Who's drying up their wood now

[ikarumba]

I just received and am stacking my firewood for next year. I ordered 4 cords of oak cut to 20 inches, just right for my Tarm. I stack it in a single row on 2 x 4's and cover the top with plastic and that's it. I season it right here and save upcharge for seasoned firewood. what say you?

 

[ohio woodburner]

It's good to get a jump start on seasoning wood, but i like to give my oak two years to season. Your on the right track by getting it early though as opposed to scrambling come Nov. Just my .02 Welcome to the forum by the way!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It's good to get a jump start on seasoning wood, but i like to give my oak two years to season. Your on the right track by getting it early though as opposed to scrambling come Nov. Just my .02 Welcome to the forum by the way!

That's about what I would say too. If it's split small, it has a chance to be dry, but that 20" length will certainly slow it down some. Especially if we have another wet summer.

Matt

 

[Piker]

I haven't had any issues yet drying wood to 20% over a summer. Cut 18-20", split 4-5", stacked on pallets in the sun on a windy hill by june 1st... by the end of august it's all around 23%-27%. At that point, I move about 3 cord into our very dry basement and place a small fan on it to keep the air moving. If we aren't below 20% by October 1, we're pretty close. Once the weather gets cold and the air inside the house gets dry, you can't hardly keep moisture in your firewood. The last 10%, from 25 down to 15% can happen in a couple weeks once december rolls around. The little fan is a big helper though.

I have actually seen wood start to go punky after two years in a pile... especially if it's soft wood, and kept close to the ground.

The oak seems to take a little longer to dry than everything else.

This year, due to time constraints, I'll be buying all my wood pre-cut and split, and seasoned.

cheers

 

[jebatty]

Good planning. You will have better results if you have the stacks off the ground, on pallets or timbers, so air can flow underneath, and also have the plastic raised above the top and not draped down the sides so air can flow across the top. I use old corrugated steel sheets on top of my outdoor piles after the first summer of drying. Normal rain fall doesn't impact the drying very much, if at all, as it doesn't really penetrate the wood, so little need to cover during the first summer for sure.

 

[twitch]

I'm bucking / splitting about 6 cord of beech, maple and ash now for next winter. I can't believe how cracked / checked the rounds are after only about a week in the sun. I also have probably 4 cord of oak that I'll buck / split for the year after.

 

[oldspark]

I'm bucking / splitting about 6 cord of beech, maple and ash now for next winter. I can't believe how cracked / checked the rounds are after only about a week in the sun. I also have probably 4 cord of oak that I'll buck / split for the year after.

I checked some of mine that had major cracks on the ends and it was dry for about an inch into the wood after about a month or so.

 

[ikarumba]

The oak that was delivered was cut a year ago and has only recently been split. Much of the wood is checked and the bark is either already off or about to peal away. Another interesting point is that a cord in a delivery truck measures 185 cubic feet so that when it's stacked it measures 128 cu. ft. I'm going to measure the stacks when I'm done stacking and see how close the delivery comes to a true cord. I also learned that the wood can shrink 6% as it dries out so a dry cord of 128 cf is a better deal than a green cord. Interesting stuff.

 

[Nofossil]

I stack mine in rows running East-West with about 7 feet between - enough for my tractor and trailer to fit. That way every pile gets plenty of sun and air circulation. I keep rain from soaking the piles with various pieces of old tarps. I finally reached my goal of being two years ahead last fall.

My wood piles are even visible in Google Maps - near the top of the image below.

 

[bpirger]

Hey NoFossil...I can't resist...is that smoke from your EKO in the pictures on the left? Looks like a huge plume! I like your site....nice and peaceful.

 

[Nofossil]

Hey NoFossil...I can't resist...is that smoke from your EKO in the pictures on the left? Looks like a huge plume! I like your site....nice and peaceful.

I just KNEW that someone would make that observation! Since I don't burn in the summer, I hereby proclaim my innocence.

We're at the end of a dead-end dirt road, but less than 1/2 hour from the biggest city in the state - I like to think of us as being "centrally isolated".

 

[shoeboxlen]

I cut and split my wood last fall been in a huge pile drying waiting to be stacked where last years wood was. I should be stacking within the next month and it should all be nice and dry. I have 2 log length trucks worth eack load is between 6-8 cords so conservatively I should have 12 cord which should be enough wood for 2 years in my eko 25. Eat that oil man