Pine Drying Time?

[Bacffin]

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

 

[oldspark]

A lot of woods will dry in a year ( 9 months over a summer) under the correct conditions, I would think pine should fall into that category.

 

[PapaDave]

Agreed. I can get white pine dry in a summer by putting it in a sunny and windy field.
A year would probably have been better.
It's too late now, but why did you wait to process?
I don't like leaving pine and spruce too long. The bugs get in there and have a field day.
Great pics.

 

[Bacffin]

Agreed. I can get white pine dry in a summer by putting it in a sunny and windy field.
A year would probably have been better.
It's too late now, but why did you wait to process?
I don't like leaving pine and spruce too long. The bugs get in there and have a field day.
Great pics.

Time Dave, Time. And when I ran the saw through it right after they were cut down, it was really gooey. I'm not finding many bugs, just a few white grubs under the bark my wife feeds to the chickens. I still have to get the second grapple load of hardwood cut up, but I knew I had to do this first because of rot. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/log-id-round-deux.102692/#post-1327641

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[bogydave]

A year is good but I found that 2 years is even better for spruce.
I got much better heat & burn times with the 2 year stuff.
I think BrotherBart also likes 2 year dried pine.

I try to work it on cold days so the sap is hard & not sticky.

 

[PapaDave]

Time Dave, Time

Oh, don't I know all about that. Was just curious if that was it or maybe something like health or weather.
Unless you have tons of hardwood already, I'd do that first, then deal with the pines as time allows. You know Oak takes a hundred years to dry, right?
Every situation is different, so do what you need to.
Git 'er dun!
Oh yeah, pine is nasty to work on when it's fresh. Takes a while to get all the sap out/off of everything. I have some gloves that now stand on their own. 3rd pair.

 

[WellSeasoned]

I have the same stacking setup as you do, along the wood line. I see the sun hitting your stacks which is good. This year for us has been tough in the wood drying department. The constant rain, while good for our well and the garden, kept a dampness around the stacks in an already damp environment. This year our wood will be around 14-15 months old, and every season therafter will be 2+ years. Love your pics when you post them..... you have a nice property and some very helpful equiptment!

 

[flhpi]

I don't know anything about drying time for pine but I am impressed with the loaded down truck. It is nice to see trucks used for work and not glamor mobiles. Congrats on the wood score.

 

[Elderthewelder]

Looks like a real nice place you have there

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good news Bruce. In 2012 we had a big storm take down some big limbs off the neighbor's white pines. There were pretty good sized limbs too. The storm was in early July. On December 1 I went there to cut them up. Absolutely no sap on the bar. Wood was ready to burn right then too! White pine dries fast. Now just imagine if that had been cut and split in July. Wow, it would really have been super dry by December. As an afterthought, we had the same thing happen this summer so it appears when I start cutting wood in December I'll be getting more white pine. In this case it will be going to another fellow and he will be using it in his evaporator for making maple syrup.

 

[Grisu]

Had two huge white pine trees taken down in my yard. The straight, not too large, nice pieces dry fast. One good summer will be plenty. The knotty, gnarly stuff will take quite a bit longer. I therefore started to toss them in different piles during the splitting and made an one-year and a two-year stack.

The other thing is noticed: Pine does dry much better when covered. That stuff acts like a sponge when it is raining.

 

[clemsonfor]

I cut yellow pine, southern yellow. It will dry in 3 summer months.

 

[Seanm]

Last November I picked up bucked lodgepole pine from the city (they helped load my truck!) I brought it home, split it and stacked it in the snow that day. Its under 20% now.

 

[Bacffin]

A year is good but I found that 2 years is even better for spruce.
I got much better heat & burn times with the 2 year stuff.
I think BrotherBart also likes 2 year dried pine.

I try to work it on cold days so the sap is hard & not sticky.

I think waiting a year really helped with the goo. It is just slimy under the bark, Even with using the same gloves after splitting a cord

 

[Bacffin]

I have the same stacking setup as you do, along the wood line. I see the sun hitting your stacks which is good. This year for us has been tough in the wood drying department. The constant rain, while good for our well and the garden, kept a dampness around the stacks in an already damp environment. This year our wood will be around 14-15 months old, and every season therafter will be 2+ years. Love your pics when you post them..... you have a nice property and some very helpful equiptment!

I don't need this wood this year, or even next season. I am still cutting down lots of standing dead that is already dry. Thanks for the kudos. The tractor is the best piece of equipment.

Bruce

 

[Bacffin]

I don't know anything about drying time for pine but I am impressed with the loaded down truck. It is nice to see trucks used for work and not glamor mobiles. Congrats on the wood score.

That truck is still in good shape for a 98 with 150,000 miles on it. It used to plow 100 driveways a storm and raised teenager. Lost the rear breaks again yesterday. More rotted lines. O-well, the front still work.

 

[Bacffin]

Good news Bruce. In 2012 we had a big storm take down some big limbs off the neighbor's white pines. There were pretty good sized limbs too. The storm was in early July. On December 1 I went there to cut them up. Absolutely no sap on the bar. Wood was ready to burn right then too! White pine dries fast. Now just imagine if that had been cut and split in July. Wow, it would really have been super dry by December. As an afterthought, we had the same thing happen this summer so it appears when I start cutting wood in December I'll be getting more white pine. In this case it will be going to another fellow and he will be using it in his evaporator for making maple syrup.

I didn't think you burned pine Savage. Even though I am fairly new to heating with wood, I am finding the pine has a real place in the process. This year I will see how hemlock fits in too.

 

[Bacffin]

Had two huge white pine trees taken down in my yard. The straight, not too large, nice pieces dry fast. One good summer will be plenty. The knotty, gnarly stuff will take quite a bit longer. I therefore started to toss them in different piles during the splitting and made an one-year and a two-year stack.
The other thing is noticed: Pine does dry much better when covered. That stuff acts like a sponge when it is raining.

These trees are not knotty at all. They grew very fast fighting for sun. Most of them are 85 to 100' Q-tips. I always cover my wood

 

[basod]

Those beetles are feeding the chickens and helping debark the pine. A bit messy when splitting but I'd rather have it laying in the yard than dragging it in the house.
I'd give it a year in your climate fall 2014 should be good to go

 

[toddnic]

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.

 

[BrianN]

We do mainly lodgepole pine up here. Below is the reading the day that we brought it home and split. Ready to burn
The highest reading I got that day on fresh splits was around the 22% mark.
As for your pine, should be good and ready by next year. I'm no expert though.
By the way, love your yard and set up.

 

[Thistle]

Roughly 90% of this is a 50/50 mix of Green Ash & White Pine,the rest a mix of White Oak/Honey Locust milling scrap,some Mulberry & a few Box Elder branches.
The Ash was cut/split/stacked first week of January,Pine (from my trusted small local tree service) in mid February.Its next to south side of storage shed in backyard.Gets sun 12-14 hrs daily minimum.Especially the past 2 months of this very hot dry summer.Checked for kicks the other day (when it was 104 on Friday afternoon,a new record ) & most all the Pine tested said between 14 & 18% already.The Ash no more than 20-21%.

 

[weatherguy]

I had some pine, cut and split most of it in the spring, I had a few big knotty rounds I didn't get too and stacked them on a pallet, some kind of bug got to working on it and I had piles of sawdust, I did see a small black beetle so maybe that was it. The pine I did cut/split is already 20%.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I didn't think you burned pine Savage. Even though I am fairly new to heating with wood, I am finding the pine has a real place in the process. This year I will see how hemlock fits in too.

I have no problem at all with burning pine. Don't do it often though because we have so much other wood, especially all the dead white ash. We also cut a few oaks every year for use during those long cold winter nights.

 

[BrianN]

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