Split, properly stacked and top-covered (if your climate is wet) I'd say you can get your wood down to 10-12% MC over the course of several years. It'd be hard to get it much lower seasoning naturally because of relative humidity, unless you kiln-dry it and store it in a low-humidity environment.
Local equilibrium moisture chart, by month... https://www.fpl.fs.usda.gov/documnts/fplrn/fplrn268.pdf
To be honest, I have never checked the moisture after 3 years but I can tell you we once had some checked with a professional meter. It was cherry, which usually is not too high in moisture. Several pieces were split before checking and they all were at checked at 8%. Yet I would call that extreme as I doubt you can get much wood that dry without a kiln. On the other hand, the moisture content can vary a lot between various types of wood so about all you could come up with is an average. Still, in 99% of the cases, if your wood was split and then stacked properly, it should be ideal for burning.
Unless you move to the desert, probably around ten percent. I live between a lake and the ocean and the best I've ever seen here is 12-14% and that was some 4 year old white oak that was not getting rained on. But its not like I was testing it every day either. It may have gone a little lower in the Summer when I was more concerned with keeping the lawn cut or how my tomatoes are doing. If you're painting outside you want the surface to be below 16% with a target of 8 to 12%. If you wait for 8% here you'll never get anything painted. Some guys will tell you below 20% is OK but I don't believe it. I don't paint for a living so I could be wrong or too conservative.
12-15% in my experience where I live. This is with ~10 year old c/s/s/ stuff which was split on the larger side.
1st, welcome to the Forums! 2nd, I live Right on the South Jersey shore area. Hot as HELL in July and August mostly and the wind is usually a constant, but it is humid here. After 3 years, I'm down to 10% fairly easy. I'll give you a little insight, I C/S/S some Mullbery freshly cut down in November 2025, It's now August and I checked some of the stuff on top getting pounded by sun this past weekend and Im at about 16%. It's drying fast! I "do not" cover my wood and it is baking in the sun from sun up to sun down, and it is blowing through it all day. This is just my area and it depends on if your wood is exposed to good sun, get's lot of air movement and not wet constantly. Now, when my wood is over 2 years old, I do put it in my wood shed to keep it dry and ready for the next seasons/winters burn.
Moisture meters can vary a little bit in their readings. I’m in SE CT about 1/4 mile from Long Island sound so my humidity is a little higher here than inland. I can get dense hardwoods around 17 percent after a few years. The way I stack wood may be a factor in “higher” numbers. I top cover single rows of wood and the end of the splits see some moisture during rain. Perhaps a woodshed would be better but I don’t have the yard for that. Plus, my yard is on a downhill slope with only some sun, which had a large red maple shading the stacks below. Better sunlight on the now and that maple tree is now its own stacked cord of wood. Maybe I’ll see a drop of 1 or 2 percent moisture content from here on in. For space reasons, I favor less dense hardwoods. I have about 2.5 cords of white pine that I stacked in early to mid spring, which should be ready by fall. BTW, I burned about a cord of pine last year and was amazed at how good it performed before I ran out around new years. So, don’t underestimate the value of softwoods, especially when many people give them away for free.
This morning, because of curiosity and got me thinking, I grabbed my moisture meter, changed the battery, (it needed it from last year) and went on a mission. Here's what I have chain saw guy , most of my Splits of any size are coming in around 14.5% to 17% depending on how thick they are, these are the wood sitting on top of the piles getting full sun. Some of the smaller splits are coming in at 9% to 11.5%+-. I checked a few rounds that I didn't split and the 5" to 6" rounds, (which I like) and so does the stove, are coming in around 19 ish%. A Few bigger in the 22% range. That proves the splits are drying faster, (kinda common sense). Now, I went half way down the pile, no sun but plenty of air and most of the splits are 18%+. All this wood came in from November 2025 to January 2026, 7 to 9 months now. I have Mulberry, Cherry and some Oak. I don't know your zip code but I'm guessing were not "much" different in Latitude. In my situation, 80% of the wood I have will be ready/seasoned by 2027/2028 winter. Everyones drying situation is and will be different. Simply put, get as much sun and air you can give your wood stacks! I still like to stand and stay by the 3 year rule, which is in the resources guide written by our friend Backwoods Savage. Hope this helps ya! Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage
I've heard that a moisture test is best done with a fresh split. Have you ever noticed a big difference?
I have not Mike, But with one exception, a few years back I got a small load some oak wood, all rounds and the guy said it was a year, cut. I split it all up and tested a couple and they were in the 21% to 24% area. That's the only Idea I have on that. I was wondering how close to burning I had, it sat another 2 years...
It would be safe to say, if your wood is below 12%+- you're in pretty good shape to burn. I highly doubt any wood freshy split is gonna be anywhere near that. I'n my opinion, why would you need a test on "Freshly cut wood"? It's the dry end result you want to know...
Not cut, freshly split. As in, take a split that's been CSS'D for a while, split it thinner, and test moisture.
Ok, I understand. I guess the only purpose of splitting it thinner would (only) be to check the moisture... Ok, I assume the default brain cell here...
This ^^^. We need to know the moisture in the center...surface (and end grain) will always read falsely low. Now, if the wood has been CSS'd for 3 plus years, then external testing might be similar to internal
