last too long.

It was such a big hit last year I went down to split the biggest sections I'd previously ignored. They'd been uncovered on the ground for over two years. They were sopping wet and basically disintegrated. I'm not sure they're worth the effort to throw them into my neighbor's yard...

 

[Standingdead]

My favorite pine is red pine. It's bark looks just like black cherry bark with reddish undertones. My experience is that red pine produces as much heat as silver maple, American elm and other low end "hardwoods". Dry's to 15-20% in 12-15 months even if it's in big stacks most of that time. I am not sure if it's density or resin but red pine is a lot heavier than white but like all pine it's free BTU's

 

[Bacffin]

I have never had red pine. Is it also called pitch pine?

 

[Standingdead]

I have never had red pine. Is it also called pitch pine?

I am not familiar with pitch pine trees but red pine is usually a tall branchless tree. Some I have seen 80-100 feet with 3 foot butt. Like I said bark is just like cherry. If I can refigure how to post a picture I'll take one of a split an post it.

 

[branchburner]

Many years ago, I helped my brother in upstate NY drop and transport a large number of red pines. He was going to build a log home. After sitting a while, the log pile became infested, and was quickly transformed into a useless heap... my brother said you could hear the mass-munching from a few hundred feet away.

 

[oldspark]

Exactly. I think people are deceived by the light weight of the wood when only partially seasoned. In a humid New England summer, I think pine needs single-row stacking well off the ground, with full exposure to sun and wind, and then should be covered in the fall. A rainy summer means uncovered pine will not season well.

The fact is, most old-school people don't fully season pine OR oak -- the definition of "seasoned" by many is a measly six months, and that is in a giant pile that is not single-row stacked up off the ground.

So I think another reason pine gets a bad rap is that sometimes it IS burned when very dry, and the hot fire in a pre-EPA stove ignites the creosote that has built up from burning green oak. The oak created the creosote, but the pine gets the blame for the chimney fire because burning it hot and fast lights off the creosote. The bad rap comes from burning in pre-EPA stoves, but the bias against pine remains even though it burns great in an EPA stove.

Interesting little theory ya got there but it all boils down to burning wet wood period in some cases, don't make much difference what type wood it is, burn wet wood in a pre EPA stove or an EPA stove and you will have problems.

 

[red oak]

Interesting little theory ya got there but it all boils down to burning wet wood period in some cases, don't make much difference what type wood it is, burn wet wood in a pre EPA stove or an EPA stove and you will have problems.

I think oldspark pretty much nailed it here.

 

[clemsonfor]

Many years ago, I helped my brother in upstate NY drop and transport a large number of red pines. He was going to build a log home. After sitting a while, the log pile became infested, and was quickly transformed into a useless heap... my brother said you could hear the mass-munching from a few hundred feet away.

Yea pine will rot if not split and covered off the ground fast. The munching is sawyer beetles. You can hear them munching in dead treees and standing g beetle kill trees. They are a secondary beetle and not what killed the trees.

 

[branchburner]

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.

I just came in from the woods, and was thinking the same thing: why am I rolling around these pine logs when I could spend the same amount of time getting a lot more BTUs? But I can't let them go to waste - if I have a downed pine that I can easily access, I feel obliged to process before cutting more live hardwoods.

To me, that's the one real knock on on eastern white pine: nearly the same time investment, fewer BTUs.

 

[clemsonfor]

I am a forester and I cut mostly on land I manage that is also public land. So I am cutting dead and or down or dyieng trees. As part of my job I know exactly when and were logging happens and finishes. Often times having tops or culls pulled to the road or deck where I can pull my truck up to, often times behind a locked gate

 

[Bacffin]

I just came in from the woods, and was thinking the same thing: why am I rolling around these pine logs when I could spend the same amount of time getting a lot more BTUs? But I can't let them go to waste - if I have a downed pine that I can easily access, I feel obliged to process before cutting more live hardwoods.

To me, that's the one real knock on on eastern white pine: nearly the same time investment, fewer BTUs.

I am finding there is a real place for pine. The house gets to hot when I burn hard maples and oaks etc. this time of year. I have been mixing it in with my swamp maple and cherry and the house is very comfortable, (more pine that soft hardwood). When the temps start dropping more, I will shift to soft hards wood and hardwood.

Bruce

 

[STIHLY DAN]

I just came in from the woods, and was thinking the same thing: why am I rolling around these pine logs when I could spend the same amount of time getting a lot more BTUs? But I can't let them go to waste - if I have a downed pine that I can easily access, I feel obliged to process before cutting more live hardwoods.

To me, that's the one real knock on on eastern white pine: nearly the same time investment, fewer BTUs.

And the sap on everything. That stuff does not like to come off. Sap is a big reason I don't touch it. If I do its for camp fires. Throws lots of light, burns down Quick, and has the pretty sparks.