I think my red oak suffers from bark rot when it is exposed or gets a drain hole above it in the tarp. That bark is thick. The walnut that is stacked without any tarp was bone dry. It had no bark.
I found that spruce bark is a sponge for moisture especially After a year CSS. Barkless & it stays dry a lot drier for a long time I don't think birch bark ever rots, down logs turn into pipes after a couple years. Good wood to make a canoe Sure burns hot & a great fire starter even in the rain
The 2013 cut splits I brought inside to test. 4 days later: 8.4 - triangle split, now 7.8 lbs 10.0 - 1/2 round, now 9.8 lbs 7.0 - square - bark 1 side, now 6.6 Makes sense the ones with more exposed wood surface are loosing moisture faster than the 1/2 round. I expect it to lose moisture faster then the 3 year stuff I put on the stove now &then. Lost .2 so far on both
Dave I'm following this, I will weigh some green oak(but plan on using stamps instead of marker) looks like the square is in the lead
I'm thinking the birch bark 1/2 rounds are gonna (& unknowingly have ) given me drying problems. Curious what other barks are watertight , close to or similar to birch, if any. And what barks act like a sponge? Out at moose camp, dead spruce we CSS didn't burn well. We found the bark was a sponge & the pieces with bark were real wet. My wood types have convinced me to be a "Bark down" stacker But use the water tight quality of birch to go bark up on the top row.
I have topped my pallet stacks with half rounds of locust, bark up. Have the same theory about capping the pile as you Dave. Looking at the reality though, I think it means nada. Rain will run around the bark and onto the rest of the pile regardless. Bark up may only keep that top piece from holding water in the bark like a canoe. It stacks better flat down for sure.
I thought the same thing, but noticed this year that the bigger drips created by the bark up top cover would run/drip down to the ground better, Mine keeps a lot of the snow out & it sublimates or get blown away before it's absorbed by the wood. So it's some help. A good top cover would be better, I'd need a 70' long 4' wide top cover that would handle strong winds. Some day maybe, but then I'd need to do more experimenting ; comparing , bark up vs bark down vs top covered & not covered Even I think I'm nuts sometimes . LOL Don't know what I'm gonna do if i pans out that my 3 year birch still needs to be drier ? ?
Yep, I'd need to cover 112' times two. I've thought about just building little roofs over the back stacks. Wood condos. Seven sheets of OSB and a whole bunch of roll roofing or something cheap (like me), and I'd be gooder to go. I'd need to add support posts every 8'.
I think the same thing, cover the 70' out back , 1st year seasoning stack with a long 4' wide roof. Then it becomes a shed, so I stuff some sections full 3 rows deep. But I already have a 48' woodshed for 21 cord, & then make a long uncovered stack of wood for the pre seaoning stack . WHEN DOES IT STOP ? ? LOL + Now I need one at moose camp
That's part of the fun of wood burning for me. I'm always trying new things. & keep tweaking my whole wood burning system to make it better Next I'm thinking to try to nick the bark (axe slash near the middle of the bark) on the bigger splits so moisture leaks out all sides. Hate to say it Dennis, but I might need to get a MM, not that it's accurate but should give me a reference for if is it's drier, moister or same. This 3 year wood is amazing though, good stuff. Best I've ever burned. Makes me wonder about 4 year wood LOL
Some results after 4 weeks. the 3 splits cut this year, inside the basement 10.0 1/2 round, now 8.4, lost 1.6 lbs ( 16% ) 7.0 square , now 6.2, lost .8 lbs (11%) 8.4 triangle, now 6.8, lost 1.6 lbs ( 19%) The 3 splits 3 year CSS. inside the basement 7.0 sq, now 6.8 lost .2 lbs, (3%) 8.4 half round , now 8.0 , lost .4 lbs, ( 4.5%) 9.2 triangle, now 8.8 , lost .4 lbs ((4%) The green stuff is losing weight pretty quick being inside. The 3 year dry stuff is losing weight, but not much, so far. Makes me curious what the outside stuff is doing May go dig them out of the stack soon & weigh before it turns cold for the rest of winter. They have seen -20° to +39° in the last 4 weeks.
Wonder if "birch juice" ferments while seasoning , maybe help it burn hotter, So 2 of the fresh cut ones lost each lost a 1/5 th of a gallon of water so far. The other one a 1/10th (1/2 gallon total) & the dry ones about 1/20th each
Good info Dave. Puts things into a better perspective if you can think of all the water lost through drying when trying to burn the wood. Each of the fresh pieces lost just under a quart of water, unless I read that wrong. Go to the sink and measure that. It's a lot.....and in only one split. Put 10 of those in the stove and try to burn out all that. Not fun.
The outside seasoning stack is showing drying cracks: Some drying happens thru winter. Goes to show you , get your wood split & stacked off the ground ASAP
Dave, we stack up the rounds in the winter and by the time we are ready to split (usually March or April) they will all or most of them will be cracked. Well, at least the ends are drying.
That's probably about all thats dry, the ends. But any drying thru winter helps speed things up for summer drying. The warmer temps & now the dry wind we are to get for 10 days, might surprise me when I weigh some of the splits, may dry more than I expected
Some results after 8 weeks of the inside wood Brought inside Dec 12 -2013 the 3 splits cut this year (2013), inside the basement 10.0 1/2 round, now 7.4 7.0 square , now 5.8 8.4 triangle, now 6.2 The 3 splits 3 year CSS. inside the basement 7.0 sq, now 6.6 8.4 half round , now.7.8 9.2 triangle, now 8.6 The green stuff is losing weight pretty quick being inside. The 3 year dry stuff is losing weight, but not much, so far. Surprising though how much moisture was still in it. House moisture around 35% & stove room near 80° , Dessert like weather. Makes me think about bringing in a 2 - 3 cords at a time to add moisture to the house have dryer wood to burn. Will try to have a MM by spring, so I can get some readings.
I have 3 split out in the stack, probably should go grab them & get a weight. No wind today & sunny. I'll be back
