How long before wood is seasons?

[sweetjetskier]

I cut and split some Maple in July, it is in full sun and windy location ( shoreline) and it has dried much better than I expected. Yes, the splits are smaller, but I did a test burn on some of it in the firepit and it did not snap, crackle or pop or hiss one bit while burning very nicely.

The wind is the biggest help here for quicker drying of splits, your mileage may vary

 

[blades]

best way get your self 2-3 years ahead and keep the rotation going. As was said many times there are so many variables that there is no cut and dried time period. Sure you can use your Fluke provided you set up calbrations, the real high end mm's are complete with species charts for calibration. that box store under $50 buck unit is likely set for kiln dried cabinet grade wood which tends to stabilize after the kiln treatment at apx 8-12% moisture content iirc. so with your dvm that resistance reading could be used as the low end(high resistance) moisture content wise, your hand could provide a high moisture reading( low resistance) , I don't remember how linear the scales are though. spydie beat me to it

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

Old people diapers.

Must be the need to be involved without having any real input. That and a quick reply is the easiest way to watch a thread.........

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

Ahhh, i have seen that chart a few times. I guess the relevant info for the OP is that you need to know how to use the tool.

Use the tool on a piece of wood that is room temp 60-70 is good. Split the piece to make a fresh face and measure along the grain on the fresh face. For purposes of burning firewood this gets you close enough. Also know that these tools only measure accurately from about 6% to 40% MC (moisture content). For our purposes burning 40%+ wood is negligent and burning wood below 6% burns so fast and hot it could be dangerous.... Bottom line, be educated about it.

 

[Whitespider]

Also know that these tools only measure accurately from about 6% to 40% MC

Accurately??
Only for the wood species they're calibrated for (likely dimensional fir), and the temperature they're calibrated for.
For example, according to the chart, at 20% MC, at 80°, the difference between fir and white ash is over 2,000,000 ohms... that's 2 million.
How can a moister meter "accurately" measure the moisture content of both??
Answer... it can't... period.

Sugar Maple - 3/4 million.
Red Oak - 1 million.
White oak - 2 million.
Friggin' magic I say... friggin' magic‼


I'm warmin' up... keep me goin'
*

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

lol nice. We call them mega ohms where I'm from. I should have said accurate enough for our purposes. really not like we are making flooring or cabinets out of our firewood splits. All i'm saying is its a tool. it gets us in the ball park. I use the "this one is still real heavy, must not be ready." test, and the cave man "bang them together and see if they ring" test too. I sure as **** wont burn my hick, and oak in the fire pit to see if its ready and wont start the stove in July or August for a test run either.... Thats what the cheapo meter is for

 

[Whitespider]

I should have said accurate enough for our purposes.

I haf'ta ask... how do you know??
*

 

[olympyk_999]

I haf'ta ask... how do you know??
*

Ughh who the hell invited the party pooper?

 

[shamusturbo]

A little late to the party but here's my 2 cents. I was told by a very knowledgeable lifetime firewood guy from the Northwest quite some time ago that "seasoned" and "dried" wood have nothing to do with species or moisture content. I was told seasoned wood means that it has been disconnected from the stump for more than 9 months and dried wood has been cut and stacked for more than 6 months.

With that being said, we all know there are 57 other factors that help wood reach an optimum moisture content and thus burn quality. I tell customers that the 2 best things for wood are 1- being disconnected from the ground. (this is woods easiest way to absorb moisture). And 2- put it where the wind can pass through the stack from cut side to cut side (the moisture escapes from the cut ends and wind takes it away).

Another misconception I have heard from people is that cut logs lose moisture as quickly as split wood. I think for the simple fact that more surface area equals more wind and sun exposure, get it split as fast as possible.

 

[Big_Wood]

what i do is i go ring the SOB's before hand so they dump all their water. by the time i need them they only take about a month after the fall to be crispy for the woodstove. i miss my woodstove terrible thing, i was harvesting a few ringed firs i did in the summer a couple days ago and by the time i got 5 down i realized i was working under a snag some stupid firewood hack cull had put an undercut in and part of a back cut. it sat back on him and that's how i found it. don't know how he got his saw out. i don't know what the tard was thinking as it was pointing right for a tree i fell in front of it. reminded me to always inspect my work area. never know what some hack did. ended up having to refall it back into the standing timber. it didn't hangup at least.

 

[Freakingstang]

What?? What?? Wha'd I miss??

Oh... moisture meters.

You don't need no stinkin' moisture meter... they lie anyway, no friggin' way they can work as claimed.
Ya' haf'ta believe in magic if you're gonna' believe what a moisture meter tells ya'.

Just stack your firewood out in the open sun for a few months... if it hisses and spits water when ya' toss it in the firebox, it needs more time in the sun.
Won't be long and you'll know when it's dry enough just using your gut as a guide... like people have done for eons.
................................................................................................................................................
I know y'all expected more than that from me... but I'm a touch out'a practice stirrin' the pot
But just wait... winter ain't here yet
*

Do you own a newer EPA stove? as in the last 15-20 years?

Because if you did, you wouldn't believe the gibberish coming out of your keyboard. sure, anything will burn, but the newer epa stoves (both secondary burn and catalytic) burn much better with 15-18% than the old mentality of eons and eons of cut in the spring and burn in the fall.. the 20 dollar meter works better than the two stick tap or the bark is almost off or whatever 1950's technology you use.

 

[mijdirtyjeep]

The best free way to check wood that I know of is to, resplit it in half, not put the fresh split piece up to your cheek.

Our hands are to callused from actually working with them all the time.

Now as far as time, too many variables to put a certain timeframe on it. My bundled "red and white oak" wood will be dry enough to sell in as little as 4months. The same wood split larger to heat your home with will take about a year to a year and a half.

 

[Whitespider]

Do you own a newer EPA stove? as in the last 15-20 years?

Yes... I hate it... I moved out into the shop and installed a real wood-fired appliance in the house.
(WOW‼ 5000 posts, joined in 2005, and don't know the odyssey associated with my elitist stove... can you guys believe this??)

...the 20 dollar meter works better than... whatever 1950's technology you use.

Just because someone bilked ya' out'a 20 bucks for a gadget with the "technology" label attached to it, don't make it anything more than a gadget with the "technology" label attached to it. If you like your moisture meter, good for you... you should like it, ya' spent 20 bucks on it. But don't give me this crap how your meter can tell you when your firewood is in the magic 15-18% range with anything resembling accuracy... because it flat can't... that would be magic. Inaccuracy ain't "technology", it's a gadget with a flashlight battery in it (which is 100 year-old technology)... and it ain't any more reliable than any other method.

I really don't give sour owl crap if you buy a moisture meter or not... I'm just pointing out the belief in magic.
All you have to do is look at the chart.
American Elm @ 1.5 MΩ = 17% MC (right smack-dab in your magic range)
Red Oak @ 1.5 MΩ = 21% MC (ooops)
White Fir @ 1.5 MΩ = 22% MC (double ooops)
Jack Pine @ 1.5 MΩ = 24% (Holy Crap‼)
So you tell me... what "technology" does your moisture meter use to determine what species of wood it's testing??
Is you moisture meter doing temperature correction calculations??

I remember one time in one of these discussions someone made the comment that they could bring their firewood in the house, set it next to the stove, and it would lose 5-6 points (according to their moisture meter) in just a day or so. I pointed out he hadn't done the temperature correction calculations going from an outdoor temperature of (say) 20° to the next-to-the-stove temperature of (say) 95°. Of course, that set up one of these "it's close enough" defenses... which is BS, b'cause you have no friggin' clue how close it is... none‼ Obviously just temperature alone can effect the (so-called) accuracy by and easy 5-6 percentage points... and then start addin' in the differences in species.
Magic I say... friggin' magic.

Oh... and the reason I laid into you like this is b'cause you had no call or justification to label my comments as "gibberish".
You don't know me, you don't know my "method", and your (so-called) new technology ain't any more reliable than my "1950's technology"
*

 

[svk]

Lol

 

[JeffHK454]

Any hand held MM that doesn't have pre-installed and calibrated values for the specific wood being test is worthless.

 

[Freakingstang]

Yes... I hate it... I moved out into the shop and installed a real wood-fired appliance in the house.
(WOW‼ 5000 posts, joined in 2005, and don't know the odyssey associated with my elitist stove... can you guys believe this??)

Maybe my post count isn't up because I'm not posting worthless information every time someone asks.

Maybe you hate your newer EPA stove because you don't know how to burn with it, and aren't burning dry enough wood..... because they don't like 20% and above MC, how ever you decide to measure it.

Just because someone bilked ya' out'a 20 bucks for a gadget with the "technology" label attached to it, don't make it anything more than a gadget with the "technology" label attached to it. If you like your moisture meter, good for you... you should like it, ya' spent 20 bucks on it. But don't give me this crap how your meter can tell you when your firewood is in the magic 15-18% range with anything resembling accuracy... because it flat can't... that would be magic. Inaccuracy ain't "technology", it's a gadget with a flashlight battery in it (which is 100 year-old technology)... and it ain't any more reliable than any other method.

I really don't give sour owl crap if you buy a moisture meter or not... I'm just pointing out the belief in magic.
All you have to do is look at the chart.
American Elm @ 1.5 MΩ = 17% MC (right smack-dab in your magic range)
Red Oak @ 1.5 MΩ = 21% MC (ooops)
White Fir @ 1.5 MΩ = 22% MC (double ooops)
Jack Pine @ 1.5 MΩ = 24% (Holy Crap‼)
So you tell me... what "technology" does your moisture meter use to determine what species of wood it's testing??
Is you moisture meter doing temperature correction calculations??

I remember one time in one of these discussions someone made the comment that they could bring their firewood in the house, set it next to the stove, and it would lose 5-6 points (according to their moisture meter) in just a day or so. I pointed out he hadn't done the temperature correction calculations going from an outdoor temperature of (say) 20° to the next-to-the-stove temperature of (say) 95°. Of course, that set up one of these "it's close enough" defenses... which is BS, b'cause you have no friggin' clue how close it is... none‼ Obviously just temperature alone can effect the (so-called) accuracy by and easy 5-6 percentage points... and then start addin' in the differences in species.
Magic I say... friggin' magic.

Oh... and the reason I laid into you like this is b'cause you had no call or justification to label my comments as "gibberish".
You don't know me, you don't know my "method", and your (so-called) new technology ain't any more reliable than my "1950's technology"
*

Hey, glad your 50's smoke maker works for you. keep an eye on that chimney.... I know enough of your MC rants to see the person you are. you don't like change, you don't like technology and frankly shouldn't be commenting on newer stoves and firewood when you don't have a clue. BTW, Elm, both American and red are in the 36-42% MC range from my cheap little meter and trying to burn it tells me thats about right.

The moisture meters work extremely well for what they are designed for. Fresh cut red oak is 35-38%, It is 24-28% after one year of covered,split,stacked and 17-18% after two years. Bark falls off anywhere around 22-25%. Hollow sounds from smacking two sticks together happens around 20-22% based on that cheap worthless meter... I get 7 hour burn times out of that 20-22%, or 11-12 hour burn times from wood that reads 16%.. I don't have the care or desire to break out a 800 dollar fluke meter, then cross reference some chart that may or may not be correct to determine MC.

I hated my newer EPA stove the first three years I had it because I was stuck in 1950's mentality of burning, Burning wood for a sole source of heat for 20+ years means I knew all there was to know about wood and burning right? Wrong. You had to run the stove more wide open to get the heat out of it and burn times diminished. I almost gave up on it, just as you did and put it in the garage, but did some research and once buying one of those cheap MC meters, guess what, burn times went up, more heat and less waste up the chimney. Now, I wouldn't trade my newer "junk" stove for an old smoke box.

 

[Whitespider]

Maybe my post count isn't up because I'm not posting worthless information...

Worthless information?? By who's standard?? Yours??
I don't know how to use my stove?? Do you have one of those magic crystal balls that allows you to see what I'm doing??
I'm burning wet wood?? Magic crystal ball again??
50's smoke maker?? Magic crystal ball again??

...you don't like change, you don't like technology and frankly shouldn't be commenting on newer stoves and firewood when you don't have a clue.

Pretty self-important... ain't ya'??
You have no friggin' clue what I like and don't like... you only have your opinion (which is only yours).
I make my friggin' living in a constantly evolving "technology" field called wireless data communications (one hell-of-a-lot more technology orientated than a 20 dollar, battery powered gadget).
And, "frankly", you have no qualification or credibility to state what I should, or shouldn't comment on.

Typical of believers in magic... rather than address the point... attack and attempt to discredit the source.
*

 

[olympyk_999]

heres a few that seem to fit this thread...like this post if one or more of these apply to you





BTW...you're all welcome

also can we make one of these a sticky so we don't have to have this same thread every other week?

 

[svk]

Sticky:Whitespider dispels moisture meter myths.

 

[olympyk_999]

Sticky:Whitespider dispels moisture meter myths.

Maybe pin it to the top of the forum instead...easier to see...
"Magic moisture meters"