Seasoning Firewood

[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.