I need Help! Is my wood dry?

[Asskckr]

After getting some great advise on here I took the firewood to a local firewood dealer and he offered to buy the wood off me!!! He said it is DRY and it is the type he loves to burn meaning it is big 18" long and most of it is round...he only splits and sells little 15" pieces that are ALL split no rounds. Anyway I found out from him it is dry...but just to get a second opinion and to have a new tool I went out and bought a wood moisture meter...most of it is around 24%...the reason it wont light easy is a combination of the rain in the wood, the wood still needing to season a bit more and the wood being big and round makes it tough to light. Thanks everone for your help!!!

Earlier ya'll said yer wood was split and 16", now ya'll are sayin it's round and 18". Ya can't burn it, but yer firewood dealer says it's dry. Well sounds like yer having trouble with yer story

:notrolls2:

 

[stihl025]

Not to to get in the bad graces of the experts here, but I sort of like the cheap moisture meter idea as well. Don't get me wrong, it will not be the most accurate, but as V8 stated earlier, it will you give you an idea of where the drying process stands if you test the middle of a freshly split piece. With Ric being fairly new to this, it will act as a learning tool for him. It should show some differences in moisture content in relation to drying times for different types of woods. Besides, if anything, Ric will accelerate the drying process for each log everytime he wants to test a new piece.

But as most already stated here, it is most important to stay way ahead of the game when it comes to preparing wood for the burning season.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Bah!!!!

I got a few cords of wood (white oak, black oak and hard maple) all were cut down in March 2006...but were just left there (off the ground but not split or cut) then about 2 months ago they were split We only had about 2-4 rain storms in the past 8 months. It was a very dry year...the wood is all cracking at the ends...appears dry...but what is the best way to know for sure? It stormed really bad yesterday and the wood is all SOAKED now. But I am wondering other than trying to BURN IT what is the best way to tell? And can wood season by just being cut down and not split? THANKS!

Dude,
All my wood was cut back in Feb. '06. Red oak, ash, beech, white birch, few logs of elm, yada yada yada. The oak, beech, and birch were all around 24+ inches on the butt end and were headed for the sawmill. They sat in 12' lengths on the ground in a stack since like mar/april. I cut them to cord wood back in late july. I split it at the same time and have left it in the sun for the last couple months. Depending on how small you split your wood, it's probably pretty dry. That's a crock of sh!7 that your wood should be dried for at least a year. Since I was a kid, we've cut and split 1 to 200 cords of firewood a year that is burned in the fall. The other dude was right, if the bark is falling off and the ends are cracked/yellowish darker looking, it should be pretty good. Also, I always burn my fires over 325 degrees but below 550. This is the optimal range for fire to burn and have little to no creosote. In essence, BURN IT!!!:angry2:

 

[ciscoguy01]

Alaska

Earlier ya'll said yer wood was split and 16", now ya'll are sayin it's round and 18". Ya can't burn it, but yer firewood dealer says it's dry. Well sounds like yer having trouble with yer story

:notrolls2:

Hey dude,
Your up in alaska, my buddy is moving up there. He told me that you guys really don't have any hardwood up there. Is that true? What kinds of wood do ya'll burn/have up there???

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Also, I always burn my fires over 325 degrees but below 550. This is the optimal range for fire to burn and have little to no creosote. In essence, BURN IT!!!:angry2:

Are you talking stovepipe temperature or stove temp.? I'm assuming you mean stovepipe temp.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Are you talking stovepipe temperature or stove temp.? I'm assuming you mean stovepipe temp.

Yea dude, stove pipe. I've got a guage that tells me a range to be in. When it's low it is prime creosote range, and it also tells you when it's too hot, and a large range for the optimal temps. It's a very good tool. I've used it for 3 yrs now, every year when I take my chimney apart to clean it since I started using the guage, my chimney is always almost creosote free. It's made a world of difference for me. I recommend it for sure...

Below is a pic of it. It's also a pic of my redneck stove insert that I built. It was going to cost me like $2k for an insert, so I came across this airtight stove and built it for my app. It's been running for a few yrs now and has worked great. I use combination fuel oil/this wood stove. The first year it knocked $1000 off my fuel oil bill.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Yea dude, stove pipe. I've got a guage that tells me a range to be in. When it's low it is prime creosote range, and it also tells you when it's too hot, and a large range for the optimal temps. It's a very good tool. I've used it for 3 yrs now, every year when I take my chimney apart to clean it since I started using the guage, my chimney is always almost creosote free. It's made a world of difference for me. I recommend it for sure...

Below is a pic of it. It's also a pic of my redneck stove insert that I built. It was going to cost me like $2k for an insert, so I came across this airtight stove and built it for my app. It's been running for a few yrs now and has worked great. I use combination fuel oil/this wood stove. The first year it knocked $1000 off my fuel oil bill.

I have a gauge on both the pipe and the stovetop, although I don't look at the stovetop one much. I once heard someone say that a stovepipe gauge is like "the speedometer in your car/truck." And that the temperature INSIDE the pipe can be up to 50% hotter than what the gauge reads because the gauge is on the outside wall. Just a few things that I've heard over the years. And yes, if you burn dry wood and burn hot (in the recommended range) the amount of soot buildup is very small; I can go sveral seasons before it has to be cleaned because it is just a small amount of black, powdery soot-no glazed heavy build-up at all!

 

[Brushwacker]

Smack 2 firewood size logs together and the drier wood will sound more like a cracking noise and wetter wood gives a thud. I get a few wood customers that don't want their wood to dry because their stoves are not air tight and it is difficult to keep the stove from getting to hot. An average wood customer here likes most of the wood split small to medium size here and if it is split by June 1 and stacked it is ready for winter. The tops of dead trees dry considerably once the bark starts breaking up and falling off.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Huh?

Smack 2 firewood size logs together and the drier wood will sound more like a cracking noise and wetter wood gives a thud. I get a few wood customers that don't want their wood to dry because their stoves are not air tight and it is difficult to keep the stove from getting to hot. An average wood customer here likes most of the wood split small to medium size here and if it is split by June 1 and stacked it is ready for winter. The tops of dead trees dry considerably once the bark starts breaking up and falling off.

So you can smack them together and tell??? I've never heard that. That I gotta try... Interesting

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Smack 2 firewood size logs together and the drier wood will sound more like a cracking noise and wetter wood gives a thud.

That's right; the dry wood sounds like a higher pitched "dink" kind of like a baseball bat hitting a ball, while wetter wood has a lower pitched, dull "thud".

 

[laynes69]

I'll walk along my woodpile and tap with my fingernails on the pieces of wood. Listen to the tone of the wood. Also tap 2 pieces together, or drop a piece a few inches off the concrete. It works everytime for me. If its a dull thud, back to the pile. I dont think I have yet to have the sounds fail me.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

That's right; the dry wood sounds like a higher pitched "dink" kind of like a baseball bat hitting a ball, while wetter wood has a lower pitched, dull "thud".

I like to tell people that the dry stuff rings like a xylophone.

I tell them to take a peice off the top and hit others throughtout the pile.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Wowzer

I'll walk along my woodpile and tap with my fingernails on the pieces of wood. Listen to the tone of the wood. Also tap 2 pieces together, or drop a piece a few inches off the concrete. It works everytime for me. If its a dull thud, back to the pile. I dont think I have yet to have the sounds fail me.

I tried it, but I think I'm half deaf from running a saw, lol. It's really good info though...

 

[Husky137]

I bet by the time this thread has run it's course, his wood will be dry, oh wait, he sold it to someone who is going to sell it to someone else and tell them its dry.

 

[Asskckr]

Hey dude,
Your up in alaska, my buddy is moving up there. He told me that you guys really don't have any hardwood up there. Is that true? What kinds of wood do ya'll burn/have up there???

Yer buddy is right. Mostly I'm burnin birch and black spruce.