usefulness of moisture meter?

[pybyr]

would a good (meaning decent, not exhorbitant) wood moisture meter be a useful investment for someone who's experienced with burning wood-- but in pretty low-tech, non-air-tight appliances like my wood cookstove and old hot air wood furnace-- and new to gasification, to help understand how much of the variations I may see in burns has to do with my technique, and how much has to do with how dry a batch of wood is?

thanks

 

[barnartist]

I concur.

 

[Nofossil]

At least half the justification of this whole project was the excuse to add to my arsenal of tools and gadgets. I'm assuming that you're in the same situation and just looking for help with the rationalization part.

I've found that it was helpful in two ways:

1) It helped me get hard data on what works and what does not work in terms of moisture content.

2) It helped me learn more about the drying process and sorting through dry and not-dry wood when I didn't have enough cut ahead.

Now that those items are behind me I don't use it as much, but I'd say it's indispensable to get through the initial learning curve.

Hope that helps.

 

[barnartist]

Maybe we could lease your meter then NoFo. I will take it on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 

[pybyr]

At least half the justification of this whole project was the excuse to add to my arsenal of tools and gadgets. I'm assuming that you're in the same situation and just looking for help with the rationalization part.

I've found that it was helpful in two ways:

1) It helped me get hard data on what works and what does not work in terms of moisture content.

2) It helped me learn more about the drying process and sorting through dry and not-dry wood when I didn't have enough cut ahead.

Now that those items are behind me I don't use it as much, but I'd say it's indispensable to get through the initial learning curve.

Hope that helps.

Thanks NoFo-

you've nailed what I have come to call "Trevor's Maxim" which is that projects lead to tools, which lead to other projects... & repeat, with learning along the way.

and your wife must be angelic

PS NoFo, I confess to the sin of Envy of your machine shop references to your Bridgeport, etc. that you mentioned somewhere. I am dying to give a good home to a machine lathe and Bridgeport milling machine that need a good, appreciative new home more than their prior owner needs a pile of maximum cash.

 

[sweetheat]

OK here it is, the Delmhorst model J-lite moisture meter at forestry supplier.com for $145. works good. I justified my purchase because of my business. I use a lot of green hemlock timbers. Other hardwood species for mill-work too. Now and then I check my hardwood going into the tarm 40. Seems to all be less than 15 percent moisture content. It stands in the corner of the shop ready for the next moisture check. Gives me some piece of mind. :lol: sweetheat

 

[Sawyer]

The pin type moisture meters sense the resistance between the pins to determine moisture content. This can be misleading information as the outside of a timber dries first. For lumber and small cants and finished items on my lathe I use a Wagner pinless L606 Analog Proline moisture meter that measures moisture deeper (1 1/2" x 2 1/2") than the surface. I can justify this because of the sawmill. If using the pin type I would cut the end off of my timber or cut it in half, then measure the moisture on the center of the fresh cut. Barring buying a moisture meter one can cut a center sample, weigh it, dry in the microwave, and then weigh it again to determine the moisture content. But………then we would not have a new tool for other projects. ;-)

 

[DaveBP]

Noboby needs a moisture meter for firewood.

What we need is time.

Two summer seasons: Split, stacked so no rain ever touches it but the sides are open to let air blow through it and reach outdoor equilibrium moisture (broadly 15% here in New England). Then moisture content is no longer the problem issue that it is being for those using gassifiers.

I use a Delmhorst J-2000. Temperature compensated, calibrated for 48 different species.

 

[mtnmizer]

Here in the west we've had severe drought conditions for
well over a decade. Dead standing fir/pine is said to be dryer
than kiln dried wood,ie >7%. Even green conifers are almost
dry enought to burn on the stump unless they are growing in a wet zone such
as along a stream.

I have some large decks of dougfir that were cut in mid winter
last year. The piles that was bucked/split last summer are plenty
dry right now.

We used to season green fir for at least a year, now it's more
like a month or so. The drought/global warming has made conditions
favorable for tree killing insects infestation. Dead/dying trees as far
as the eye can see, mostly lodgepole pine but some bud worm killed fir.

I can tell how dry a piece of wood is by heft and how it splits. The green pieces
from last winter will split easily if left a week or two after bucked. It will burn real
nicely after splitting in a month or so.... MM

 

[penfrydd]

The last time I used a microwave for a moisture test, it was for hay (round bales, which have to be dryer than standard bales).

When I opened the door to the microwave, the hay burst into flames, and burning hay really stinks!

I ended up buying a Delmhorst which works just fine. I'm certain it will work fine for wood, just cut off a fresh exposure, as mentioned earlier.

I'm more curious about the moisture content of partially rotted wood. I've got a couple years worth of beech bark disease infested trees. Damned inconvenient disease. The large (20" diameter) trees break off about 15 up, with the top leaned over. Not easy to know which way things will fall. Either snag them with a come along, or smack them with a skid steer.

 

[DaveBP]

I’m more curious about the moisture content of partially rotted wood. I’ve got a couple years worth of beech bark disease infested trees. Damned inconvenient disease.

Yeah, no kidding. My woodlot had a lot of beech. Typical inappropriate management. Take the best and leave the worst to grow on.

The large (20” diameter) trees break off about 15 up, with the top leaned over

There's even a forestry term for that, "beech snap."

Not easy to know which way things will fall. Either snag them with a come along, or smack them with a skid steer.

Be VERY careful. I use a tractor-mounted log winch to choke on the top as far up as I can reach and pull away from and to the side of the stump. That way you know which side it will fall to and any spring in the limbs that might want to jump the tree back toward you can be blocked. If you push on the standing stump with a tractor the top can jump off and come crashing down on you, too. Just be careful.
If that snapped top has enough tissue connected to keep leaves on you have a little time (months in warm season) but if it doesn't leaf out it will go to hell fast. I burn a lot of beech trying to salvage BTUs from my woods but I've found that if it has the whitish flecks mottled into the wood it drys much slower and can deteriorate even split and stacked. If it won't split but just chunks up in the splitter I just heave it aside. That's probably a good test, if it will split rather than shatter. Dried mushrooms probably burn but I'm losing the beech on my property faster than I can use it so I just put the work into the better stuff.

 

[penfrydd]

The come-along is all I've used thus far. The skid-steer was just a thought. I've been cutting in these woods for 20 years and suddenly wham! Beech bark disease all over the place. At least the maple and oak will appreciate the increased sunlight. Now that I'm getting a gasifier, I'll even toss in some hemlock, now and then, just to get rid of it.

 

[pybyr]

The beech bark disease is all over the place in my area of VT-- seems like few beech trees really get to and survive for long at maturity. unfortunately, that leaves less mast crop for the wildlife that used to eat the beech nuts. And the stuff seems to be rotten by the time that the tree fully dies. I haven't ruled out using it for fuel, but often it has a real stink to it, and as mentioned above, taking down trees with rotten limbs above you isn't my idea of how I hope to live a long, active life.