Wet wood concerns

[ckarotka]

I took a few loads of my uglies camping this weekend. After a very wet start to summer they are wet to say the least. Cut and split last march so for camp fire wood it's better than anything i would pay for. Well is burned like poo. Just to wet. Makes me think about that debate over to cover or not to cover your stacks. This guy will be covering his stacks in September and moving the wood into the garage in mid October just to give it a few weeks to dry out a bit. Just my thoughts, got any on this subject?

 

[smokinj]

Not going to help much, would not even think of covering til mid to late Oct.

 

[fireview2788]

We've been very wet too, but as soon as I uncovered my campefire stacks they dried quickly.



fv

 

[shawneyboy]

If you give it a few days without rain in the sun and wind, they dry very nicely.

Shawn

 

[Woody Stover]

I took a few loads of my uglies camping this weekend. After a very wet start to summer they are wet to say the least. Cut and split last march...burned like poo. Just to wet

What kind of wood? Do you figure it should have been dry if it was covered, or have you moisture-tested it after several dry days?
Not sure it makes a lot of difference, so I'm gonna go ahead and cover all my stacks now. I'm tired of the top layers getting soaked with all this rain we're having.

 

[oldspark]

We just went through a wet spell here and as soon as we get a couple of dry days the wood is bone dry as far as the rain goes. I dont cover my wood till we get a dry period in late Oct.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Cut and split in March does not give much time for drying.

I've stated before that wood is not a sponge....unless it is already punk. Of course the exception would be if the wood is laying on the ground and in standing water. Naturally that will take a beating. Leaving the wood stacks uncovered will still allow for better evaporation of moisture.

Next time take along some Super Cedars. They will get a fire going.

 

[Woody Stover]

Cut and split in March does not give much time for drying.
I've stated before that wood is not a sponge....unless it is already punk. Of course the exception would be if the wood is laying on the ground and in standing water. Naturally that will take a beating. Leaving the wood stacks uncovered will still allow for better evaporation of moisture.

I took the OP to mean that the wood was split a year ago in March, not this March.
As far as covering, I guess I'm not understanding how that much moisture is coming out of the top of the uncovered stack, as opposed to the wind just blowing through the covered stack. You've had a lot more experience drying wood than I have (even though I've been attempting to burn wood for decades :lol so if you've found covered vs. uncovered makes a marked difference, I have to go with that.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Our last March was in 2011, not 2010! So I took it to mean in March of this year. But I do feel leaving the top open definitely will hasten the evaporation of moisture in the first summer. Could you go with covering the wood right away? Yes, you can. However, we'll leave ours uncovered as we've just had the best drying doing it that way.

 

[Woody Stover]

I do feel leaving the top open definitely will hasten the evaporation of moisture in the first summer. Could you go with covering the wood right away? Yes, you can. However, we'll leave ours uncovered as we've just had the best drying doing it that way.

IIRC, your stacks get sun. I can see how sun-heated stacks would convect better with an open top. Unfortunately, my spot with the best wind is in the shade so I've elected to stack there...

 

[ckarotka]

The wood is a year old at this point. It rained for two says prior to leaving for camp and I loaded the wood in the rain, drove out in the rain and set up in the rain....whew! It was just so wet it burned horrible. I set up pieces to dry around the fire to help out, that did very little. Some was locust, oak and maple. Stored in a bin off the ground with partial sun. It just seemed wet to the bone.

 

[smokinj]

The wood is a year old at this point. It rained for two says prior to leaving for camp and I loaded the wood in the rain, drove out in the rain and set up in the rain....whew! It was just so wet it burned horrible. I set up pieces to dry around the fire to help out, that did very little. Some was locust, oak and maple. Stored in a bin off the ground with partial sun. It just seemed wet to the bone.

Anything like we gotten and I remember the Boy Scot days be the first on up and have a baby food jar of something very flamable..... :cheese: That was the motto!

On the other side my Garden is kicking @ss!

 

[Woody Stover]

Some was locust, oak and maple.

Hard Maple, and especially Oak, may not have been completely dry after 1 year...

I remember the Boy Scot days be the first on up and have a baby food jar of something very flamable..... :cheese: That was the motto!

"Be prepared"...to have a roaring fire in thirty seconds. :lol:

 

[Kenster]

If the wood was soaked in all that rain, even though it is just surface moisture, it would prevent you from having a good fire. But just a couple of days in the sun would have worked wonders IF the internal moisture content was way down. If you're trying to burn one year old oak that is soaked with rain... well, there's your problem. Covering your stacks might have kept the surface dry but would not have done much to rush internal drying.

I never cover my wood until it's brought up on the porch two or three days before burning. That's all it needs to dry surface moisture.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I do feel leaving the top open definitely will hasten the evaporation of moisture in the first summer. Could you go with covering the wood right away? Yes, you can. However, we'll leave ours uncovered as we've just had the best drying doing it that way.

IIRC, your stacks get sun. I can see how sun-heated stacks would convect better with an open top. Unfortunately, my spot with the best wind is in the shade so I've elected to stack there...

What in Sam Hill is "IIRC?" I've seen it used but have not yet been educated in all this shorthand writing.

 

[firefighterjake]

I do feel leaving the top open definitely will hasten the evaporation of moisture in the first summer. Could you go with covering the wood right away? Yes, you can. However, we'll leave ours uncovered as we've just had the best drying doing it that way.

IIRC, your stacks get sun. I can see how sun-heated stacks would convect better with an open top. Unfortunately, my spot with the best wind is in the shade so I've elected to stack there...

What in Sam Hill is "IIRC?" I've seen it used but have not yet been educated in all this shorthand writing.

Ditto . . . of course I'm old school . . . I attempt to use proper spelling and not abbreviate words . . . most of the time.

 

[HollowHill]

I do feel leaving the top open definitely will hasten the evaporation of moisture in the first summer. Could you go with covering the wood right away? Yes, you can. However, we'll leave ours uncovered as we've just had the best drying doing it that way.

IIRC, your stacks get sun. I can see how sun-heated stacks would convect better with an open top. Unfortunately, my spot with the best wind is in the shade so I've elected to stack there...

What in Sam Hill is "IIRC?" I've seen it used but have not yet been educated in all this shorthand writing.

If I recall correctly...

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ah. Thanks Hollow.

Now back to Woody's post I can answer it better. Some of our stacks are in full sun; some in no sun. Some in partial sun.

 

[Kenster]

My bride, AKA "SHMBO," prefers I keep the stacks out of view, so I have them all back on the edge of the woods behind our house. They catch afternoon sun and a lot of wind from the SW through NW, which is our prevailing winds. The seasoning would be hastened somewhat if I could stack out in the open but I can live with it.

 

[smokinj]

Some was locust, oak and maple.

Hard Maple, and especially Oak, may not have been completely dry after 1 year...

I remember the Boy Scot days be the first on up and have a baby food jar of something very flamable..... :cheese: That was the motto!

"Be prepared"...to have a roaring fire in thirty seconds. :lol:

Yep, just had to be up before the Scout leader up! :cheese: Sure looking back now he would have been fine with it.....We really taught it was cool secret between the scout's.

 

[CTYank]

If you give it a few days without rain in the sun and wind, they dry very nicely.

Shawn

On the outside, at least. Kinda hard to track the moisture that's being driven inside.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

And just how would that moisture be "driven inside?"

 

[shawneyboy]

And just how would that moisture be "driven inside?"

Cowboy?

Shawn

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, there are some good ones out there....

 

[shawneyboy]

If you give it a few days without rain in the sun and wind, they dry very nicely.

Shawn

On the outside, at least. Kinda hard to track the moisture that's being driven inside.

Rain is surface moisture, whether on the outside or inside (I assume it got in through a crack). Seasoning is moisutre on a cellular level, rain will evaporate and have no effect if the wood is given a few days in the wind and the sun, without any additional rainfall. If after that time the wood does not burn, then odds are it wasn't ready in the first place.

Shawn