I got curious a few days ago and decided to find out how well some wood was. This wood is almost all red oak with a few white oaks in the mix. We have a bit over a cord of it. We found out that I was wrong on when these trees were cut; it was in the year 2000. What we got was some that was left behind and most of it was in 16" or 48" logs. Most were in the 16-20" diameter but a couple were much larger. Took some work to load those. These, btw, were on a neighbor's place. All had been laying on the ground all these years and were a bit wet when we got them. There were only about 4 or 5 that we left because they were too far gone. So we got this wood in December 2012 and split it in April 2013. It was stacked right after being split. It is the stack on the left in the picture below. You can see there was some junk wood but still most of it will get burned. So I brought some to the porch. Some was excellent and some was a bit punky. We burned some punky stuff today and it is about roasting us out of the house. It was 28 degrees this morning but now is 52 so we'll just let the fire go out as only 41 predicted for tonight. The house should stay warm. So, the wood is 14 years old and is still great! We'll be burning it in January.
Some is like 2-3 years old some of the pine is maye a bit over a year old? I would have to think hard about it. Some I recognize and am sure its 2 years split maybe 2.5?
The firewood I have for this year, like most years, was cut the winter before. Split and stacked in the spring or early summer. I wish I could get further ahead. But have not found the time to do so yet. Too many other things to do. However the moisture content for the wood that I burn and my drying process seems to work out okay for moisture content. I have often wondered Dennis. Is there a point, depending on where the person lives, that their firewood would reach it's lowest moisture content? I suppose some of that may depend on the weather and humidity of the location? Which could also vary depending on weather from year to year. And on how it was covered as well. I think the top covering of firewood, like you do, is very beneficial. However any further covering of the sides could be detrimental. I have not been covering at all the last few years. Until it goes in under the porch in October. And I am behind schedule! Interesting post about "solar" drying it in plastic as well lately. I would not do that, personally. But it will be interesting to see how it comes out for them.
I have some oak in my shed thats 4 years at c least CSS and been in shed 3 years. I think that stuff hovers around 12-15%mc. But I think our over all humidity is a bit higher than y'all up north.
You are right Gas. Covering the sides is about the worse thing you could do because it will trap the moisture in rather than get rid of it. As for location, yes, by all means it does matter on the locality. For example, most of the folks in the east get a lot more moisture than the midwest or west. Same with the south except the SW. The Pacific NW is another area that gets tons of moisture and it is amazing that they can get their wood dry enough to burn but they've been doing it for years and doing it quite well. Just ask Allan or Woodwidow how it goes out there. One example to consider also is, say, our area in MI compared with Iowa. Most think they are about the same but they are not. Most of Iowa is much drier than we get and they also get much more wind and wind it still the best drier of wood we have. Now about getting that wood cut ahead. Keep your priorities in order!
Got a big pile of willow about 5-6 years old - there is still some burnable stuff in it but for the most part its punky. just haven't had the get up an go to run it through my chipper mostly because I have to break it down to 5" or less cross section. time consuming. have about 30 cords in the 2-3 year range although this last summer hasn't been conductive to drying.
My black locust, maple, oak was CSS about 4 Years ago. My pine is from Sandy I only use that for kindling and the fire pit.
I think the oldest I have in the pile was cut in 2009 and a lot of that is barkless locust that could have been on the ground since the 60's....lol
I really have no idea how long it was down, it just seems to stay solid for a long long time. I do know the woods I cut it from to the best of my knowledge no one else ever cut out of.
Little over 2 cord high and dry in the garage now and is a little over 2 years dry time outside stacked...
The oldest I currently have is wood cut in 2011, and it's oak of course. It's currently at a satellite yard where I cut and split and eventually deliver to the racks at my home. However, last year I was fortunate enough to get a call from a friend of a friend that was moving and wanted to sell his stash. I collected about 4 cords of cut logs that was just sitting in a pile for years. The exterior was punky but the insides was about 15% MC. I burned nearly all that oak last year and was happy to have it because of the cold winter we had.
