Does wood season better in the winter or summer?

[MishMouse]

Just wondering..

In the winter the humidity is much lower then it is in the summer and the negative temps tend to dry stuff out.

In the summer it is much hotter but wetter with more sunlight.

What has been your experience?

 

[timberwolf]

Winter.

Less humidity in the air and no rain to put moisture back in the wood.

 

[CrappieKeith]

I would think that water in wood should be frozen in the winter therefore not evaporating.
Summer would be my guess.

 

[blis]

actually early spring is the best for seasoning wood...

 

[timberwolf]

Just like how ice cubes sublimate right out of ice cube trays in the freezer water dose not need to be liquid to become vapor. When air is 80-90% humidity on muggy summer days and at 100% humidity on rainy days there is no insentive for the water to leave the wood.

When the humidity drops down in the 40% range on dry winter days moisture is pulled out of things quick.

A lot would depend on climate though here spring and fall is quite wet and summer fairly humid. Seasoning wood in Arizona not going to be like New England or the Pacific Coast. So results will vary.

 

[MishMouse]

Here the winter's are very cold, from Nov-March you rarely see a day when it gets above freezing. Spring's are fairly wet and Summer's are somewhat dry but higher humidity.

Better seasoning in the winter is what I was thinking since last year when I split some wood within a month of below zero temps the stuff was almost ready to go. Though I do have to admit it has to be split first before it really starts to season, not split that stuff can sit for years and still be wet.

 

[avalancher]

We dont get a lot of humidity here in the summer, but quite a bit of rain in the winter,so wood seems to cure out a lot faster in the summer.
Those 100 plus days of summer really dries the wood out fast.
And makes you wish it was cool enough to burn it!

 

[alderman]

Just a thought

We seem to have more forest fires in Summer.

 

[logbutcher]

It's all theory; I don't care, my degree was not in Forestry Science.

We harvest and pile the butts in winter ( ask why ).
When I feel(s) like it , the butts/bucks get split and stacked during late summer/early fall (ask why ).

Now the science: who cares. Been working for us for close to a decade here.
Wood partially dries in stove length butts late winter into spring and summer. Then has always dried for the few months after split and stack for burning. No sizzling, no foaming at the butt ends in the stoves. Never.

Factoid for you more scientific minded: tree moisture is dormant below freezing. Butts are frozen but drier in our temperate zone winters.

One year I tried what a Forester friend said: cut in spring after the leaves come out. Leave the leaves ( poetry ) on without limbing to speed the drying. Didn't do much except pi$$ me off that I had to finish off the felled trees with heat, bugs, mushy ground. Never again.

That's it folks.

 

[tomtrees58]

summer here not to much rain the wood sounds like rice crispers at night tom trees

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

I Googled it....................

Drying time

In warm weather (April through October), 1-inch lumber can be dried to 15 or 20 percent moisture content in 45 to 60 days (2-inch lumber in 60 to 90 days). In the winter months, lumber will require twice as long to dry. Lumber at 15 percent to 20 percent moisture content is adequate for building unheated structures such as garages or barns. If the wood is to be used inside a heated structure, further drying in a commercial kiln is necessary (6 percent to 8 percent moisture content for indoor use in Missouri.)

Taken from here:

http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/forestry/g05550.htm

 

[logbutcher]

Drying time
In warm weather (April through October), 1-inch lumber can be dried to 15 or 20 percent moisture content in 45 to 60 days (2-inch lumber in 60 to 90 days). In the winter months, lumber will require twice as long to dry. Lumber at 15 percent to 20 percent moisture content is adequate for building unheated structures such as garages or barns. If the wood is to be used inside a heated structure, further drying in a commercial kiln is necessary (6 percent to 8 percent moisture content for indoor use in Missouri.)
Taken from here:
http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/forestry/g05550.htm

Kindly read the experiencial experience with FIREWOOD.
We don need no stinkin "extension" .edu. I know what works.

 

[thejdman04]

Drys better in the summer

 

[AOD]

This works a couple ways. In the winter, the outside relative humidity is about 70-80%, it's only really dry inside your house. It doesn't feel humid because cold air can't hold much water, if you look at absolute humidity measured in grains of moisture per pound of dry air you'll see the real difference. Relative humidity is somewhat misleading. Another aspect about cold weather seasoning is if its really cold, any moisture in green wood will freeze and expand, making it crack which lets more air in.

Now in the summer there's other forces at work. Yeah, it can get humid and muggy, but there is also the sun beating down on the wood mercilessly, drying it out, and also the hot afternoon breezes, which gets between the wood. So I would have to say it seasons better in the summer, simply because of the sun and hot wind. I cover the tops only of my wood from when I get it cut until about 2 weeks into June, then the cover comes off until mid September so the sun can beat on it.

 

[Rusty99]

I would have thought is dries better in summer. Like someone else said because the water in the wood is frozen. Here in Alberta, we have very cold dry winter climate.

Just me 2 cents

 

[Octane]

IMO, wood seasons better in the summer.
As long as you keep it covered up with a tarp, it will cook all summer long and dry really well.

 

[Mike Van]

Wood is pretty much the same, weather it's lumber or firewood - I've been bandsaw-milling for 20 years, doing firewood more than twice as long. This past December, I started sawing a truck load of pine & spruce, maybe 40+ logs. I 'dead stacked' it all next to the mill, and a few days ago started moving & stickering it. The boards are all froze together, so bad you have to beat some with a sledge to get 'em apart. So, I ask you, how is that stuff drying if it can't thaw? Same with the woodpile I split up in December. Stacking it now, a lot of the wood has ice on it, froze solid. If you want dry wood here in new england anyway, it's gotta be put up for spring, summer [especially] and fall. Dead of winter, it ain't drying.

 

[Zodiac45]

I'm sure it dries some over winter but the rule of thumb around here is split for seasoning no later than April if you want too use it that winter. Heat is only a part of the equation. Wind is the real key too a good seasoning.

 

[Ohiowoodguy]

Lets say your gloves got wet, you lay them on the deck rail in the sun, would you expect them to dry quicker with January's sun, or July's?

 

[Stihl here]

I'm sure it dries some over winter but the rule of thumb around here is split for seasoning no later than April if you want too use it that winter. Heat is only a part of the equation. Wind is the real key too a good seasoning.

Well said!!!