roberthathaway7
ArboristSite Member
Any dendrologists in the house?? I know the general old consensus says it helps to split wood to let it season because obviously it opens more surface for loss of moisture, and that makes perfect sense to me, but I know sometimes the counter-intuitive wins.. and I have some different thoughts and have found not so popular ideas on the subject so I want to hear back on them
If the water carrying cellular system (xylem) of trees runs in essence with the grain of the tree, would this mean that most of the moisture escapes through the ends of your cuts? I've heard this theory several different places..
Here's my application in theory- Say I buck up a bunch of logs from spring storm damage but I don't have time to split them until fall.. I set them all on their bark sides or possibly on pallets so these water tubes (xylem) are exposed in an open field with lots of flowing air and sunshine, will they dry nearly as fast as if I had them split?
Another thing I thought of- I know there are different water cycles in trees.. so is there a time when the trunk wood of a tree actually contains less water when you cut it? Seems like it would be the fall of winter.. of course any wood cut then would have to be carried over until the next year's winter anyways and if wood from the spring was wet it would be carried over into the next year's winter too so I guess it's an erroneous question but I would like to know.
And- I know the heat of the summer time months are important in the seasoning process.. but I know for a fact that the air is dryest in the winter.. does this pull water out of the wood just as fast as summer time? Obviously not when it's below freezing but still..
I know what most people think, and not to be rude but I don't want to hear a thousand replies about how much anybody has only used the regular old methods or how they think it's the only way. Heck I use the regular old seasoning methods right now anyways. What I would like to hear is feedback from people who understand the theory behind what I'm talking about or have experimented with anything of this nature. I mean feel free to refute it, but I want discussion not just "that's dumb, split it and leave it sit for two years."
Sorry I have a wandering wondering mind
If the water carrying cellular system (xylem) of trees runs in essence with the grain of the tree, would this mean that most of the moisture escapes through the ends of your cuts? I've heard this theory several different places..
Here's my application in theory- Say I buck up a bunch of logs from spring storm damage but I don't have time to split them until fall.. I set them all on their bark sides or possibly on pallets so these water tubes (xylem) are exposed in an open field with lots of flowing air and sunshine, will they dry nearly as fast as if I had them split?
Another thing I thought of- I know there are different water cycles in trees.. so is there a time when the trunk wood of a tree actually contains less water when you cut it? Seems like it would be the fall of winter.. of course any wood cut then would have to be carried over until the next year's winter anyways and if wood from the spring was wet it would be carried over into the next year's winter too so I guess it's an erroneous question but I would like to know.
And- I know the heat of the summer time months are important in the seasoning process.. but I know for a fact that the air is dryest in the winter.. does this pull water out of the wood just as fast as summer time? Obviously not when it's below freezing but still..
I know what most people think, and not to be rude but I don't want to hear a thousand replies about how much anybody has only used the regular old methods or how they think it's the only way. Heck I use the regular old seasoning methods right now anyways. What I would like to hear is feedback from people who understand the theory behind what I'm talking about or have experimented with anything of this nature. I mean feel free to refute it, but I want discussion not just "that's dumb, split it and leave it sit for two years."
Sorry I have a wandering wondering mind
Last edited: