Seasoning Time Chart

[Woody Stover]

http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html

I thought that BTU output corresponded to wood weight, however Black Birch is lighter than White Oak yet has more BTU. Same with Black Cherry and American Elm.

"Firewood is cut to length and then seasoned (dried) in a stack, with air being able to get to it, for at least 9 months before burning. The natural 60%-70% moisture content must be reduced to about 20% to burn well. The wood cells don't lose much moisture through the bark; the moisture is most effectively removed through the cut cells at the ends of each piece."
So we don't have to split it? Sweet! That is going to save me a lot of work! :lol:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Interesting observation there Woody!

 

[cptoneleg]

http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html

I thought that BTU output corresponded to wood weight, however Black Birch is lighter than White Oak yet has more BTU. Same with Black Cherry and American Elm.

"Firewood is cut to length and then seasoned (dried) in a stack, with air being able to get to it, for at least 9 months before burning. The natural 60%-70% moisture content must be reduced to about 20% to burn well. The wood cells don't lose much moisture through the bark; the moisture is most effectively removed through the cut cells at the ends of each piece."
So we don't have to split it? Sweet! That is going to save me a lot of work! :lol:

And one more thing it doesn't start the process of losing moisture through the cut cells at the end until split. :zip:

 

[Jutt77]

I think its time for someone to build an elaborate spreadsheet where you can input all the variables and it spits out an answer "# of days to cure". It would be fun and entertaining to see everyone disagree on how much weight each variable should have. Lets see... would need this info for each quandry:
beginning moisture content
tree species
spits or rounds
average size of splits/rounds
length of spits/rounds
average temperature for your location
average windspeed for your location
average relative humidity for your location
desired ending moisture content
average sunlight for your location
covered stack vs out in the open

Even if you had all correct information and weighted everything somehow into a declining moisture content curve, I would say give or take 50% of the results to find the answer.

I think you're on to something here with being able to quantify some data and I'm glad someone mentioned climate as that is probably the most important variable in time to season CSS wood. Denver is a semi-arid climate that gets 300+ days of sunshine and quite a bit of wind. In a sunny spot, we can season pretty much any species to less than 20% MC, CSS in around 3 months. No offense to anyone but the "it takes 1-2 years to season wood" blanket statements assume you live in a humid continental or subtropical climate, certainly not a semi-arid climate and even less so in a high desert climate.

I think this chart would play out to see very small differences in time to season if in the same climate (assuming CSS in an ideal seasoning location) and large differences in time to season when comparing climate to climate.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

With all due respect, the amount of time to season or dry wood can vary a lot but most wood types will not be dry enough in 3 months to suit me; even in your climate. Some folks are willing to accept less and some folks burn a whole lot different wood which can make a huge difference.

As for the humid continental or subtropical climate, that does sometimes cover our weather but mostly not. In fact the last 3 days our humidity has been below 30%. I do not think you can qualify that as humid. In the winter months we are also very, very dry. Sorry, but some of our wood will indeed be ready in a few months time but some will not. I'll still wait 3 years on the oak and I have no problem storing my wood for many years before burning it. The results we get by doing this speaks for itself. Results like not having to clean the chimney every year or several times per year. Results like never having black glass in the stove.

Methinks we perhaps burn some different woods.

 

[karl]

You could always get a 24 inch schedule 40 drain pipe 12 feet long. Put Screw caps on the end of it. Fill it full of wood and pull a vacuum on it with a vacuum pump. Let it sit all day, unscrew the ends and let a fan blow through it for a half an hour. Then do it all over again. Three or four days (maybe less) of that and your wood will be plenty dry to burn. That would get you something less than 118 cubic feet of wood a pop.


I offer this up, only because people on here seem to try and over analyze simple things like watching wood dry.

Actually, I thought about this last winter when I didn't have enough dry wood and I already had the vacuum pump. I didn't do it, though the science behind it is sound. If you get 29" of vacuum (any pump will pull that) the water in the wood will boil at 76 degrees. at 29.8" (you need a good pump to do that) it will boil at 21 degrees. It will be like putting a load of wood in your oven for a few days.

 

[Jutt77]

With all due respect, the amount of time to season or dry wood can vary a lot but most wood types will not be dry enough in 3 months to suit me; even in your climate. Some folks are willing to accept less and some folks burn a whole lot different wood which can make a huge difference.

As for the humid continental or subtropical climate, that does sometimes cover our weather but mostly not. In fact the last 3 days our humidity has been below 30%. I do not think you can qualify that as humid. In the winter months we are also very, very dry. Sorry, but some of our wood will indeed be ready in a few months time but some will not. I'll still wait 3 years on the oak and I have no problem storing my wood for many years before burning it. The results we get by doing this speaks for itself. Results like not having to clean the chimney every year or several times per year. Results like never having black glass in the stove.

Methinks we perhaps burn some different woods.

I've measured Ash, Silver Maple, Black Locust, Cottonwood and Pine so it does not account for all wood but I measured all at 20% MC or less in 3 months after CSS green wood. In all due respect Dennis, considering that you do not live here and I do and have for the last 11 years I'm somewhat surprised to see you state that wood cannot be seasoned that quickly.

Also Michigan is indeed classified as a humid climate (based on yearly averages, not 3 days streaks) which explains why our seasoning times are so different and why you have to season wood for such a long time. We live in MUCH different climates with MUCH different weather and comparing time to season between the two is like comparing apples to oranges.

Here's a chart for your reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humid_subtropical_climate#North_America

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Okay....