Wood stack

[Burnbaby]

Hey everyone just a quick ?. It may seem like second nature to some of you but, I'm now just starting to scrounge up wood. Does anyone have a method of stacking when you are scrounging up wood at different stages of being seasoned. What types of wood needs one year of seasoning, compared to wood that needs two years. Some stacks I've come across are cut a year ago but not split, how long does that need. Bottom line could you tell just by seeing or touching if it's seasoned. It seems it would be a lot easier if I could just have two stacks green and seasoned. I know this post is all over the place just looking for some pointers.

 

[wannabegreener]

The common thought here is that the seasoning of wood does not start until it is split and stacked. So your rounds were not split, then it doesn't matter how long they have been cut up. The only exception that I have seen in this forum is if the tree was already dead before it was cut down. May still not be seasoned, but maybe a little closer.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hey everyone just a quick ?. It may seem like second nature to some of you but, I'm now just starting to scrounge up wood. Does anyone have a method of stacking when you are scrounging up wood at different stages of being seasoned. What types of wood needs one year of seasoning, compared to wood that needs two years. Some stacks I've come across are cut a year ago but not split, how long does that need. Bottom line could you tell just by seeing or touching if it's seasoned. It seems it would be a lot easier if I could just have two stacks green and seasoned. I know this post is all over the place just looking for some pointers.

I think if you scrounged the wood, cut it up, split it up and stacked it in a pile and just gave it a year for the most part you would be OK . . . the exception being some of the more dense woods like oak . . . I would just toss these into a separate pile.

It's not an end-all, be-all test . . . but after a while of handling wood you sometimes can get a feel, a rough idea if you would, if a split of the same species and size is unseasoned or not . . . but it's more of a "I better give this one more time to season" vs. "This one is ready to go" type of feeling.

As mentioned . . . seasoning really starts happening when the bucked wood is split . . . very little seasoning occurs with wood left in the round.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Most wood will dry in a year if handled correctly. That means splitting and then stacking up off the ground and out where Mother Nature can finish the job of drying for you. That means wind and hopefully some sun too. However, then there are the oaks which take a lot longer. But then, some, like soft maple will dry well in 6 months.