Questions on wood delivery

[Kingdoc]

So I have received 4 cords of my 8 cord delivery. I just want to make sure I'm getting good wood. everything seems to be in good shape, quite a few odd pieces and strange cuts but nothing too small or rotten from what I can tell. So far I do know my deliveries are a true full cord each time. he may even be a little over. I asked about how long the wood was drying and he mentioned it was cut into logs last summer and split into firewood in early spring. The logs and firewood have been store in old barns with concrete floors. I asked what species of wood this was and he said it was all hardwoods, about half red oak, "a bunch" of black cherry and some sugar maple and white birch. (I do not know squat about wood. I'm from Brooklyn. this is all a learning experiment so far). I did take about 10 moisture readings from the ends and sides of some pieces (bad, I know) and got readings from 23% to 16%, mostly 17's. I'm paying 250$ a cord from a local tree service.


My questions are..... can any of the wood wizards see what type of tree my wood is? I don't think I'm being cheated at all but is there something else I should be looking for or asking about? I'm storing my wood in an old 20 X 10 shed with no windows and good roof that attached to my house. Is it worth it to put an old box fan in there to help drying? Do you think this will be OK to burn this winter? I will have moisture reading from inside fresh splits tomorrow.

 

[Wisneaky]

I see oak. It's hard for me to tell from the pictures what else there is. It looks like good wood. Definitely test the moisture from the inside when you get a chance. Some sort of fan should help move the air around to dry it more. I'd burn it if it's close to 20%

 

[HisTreeNut]

Split some and test the inner part of the wood...that's the only way to be sure. If the insides are not below 20%...start looking for other options like the bio bricks.
Looks like you have a mix but if you could show the bark on some of the pieces, might make the ID a little easier.

 

[NewHarmanOwner]

If you're getting 16-23% on the end and side before splitting to check the middle then you're really in trouble. As these old timers will tell you those oak splits will not be ready for another 12 to 18 months, that's assuming you have great airflow. My 9 months cut split stacked(CSS) oak is 0-5% on the outside, but still well over 35% in the center, and they're not going to be ready until 2016-17 season or later. Those will be your next year stack probably.

I see some that are dark gray/black end, try and split those pieces and test inside. It typically indicates the wood is more seasoned.

Best of luck.

 

[Fred Wright]

It won't be ready to burn this winter, sorry. However, that's some nice firewood you've got there, appears to be oak in the mix.

A fan in the woodshed will help it dry faster. It should be good to use next year, I'll concur with previous responses. Measure moisture content on a freshly split piece. Under 20% MC is preferable.

 

[laynes69]

I see some oak, but what looks like mostly ash. I don't know about your area, but the emerald ash borer had taken out a ton of trees, and a majority of wood around here is ash. If that's the case, it more than likely was dead or dying. While 4 to 5 months isn't long enough, if it's ash it will have a lower moisture content already. From what I see, it looks good.

 

[claydogg84]

What did people do before the moisture meter? Sheesh... I would get a fire going and throw some splits in to see how it burns. If water is oozing out of the ends you'll know for sure its not ready.

 

[Kingdoc]

UPDATE: So I bought an ax and split 6 random large pieces... results were 23%, 22%, 21%, 20% 19% and 18% in that order!... truth is stranger than fiction it seems.

[edit] update 2: the PE T6 is going to be installed Oct 26!! just got the call my hearth pad is done so now it can be installed!!

 

[kennyp2339]

Sweet Just in time for lake effect snow season! FYI if those moisture readings hold true for the whole pile, I would def not lose that wood sellers #, he seems as close to legit as wood seller can be considering how many cords they have to cut and split to turn a good profit.