Seasoning Firewood

[WinterDeere]

Mine are in a long row,

I can easily pick up a box of the oldest splits.

SR

Ditto. I put mine in a long row. Four sheds of 4 cords each, with each cord being a separately accessible "bin". Two front, two back. This way, I just pull my wagon up to the bin that's next in the queue, and load into it:



As soon as a bin is empty, I start splitting fresh wood back into it, to start the seasoning the next batch ASAP. If I get my wood usage down to my target 6-7 cords, this will give me 3 summers drying after splitting.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I sometimes split and let the splitter push the splits right off the end into my "self unloading" trailer,

It saves handling the splits even one more time, and that's what it's all about, handling them the least amount of times.

SR

 

[Oaktree]

My wood sits out for 1 summer. Not covered or in a shed. It is split and stacked by May to be started burning by mid October. It is pine and I do about 10-12 cords a year.

Pine (and most other conifers) pitch is flammable and will burn even if it's relatively green. Hardwoods, not so much.

One thing I dislike about my wood storage shed is that it is "last in, first out" rather than "first in, first out". In my perfect world I would have a storage shed that had roll up doors on opposite sides so I can keep putting wood in without covering up last year's carry over wood.

Mine too. I'll use ~90% of what's in it on a given winter so it's easy enough to rotate the unused wood forward in the fall when I refill it. I also try to sort the wood so the smaller pieces or less dense wood (birch, etc.) are in the front and back where they'll be used in the spring and fall and put the larger stuff in the middle so they'll be easily accessible in the really cold months. No sense "wasting" that big piece of oak or beech on a night that only gets into the 20s.

 

[WVH1977]

Free vs bound water. Free water in the pores can evaporate out in weeks. The water bound within the fibers can take years. Most of the free water is gone by the time around 30% moisture is reached. Guys running outside boilers seem to like it at that - slows the burn, steady heat. If the chimney catchs fire, it would go off like a roman candle, outside. Inside epa stoves do better with dryer, 20% wood. I like sitting by a nice cozy fire, so mine is inside.

Great minds think alike! Love my Jotul

 

[BnRidge]

Great minds think alike! Love my JotulView attachment 776878

I put a gauge on the smoke pipe. Tel-tru 200-1000. I try to keep it above 300.

 

[BnRidge]

Ditto. I put mine in a long row. Four sheds of 4 cords each, with each cord being a separately accessible "bin". Two front, two back. This way, I just pull my wagon up to the bin that's next in the queue, and load into it:

View attachment 776876

As soon as a bin is empty, I start splitting fresh wood back into it, to start the seasoning the next batch ASAP. If I get my wood usage down to my target 6-7 cords, this will give me 3 summers drying after splitting.

Here in WI I've been able to get away with uncovered stacks outside, then after a midsummer drought bring in the years supply, half in the garage, half in a leanto just outside the backdoor. 2-1/2 cord each. I remember a few years ago when the east coast was wet - stuff wouldn't dry without covering.

 

[Jstpssng]

I haven't gotten my wood under cover yet this year, seems like it's one thing after another getting in the way. I had about 1/4 cord left over from last year and about that much from this year in the shed but those are almost gone. The rest is stove length out in the field, but I know where there's some yellow birch I had cut off a road R/W last year which has been setting tops on for a year and should be perfect to burn.

 

[Thomas]

I rather stack in the open so breeze/wind can dry wood.

 

[gsganzer]

I'm lucky, I get to cut for free all the standing dead trees I want on my 2700 acre deer lease. No need to season, they've seasoned in the standing position. With many of them, all the bark has fallen off too, making it cleaner burning.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'm lucky, I get to cut for free all the standing dead trees I want on my 2700 acre deer lease. No need to season, they've seasoned in the standing position. With many of them, all the bark has fallen off too, making it cleaner burning.

Most species won't dry all the way down standing dead, they still need to be split and have some drying time.

They are just dryer than live. (green)

SR

 

[4570Man]

Most species won't dry all the way down standing dead, they still need to be split and have some drying time.

They are just dryer than live. (green)

SR

I’ve cut and split some standing dead that was still squirting water when you split it which is most often the case. The few standing dead that actually do dry are so hard they eat chainsaw chains.

 

[gsganzer]

I’ve cut and split some standing dead that was still squirting water when you split it which is most often the case. The few standing dead that actually do dry are so hard they eat chainsaw chains.

In central TX, these standing trees are dry as a bone. You can almost light the end of the log with a match. I'm easily able to burn the wood I cut the same day. They do eat chains though! Especially if the ants or termites have started into the base and brought the mud/dirt with them.

 

[Bronco82]

... Not really room for a larger woodshed near the house, or at least one that would be acceptable to the chief aesthetics officer.

Oh such true words.

I have two winters worth in my 16' by 16' wood shed. All oak and maple. Have the door right in the middle, so left side is this winter and right side is next winter, next year repeat. Throw in a little poplar now and then to supplement as it's free from stuff I cut down out back to make room for "the barn".

 

[WinterDeere]

Pine (and most other conifers) pitch is flammable and will burn even if it's relatively green. Hardwoods, not so much.

Careful, there. This could be misconstrued as some really bad advice. In fact, this is the basis of why so many errantly believe you should not burn pine.

Yes, Pine will burn when wet, more a problem than a feature, as burning wet wood is the best way to end your season (or home ownership) in a chimney fire. It is fine to burn pine, but it must be dry to do it safely.

When burning wet wood of any species, you're putting an enormous amount of thermal energy into converting water to vapor. This vapor, the droplets of which condense onto creosote-producting particulates (just like rain drops!) travels up your chimney, where it will condense and deposit creosote in the chimney. The wetter the wood, the more energy lost to conversion, the cooler the exhaust, and thus the higher fraction of particulate-carrying water droplets end up condensing on the pipe before reaching the top and exhausting. It's an exponential problem.

So, yes... wet pine will burn. It also carries a higher fraction of resins that lead to creosote production, making the fact that it will burn while still wet even more dangerous. But be safe, don't do it. Burn DRY wood, no matter what the species. This will minimize the energy lost to conversion, minimize the water you're putting into the exhaust, and keep your exhaust temperatures higher such that the small amount of water it still contains will safely make it to the top of the pipe before condensing.

As an aside, if you ever wondered why flue probe thermometers have a "too cool" range, this is it.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

This is my neighbor's home; it happened a couple months ago and is what happens when you burn too green of wood!

as in a chimney fire!

SR

 

[BnRidge]

The byproducts of combustion are co2, h2o, along with others. For every lb of wood, 50% is produced as water in the form of steam. Add the moisture content to that. That's a lot of water that can condense in a cold chimney. It only takes a few days to completely plug a pipe with creosote if you let it. As a beekeeper, I was able to create, and burn back off creosote in the smoker. Puff the bellows hard and away it goes. Fun to watch, volitile stuff.

 

[Oaktree]

This is my neighbor's home; it happened a couple months ago and is what happens when you burn too green of wood!
as in a chimney fire!

I had a chimney fire once, maybe 30 years ago. Man was that scary! Fortunately, the chimney had a liner and at the time lived where the fire dept. was only ~10 min. away. No damage.
As it turns out there was a slight restriction about 2/3 of the way up, and creosote built up there. Made sure to be extra careful cleaning it from then on!!

 

[Jstpssng]

I've had a couple of chimney fires in my life. When I was growing up the house we lived in had a relatively new brick chimney and fireplace; my father had a steel insert made so that we could put a wood stove in the living room. One Sunday I couldn't get the fire t burn so I stuffed some newspaper in, touched it off and let it burn. It went, all right! Things started warming up fast. The insert started expanding and popping out. My father was in his shop, 150 yards down the road. I called my sister, who lived in another house just beyond him and asked her to tell him. He walked out, looked at the chimney, and said "Yeah, I was supposed to clean that", then went back to working. He said he knew the chimney was good, the house was less than 15 years old at the time.

 

[WinterDeere]

New thread started on @Sawyer Rob's thumb here, so as to not de-rail this thread: The "thumb"

 

[Jstpssng]

A lot of people believe that ash is a great wood to burn green. (Ashwood wet or ashwood dry, a king can warm his slippers by)
I have never found that to be the case. For the past week I've been burning About 6 weeks ago I brought home some ash which was cut in the fall of 2021 and left on the log landing in various lengths. I cut and split it, and putit in the wood shed. I tried burning a few pieces this week and there was more water running out of it as it sizzled than I've ever seen.