Seasoned wood?

[hardy steve]

I cut some oak 3 years ago but never cut up or split.90% of bark is gone yet my owb always has moisture coming out of it when burning it. It's only been covered a couple months and we havnt had that much rain in the past.Any ideas?

 

[Hedgerow]

Until wood is cut to length and split, it loses very little moisture. I assume you mean the wood is boiling out the ends?
MH

 

[bobt]

Oak is one of the slowest drying woods. Most feel that Oak needs to be dried for two years even after being cut to length and split.

I am not an authority on oak, but I doubt that your wood is seasoned beyond about 25% water concentration.

I have seen Oak that has fallen dead, and even after the sapwood has begun to rot away, the haeartwood has been too wet to burn right away.

Bob

 

[Steve NW WI]

Hedgerow is right. Oak will keep well in log length, but it ain't losing any moisture until it's split and stacked. I've cut oak that was down 5 years or more, punky on the outside inch or two, but still solid in the middle and green as the day it fell.

I'll argue Bob's point, at least "here". Cut, split and stacked in the open with full sun and wind, oak cut this winter will be ready for the stove next fall. Your mileage will vary if cut and tossed in a pile in a hollow in the woods. Give any wood you cut the best chance you can to dry. I have it better than most with a lot of space to use, but find the best possible site for your wood stacks. It's worth a fight or two with the missus to put the wood where it has the best chance to dry.

 

[bobt]

I'll argue Bob's point, at least "here". Cut, split and stacked in the open with full sun and wind, oak cut this winter will be ready for the stove next fall.

Steve, I wouldn't argue hard against your opinion actually. In my experience burning wood, I have used new cut oak in the year it was cut, but I had nothing else to burn. It did ok, but it would have done GREAT with another summer on it.

I think the common opinion of Oak is to season two summers.

Bob

 

[CRThomas]

Info

Were I live people have got in the think in the box that only oak will make heat. I only sell to my preferred customers now ash which has a good smell heat pretty flame. But I only sell to people for there fire place the build a fire in the evening break the chill fire is out at 9 or 9.30 and they slip in bed no fire to worry about.

 

[EXCALIBER]

Just go to harbor freight and buy a moisture meter for about $14 and stop guessing. I did and it was money well spent. It has allowed me to burn some wood I didn't think was ready and vice versa stopped me from burning some wood that was to wet that I thought was ready to burn. May not be the best meter on the market but had mine for over a year now and still working.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

I cut some oak 3 years ago but never cut up or split.90% of bark is gone yet my owb always has moisture coming out of it when burning it. It's only been covered a couple months and we havnt had that much rain in the past.Any ideas?

After the initial firing , getting the waterjacket back up to temperature, there shouldn't be any condensation from inside the burn chamber.

One byproduct of burning HydroCarbons is water (H2O) another is CO2 the water will condense on cooler surfaces. This water plus any excess water trapped in the wood will show up inside the waterjacket.

As mentioned earlier. firewood loses most of its moisture from the ends. Cutting the logs to firewood length gives more surface area to expel moisture. This is when the actual seasoning begins. Splitting the wood increases the surface area also, shortening the drying time.

Even after 90% of the the bark is gone the wood is still wetter than expected shows that drying time AFTER it is cut to length is needed before it can be considered seasoned.

Time and proper exposure are the key to drying firewood stacked in the open. Logs tend to rot before they are dry enough to burn readily.

I know that isn't much help this year. The best free advice I can offer is split some of it small to hasten the drying time, get the rest of it stacked and drying in a sunny spot. Maybe add some kiln dried lumber, pallet wood or bundled wood to the fire and bring things up to temp quicker.

 

[Iron man]

How long oak takes to be ready to burn dependes on what time of the year it is when you fell it.Mid to late fall is best because it drops its leaves and and dumps a lot of unneeded water from its limbs and trunk.You fell it in the spring and its gona be loaded with water.An old farmer told me that so Im running with it.LOL

 

[Circle B MN]

Split small, I can get oak to 16% MC in ea year easy by putting it in the open sun. I was working a log pile today that had three year old oak logs and they were still 35% or better MC.

 

[Hedgerow]

How long oak takes to be ready to burn dependes on what time of the year it is when you fell it.Mid to late fall is best because it drops its leaves and and dumps a lot of unneeded water from its limbs and trunk.You fell it in the spring and its gona be loaded with water.An old farmer told me that so Im running with it.LOL

There is some truth to that, but I'm not sure what the actual percentages are...