Yup, same sound as 2 pieces of 2x4 getting knocked together is what he should be listening for. If its a dull thud then its wet. Of course he could try lighting some on fire. If its smoldering and hissing then that will be the answer.
Does this wood look seasoned?
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Yup, same sound as 2 pieces of 2x4 getting knocked together is what he should be listening for. If its a dull thud then its wet. Of course he could try lighting some on fire. If its smoldering and hissing then that will be the answer.
He's a new wood burner so I doubt he would be able to distinguish between the "dull thud" sound and the "ring" of dry, seasoned wood.
Knock 2 chunks a 2x4 together and you'll get the ideal ring sound. The closer you are to getting that sound the dryer the wood is. Its not rocket science and isnt even going to let you know the approximate moisture content. Unless your an expert its only going to help the average person determin if the tree was cut last week or not...
Close to Hagerstown areawhere abouts MD?
in your pics,left to right 1st pic has some that may be seasoned. #2 looks green. #3 has some with the bark off that might be ready to burn. if you can look at the bundles that are sold at lowes or home depot. and i like mrs dashes too.
I did pick up a moisture meter. Most seemed to be around 23%. The would that looks yellow however was closer to 30%. Thanks for all the info so far! I might try to see if I can find another cord that actually has been split for longer but seems that might be hard to find. BTW, this is for an open fireplace.
Wood for burning in open fireplaces doesn't need to be quite as seasoned. Start the fire with the most seasoned and add less seasoned as the fire gets going good.
Modern high efficiency wood stove need well seasoned wood.
Modern high efficiency wood stove need well seasoned wood.
I would get a hold of the seller and let him know that he is selling wet wood. I am sure he already knows but maybe he will give you another load of wet wood for next year.
I dont own a moisture meeter so I cannot speak to the instructions that come with them but everyone on here says the proper way to use them are to freshly split a chunk of wood and use the meter on the newly split surface to get the most accurate reading. If you did not use it in that manner that means your wood is even more wet than the numbers you posted... food for thought...
The yellow wood is mulberry I believe. if it's bright yellow it's not dry turns brown when it drys. from my experience if u split a dry one open it will have some yellow to it but not nearly as much as yours
damato333
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If you want to ensure that you have dry and seasoned wood, be a year ahead on your wood. So while you burn seasoned wood you have more stacked wood in the process of seasoning. Stack and cover it, you will always have dry seasoned wood. If you do this you can buy green wood for the next year and save some money. If you find a guy that gives good wood, make sure you keep him.
It should be noted that, as the Mrs. Dash references imply, the sord "seasoned" has no meaning, or so many different ones as to be meaningless. Ferinstance in CT wood cut 6 mos previous is "seasoned"; in at least parts of OH, 50% MC or less meets spec. That's bs.
When you build a fire, use one of the big wet ones as your backlog. When the fire's going place a few splits vertically, well off to the side, to be dried by the fire. No loss there, you're just chucking it all up the flue anyway.
One way to consume less wood for the pretty fire, is to NOT use a grate. Set the wood right on the ash bed. That'll at least not heat the Great Outdoors so well. And, leave a good bed of ash, to insulate the masonry; the more you heat the masonry on on exterior fireplace, the more heat goes directly to the same Great Outdoors.
When you build a fire, use one of the big wet ones as your backlog. When the fire's going place a few splits vertically, well off to the side, to be dried by the fire. No loss there, you're just chucking it all up the flue anyway.
One way to consume less wood for the pretty fire, is to NOT use a grate. Set the wood right on the ash bed. That'll at least not heat the Great Outdoors so well. And, leave a good bed of ash, to insulate the masonry; the more you heat the masonry on on exterior fireplace, the more heat goes directly to the same Great Outdoors.
