moisture meter

[bassman1641]

can anyone suggest a good moisture meter for firewood that is not too expensive ?

 

[ric5141]

I picked up this one off HF...Works for what I need.

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html

 

[avalancher]

I have a Lignomat, runs you about 150 bucks, but trust me.You would be better spending your money on something else.I bought it for milling wood,and occasionally use it to settle disputes with customers on why they cant get a fire lit,but the best way to measure firewood for moisture is by feel,weight, and appearance.Nobody cares about a few percentages either way on how much a chunk of wood is dry if it doesnt burn,and once firewood achieves that "dry" look and feel, no moisture meter is going to tell them different.
With that being said, season your wood for a year, keep it covered on the top only,and examine your wood for dryness by feeling the wood for weight, the checks in the end grain,and a greying of the wood fibers.

Moisture meters are great and necessary for drying lumber,but really overkill for firewood.A cheap moisture meter from Harbor Freight is going to run you twenty bucks, and will not tell you anymore than a close look at the wood itself.The cheap moisure meters make no allowance between the different hardness of woods and outside temperatures and therefore are rather useless.

Spend that cash on a hat full of chains,a jug or two of bar oil,and put the rest in the gas tank.You will be far ahead of the game.

 

[woodbine]

An absolutely excellent reply. A moisture meter is going to tell you what the outer quarter of an inch of your firewood has dried to.

 

[gwiley]

A wedge or maul make a good moisture meter Seriously, when I am splitting I often see the water squish out around the tools edge - this is a hint.......

I have found that there is just no substitute for look and feel. When in doubt, season it longer (unless you have an OWB, in which case just throw it on the fire).

 

[bassman1641]

thanks for the input i have a load of red oak and hickory split and stacked in a good sunny breezy spot cut and stacked in march hoping to burn it in december i am going to save money on meter and check it then if not seasoned i will wait i more season

 

[TreePointer]

An absolutely excellent reply. A moisture meter is going to tell you what the outer quarter of an inch of your firewood has dried to.

The technique I would use solves this problem. When you are ready to measure, take a piece of firewood and evenly split it just before measuring. Now measure in the center of the new split.

With that being said, I don't have a moisture meter, I use the feel, weigh, and look method.

 

[laynes69]

I'll knock 2 pieces together. If they go thunk its not ready. If it sounds like 2 baseball bats hitting each other or rings its dry. Works for me everytime.

 

[freemind]

I picked up this one off HF...Works for what I need.

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html

I ordered one. Thanks for the link.

I know what dry wood feels and sounds like. Some customers don't. This will make them more assured of what they are buying.

 

[Circle B MN]

I would save my money, and spend time educating your customers. When I advertise on CL, I include a link to the University of MN website that explains what to look for when buying firewood....

http://www.forestry.umn.edu/extension/Home/Cordwood-2%20edited%20FINAL.pdf

 

[Shifty Eyed]

I would save my money, and spend time educating your customers. When I advertise on CL, I include a link to the University of MN website that explains what to look for when buying firewood....

http://www.forestry.umn.edu/extension/Home/Cordwood-2%20edited%20FINAL.pdf

Excellent link. Thanks for sharing.

 

[CWME]

As others have said you have to split the piece of wood again in order to get an accurate reading.

I did this last night on some Red oak that I cut and split in Jan-Feb. The outside was reading 10-12%. When I cut it open 26-28%.

For woodworking I like my Lignomat meter. I picked it up at Rockler. Can't remember the price though.

 

[boilerhouse47]

With the guys I work with, we consider the thing that keeps you from fudging you undies as you try to pass gas the "MOISTURE METER"



Sorry I couldn't help myself. LOL