Wood seasoning question

[Summertime]

I have about 12 cords of maple and red oak that is stacked on my property that has been split since fall of '08. I just built a open sided woodshed that will hold nearly 5 cords. I was wondering if I would be better off stacking it in the shed now so it stays dry from the rain as the wood doesn't get all that much sun on it right now anyways from the trees on my property? or should I let it stay where it is and get slightly more sunlight and also rained on?

I just checked some splits with my moisture meter and maybe just because of the last month of rain but most of my readings seem high.I thought the maple would have been drier than the red oak?? (I did resplit the wood for moisture readings)

 

[joshlaugh]

I don't ever cover my wood until a few weeks before I start to burn in the fall. I prefer the rain, wind, and sun drying out the wood. I do know that sugar maple takes a bit to season. Maybe not as long as red oak but at least a year for it to be really ready.

 

[Duetech]

Wind is one of the two things that dry the wood and of course heat is the other. Not that consensus would think the rain a major player fact remains that before you can dry the wood after a rain you first have to dry the effect of the rain. Since the area is heavily shaded it would not hurt to move your wood now. It would also help to elevate the wood by putting it on rails or pallets so that air has un-interupted flow all around the pile.

 

[Summertime]

The wood is now elevated on pallets but I also layed tarpaper down as well as pallets in the shed to further prevent moisture. All of the wood will be at least one year old by the time burning season is here.

 

[iceman]

The wood is now elevated on pallets but I also layed tarpaper down as well as pallets in the shed to further prevent moisture. All of the wood will be at least one year old by the time burning season is here.

most people including myself will tell you wood needs 2 yrs to season or at least 2 summers... especially oak...
if you are going to move your wood, take some time and resplit your splits this will help them dry much faster

 

[Summertime]

Maybe it would be better to move just the maple and split the larger pieces down? From most of what I have read it dries quicker.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, it will dry faster because there is more exposed to air. If they are large splits, then splitting again will help. But what do you want for the stove? Big splits or small splits? Big will hold the fire longest. Small will give you a hotter fire.

Just guessing, but if it was split last fall, there might be some that will be ready by January. So if you can get something to get you through until then. But this is just a guess.

As for in the shed or outdoors, I prefer outdoors but in the shed is okay too.

With rain hitting the wood pile it will appear to do harm and folks think that will not let their wood season but rain won't soak into the wood; it will just be wet on the outside of the wood and that doesn't take long to dry at all. Remember that the dry months have not got here yet nor has the heat. The wood has lots of time yet.

 

[Summertime]

With all of the rain we have had lately and my wood not all stacked in a criss cross it seems as if the middle of the pile is staying damp and growing mold and fungi. My thought was that to keep it pretty much dry under a roof it would never get a chance to mold or have to dry the rain water as well as the interior of the wood as well.

I think I worry too much though!!

 

[Dune]

Put it in the shed. The fungus and mold tell the story.

 

[webby3650]

Put it in the shed. The fungus and mold tell the story.

Agreed, I have the same situation at my house. I have found that my wood will not dry before it starts rotting if I leave it out. The only place I have to stack it is always shady. It rains on it and it stays wet, only the wood on the top will dry well. I put it in my shed I see a BIG difference in only a few days. This really put the hurts on me last year! :down:

 

[Cal-MI]

Why dry your wood? USDA tests show that green wood burns more effeciently than dry IN A STOVE. Fireplaces OTOH are notoriously inefficient and work better with dry wood.

Been heating for 30 years with a stove that I made from a water heater. Green wood works best. Dry wood makes a hot flash and then is gone.

 

[branchburner]

Maybe it would be better to move just the maple and split the larger pieces down? From most of what I have read it dries quicker.

Right. Since you don't have room for all the wood, move the maple in for burning this winter. I assume not all 12 cords are for this season? Leave the oak out. Next years wood. It won't rot.

 

[branchburner]

Why dry your wood? USDA tests show that green wood burns more effeciently than dry IN A STOVE. Fireplaces OTOH are notoriously inefficient and work better with dry wood.

Been heating for 30 years with a stove that I made from a water heater. Green wood works best. Dry wood makes a hot flash and then is gone.

Welcome to the forums! The USDA may have been looking at your stove, but not mine. Not to knock your water heater stove, but newer stoves are designed expressly to burn dry cordwood. I know where you're coming from, been there myself, but hang around here and read a bit and you won't believe what's changed in 30 years!

 

[drdoct]

Why dry your wood? USDA tests show that green wood burns more effeciently than dry IN A STOVE. Fireplaces OTOH are notoriously inefficient and work better with dry wood.

Been heating for 30 years with a stove that I made from a water heater. Green wood works best. Dry wood makes a hot flash and then is gone.

Wait till you upgrade to a new stove, then you'll see how hot the flash is and amazed at how long it'll last.

 

[smokinj]

cut and splitt since fall of 08 Id through it in the shed if I had one!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Why dry your wood? USDA tests show that green wood burns more effeciently than dry IN A STOVE. Fireplaces OTOH are notoriously inefficient and work better with dry wood.

Been heating for 30 years with a stove that I made from a water heater. Green wood works best. Dry wood makes a hot flash and then is gone.

Of course this has to be a joke!

Welcome to the forum anyway.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Why dry your wood? USDA tests show that green wood burns more effeciently than dry IN A STOVE. Fireplaces OTOH are notoriously inefficient and work better with dry wood.

Been heating for 30 years with a stove that I made from a water heater. Green wood works best. Dry wood makes a hot flash and then is gone.

....forget the wood, just burn water

 

[LLigetfa]

Green wood works best.

You're only a couple hundred miles away but I'm sure I've smelled the stench of your burning green wood. There are a few OWB owners around here that smoke out a square mile with their smoke dragons burning green wood.

 

[Cal-MI]

Ouch! Am I doomed? I am looking at buying a Jotul C 550 fireplace insert (71% efficient) for the stone fireplace in my new house. I expect to have lots of green oak to feed it.
A proper green wood fire in a stove only smokes for a few minutes. (I suspect the same is true of a seasoned wood fire.) Will I not be able to burn green wood efficiently in the Jotul? I don't want to wait a year before I get heat!

In my water heater stove, which I have not used for 4 years, since I moved, a green wood fire would last overnight with the air inlet halfway open, while a seasoned wood fire smoked more and lasted only an hour or two, even if I closed off the air as much as possible.

 

[Dune]

Ouch! Am I doomed? I am looking at buying a Jotul C 550 fireplace insert (71% efficient) for the stone fireplace in my new house. I expect to have lots of green oak to feed it.
A proper green wood fire in a stove only smokes for a few minutes. (I suspect the same is true of a seasoned wood fire.) Will I not be able to burn green wood efficiently in the Jotul? I don't want to wait a year before I get heat!

In my water heater stove, which I have not used for 4 years, since I moved, a green wood fire would last overnight with the air inlet halfway open, while a seasoned wood fire smoked more and lasted only an hour or two, even if I closed off the air as much as possible.

I suspected as much. Today we use stoves that are "airtight". A stove can't truly be considered airtight unless the fire actualy is extinguished when the air supply is shut. With a well regulated air flow, you will find that even extremely dry wood can be burned as slowly as desired.

 

[Dix]

Cal, the newer EPA stoves prefer their wood aged, like a good steak and an excellant BBQ

If you're planning on a new stove this year, you're going to run into problems like cresote from burning wet/green wood.

Last year was my first with the insert, I thought I had dry/seasoned wood, heck it was split 6 months before I started burning it !!

I now know differently, as I am moving my wood split last year to the deck for burning this year. There is dry, and then there is DRY

Dry is the way to go.

You'll burn less and get more heat.

Check out the information articles on the main Hearth web site, and start reading

Welcome to the forums

 

[Cal-MI]

Today we use stoves that are "airtight". A stove can't truly be considered airtight unless the fire actually is extinguished when the air supply is shut. With a well regulated air flow, you will find that even extremely dry wood can be burned as slowly as desired.

I guess my water heater tank stove was only almost airtight. When burning green wood, one supplies a slight excess of air from underneath. This fans the flames and keept things going and minimizes creosote formation. I fear that slow burning of dry wood in an airtight stove would produce lots of creosote.

 

[Dune]

Today we use stoves that are "airtight". A stove can't truly be considered airtight unless the fire actually is extinguished when the air supply is shut. With a well regulated air flow, you will find that even extremely dry wood can be burned as slowly as desired.

I guess my water heater tank stove was only almost airtight. When burning green wood, one supplies a slight excess of air from underneath. This fans the flames and keept things going and minimizes creosote formation. I fear that slow burning of dry wood in an airtight stove would produce lots of creosote.

Nope, burning green wood produces creosote.

 

[LLigetfa]

takes heat to evaporate water from the wood before it can burn, on this planet anyway

The laws of physics say that energy is never lost, only converted. You just need to convert it back.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

Why dry your wood? USDA tests show that green wood burns more effeciently than dry IN A STOVE. Fireplaces OTOH are notoriously inefficient and work better with dry wood.

Been heating for 30 years with a stove that I made from a water heater. Green wood works best. Dry wood makes a hot flash and then is gone.

Of course this has to be a joke!

Welcome to the forum anyway.

I second that!
I'm laughing as I type!

WoodButcher