Seasoning Firewood

[the old grind]

My neighbor has been heating with wood for almost two decades and always seasons what he's bought for the wood burner. He's quite the expert after all these years, and this is how it's done. "The more you know."

 

[Oaktree]

He just dumps it in a pile, not stacked or covered? Not the best way to season wood.
THIS is how it's done:

 

[CalG]

Better, is the mortal enemy of "good enough".

I HATE blue plastic tarps!

;-)

 

[4570Man]

I dump my wood because stacking is extra work but I do at least keep it under cover.

 

[tradosaurus]

So how long do you "season" wood until ready to burn?

 

[/pine]

It's all about the moisture content...!
If you don't know what it is...you're only guessing how "seasoned" it is...!

 

[4570Man]

So how long do you "season" wood until ready to burn?

My wood storage system isn’t as good as it could be be so I try to keep wood cut 2 years ahead.

 

[BnRidge]

He just dumps it in a pile, not stacked or covered? Not the best way to season wood.
THIS is how it's done:

View attachment 776711

Looking around, most don't do it your way. My neighbor has also been heating his place for 10 years, with rounds and logs laying around, then split and piled when needed. Two weeks ago he split a trailer full. Two days ago he fired up the stove and promptly had a chimney fire with smoke damage and a burned out roof and attic. I doubt he has learned. I've heated with wood for 15yrs, with an inside stove, have about 5yrs supply drying like you have done. Every time I drove by the neighbor and saw the crap he was burning I thought it's only a matter of time.

 

[Wagtail]

So how long do you "season" wood until ready to burn?

Due to available covered areas to season my wood, I get it in & stacked mid-Spring (soon after the burning season) so that it has all Summer & mid-Autumn to dry.

The smoke is minimal and white during the 'heating period'. In other words, 5.5-6months of the warmer weather seems to work for me.

Edit: Oh, and my main wood is a eucalypt called 'ironbark'.

 

[WinterDeere]

Burning mostly red oak here, although due to recent events (EAB and a tornado), been getting into some ash and hickory. I try to have it stacked under cover at least 3 summers, before I burn it.

Here's what I'm burning now, date on tag shows when it was split and stacked:



So, I guess the stuff I'm burning now seasoned in the summers of 2020, 2021, 2022.

In fact, I was out getting some splitting done this morning, while the ground is frozen:

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Soft woods get one summer air dried in direct sunlight, then stack inside. Minimum 1 1/2 years before burned.
Hard wood (White Oak) gets air dried in direct sunlight. Minimum of 2 1/2 years before burned.
After insulating the house my wood consumption has been cut by about 30%.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

So how long do you "season" wood until ready to burn?

Depends on the specie, some only take a few months, others should be left for aprox. 2 years.

SR

 

[i7win7]

The shed I built and stocked this summer

my processing setup

how I built the bucking table

Processing Firewood the Professional Redneck Way

This will be a long assembly post with many photos, you may want to bookmark it and read on a rainy day. You will need a root grapple to lift logs, A miter saw to cut multiple 4x4's and 2x8's to size, plus other wood working tools most home owners all ready have. Let's start...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[tradosaurus]

The shed I built and stocked this summer
View attachment 776740
my processing setup

Processing Firewood the Professional Redneck Way

This will be a long assembly post with many photos, you may want to bookmark it and read on a rainy day. You will need a root grapple to lift logs, A miter saw to cut multiple 4x4's and 2x8's to size, plus other wood working tools most home owners all ready have. Let's start...

www.orangetractortalks.com

How long will that much wood last you?

 

[nbking]

I have lots of dead pine and cedar, harvest in the winter, split and stack and it's ready by the next winter. I have lots of white and black oak, takes a couple summers for the right moisture content for me to feel comfortable to burn. My favorite is the cedar, smells good, burns hot, low ash. I bought a moisture meter about 2 years ago, piece of mind purchase.

 

[i7win7]

How long will that much wood last you?

Hopefully, the rest of my life. Heating with a pellet stove with solar & gas backup generators. Can heat with wood as last resort.

 

[cqaigy2]

The shed I built and stocked this summer
View attachment 776740
my processing setup
View attachment 776741
how I built the bucking table

Processing Firewood the Professional Redneck Way

This will be a long assembly post with many photos, you may want to bookmark it and read on a rainy day. You will need a root grapple to lift logs, A miter saw to cut multiple 4x4's and 2x8's to size, plus other wood working tools most home owners all ready have. Let's start...

www.orangetractortalks.com

That's exactly how i do it, except much smaller wood "shed" 2/3 as big and a little HF electric splitter, so ya exactly. Oh and my wood shed is cedar sided and roof is clear PVC and 24" overhang all around, cause it rains here, alot.

Need to pick up a few more pallets and read about the bucking table.

 

[rangerfredbob]

I try to season what I have 1 to 2 years split and stacked in a shed, right now I have just over 3 cord of wood on hand split and stacked ready, started the season with just under 4 cord which is all I have room for currently, in the coming months I plan to add room for 2 more cord on the end of one of my sheds (doesn't take much space at 12' wide by 8' tall which is a cord... which looks less impressive than the 4'x8'x8' in my other shed that is 2 cord...)

 

[Cougsfan]

Depends on the specie, some only take a few months, others should be left for aprox. 2 years.

SR

I agree. It seems to me that the basic rule of thumb is the denser the wood, the longer it takes to cure. Splitting reduces cure time significantly. I am no expert on wood physics , but it seems to me curing a wood of its initial moisture takes a whole lot longer than drying wood out that got wet (as in left out in the rain) after the initial cure. I don't know why that is.

 

[4570Man]

I agree. It seems to me that the basic rule of thumb is the denser the wood, the longer it takes to cure. Splitting reduces cure time significantly. I am no expert on wood physics , but it seems to me curing a wood of its initial moisture takes a whole lot longer than drying wood out that got wet (as in left out in the rain) after the initial cure. I don't know why that is.

It would take a long time to get a piece of dry firewood as wet as it started. It doesn’t soak up a lot of moisture to get rained on.