These numbers make sense to me. Are they right? I read somewhere (maybe here?) that wood that is cut in the winter has about a 40% moisture content, while in the spring it is 605? Reality? Seems like winter wood is dang near ready to burn. Thnx. j
When to cut?
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Ah yes, in the spring the sap returns. Still, in the winter at 40% it is not nearly ready to burn.
Winter is definitely the very best time of the year to do the wood cutting; when the trees are dormant, which is the best time to do any pruning of fruit trees and such. But that wood still needs the hot summer to get rid of more moisture. Even better, cut this winter what you will burn in 2 years and not next winter. Seasoning the wood will mean you burn less wood as less will go up the chimney.
Winter is definitely the very best time of the year to do the wood cutting; when the trees are dormant, which is the best time to do any pruning of fruit trees and such. But that wood still needs the hot summer to get rid of more moisture. Even better, cut this winter what you will burn in 2 years and not next winter. Seasoning the wood will mean you burn less wood as less will go up the chimney.
I find it best to cut with leaves still on the trees. It is amazing how much water those leaves can pull from the tree if you let it lay on the ground for a week or so. That said, it wont be ready to burn til next year of course.
Cutting while the leaves are still on and waiting works....at least a little bit. There will still be less sap in the tree if you wait until the tree is dormant. I can see though where some who live in the south might have a little more problem and cut this way, but if you have a choice, wait until the tree is dormant before cutting.
You need to cut all the time and split some of the time: and stack the rest of the time: and you should be a year ahead of your need more or less....
Still need to be careful with the whole moisture content idea - I would bet that in the spring, moisture contents could be higher than 100% - If I remember correctly, moisture content is the weight of the water in the wood vs. the weight of oven dry wood. Fresh cut wood weighs 5 lbs, oven dry wood weighs 2 lbs, moisture content was 150%, 3lbs of water/2lbs of wood =1.5, or 150% MC. With that said, Wood Tech class was a bunch of years ago
! Someone check it out.
! Someone check it out.
I don't know about the amount of moisture in the wood, and if you're far enough ahead it shouldn't really matter. I just like cutting at this time of year better because I don't like the summer heat. I would much rather work in the cold than on a blazing hot day.
The other benefit to cutting at this time of year is the frozen ground. It makes many places easier to access and you tear things up less when you drop a tree.
The other benefit to cutting at this time of year is the frozen ground. It makes many places easier to access and you tear things up less when you drop a tree.
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