iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Do you use a moisture meter?

Started by uplander, October 08, 2014, 06:57:50 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

uplander

 Yesterday I bought a moisture meter at lowes. I had been reading on another forum that you just cannot
fully fulfill your obsession with firewood without one. Seems like it will be handy around the lumber pile
for furniture making also.

When I got home last night I took the maul to some of the red oak firewood that I cut, split and stacked late last February. when I checked the moisture content I was pleasantly surprised that it was at 20% or less moisture content with the unit's pins in line with the grain.

I had always read that oak takes 2 years to season down to that level. These tress were storm damaged and had been down since the previous summer so maybe that had something to do with it.

Do you use a moisture meter on your firewood?
Woodmizer lt40G28.  A kubota L4600 with loader and forks.
Various Stihl saws and not enough time to use them!
Finished my house finally. Completely sawn out on by band mill. It took me 7 years but was worth it. Hardest thing I have ever done.

Corley5

Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

North River Energy

I did, now I don't.

One thing to keep in mind regarding seasoning time, and conversations pertaining to, is that not everyone splits to the same block dimensions, and climates vary by locale.

A meter is good for gaining insight/resolving curiosity, and establishing a baseline for your drying operation. 

In the end, the flames don't care about a few percentage points one way or the other.

101mph

I ordered one (still waiting on it) that I will be trying out soon.

Yes I'm curious and really have to know how my wood has been drying (fell most of the trees this past summer). My wood is stacked in quite a bit of shade too so I want to know as a baseline how it has been seasoning (especially since this is my first year in this location).

I'm hoping it will give me an idea for the future on how long it will take (yes I know there will be variables). I'm a little concerned about burning the "green wood" in my fireplace and getting creosote build up.

ely

no I do not, not even for woodworking projects, I also do not have one...would be useful at times.

thecfarm

I feel getting the wood in early,split,stacked and under cover goes hand in hand with a meter. Not that I really do any of the above.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

doctorb

Yes, I use mine.  I agree with the comments above that if your wood is split and stacked appropriately ahead of time, you do not need a moisture meter to know that you have well seasoned fuel.

On the other hand, if you buy your wood, it's nice to know the starting point, in terms of dryness, of your fuel.  Most species cut, split and stacked a year ahead of time will be at 20% or below in a year.  The moisture meter did change my method of stacking, however, as I found that the wood stacked on the inside of a stack (3 - 20" pieces end to end leaves an "enclosed" part of the stack).  Wood that is split and piled may have some greenish wood at the center of the pile.

In the end, it all will burn, so what's the fuss?  Well, my gasifier stove likes dry wood and works less hard when the fuel is dry.  So it matters to me. 

I know this all sounds very compulsive, but I'm not out ther monthly checking on the progress of the seasoning.  It's something I do with purchased wood, and something I do at the beginning of the heating season to see which of my separate stacked areas are driest.
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

beenthere

Don't use a moisture meter either. Have on occasion weighed some split-out samples and oven-dried them.

IMO 20% is not ready for burning, and prefer 12%. Takes more than a year stacked/covered for oak to reach that. That just comes from experience over 35 years and on occasion bringing in some two-year seasoned oak and knowing I wasn't getting the same heat as the three-and-more year seasoned oak.

Now am burning white ash almost exclusively and two years is great. Easy to burn ash.

But bottom line,  higher moisture wood will burn... just that it doesn't give the heat, .. which is the main point when heating with wood as I see it.
But different strokes for different folks.. as long as we are happy. ;)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

NHMike

I picked one up just to keep tabs on my wood. I spit everything back in April and May.

I just checked random pieces from different piles last week. I split the wood and took the readings.  Most of my readings were ranging from 14% to 17%.

I also checked it on a tree that I had dropped this weekend.  I got 48%.

I will still season the wood at least 7 months, but it is nice to have for a reference.

Ivan49

 As far as I can see a moisture meter would be almost worthless for fire wood. The pieces of wood are to thick to get a center reading. Look at the depth they read and to get one that goes deep is fairly costly. I have one myself and I use to use it on my sawmill mainly as a CYA. Mine was around 400.00 when I bought it and I think it only goes 1 inch deep

beenthere

Ivan
They say they split the wood and take a reading for the inside MC.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Ivan49

Even if they split it it would have to be in thin strips and it would not be accurate unless they averaged the whole pile which would be time consuming

Al_Smith

IMO a moisture meter for firewood is akin to a tachometer to set a chainsaw .You don't really need it .

uplander

 I like to split big. It lasts longer in the fire box. I took a 8x8 inch split and worked it down into 4 smaller pieces. It had a consistent reading of 20% moisture content no matter where I took the reading at.

It is true that if you have properly gotten ahead of your wood needs that do not need a device like a moisture meter for firewood, you would know simply that for the time it has been split and stacked that it has to be at the correct dryness for burning to provide heat.

By late January last year I had burned all the wood I had put up. I never anticipated the severity of the winter we had. I vowed to myself never to let that happen to me again and as soon as the weather broke I started cutting with the goal of getting three years ahead. I am not there yet but I will be.

Bottom line, the meter let know how close my wood is to being optimal for producing heat without wasting BTU's to change the state of water in it. The price for it was worth it to me.
Woodmizer lt40G28.  A kubota L4600 with loader and forks.
Various Stihl saws and not enough time to use them!
Finished my house finally. Completely sawn out on by band mill. It took me 7 years but was worth it. Hardest thing I have ever done.

M Cook

I used a meter for a couple of years, best way to measure is to cut a piece in half then you can get readings form the outside all the way to the center.  Oak dries the slowest, so we try to provide a good mix of Red Maple, Ash, and some cherry with oak, we keep our species separated so we can cut any blend needed.  When we run out of seasoned wood (like this year) we cut and split wood to put on our cemet pad, the atmosphere is a lot drier in the winter and surprised me how much it will dry.  Our pad is in a wide open area exposed to a lot of wind and our wood tends to dry rather quickly.  If it sits for 6-8 weeks in the winter and mixed with ash it's burnable for most stoves.  To load it we have a HMC wood tumbler that does a good job of removing any snow or loose material while loading wood into truck, takes about 15 minutes to load 10 face cords.  We can put around 500 face cords on our pad and try rotate wood so it has longer time to dry.

Doesn't matter how green our wood is, it all sells before spring we seldom have much left by then.

Mike Cook
Mike Cook

M Cook

I used a meter for a couple of years, best way to measure is to cut a piece in half then you can get readings form the outside all the way to the center.  Oak dries the slowest, so we try to provide a good mix of Red Maple, Ash, and some cherry with oak, we keep our species separated so we can cut any blend needed.  When we run out of seasoned wood (like this year) we cut and split wood to put on our cemet pad, the atmosphere is a lot drier in the winter and surprised me how much it will dry.  Our pad is in a wide open area exposed to a lot of wind and our wood tends to dry rather quickly.  If it sits for 6-8 weeks in the winter and mixed with ash it's burnable for most stoves.  To load it we have a HMC wood tumbler that does a good job of removing any snow or loose material while loading wood into truck, takes about 15 minutes to load 10 face cords.

Doesn't matter how green our wood is, it all sells before spring we seldom have much left by then.

Mike Cook
Mike Cook

32vld

I started splitting fresh cut wood July 16th. Mostly Red Oak. I split the wood and get mostly 3"x4" pieces.

Wondering how long it would take for the moisture to drop I bought a low cost moisture meter. The Oak had a 54% moisture reading when it was first split.

First week of September I re split a piece of Red Oak and the moisture was at 27%. Reading always taken from along from the fresh split face. Not from the end.

It seems the first of my wood will be ready to burn this winter. Though we have to see how weather, temperature, and less daylight effect the drying as the year goes on. I think the wood split in September will dry slower and as the Fall moves forward the wood split in October should take longer. Looking forward to see the moisture meter readings through the Fall and Winter.

My wood gets stack 4' high 8' long and in a single row of 16" +/- . With about 32" between the rows so I can pass through with a wheel barrow and to allow plenty of air flow between the rows. Also when it rains the cover goes over the pile. No rain the cover is taken off.

beenthere

QuoteIt seems the first of my wood will be ready to burn this winter

Not "ready" to burn, but it will burn. ;)  Next winter it will more likely be "ready". 
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

CTYank

Quote from: 101mph on October 08, 2014, 08:27:12 AM
I ordered one (still waiting on it) that I will be trying out soon.

Yes I'm curious and really have to know how my wood has been drying (fell most of the trees this past summer). My wood is stacked in quite a bit of shade too so I want to know as a baseline how it has been seasoning (especially since this is my first year in this location).

I'm hoping it will give me an idea for the future on how long it will take (yes I know there will be variables). I'm a little concerned about burning the "green wood" in my fireplace and getting creosote build up.

Some folks, elsewhere, have said that it's good to have firewood up around 20% MC for disposal in a fireplace. (I've done some of that, too.) Keeps things from just blazing up in a big rush.

OTOH, all my experimental evidence indicates that for a modern stove, drier is better. Water won't burn.
'72 blue Homelite 150
Echo 315, SRM-200DA
Poulan 2400, PP5020, PP4218
RedMax GZ4000, "Mac" 35 cc, Dolmar PS-6100
Husqy 576XP-AT
Tanaka 260 PF Polesaw, TBC-270PFD, ECS-3351B
Mix of mauls
Morso 7110

32vld

Quote from: beenthere on October 12, 2014, 02:13:52 PM
QuoteIt seems the first of my wood will be ready to burn this winter

Not "ready" to burn, but it will burn. ;)  Next winter it will more likely be "ready".

My wood went from 54% to 27% in six weeks/month and a half. So
you are saying that my wood will not drop another 7% from First week September to the first week November?

I have read that wood is ready to burn from 14-20%. I do not have your experience. So I will have to wait and see what my moisture says. 

garret

Purchased a cheap moisture meter (General model MMD4E) for around $30.  It has become my latest obsession with all the talk regarding gasifier-type OWBs and compromised performance when using high moisture content wood.  I understand these meters are not research grade instruments, but they do appear to provide reasonable reproducibility of measurements.   Tested my 2 YO oak in woodshed by splitting randomly selected pieces and immediately inserting pins of meter and it's between 10 and 12%. Just for reference, the furniture in my house comes in around 6%.  EAB killed standing dead (ash) freshly split can be 50% close to the stump, and as low as 20% higher up.  Likewise, heartwood lower than newer growth areas.  Same ash split no larger than 6" on a side and drying for only 3 months under cover is already just under 16%.  Of course, we have had lower humidity than usual in SW PA.  I am currently burning this ash in an E-2400 (gasifier).  It works great and the fire hasn't gone out since early Sept. despite lower demand (mostly DHW).
E-Classic 2400 comfortably heating 4,200 sq.ft. and unlimited DHW, Off-grid, Photovoltaic-powered pumps in gloomy SW PA , 34 t splitter, numerous Husky chainsaws

CTYank

About the resplit first, then check the MC thing, 'taint necessarily so.

I've found no material difference between MC reading taken on a "hidden" face (far from sunlight) of a split and an interior face freshly exposed by resplitting it.

Not a fan of pseudo-precision or over-thinking, anyway.

One good indicator of drying progress: checking increases progressively on an exposed end, as the exposed end dries more than the interior, and shrinks. As the interior wood dries & shrinks, the checking on the exposed end CLOSES. Some 3+ y.o. sugar maple here now has checking that's almost invisible. Really prime stuff.
'72 blue Homelite 150
Echo 315, SRM-200DA
Poulan 2400, PP5020, PP4218
RedMax GZ4000, "Mac" 35 cc, Dolmar PS-6100
Husqy 576XP-AT
Tanaka 260 PF Polesaw, TBC-270PFD, ECS-3351B
Mix of mauls
Morso 7110

John Mc

Quote from: 32vld on October 12, 2014, 09:11:08 PM
My wood went from 54% to 27% in six weeks/month and a half. So
you are saying that my wood will not drop another 7% from First week September to the first week November?

From fresh cut, most wood dries fairly easily ad quickly until it gets down to the fiber saturation point (If I'm remembering my terminology correctly). Getting below that takes a bit more doing. If I recall, most species fiber saturation point is around 30% (can be a bit higher or lower depending on the species). 

So if you are at 27%, you've basically driven off the free water and maybe a little bit more. What's left is the water bound in the cell walls. It takes a bit more doing to drive that moisture off.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

32vld

Quote from: John Mc on October 14, 2014, 07:59:56 PM

From fresh cut, most wood dries fairly easily ad quickly until it gets down to the fiber saturation point (If I'm remembering my terminology correctly). Getting below that takes a bit more doing. If I recall, most species fiber saturation point is around 30% (can be a bit higher or lower depending on the species). 

So if you are at 27%, you've basically driven off the free water and maybe a little bit more. What's left is the water bound in the cell walls. It takes a bit more doing to drive that moisture off.

I was guessing that this was the case. Though I am still new enough to this to still have a lot of enthusiasm. With a moisture meter to entertain me.

Yatt

Quote from: John Mc on October 14, 2014, 07:59:56 PM
Quote from: 32vld on October 12, 2014, 09:11:08 PM
My wood went from 54% to 27% in six weeks/month and a half. So
you are saying that my wood will not drop another 7% from First week September to the first week November?

From fresh cut, most wood dries fairly easily ad quickly until it gets down to the fiber saturation point (If I'm remembering my terminology correctly). Getting below that takes a bit more doing. If I recall, most species fiber saturation point is around 30% (can be a bit higher or lower depending on the species). 

So if you are at 27%, you've basically driven off the free water and maybe a little bit more. What's left is the water bound in the cell walls. It takes a bit more doing to drive that moisture off.

I agree.  The moisture drops fast at first, then goes a whole lot slower.
288 XP Lite
372XPG
562XP
357XP
550XPG
346XP
Dolmar 7900
028 Super totally rebuilt and ported
Speeco 28ton splitter
Silvey 510, Oregon 511AX & Tecomec grinder

Thank You Sponsors!