Will felling and leaving the tree for a couple of weeks help dry it out?

[Wet1]

After felling, bucking, and moving 2 cords of oak by myself this weekend, I was thinking there has to be a better way (cost-free) of doing things to help save my back.

I got to thinking today (this doesn't happen often), would felling the tree and leaving the branches & leafs intact for a couple of weeks draw any significant moisture out of the tree? I know a mature oak draws a lot of water out of the ground everyday, so is it safe to assume by leaving the branches/leaves on the tree and letting it sit for a couple of weeks, that some of the moisture will be pulled out of the trunk to feed the leaves?

If this does work, I would think it would help expedite the seasoning process as well as make it a little easier to move...

Any thoughts?

 

[nickblaze466]

yes, it will dry the wood out quite a bit faster

 

[Billy_Bob]

I don't think it would weigh much less. Oak is heavy period!

If it is just firewood for yourself, then you don't *have* to cut every section into 18 inches rounds or whatever so the firewood is all a uniform length.

And you don't *have* to neatly stack your firewood once split.

What I do, is the heavier the wood, the smaller the rounds I cut. With some very large (around) very heavy trees, I might have 4 inch rounds. And even then it takes two guys to lift the thing!

Also you can have longer rounds like 8 inches, then cut these in half. Or cut them in quarters. Just keep cutting until the pieces are reasonably easy to lift.

So I have wood all different sizes in my yard. It will not stack, but that is OK. I just stick it in big piles once split!

The secret to this is having many spare sharp chains and being able to easily resharpen them. I cut up a couple of oaks the other day and went through 5 chains for two trees! In one case I made just two cuts before I needed to replace my chain (because it was dull). But no problem because I have a chain grinder and can easily sharpen my chains.

I also use whatever works to get the wood to my truck. Hand truck, wheelbarrow, pull the log up hill to the road with truck and cable, then cut... Whatever works and makes things easier!

 

[ms310]

just cut and split up some oak, maple, hickory that we dropped last december, and pulled up to the barn in logs. Man that stuff is still excessively wet, i dont think you could burn it indoors this year. However we dropp all our trees during the summer and let them lay so when we get to them in the winter they are somewhat dry. The ash is ready to burn in the winter, and the maples, oak, hickory all wait till next year.

 

[mga]

yes, it will dry the wood out quite a bit faster

it will?

i was always under the impression to get it at least cut up to expedite the drying.

 

[avalancher]

Leaving the tree in its full length will not help it dry in any measurable amount. The leaves will quickly dry out and die, and in the case of oak you are going to take a chance by leaving it to long that some of the wood is going to rot on you, at least the sap wood will.
Moisture in wood leaves the wood out the end grain, not out through the bark and leaving the leaves on it will not help it. For the best drying cut it into what ever firewood lengths that you prefer and get it up off of the ground. You can stack your rounds on old pieces of lumber or whatever and haul it home at your leisure.

 

[Wet1]

I posted this on another forum as well and received more mixed responses. One of the responses was from a biologist and he suggested that it does make a difference...

http://www.**********/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/22004/P15/#235446

 

[avalancher]

Lets assume for a minute that leaving the leaves on does draw moisture out. Which method actually draws more moisture out faster? Leaving the tree whole, or bucking into rounds?
I have been recently cutting a lot of red oak that was cut down last summer. Trees have been sitting there ever since. Moisture content with an accurate moisture meter stills reads 22 percent. If I had cut and bucked them last summer, I am willing to bet that the moisture content would be in the low teens by now! Just like the rest of the wood that I cut last summer that is now sitting ready for burning this winter.

 

[Wet1]

Lets assume for a minute that leaving the leaves on does draw moisture out. Which method actually draws more moisture out faster? Leaving the tree whole, or bucking into rounds?
I have been recently cutting a lot of red oak that was cut down last summer. Trees have been sitting there ever since. Moisture content with an accurate moisture meter stills reads 22 percent. If I had cut and bucked them last summer, I am willing to bet that the moisture content would be in the low teens by now! Just like the rest of the wood that I cut last summer that is now sitting ready for burning this winter.

I would think the majority of the moisture that will come out through the withering process would take place over the first week or two as the tree hopelessly fights to supply water to the extremities. Once the leaves are dry and dead, I doubt much water would be wicked away.

 

[nickblaze466]

i've read about it quite a bit, tried it out a few times myself with good results. i generally don't have the luxury to leave a tree sit to wither, but when i can, i take advantage.

 

[avalancher]

I posted this on another forum as well and received more mixed responses. One of the responses was from a biologist and he suggested that it does make a difference...

http://www.**********/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/22004/P15/#235446

I read the article from the link that you posted, and while it may have some validity to it, I find it annoying. Everytime someone asks a question, some expert will come forth with a theory that really cant be proved or disproved. In reality the only way to prove his theory is to weigh the whole friggin tree, before and after the leaves wither away.
As anyone will tell you, a tree that is left whole after being dropped often weighs almost as much as it did when it was standing, given the time of year that it was dropped, etc. I have dropped a number of trees and bucked them up and found the moisture content in the mid 20's, the same as the wood that I am currently working on that have been down for over a year now.
If you want the wood to dry as fast as possible, there really is only one substitute for bucking into rounds and time, a kiln.

 

[bore_pig]

My grandpa always said the best way to dry wood is to get it split and stacked up off the ground. That way the sun can beat on it and the wind can blow across it.

 

[Wood Doctor]

My grandpa always said the best way to dry wood is to get it split and stacked up off the ground. That way the sun can beat on it and the wind can blow across it.

+1. Grandpa was right. Nothing dries it faster than increasing the amount of exposed surface to the air and to the sun--except a kiln of course. Drop it, buck it, split it, stack it.

On occasion, some wood splits easier after it has had a chance to dry a little, but the exact opposite is true for other species.

 

[iowawoodcutter]

I have heard other people say this is not so, but to me, my oak seems to dry faster if I split it into smaller pieces. That is my personal opinion. If you need it by winter, I would split it all smaller.

The stuff I cut in april/may was all split pretty thick. The stuff I have recently cut up is all a lot smaller in hopes of it being ready by winter!

 

[husky362]

i bet if you buck and split it the sun and air will dry it faster in two week's then leaving it alone for the same amount of time

the smaller the chunks the faster it will dry

 

[Coldfront]

IMO I think the most important part of drying firewood is to get it cut into at least 2 foot lengths and stacked and covered, splitting it doesn't help drying by much. I figure I can split it at my leisure, the main thing is get it cut. If you are in a pinch to burn green wood not having enough drying time, cut it into short 1 foot lengths or shorter will greatly improve drying time. Wood drys from the cut ends, just as you see the water boil out of it from the ends when you burn green wood. Think of the grain in wood like a piece of celery.

I was on the net last year looking for info on wood drying times and found this info from Firewood Ratings and Info
based on data from: U.S. Forest Products Laboratory

There are people who insist that wood should be dried (seasoned) for at least one or two years. Experimental evidence has established that this is nearly always unnecessary, as long as the pieces of wood are cut to length and stacked. Natural airflows through the stack, and particularly through the end cut cells of the pieces of wood themselves, dries them sooner than that. Experimental evidence has established that one-foot long cut pieces generally dry to acceptable levels in just two or three months. Two-foot long cut pieces take about six or seven months for similar acceptability. Four-foot long cut pieces DO require at least a year. Split pieces of wood tend to dry slightly faster than full diameter logs, but again by minimal amounts.

Associated with this, covering the woodpile with a tarp slightly improves this, but probably not enough to make the expense of a tarp worthwhile, except in a climate where rain and very high humidity is common.

There appears to be no value in drying firewood more than about nine months.
If wood is stacked in four-foot or longer lengths, the drying process is greatly slowed. In other words, if wood is cut to four-foot length and stacked, for nine months, and then cut to shorter burning length just before use, it will probably not burn well because it is still to wet (green).

 

[Basso]

Hello.
Just git-r-done !!!!!!



Basso

 

[mga]

I posted this on another forum as well and received more mixed responses. One of the responses was from a biologist and he suggested that it does make a difference...

http://www.**********/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/22004/P15/#235446

thanks.

learned something from that guy.

 

[turnkey4099]

thanks.

learned something from that guy.

But he is only discussing the 'sap' wood. While the leaves may 'draw' some moisture out it will only be from the sap wood. I also want to see a tree that takes 2 weeks to 'wither'. A few days or so is more realistic.

that the guy is a 'biologist' does not lend credence to his theory, especially since he didn't post anything I didn't learn as a sophmore in HS.

An honest test will probably show tht any gain from 'withering' would be offset if the wood were split and stacked right away. At leat that way, the 'non-sap' wood is also drying out.

It's another one of those 'old wives tales' that won't die.

Harry K

 

[mga]

personally, i never leave a tree. once it's down....i cut it up asap. i may not split it right away, but the last thing i'm worrying about is if a round is going to be 50 pounds or 48 pounds.

leaves do whither almost immediately once the tree is down, and i doubt they're going to extract enough "water" to even tell the difference in weight.

like Basso says: just git r done and stop being scientific about cutting a tree up.