How long before wood is seasons?

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old blue xl 12

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How long does it take for firewood to be seasoned does it depend on type of wood? Sorry new to the firewood game
 
Depends on the wood, how wet it was when cut, split size, humidity in your area, sunlight, wind, etc.

Generally speaking a year for most wood.
 
A good rule of thumb is a year, although there are variables.
I've had Red Oak that took two years to dry.
The size of the splits and how they're stored also affect drying time. If the splits are covered (top only) and in a breezy area, with good air circulation, they'll dry faster than if left piled in the open.
I've had some wood (tops of standing dead trees) that was ready to burn in four months.
 
I had some large hickory splits take 3 yrs.... the only way to know is with a moisture meter. $10 at harbor freight you should be shooting for 15-20%, your stove and chimney sweep will thank you.
 
As said depends on the wood and storage method.
I have cut down maple trees and had then dry enough to burn in 7 days. I just stacked them right behind the wood burner and it is so dang dry with out the pot filled with water it sucks the moisture right out.

:D Al
 
There's a plethora of information on this if you use the search tool. You will inevitably find the best way that works for you through trial and sometimes error. Good luck and happy reading!
 
I use a moisture meter to get and idea. a fresh split around 60 degrees will give you a decent idea.and also the clink test. Take two splits and rap them together. Should sound like bowling pins being hit by a ball. your best bet though is to plan at least a year split and stacked for your ash, maple, and other similar hardwoods when cut alive. Oaks and hickory and other very dense firewood cut green will probably take closer to two years split and stacked. The ultimate test I find is once you put the split in the stove and light it off. If you aren't getting a sizzle and water boiling out the end of the split, you did pretty darn good.
 
There are variables. Some tree species cure or season faster than others. How and where you stack split wood makes a difference, too. An important aspect is knowing what species of wood you have. When you know what it is, you can find easily how long it usually takes to dry.
 
Around here in my stacks, one full summer for medium hard wood, dense wood like oak and hickory two full summers to get them dry. They will burn after one summer, but it isn't ideal. My stacks, the latter ones anyway, are on pallets with the pallets up on railroad ties. I leave them open through the summer, then try to nail the last hot and dry week in the fall and top cover before leaves start falling.
 
I'm on the three year plan.... the wood i split this past spring(2015) will be burned starting in fall 2018. One year in the yard in a stacks 24' long x 4' high, i buck logs to 16". That pile moves from the stacks to my shed after a year. my shed holds two years supply, one year i feed from the north and refill that side, next year i feed from the south and refill that side. Three years is the way to be, it guarantees dry wood if it is covered and cared for.
 

Depends -> google it.

I feel like there ought to be a button added to the forum to just paste a canned answer to the same questions that come up weekly. But, ask away.

I cut standing dead Red Oak, usually with more than half the bark already off, and the rest is eliminated during processing. These trees have typically been dead about 3-5 years, but were dying, mostly from Oak Wilt for several years before that. The interior edges of splits from the trunk typically read about 38-40% on a $8 moisture meter I have in my shed. Split, stacked in the open for sun and air to get to it, I can typically measure about 2% moisture reduction per month. Which suggests this dead Red will hit 20% in 10 months, and be ready for burning in a nice round 1 year. Of course humidity, wind, sun, are all variables, as are the size of my splits, the density of the wood, . . .

Cut it, split it, stack it, wait as long as you can before you get too cold, then burn it.
 
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 :D
But just wait... winter ain't here yet :laughing:
*
 
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 :D
But just wait... winter ain't here yet :laughing:
*


Wow, how about using a volt meter? Would my $500 Fluke lie to me? The principal is sound.....
 
Wow, how about using a volt meter? Would my $500 Fluke lie to me? The principal is sound.....
Now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty :D
Yeah... your Fluke would work measuring resistance (actually, you measure conductance). But each wood species is different, and the resistance ain't linear with moisture content... you'd need a reference chart. You'd also need to do temperature correction calculations. Here's a chart in mega-ohms, at 80°, with the probes 1.25 inches apart to give you an idea.
Happy studying.

chart.jpg
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