The importance of seasoned wood - Dry vs Wet

[begreen]

For any standing dead wood, test it. Don't assume it's dry.

I just had a large half of a big leaf maple cut down. It's been dead for 2 years. At the base it's about 24" in diameter. I split some of the wood from higher up that was around 12" thick and tested the wood for moisture content. Cold, it comes in at 47.4%!! I'm letting it warm up to room temp and will test again. This wood definitely will not be ready to burn for at least a year in spite of being dead.

 

[Orerockon]

Is that on a fresh split face? I can get oak to 17 or 18 in that time period if the weather is right

What's amusing to me is that I've been repeatedly told that oak takes 2-3 years to dry. Mine burns nice & hot (with the cat closed I run it about 1000F). That is with immediately splitting live wood and chucking in my barn (which has nice flow through air) for a summer. I typically get my cutting done by June. It's dry as a popcorn fart by the fall and I bought a moisture meter to see what it says. By the time I need it (usually Oct.) the max. reading is...you guessed it... 18%. Inside fresh split dry is around 14%. So either a miracle happens to me every year or it only takes a summer to season.

 

[bholler]

What's amusing to me is that I've been repeatedly told that oak takes 2-3 years to dry. Mine burns nice & hot (with the cat closed I run it about 1000F). That is with immediately splitting live wood and chucking in my barn (which has nice flow through air) for a summer. I typically get my cutting done by June. It's dry as a popcorn fart by the fall and I bought a moisture meter to see what it says. By the time I need it (usually Oct.) the max. reading is...you guessed it... 18%. Inside fresh split dry is around 14%. So either a miracle happens to me every year or it only takes a summer to season.

I can typically get oak under 20% in a year as well

 

[Dieselhead]

Splitting small helps

 

[begreen]

There are a lot of variables for drying any wood based on the location in the tree, the time of year it was cut, the species, the location of the tree, etc. The size of the splits is another variable. Then there's the drying setup after being split and stacked. A sunny location where the wind can freely blow through the loosely packed stacks will do much better than a tightly packed stack in shady spot with poor ventilation. Same for shed drying. Bonus points for a solar kiln.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I have posted here that I season my wood in less thime then the posted 2 to 3 years. Much of my wood is split large.. Im good in 18 months.. I split it all mostly my march and by the following fall its ready..

There are some variables is seasoning.. some will take longer depending on how they do it and where its at..

 

[KDubU]

What's amusing to me is that I've been repeatedly told that oak takes 2-3 years to dry. Mine burns nice & hot (with the cat closed I run it about 1000F). That is with immediately splitting live wood and chucking in my barn (which has nice flow through air) for a summer. I typically get my cutting done by June. It's dry as a popcorn fart by the fall and I bought a moisture meter to see what it says. By the time I need it (usually Oct.) the max. reading is...you guessed it... 18%. Inside fresh split dry is around 14%. So either a miracle happens to me every year or it only takes a summer to season.

I can typically get oak under 20% in a year as well

Okay, I am interested! I need to get my wood drier…a lot drier as I am starting all over again due to moving all over the US the past two years. I should have just stayed here in ME as I had 5+ cords cut, split and stacked in a shed I built. Most of my wood now (and then) is red oak with some maple and birch thrown in. The plan is to build another shed facing southeast to give it as much sun as possible. Also planning to create a solar kiln to help speed things along but still thinking so should order some semi-dry maple and get it dried up for the fall. Hate paying for wood but it does mean paying less for oil next fall so I guess it makes sense.

Any other secrets? The difference for me is I am a bike ride from the ocean so there is a lot humidity year round.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Doing the kiln will not be affected by where you live.. high humidity.. as the temperature of the kiln rises the air inside will be able to hold more moisture.. Id do the kilns for this year's wood and purchase a little wood and go on the scrounge and fill the shed for fall of 2024

 

[KDubU]

Doing the kiln will not be affected by where you live.. high humidity.. as the temperature of the kiln rises the air inside will be able to hold more moisture.. Id do the kilns for this year's wood and purchase a little wood and go on the scrounge and fill the shed for fall of 2024

Thanks! Scrounging had already started with about 3-4 face cords and I have 10 acres of land, majority hardwood but have not been actively cutting anything yet. Need to map out trails and possible firewood candidates. Tks again!

 

[NickW]

10 acres should be plenty depending on your needs. There is a thread discussing how much firewood per acre per year "typically" can be expected from healthy woods, but obviously it's going to depend. I think it was between 1/2 & 3/4 cord per acre per year. I have 5 acres of swamp in the Northwoods with tons of dead black ash that I could easily get way more than that until it starts getting too rotten. I can only get to it middle of winter; so I fell and haul logs to a dry area when it's pretty well frozen, then css when possible. If your woods hasn't been actively cut for firewood you may have good pickings.

Start with quick seasoning hardwoods like dead ash and cherry. If you don't have that, maybe split oak or maple a little smaller to season quicker; say 3x5 instead of 5x8... What I call "crap" wood is good for shoulder season and seasons quickly (pine, aspen, silver maple, box elder, etc ...) Also note that seasoning season is shorter in Maine (or WI) than further south.

 

[kborndale]

Also note that seasoning season is shorter in Maine (or WI) than further south.

This and the climate, what takes 2-3 years to season on the east coast can season in a summer in Colorado or New Mexico.

 

[begreen]

This and the climate, what takes 2-3 years to season on the east coast can season in a summer in Colorado or New Mexico.

Yes, but the species of tree matters a lot too. Hardwoods are a lot less common in those states.

 

[kborndale]

Yes, but the species of tree matters a lot too. Hardwoods are a lot less common in those states.

Even with hardwoods, I live 10 minutes from the Atlantic ocean. Last summer was unusually dry last year and my wood showed it. Wood that I expected to need another year was ready to burn. And we were no where near as dry as some desert climates get.

 

[begreen]

I can do this with doug fir, but not maple or madrone in spite of our drought summers.

 

[stoveliker]

I was in Western Massachusetts a bit ago, and there was a stove there. But no wood (and I won't bring wood from here, as it's not legal and just dumb). So I got some of that overpriced store wood. Turned out to be mostly hickory. I had one package
left over and I took that home (it had a paper saying it was okay for MA, NY, NJ - but it didn't say CT...). I split the thickest one and it was 20 pct in the middle. Quite surprised. Kiln dried, but likely only for the bugs/transportation.

Pretty good. But I put it in my stacks for next year.

 

[Hello_Stingray71]

Woah, this is really fascinating!

 

[30WCF]

I can get in the mid to upper teens under a metal carport in NC in a single season. I’m sure it’s different in ME

 

[PaulOinMA]

My wood seasons pretty quickly. Cut to 16" or so and smallish splits for my Lopi Answer. Surface area is pretty good. It's on three racks with space between the racks. Good air flow for each split.

Took the cover off a stack yesterday to move some to the hoop in the garage for the season. Mouse on top looking at me. Nice nest on top of rack. Think I ruined his day.

He probably moved into the basement.

 

[PaulOinMA]

... saying it was okay for MA, NY, NJ - but it didn't say CT. ...

CT doesn't want out-of-state wood brought into campsites. There was an Asian Longhorn Beetle issue here in MA. There was a sign on 395 as you entered CT that out-of-state wood is prohibited.

 

[bcar]

Why do my relatives love burning green wood??? Green honey locust and ash are their go-to's. , and it doesn't seem like they ever clean their flue's or have creosote issues.

 

[bigealta]

"Ignorance is Bliss"

 

[kennyp2339]

Why do my relatives love burning green wood??? Green honey locust and ash are their go-to's. , and it doesn't seem like they ever clean their flue's or have creosote issues.

They’ve mastered the art of burning water, I’m still trying to figure it out, until then I guess I’m only using sub 20% stuff

 

[rudysmallfry]

I just left a FB forum where people were bragging about their smoke spewing stoves and how nobody can tell them what they should burn. I'm sure karma will catch up with some of them in terms of a house fire, but it's just so frustrating to see people bury their heads in the sand when it's actually quite easy to burn cleanly with seasoned wood. Even with my older stove, you can't see or smell anything coming out of my chimney once it's up to speed. I live very close to my neighbors, and the guy on one side didn't even know I have a wood stove for about 5 years until he saw me cleaning my chimney one day.

 

[rudysmallfry]

They’ve mastered the art of burning water, I’m still trying to figure it out, until then I guess I’m only using sub 20% stuff

Ash splits seasoned. I scored a bunch a few years ago. Not a single fresh split tested over 18%. Awesome stuff if you need wood fast.

 

[rudysmallfry]

What's amusing to me is that I've been repeatedly told that oak takes 2-3 years to dry. Mine burns nice & hot (with the cat closed I run it about 1000F). That is with immediately splitting live wood and chucking in my barn (which has nice flow through air) for a summer. I typically get my cutting done by June. It's dry as a popcorn fart by the fall and I bought a moisture meter to see what it says. By the time I need it (usually Oct.) the max. reading is...you guessed it... 18%. Inside fresh split dry is around 14%. So either a miracle happens to me every year or it only takes a summer to season.

I scored about 12 different hardwoods last year. Split it all in September of 2022. All but the Oak and some Maple is under 20%. The Oak is still hanging in around 37%. It's the only stuff I didn't have sitting in the blazing sun because I didn't expect it to dry on one year anyway, so maybe that the only difference. That's cool to know you were able to dry it so quickly.