Fire Wood Moisture Content

[My2cents]

Does green wood take longer try dry out opposed to seasoned wood that has been stacked and has repeadedly went thru the dry/wet cycles of rain? I have recently came across a few cords of "seasoned" wood but seemed a bit heavy, The wood is all checked on the ends and is sun bleached.

 

[Bills Oak]

The problem with firewood that has gotten repeatedly wet then dry then wet & dry again is that the innermost area of the wood has really never had sufficient time to completely "cure" or dry so that the pores of the wood close up. It might also rot internally & or get what I call "punky" or soft--sort of like watermellon that dries out internally. Usually oak will handle a few wet & dry cycles without any damage if covered after a couple of these cycles. You will also probably find worms & other critters living in the wood that has been wet & dry more than once. I'm not familiar with other types of firewood other than oak because that is all that I sell. Hopefully some of the other guys in the north area of the US will help you out with this also. I am in Florida which is usually wet 9 months of the year & especially this year with 4 Hurricanes blowing through in the past two months, Bill Irvine

 

[Newfie]

topical moisture for seasoned wood is not a big deal. It dries out within a couple of days. Seasoned wood is not necessarily dry wood. It just means it is not green. Some firewood guys let there wood season for anywhere from no time to a year. I won't sell seasoned if it hasn't had at least 6 months. Seasoned wood will dry to whatever the relative humidity is and over the last couple of summers it has been generally wet and humid in the Northeast. Get it stacked and cover the top until the snow flies and I bet it will be fine. Once it snows cover the sides of the stacks so you don't have to break apart a frozen pile.

At least in my experience.