Are there woods that will season in less then a year

We moved to Pollock Pines in 2000. The snow started in late September and the last snow was in July. We couldn't afford to heat the house constantly with propane, so we used the wood stove that was there. First, we purchased wood but it was unburnable. The laws here say "seasoned" firewood means a minimum of 90 days seasoning, so the oak was still green and wet. We got through that long winter by burning standing dead wood, whatever we could find. Standing dead manzanita worked great. Standing dead live oak was next best. Anything else standing dead was good so long as it wasn't punky inside. We went through 7 cords that year! I didn't have much luck with standing dead pine (mostly Ponderosa), it was usually rotten inside. If you have a year to season, standing dead anything plus most soft woods should be okay. There are some good responses above but I don't have experience with most of those varieties.
Brad

 

Nice to meet you! I see he escaped to Wyoming, good call!
Brad

 

I've cleaned it for the past 3 years. I'll probably keep that going.

 

X2

 

I find eastern white pine and red maple season fairly quick.

I think it was sourced a blend of many available data sets.
I think there have been a lot variations in testing methods over the years and with geographical variations.
For the most part, one should be able to apply the information there with some relativity.

Sometimes I can get (EWP) pine to season in as little as 6 months and sometimes it takes closer to a year. When it was cut doesn't seem to be a factor, but it's not like I've taken a terribly scientific approach to seasoning pine, just observations from working with it. Same with oak.

In any case, it's nice to be several years ahead of use with these modern cleaner burning stoves so you don't have to be belching soot and smoke like was the norm years ago when many of these old habits are from .

 

My stove isn't remotely modern and this is what I get from the chimney with it cruising on oak and mulberry. Smoke and soot are operator error. Not as efficient as a modern stove but if you feed it dry wood it burns clean.

 

I don't think I saw anyone in here say sassafrass yet... And as already mentioned, full sun and wind exposure is key. Wood in the shade or up against buildings and fences just won't dry as fast.

 

We did it that way since I was a kid. It even worked ok seeing as the stoves ran hot. A sizzle here a sizzle there no major creosote problems anyway.
I’m seeing a lot of people in my area cut and split in September/October and burn in November. And if you buy wood,,,,,that’s mostly how it comes, right off the log.

 

I've had great luck with Beech seasoning in 9 months if CSS before it starts to leaf out in the Spring. I don't burn it that early because I am years ahead but I always split some of the Beech that I stacked earlier in the year just to check and it's always less that 15% on my MM. I do stack in full sun and top cover late summer.

 

Only two woods in my area are ready to burn after 12 months c/s/s and that's ponderosa pine and alligator juniper and if you want them to burn well they better be single row in full sun.

 

I have lots of sassafras in our woods and agree it seasons fast 6-12 months.

 

My landlord had some trees taken down in October (mostly oak too) and is trying to burn them now. He keeps sending me smoke signals!

 

Hey at least we let ours get a little tanning in before it’s demise

Tulip and Sassafras in my area. Tulip has a heavy layer of inner bark that soaks in water like a sponge. Hate that stuff. The wood itself drys fast.

 

The couple times ive had TP i did like the fast drying. Mixed it in with bundles. Theres a huge twin one just into our woods and the landlord wants to cut them down. One leaning into the woods i could but the other no. Have to be close to 100' tall.

 

Got some monsters in the woods too. Let me play with that 500 and I’ll drop your landlords tree,,,,,in some direction or other

First and last time I tried vertical splitting. Tulip tree. After two rounds I started making lots of noodles LOL
Makes great heat with no real coaling stage. Run fast enough and you can make more heat than the best hardwoods. Just keep stuff in it in.

 

Holy hernias! Dont blame you for noodling them. They didnt split or a major PITA to maneuver?

 

Splits easy. Couldn’t move them. That was the year of the beginning of Lyme disease. I felt like a wet sponge with two feet