Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[John_Mc]

Thanks J_Mc. So is it percent of total weight that is water or is there some other parameter or constant involved ??

I'm not sure. My understanding is that it is percent of total weight. However, at one point there were competing methods of measuring moisture content: one was measuring as a percent of total weight, the other was expressing the weight of the water as a percent of the weight of dry wood. The latter always struck me as odd for two reasons:

1. You don't really know the weight of the dry wood until you actually dry it all the way out (and who ever does that?)
2. If there was more water weight than wood weight, you would get a moisture content that was greater than 100% (for example, if you had a piece that was 5 lbs of water and 4 lbs of "wood", you'd have a moisture content that was 5/4 or 125%)

I believe that the method which used "water as a percent of total weight" is what came to be used, but I can't swear to that.

BTW - this morning I made one turn on the trail I just packed the other day. . It was 24* here. It was better than expected but a second trip would have been a mistake probably. It warmed up quickly.

I was able to get over my trails to a neighbor's place on Monday to help them start clearing a small pasture in their woods. It's about a mile through the woods, and things were finally cold enough to make that drive. (I don't own a trailer capable of hauling my tractor, and don't like the 6+mile tractor drive over the road even when the weather is good, let alone when all the idiots are out re-learning how to drive in ice and snow.) I needed to work in my own woods yesterday, but didn't get to it. Today, things have softened up too much.

 

[Jstpssng]

Today, things have softened up too much.

I'm afraid that it's going to be one of those winters.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I'm afraid that it's going to be one of those winters.

Sure seems it so far and looking at the 10 day forecast.

gg

 

[dodge man]

I almost started a new thread but thought I’d add to this one. When it comes to firewood moisture I always assumed you were drying the internal moisture out of it from it being a living tree. So how does rain and humidity come into play? I understand it would make it dry slower. What happens to a dry piece of firewood if it gets rained on? Does just the surface need to dry off? Does the wood soak up the rain and it takes days to dry out?

 

[John_Mc]

I almost started a new thread but thought I’d add to this one. When it comes to firewood moisture I always assumed you were drying the internal moisture out of it from it being a living tree. So how does rain and humidity come into play? I understand it would make it dry slower. What happens to a dry piece of firewood if it gets rained on? Does just the surface need to dry off? Does the wood soak up the rain and it takes days to dry

There are basically two types of moisture in the wood. One is the "free moisture", Which is relatively easy to drive out. Then there is the moisture contained within the cells of the wood. That takes more time and energy to drive out of the wood.

The point where you have driven out the free moisture and have only the cellular moisture left is called the "fiber saturation point". It varies from species to species and even from tree to tree within a species, but typically that's right around the 30% moisture content range. Air drying wood down to that point usually goes fairly quickly, assuming the wood is not in contact with the ground or constantly in a high humidity area. Getting beyond that point takes more time, or you can speed it up with heat and airflow. Getting that moisture out that is within the cells of the wood generally doesn't happen much until you remove most of the free moisture.

Once the wood has dried out, getting rained on usually just replaces some of the free water in the wood. This is more easily removed, and since it is generally a surface setting, it's even more quickly removed than if that moisture were found throughout the wood. It's usually just a matter of a couple of dry days to pull that moisture back out. The longer the wood has soaked, the longer it can take to pull that moisture back out.

Different species can dry at different rates. In general, how fast wood dries is a function of heat and relative humidity at the stack of wood. One problem is that if the air is not moving, the relative humidity at the stack of wood can be significantly higher than in the ambient outdoor air. You need at least a bit of breeze to carry away the moisture that has come off the stack. Otherwise the drying process slows significantly.

 

[dodge man]

John Mc, thank you. That was my take on it but wasn’t sure.

 

[goeduck]

agree, that was a good explanation

 

[Jstpssng]

agree, that was a good explanation

We've become accustomed to that from him.

 

[John_Mc]

I was business partners with a guy who was a wood combustion guru. Learned a lot from him.

 

[ericm979]

This is a good publication from the forest service on air drying wood:

https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr117.pdf