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Test to see dry rate

Started by jargo432, April 29, 2014, 02:01:54 PM

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jargo432

One of my firewood stacks keeps leaning.  I just couldn't stand it anymore so I tore it down and restacked it.  As I was doing that I had an idea.  That wood has been there about a month and I had some pieces that were a little bigger than I like so I grabbed my maul and resplit them.  Then I took a tape measure and tried to determine how much of the wood in each peice was dry and how much still needed to season.  I was really suprised how green the middle still was.  On the outside it looked like it was seasoning really fast but on the inside it was really green.  I know it's only been a month, but the ends are really cracking well.  I wish I had a moisture meter then I could really go off the deep end.  :D
Jack of all trades.

r.man

I wonder if the recommended way to test firewood is to split and test the inner wood. Sounds reasonable. It would also be interesting to meter a block from low down, one from the middle and one from the top to see how much they differ. I see people piling their wood three piles deep with almost no space between and I can't imagine that is good for drying. The old fellow that lived in my house many years ago would cut his firewood in the off time between logging camp and summer saw milling. One long pile against his pagewire fence the whole length of the lot running east/west.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Knute

I believe the best way to stack is in a single row in a north-south direction so one side gets sun in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

jargo432

Well, I know one thing.  All that wood I stacked in the barn's gonna need a fan on it through the summer for it to be ready next winter.  That stuff isn't drying near as much as the wood I have stacked out side.  :-\
Jack of all trades.

r.man

So Jargo, you started this so to finish you need to make one pile north-south and another pile east-west in the open, buy a moisture meter, do some testing 6 months later and let us know otherwise you won't sleep well at night with this hanging over you. The piles should be from the same logs as well, maybe alternate to each pile as it comes off the splitter. You probably don't need to test each piece, a random sampling should do.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

r.man

Wow, where are my manners. Thanks for volunteering buddy.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

jargo432

Jack of all trades.

timberlinetree

How much do these moisture meters cost?
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jargo432

I found one on Ama--- for $17
Jack of all trades.

glassman_48

Jargo,
The guy that owns twister industries and sells a lot of firewood related products told me that a lot of guys he knows will cut and split a lot of wood (usually with a firewood processor) then they will put a sprinkler next to the pile or just spray the pile down well with water.  He says that that causes the wood to crack even more after it dries out some and speeds up the drying process.  He said you dont have to drench the wood, just spray it down well and it will increase the dry time.  I use a bagging system and the wood is supposed to dry in 40 days enough to burn in a wood stove.  I think I will get a moisture meter too and check because I am curious.  No one has complained at all about my "bagged wood". 

r.man

Glassman, do you have any pictures of your bagging system and at what point in the cycle do you bag, right off the splitter, out of a pile, or something else.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

SwampDonkey

Cut a small sample, weigh it, dry it in the kitchen oven until it stops loosing weight. Then you will know the moisture content.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

jargo432

I used to go east to deliver PVC pipe and then pick up wood at the wood supplier that we bought from.  They would have huge stacks of logs with sprinklers up on top of them.  I wonder if they did that for the same reason.. to increase the dry rate.
Jack of all trades.

thecfarm

Keep the logs wet to keep them from drying out and to keep the bugs out of them. I have seen it done around here.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

SwampDonkey

I've seen Columbia FP use the sprinklers on veneer logs in their yard.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

36 coupe

A fellow posted that it took 2 years to dry white ash that was sawed to stove length Keep them under cover.White ash burns pretty good right off the stump.I propose a simple test where I will cut two lengths of ash about 10 inches in diameter.!6 inches long.Weigh them, record the weight.Split one in half, leave the other round.Check the weight once a month.I think far too much time is spent splitting wood.I split wood for my cook stove.There are too many fables concerning fire wood.I have 65 years working in the woods and learn something new often.My son has a Fisher stove with double doors the will take a big round of wood.He favors big rounds.I have an All Nighter that I feed big rounds to .I bring in small wood so my wife can put wood in the stove.I would not depend on a moisture meter on fire wood.Nice toy for wood workers.

SwampDonkey

I've used as big a piece as I can fit in the furnace. Usually split in two for the biggest. Those are nice when stacking on the ends of the ranks. But I burn rounds up to 8". I told my wood guy I want large chunks, I am not using a kitchen stove. Around here at least, you'll get comments about wood being too small for the furnace if it's split up fine. "That's awfully small for a furnace!" ;D Besides, my wood is inside where there is heat, dries every hour with humidity less than 30 %. Deep checks length of the sticks and bark falls off. A little newsprint and a match, starts easy. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Froling

Anyone try the Austrian or Belgian stack, looks like a silo. I've read a few things on it being oldest an efficient drying method and that it's just another style to stack wood.

Anyone here season their wood for 2 years or stack more than a year ahead? Supposed to get a lot more out of very dry wood

SwampDonkey

It varies. No need to dry that long in a heated space. Up here, most do it a year and no more.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Redbark

In this part of the country, 2 years drying time is best for most hardwood. But, wood is hydroscopic and, unless you use heat and dehumidify, it won't dry more than the average humid. of surrounding air. Here, that's 20%.

r.man

Hey Froling, welcome to the zoo. I have a friend who has 7 yrs ahead. He is in his 70s now and can see a time when he won't want to cut wood anymore but will still burn. This will give him a six year buffer before he has to buy firewood. He burns the oldest that he has on hand and doesn't encounter any problems but he is very particular about his piles, they are off the ground, very even and covered on the top. Most here burn wood that has been put up in the spring for that year but the really organized ones burn wood that has been piled for 18 months. Another friend has been doing that for a decade and he gets no soot out of his chimney but still has some in his pipes. Others among us have been known to cut split and burn the wood the same day but we know that is not a good way to do it.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

DeerMeadowFarm

When I burned a wood stove in the house for heat I always cut one year ahead. My woodshed was divided in half. I'd burn out of one side while the other held wood from the previous spring so my drying time was around 18 months.
Now that I have an OWB I am a little less fussy although, up to this year, I have been a year to 18 months ahead. This winter was rough so I burned a lot more than usual. I restacked what I had left (around 1 1/2 cords) in the front of the pile to use first this fall. I still had log lengths left from the tornado that came through 3 years ago. I processed these next (the red oak was still wet!) as it was the oldest stuff I had. That brought my pile up to around 4 1/2 cords. I am working on some dead ash now which should give me another cord or two. Then I'll be working on stuff I dropped this year.
My rows run roughly North/South which works well because I normally get a breeze across the field out of the West/N. West. I am planning to build a woodshed this year or the next. I think I will use the clear corregated fiberglass/plastic(?) panels on the south facing roof to take advantage of any solar/greenhouse drying action I can get.

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