A friend of mine has very large pile of ash and hackberry. It is about 6' tall and 20'
Will the wood in the center and bottom ever get seasoned or will it rot?
Any wood left to nature long enough will rot...but if the stack is in full sun and gets plenty of wind, it will be fine to leave for a year plus.
The biggest problem is not that it's in a big pile, but that it's on the ground. The bottom pieces will constantly suck moisture from the ground.
It'll likely be still improving well after that- still air-drying, so long as it's up off the ground, and top-covered at least for any monsoon-type rains.
Some oak will not be ready to burn until after a couple of years' air-drying.
Some wood was found in Pompeii when it was excavated- little changed from original. So, it's not doomed to rot. Stable conditions help.
Unless you are storing your wood in an oxygen free environment like Pompeii, it will rot in nature - thats what I'm trying to say.
I store wood in piles like that each and every year, have no problems selling/burning myself upwards of 75 cords and my little side business is almost all repeat customers. A good 9-12 months uncovered out in the field does the trick every year and that is mostly red/white/chestnut oak.
I also have no problem burning or giving away green or overly moist wood, but find that it burns MUCH better when the MC is down to 15% or below. Less latent heat as water vapor up the flue; less visible schmutz in the exhaust. That's what I'm trying to say. And lumber processors will tell you that most oaks take twice as long as other hardwoods to air dry, which I can confirm.
Except as stored in fungus incubators like that mound, I've had extremely little problem with wood rotting, except for the sapwood of black cherry or black locust. And ... that took years. There are variables.
After Pompeii excavation, the wood still did fine years later. Saw some m'self. :cool2:
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