Wood seasoning hypothetical question

[SethB2]

Ok, please give me your opinion. I have been talking to a friend about which situation would be better regarding seasoning. Remember this is only a hypothetical, so you can only pick one of the two options. Please answer, even if you're guessing. Because let's be honest. We're all guessing on this one.

The situation: You have two different stacks of wood, each one subjected to different weather conditions. Each stack is two cords. Each stack is stacked in an area that is 8' x 8' x 4' tall. Assume that the wood is in the shade all day, whether it be a bunch of trees or an open shed of some sort. All of the wood is fresh cut.

Which cord would seasons faster?

A) The cords that are setting in 90 degree heat for three months.

-or-

B) The cords that are sitting in 70 degree heat with a and average 20 mph wind for three months.

Curious what you think.

 

[learnin to burn]

Option B

Everything I have read here suggest that air flow is more important than the sun.

 

[flyingcow]

Option C,
Let me take both piles home and put them to the test, I'll let you know how each pile burned thru the winter.









Wild guess. Probably go with B, but I don't know if there would be much diff.

 

[Crash11]

My guess would be "B" also. Airflow is important, and the hotter air probably contains more moisture anyway which I think would make it harder for the water in the wood to evaporate.

 

[Hurricane]

My vote is B.

Look at the outside after a good rain, when it is still the ground stays wet for a longer time that if there is a brisk wind.

 

[firefighterjake]

Another vote/guess for B.

 

[smokinj]

Iam going with A! In August last year was very hot with little winds and the piles look like someone could be steeling my wood all month.....

 

[Got Wood]

Total guess... I'll assume comparable humidity. There will be some amount of wind on A .... I'll take A as the likely delta in wind isnt 20 - 0 mph

 

[madrone]

The sun doesn't shine inside the stack, but the wind may blow through it.

 

[TreePapa]

Option "D" put the stack in hot, dry Santa Ana winds and ALL the moisture will be sucked right out of it. And out of you too, if you stay out in the Santa Anas long enough.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[billb3]

B.



Hang a towel out to dry sometime.
Or a pair of jeans.
With those same comparative parameters.

Am I the only yankee thrifty (cheap bastid) that still has a clothes line ?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No question about it. B, all the way, but neither is bad except for the 8' long and 8' wide. Better to stack it a couple of rows then a space then a couple more. The trouble with the 8x8 is that the center of the pile and even the far side doesn't get much air flow. I'll still go with B.

 

[SethB2]

No question about it. B, all the way, but neither is bad except for the 8' long and 8' wide. Better to stack it a couple of rows then a space then a couple more. The trouble with the 8x8 is that the center of the pile and even the far side doesn't get much air flow. I'll still go with B.

That is exactly why I said 8'x8'. I'm sure (I think) that the wood toward the edges would dry better with the wind, but just how far would the wind reach into the pile? The heat would eventually get to the center of the pile. The wind, maybe not.

 

[Wood Duck]

I am guessing B, but a lot of it depends on humidity. If the absolute humidity is the same, the 90 degree air will have much lower relative humidity and dry the wood a lot faster. If the relative humidity is the same, which would mean the 90 degree air actually held a lot more moisture, then I think it would be a toss up.

 

[gzecc]

And my wife says I'm obsessed!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No question about it. B, all the way, but neither is bad except for the 8' long and 8' wide. Better to stack it a couple of rows then a space then a couple more. The trouble with the 8x8 is that the center of the pile and even the far side doesn't get much air flow. I'll still go with B.

That is exactly why I said 8'x8'. I'm sure (I think) that the wood toward the edges would dry better with the wind, but just how far would the wind reach into the pile? The heat would eventually get to the center of the pile. The wind, maybe not.

In theory that might work. In practice we've found that stacking rows close together still works. For example, one year we stacked 8 rows (logs 18-20") and had no problem at all with seasoning.

The reason for this is that when we started burning, we took wood from the wind side first. That way the rest of the pile kept drying up to the time we burned it. As stated, it caused us no problems. However, if you started burning from the opposite side I suppose you might run into some that weren't seasoned well.