Fastest way to season firewood?

[Jeffkrib]

The fastest way to season wood would be a vacuum oven
Baring that I would say up on your roof in a single layer.

 

[sam-tip]

Wondering if it is possible to seal the shipping container to hold a vacuum? Vacuum is a great way to dry wood. Dry firewood in a few days with less heat Dry thick slabs in 10 day with great quality.

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[Rjpoog1989]

You guys put a good bit of thought into seasoning wood. I’ve never really thought that much about it. 90% of what I burn has sat around a year or more before burning. That being said most of it is stacked unsplit and uncovered. I don’t feel it’s necessary to split wood that will fit in my furnace just fine. I feel it’s easier to grab one piece of wood instead of 4. I don’t have a way to cover my whole wood pile. What is under roof gets burnt when the rest is covered in snow.

I guess what I’m asking is, am I doing it wrong?

 

[sam-tip]

For your stove you are doing it right. My epa gasifier likes better wood.

Just did the math and don't think a shipping container will handle a vacuum of 0 atmosphere. Equals to about 2100 lbs per square foot. I now see why most vacuum kilns are round vessles.

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[Sandhill Crane]

Wondering if it is possible to seal the shipping container to hold a vacuum? Vacuum is a great way to dry wood. Dry firewood in a few days with less heat Dry thick slabs in 10 day with great quality.

When I was on a dewatering crew for sewer and water main construction. We jetted in 20' x 1 1/2" pvc, capped and slotted for wells every 10'. Then used a plumbers putty, like play dough, to seal joints for flex pipe hookups to header pipe, and a discharge line for each of many pumps.
Then the mechanics primed the system and fired up huge diesel pumps mounted on flatbed semi trailers.
What would you use to pull a vacuum?
How would the water condensate out of the vacuum?
Doug, also, what was the result of using the shipping container last fall?

 

[Ted Jenkins]

For your stove you are doing it right. My epa gasifier likes better wood.

Just did the math and don't think a shipping container will handle a vacuum of 0 atmosphere. Equals to about 2100 lbs per square foot. I now see why most vacuum kilns are round vessles.

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You are so right. A metal container that was well sealed might have a lower atmosphere, but nowhere near zero. If you buy a very large propane tank or similar there are major problems in doing so. First an air tight door would need to be build not easy. Then the massive amount of energy needed to pull all the air out to zero. It just makes no sense to try to dry wood out quickly. If you have a few hundred cubic feet of lumber that is valuable that is one thing, but not for fire wood. Every body can cut and split wood during the summer. A storage shed that repeals rain is easy and cheap. I have used a fan with great success, but this process is not a huge energy consumer. Thanks

 

[MountainHigh]

barring some of the more (cough) elaborate mechanized solutions already mentioned ....

~ Naturally Baked: split small and scattered around on open concrete or blacktop for 3 weeks under maximum summer sun. Flip daily.
~ Freeze Dried: split small, single row spacing, stacked off ground and frozen in dead of winter for several weeks at -20

 

[Wood Doctor]

Stacking the wood in the sun really dries it out, especially if the stack looks a little like this:


I sometimes build a crib every three to five feet. The crib (crisscross) costs you a little space, but the air circulation is fabulous. All you have to remember is that the center of the three logs in the crib is slightly smaller in diameter than the outside two and the outside two should be about the same in diameter.

You would think that the crib would fall over, but I've gone up 7' high this way with 18" logs and it never does.

 

[sam-tip]

When I was on a dewatering crew for sewer and water main construction. We jetted in 20' x 1 1/2" pvc, capped and slotted for wells every 10'. Then used a plumbers putty, like play dough, to seal joints for flex pipe hookups to header pipe, and a discharge line for each of many pumps.
Then the mechanics primed the system and fired up huge diesel pumps mounted on flatbed semi trailers.
What would you use to pull a vacuum?
How would the water condensate out of the vacuum?
Doug, also, what was the result of using the shipping container last fall?

I was happy with the three cord of wood I had in the container this fall. Did not get wet from rain and did dry quicker. Need to paint the roof a darker color.

For fun we have been milling some nice logs for lumber. Trying to find a way to speed up the drying process. Plus if it would make drying fire wood quick that would be a plus.

I have plenty of vacuum pumps of many sizes.

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[Wood Doctor]

I find it interesting that most of the firewood bundles being sold around here today are $6 apiece with five logs in the bundle and labeled "kiln dried". Rather amazing, isn't it? I guess air dried or sun dried means nothing these days, nor does the number of logs wrapped in the bundle.

 

[moresnow]

Not sure if this has been brought up but anyway. Buddy of mine has been drying his wood in a circular wire mesh corn crib with a galvanized steel roof. Very common in my area. Most are long since out of normal use. Easy to find. He splits everything for the most part. Loads the crib to the roof and shrink wraps the wire sides. This thing works well. The eaves are only 6' off the ground. Center of the roof must be 10' or better. Guessing a 20' diameter? Not exactly attractive. Very effective. Food for thought.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I find it interesting that most of the firewood bundles being sold around here today are $6 apiece with five logs in the bundle and labeled "kiln dried". Rather amazing, isn't it? I guess air dried or sun dried means nothing these days, nor does the number of logs wrapped in the bundle.

In many areas they need to be run through a kiln to be USDA certified. It's the same idea of having to run shipping pallets through a kiln to kill any bugs.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Not sure if this has been brought up but anyway. Buddy of mine has been drying his wood in a circular wire mesh corn crib with a galvanized steel roof. Very common in my area. Most are long since out of normal use. Easy to find. He splits everything for the most part. Loads the crib to the roof and shrink wraps the wire sides. This thing works well. The eaves are only 6' off the ground. Center of the roof must be 10' or better. Guessing a 20' diameter? Not exactly attractive. Very effective. Food for thought.

I'm surprised the middle dries out in a 20ft container. It's filled from the top with a conveyor?

 

[Woodcutteranon]

My policy is wood is not called firewood until it is split and stacked off the ground. I fortunately have a lot of open space so I try to keep my stacked wood in a North-south orientation. I have found wood stacked east-west gets mold and mushrooms growing on the (north) backside...and there is less checking on that side as well. If you are working with limited space the key is to get it split and stacked off the ground asap.

 

[Erik B]

You guys put a good bit of thought into seasoning wood. I’ve never really thought that much about it. 90% of what I burn has sat around a year or more before burning. That being said most of it is stacked unsplit and uncovered. I don’t feel it’s necessary to split wood that will fit in my furnace just fine. I feel it’s easier to grab one piece of wood instead of 4. I don’t have a way to cover my whole wood pile. What is under roof gets burnt when the rest is covered in snow.

I guess what I’m asking is, am I doing it wrong?

@Rjpoog1989 If you are burning hardwoods like oak, those take 2-3 years to dry after they have been split and stacked. You don't get much heat out of trying to burn water. Many on here that have an OWB and season their wood for 2-3 years find they use less wood. Wood should measure below 20% on a fresh split of wood.

 

[Tree Feller]

My Pa taught me when I was young that you cut wood January-March to burn that year. So the best way to season wood is sun/air flow and time!

 

[Wood Doctor]

In many areas they need to be run through a kiln to be USDA certified. It's the same idea of having to run shipping pallets through a kiln to kill any bugs.

That helps explain why commercial firewood bundles sold in supermarkets and gas stations are so overpriced. Do kilns operate at zero cost?

 

[Rjpoog1989]

@Rjpoog1989 If you are burning hardwoods like oak, those take 2-3 years to dry after they have been split and stacked. You don't get much heat out of trying to burn water. Many on here that have an OWB and season their wood for 2-3 years find they use less wood. Wood should measure below 20% on a fresh split of wood.

I see what you’re saying, but is the extra work really worth the reward? This furnace being my only heat source is a lot of work the way I’m doing it. I can’t imagine splitting all my wood on top of the rest of it. Burning a bit more doesn’t bother me much. In my current situation; wood is free, but time is money...

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

That helps explain why commercial firewood bundles sold in supermarkets and gas stations are so overpriced. Do kilns operate at zero cost?

The cost?

It's a convienence, so it's not going to be the cheapest thing.

Lot more involved in bundles vs bulk wood.

It's "premium" wood and dry. Hard to bundle odd shaped wood, plus it's not eye appealing.

Then there's the cost of the wrap, label, and labor.

Then cost to deliver it to the store, and the store has to make a bit off it too.

Around here, the store is doing quite well selling them, usually close to doubling what they pay for them... ie... the guy doing all the work isn't making much in the scheme of things.

 

[Erik B]

I see what you’re saying, but is the extra work really worth the reward? This furnace being my only heat source is a lot of work the way I’m doing it. I can’t imagine splitting all my wood on top of the rest of it. Burning a bit more doesn’t bother me much. In my current situation; wood is free, but time is money...

Burning wood that is not dry increases your chances of having a chimney fire by increasing the creasote that builds up in your chimney. If you can get three years ahead then you only have to worry about putting up one years worth per year. It also helps to have a number of years ahead incase of an illness or injury that would prevent you from getting wood put up. It helped me alot when I had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands. Didn't get much wood put up that year but still had dry wood to burn.