firewood moisture meter reviews

[U&A]

I just got a harbor freight moisture meter. It’s supposed to be accurate within like 1-2%.

My cherry, maple, pine, beech that were all cut down (green standing) late last winter to late spring are all under 20%. The highest i saw was was 18%.

The Hickory I cut down at the same time is still 20 to 25%

The Cottonwood I cut down a few months ago is like 35 to 40[emoji23]

The black locust tree that was cut down at in the fall is already in the 15-18% range.


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[Wood Doctor]

I just got a harbor freight moisture meter. It’s supposed to be accurate within like 1-2%.

My cherry, maple, pine, beech that were all cut down (green standing) late last winter to late spring are all under 20%. The highest i saw was was 18%.

The Hickory I cut down at the same time is still 20 to 25%

The Cottonwood I cut down a few months ago is like 35 to 40[emoji23]

The black locust tree that was cut down at in the fall is already in the 15-18% range.

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Interesting. The mulberry I cut last June, left in rounds, and split last week measured 13% today. The dead ash I cut down after it stood dead for two years measured 5.1% on one end and had 0% reading most of the time. My locust logs cut from a branch in August that fell off a live tree measure 15%. I figure all of these are good to burn, but I should have measured them in early September for a reference.

BTW, I bought a Proster meter that cost about $12 and compared it to a meter that I bought 5 years ago for $30. Both were within 1% of each other. I rate the Proster a Best Buy. I usually try to deliver firewood that averages less than 20% and I will probably carry this meter in the truck and keep it in its box for protection. A few picky customers have asked me to make a moisture reading upon delivery.

 

[B Brown]

I just got the General MMD4E for Christmas, works pretty neat. Wondering if it would tell the moisture on a Turkey? lol.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I just got the General MMD4E for Christmas, works pretty neat. Wondering if it would tell the moisture on a Turkey? lol.

Yes, it would. It can tell your finger's moisture also. Place your finger across the points, first dry and then wet.

You have to wonder who invented the circuitry these things use. If he got a patent, he's probably soaking up cash faster than he can spend it.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

if they patented the idea it would already be out of patent , it is a ohm meter that puts a moisture value to knowing the resistance across a set distance.

 

[Husky Man]

I just got a harbor freight moisture meter. It’s supposed to be accurate within like 1-2%.

My cherry, maple, pine, beech that were all cut down (green standing) late last winter to late spring are all under 20%. The highest i saw was was 18%.

The Hickory I cut down at the same time is still 20 to 25%

The Cottonwood I cut down a few months ago is like 35 to 40[emoji23]

The black locust tree that was cut down at in the fall is already in the 15-18% range.


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Cottonwood, would be more aptly named SPONGEWOOD, hen it is cut, and the weather before that can affect it a lot, which I'm sure is true of most trees, but Cottonwood has an amazing ability to hold incredible amounts of water. Cut after a long dry summer, it isn't too bad, well into a very wet winter, it will actually leak water when cutting, and will ooze water on the splitter.

We had a Large 33"+ Cottonwood fall in our neighborhood Winter before last, and though it isn't a wood that I will go out of my way for, a block or two from the house, plus if someone didn't take it, the HOA would have had to pay to have it hauled off, and guess who pays for that in the end, we cut and hauled, better to make BTU's out of it than Bills. Split it a bit small, and Chimney stacked, after a nice Dry, Hot summer, it made for good early season wood, it's not a real Hot, or Long burning wood, but saved the better wood for later in the winter.

Storing Cottonwood, keeping it DRY is Paramount, and be sure it gets Good air flow, if it gets wet, it will stink to High Heaven.

Cottonwood is far from being a Premium Firewood, but it will produce BTU's, and has heated our home at times.


Doug

 

[Trapper_Pete]

Cottonwood, would be more aptly named SPONGEWOOD, hen it is cut, and the weather before that can affect it a lot, which I'm sure is true of most trees, but Cottonwood has an amazing ability to hold incredible amounts of water. Cut after a long dry summer, it isn't too bad, well into a very wet winter, it will actually leak water when cutting, and will ooze water on the splitter.

We had a Large 33"+ Cottonwood fall in our neighborhood Winter before last, and though it isn't a wood that I will go out of my way for, a block or two from the house, plus if someone didn't take it, the HOA would have had to pay to have it hauled off, and guess who pays for that in the end, we cut and hauled, better to make BTU's out of it than Bills. Split it a bit small, and Chimney stacked, after a nice Dry, Hot summer, it made for good early season wood, it's not a real Hot, or Long burning wood, but saved the better wood for later in the winter.

Storing Cottonwood, keeping it DRY is Paramount, and be sure it gets Good air flow, if it gets wet, it will stink to High Heaven.

Cottonwood is far from being a Premium Firewood, but it will produce BTU's, and has heated our home at times.


Doug

it is interesting the fire wood guys love the stuff because it is just what campers want , campers want it to start like paper, burn like large kindling and not leave a lot of coals that need to be watched for hours with little flame.

everything has it's place I guess.

I actually found myself missing punkey wood as I got to a section of my pile that was all dense maple split as large as I could handle it , I found myself digging in the next stack for light weight start up wood.

punkey wood when wet is like a sponge and when it is dried makes excellent fire starter , almost better than the pine , silver maple and cotton wood split them all small and get it dry mix in for startup wood.

 

[Husky Man]

We mainly use Cedar for Kindling, but we had 3 large cedars taken down the beginning of July, I milled some of it, and still ended up with about 1 1/4 cords for firewood, I never really considered Cedar as Firewood, we usually use D Fir, Hemlock and Alder for the most part here. I was surprised that the Cedar didn't spark near as much as I expected, it dried fast, and burned well, with very little ash. I wouldn't go looking for it, but I wont pass it up in the future, especially if I can scrounge it near home, and not burn any of my 5 cords worth of permits that I get from the Forest Circus, on it. The Cedar was better than I expected, but not an over night burning wood, but it still produces BTU's, I will take Cedar now in the right circumstances.


Doug

 

[Skeans]

We mainly use Cedar for Kindling, but we had 3 large cedars taken down the beginning of July, I milled some of it, and still ended up with about 1 1/4 cords for firewood, I never really considered Cedar as Firewood, we usually use D Fir, Hemlock and Alder for the most part here. I was surprised that the Cedar didn't spark near as much as I expected, it dried fast, and burned well, with very little ash. I wouldn't go looking for it, but I wont pass it up in the future, especially if I can scrounge it near home, and not burn any of my 5 cords worth of permits that I get from the Forest Circus, on it. The Cedar was better than I expected, but not an over night burning wood, but it still produces BTU's, I will take Cedar now in the right circumstances.


Doug

You forgot some vine maple into the mix.[emoji6]


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[Husky Man]

You forgot some vine maple into the mix.[emoji6]


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My Wife Loves Vine Maple, I Hate the Stuff, and consider it a WEED Trying to pass itself off as a Worthwhile Tree, rarely see it large enough to bother cutting for firewood, and Cedar makes much better kindling than the sticks we would get from cutting Vine Maple.


Doug

 

[Skeans]

My Wife Loves Vine Maple, I Hate the Stuff, and consider it a WEED Trying to pass itself off as a Worthwhile Tree, rarely see it large enough to bother cutting for firewood, and Cedar makes much better kindling than the sticks we would get from cutting Vine Maple.


Doug

Most of the stuff anymore is the little clumps but once in a blue you still see a clump big enough to hold up a 5’ for that’s when you know you’re in for a treat. It’s a weed in my book and never understood why people plant it.


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[Wood Doctor]

It is amazing how many guys on this forum hate firewood that burns well and produces heat. I don't hate it, I burn it. I like to heat the building that I am in, the same way that American Indians liked to heat their teepees and Charles Ingalls liked to heat his cabin for his family in Minnesota.

What do you want? Heat or the ablity to brag to your friend that you found a dense, heavy log? Heck, I can do that with locust anytime that I want to. I don't need oak or hickory. But, what I really want is heat.

 

[gary courtney]

Went into saw shop and asked do they stock moisture meters? Their reply +

 

[Trapper_Pete]

Went into saw shop and asked do they stock moisture meters? Their reply +

22 dollars from amazon it seems to work well and be very consistent reading for burn results. https://www.amazon.com/General-Tool...782346&sr=8-3&keywords=general+moisture+meter

 

[Wood Doctor]

22 dollars from amazon it seems to work well and be very consistent reading for burn results. https://www.amazon.com/General-Tool...782346&sr=8-3&keywords=general+moisture+meter

I like that one also and almost bought it instead. Most of my readings average about what is shown here, except for really dry wood that I should have burned last year.

I am going to assume that 17% to 18% will be OK and won't hiss like a snake. I cannot find any threads here that recommend a maximum moisture percentage level for firewood burning. Some guys have said that you can go all the way up to 24%, but that tends to worry me.

 

[Husky Man]

It is amazing how many guys on this forum hate firewood that burns well and produces heat. I don't hate it, I burn it. I like to heat the building that I am in, the same way that American Indians liked to heat their teepees and Charles Ingalls liked to heat his cabin for his family in Minnesota.

What do you want? Heat or the ablity to brag to your friend that you found a dense, heavy log? Heck, I can do that with locust anytime that I want to. I don't need oak or hickory. But, what I really want is heat.

Are you talking about Cottonwood?

I wont go out of my way for it, but I have burned a LOT of it over the years, and yes it does make good campfire wood as previously mentioned. For Campfires it can actually smell pretty good, and isn't an all night wood that you have to worry about burning out before bedtime.

Our typical firewood run is about 45 minutes each way from home to where we can cut, I'm not going that distance for Cottonwood, but in the neighborhood, if I have the time for it, I will take it, but around us Douglas Fir is King, as I have mentioned before, in the National Forest, we are only allowed to cut Blow Down, and there is very little Oak or even Maple in our usual cutting areas, if the rare Oak or Maple DOES hit the ground, if you aren't standing there with a Running Saw in your hands, all you will ever see of it is the stump and saw dust, Houdini himself would be Impressed with how FAST Hardwoods DISAPPEAR around here.


Doug

 

[Husky Man]

Sorry about the thread drift, partly my fault, back on topic, I did get a Calculated Industries AccuMASTER 7435 this Morning

I will have to try it out and give a review.


Doug

 

[B Brown]

Just for the fun of it, i took a known pretty wet piece of wood, put it by the stove after checking the moisture 23.5 Then later on checked it again it had dropped down to 15 not bad for a couple of hours of moderate heat, it was red fir.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I like that one also and almost bought it instead. Most of my readings average about what is shown here, except for really dry wood that I should have burned last year.

I am going to assume that 17% to 18% will be OK and won't hiss like a snake. I cannot find any threads here that recommend a maximum moisture percentage level for firewood burning. Some guys have said that you can go all the way up to 24%, but that tends to worry me.

Under 20% is what I usually hear as the recommendation. I was kinda surprised when I picked up my Lamppa Kuuma furnace last week that Dale their sales guy recommended wood from 18-28%. I don't usually try for a moisture content that high, but I guess I'll try out once I get it installed and get a feel for it. I'm curious to see what, if any, difference it'd make burning wood at either end of their desired range.

 

[Husky Man]

The instructions for my meter show:

Ideal 6-15%

Good 16-20%

Too Wet 21-44%


My meter has a range of 6-44% and an accuracy rating of +/- 2%
it has test circuits built into the probe cover that test for 18-20% and 44%
it is a Nice slim shape, with a Belt Clip built into it, as well as a Nylon Sheath with a Belt loop, which also has a pocket with a pair of replacement probes right on the sheath.

It seems like a nice unit, a comfortable size to use, I have tested a few pieces of wood with it, but I don't have another meter to compare it against, to check accuracy, but it seems as though it should be good for my personal firewood use.


Doug