Hi All, I’m brand new to using a wood stove and have very little experience of using fireplace from last year .So please excuse my question(s) if they are so obvious. We got BK Ashford 25 fireplace insert installed 2 weeks ago. Haven’t started using it yet because of warm weather though we can have out first drive tes tonight. I live in NYC and have limited backyard to store firewood. I can store about 1 cord of wood in my backyard and 1 cord in my sweet old lady neighbor’s backyard. I have been hunting firewood on Craigslist and was able to to find about 2 cords of seasoned firewood mostly oak, some maple, cherry, and pine. All below 20 % MC. I have a bit more space left to store firewood. I live about 300 ft away from a NYC forest that has a lot of dead oak trees from previous storms. I called and asked to the park department that if I can cut wood from fallen trees and received a positive response. Yesterday and today I was able to cut 8 logs with a diameter of about 8 inches and length of 16” from a dead tree. I cut the logs from the part which is not touching the ground, hanging in the air. I chose a tree which almost lost all of its bark. Some parts are a bit punky exterior but mostly fine. I took them home and checked their moisture level with my moisture meter before and after splitting. The round ends had about 25% of MC. After splitting , interior also has similar MC contents in all logs varying between 23-27 %MC. My question is how many months would the splits need to go to below %20 to be used in the BK insert? Thanks!
That would depend on several factors: wood type, size if splits, amount of air circulation through the stacks, the amount of sunshine the stacks get, if the stacks are top covered and relative humidity. I have split red oak that has been standing dead for 4 to 5 years. Some of the smaller limbs from the top of the tree were near 20% when split but the main trunk of the tree was still at 30 to 35% when cut and split. If your wood is ash or soft maple and it gets lots of air flow and sun and you top cover it MAYBE it will get to 20% before the snow flies. Be sure to resplit and get the pins as deep into the grain as possible at the center of the split. You won't get an accurate reading in the end of the split.
There’s too many variables at play based on where it’s stacked-sun wind humidity etc to really give a number in months. You can always try a few splits in a couple months and see how it goes or mix it in with dryer wood or pallet wood.
Like said Variables... MM accuracy, humidity..... My guess....Optimum 12 months : Off the ground, in the open, single row, full sun/breezy area, top covered
Yes, I do. And when it is not rainy , I intend to remove the cover to let it air. The ones I got from Craigslist partially shown in my Avatar picture all below 20% so I already covered their top and most sides with heavy grade rain proof tarp.
Some may disagree, but I would advise you only cover the top of your stacks. Trapping ground moisture is bad - you'll want to let the breeze go through your stacks. Any incremental surface moisture that gets on the end of the wood from rain or snow will dissipate quickly.
I agree completely about allowing the stack to breath. I do cover my sides a little. My thinking behind covering the sides a couple feet is so the rain doesn't just roll down the entire side of the stack. Especially when it pools on top of the tarp and you go to roll the tarp off. If you cover the sides completely you will have wet wood from the ground, and the bottom side of your tarp will be completely wet.
You mean even for fully seasoned firewood not to cover the sides? Or you mean for the unseasoned ones not to cover sides?
