Amazing Results From Wood Drying in Pile

What was the average rainfall where you are for the period? Also, do you have any larger splits? My splits or 4-6x larger, so I am curious how that would play into it. Great video though and much appreciated!!

Thanks

 

Interesting results. I'm stunned that oak would dry that quickly, especially in someplace with relatively high humidity. I agree that the air flow in a pile is probably a big factor, along with the size of the splits.

I'm not convinced that rain has much of a long-term effect. As long as the wood is up off the ground, rain will only wick a short distance into the wood and it will dry fairly quickly afterwards. When I used to buy almond wood, I would have it dumped on the ground in my front yard and leave it uncovered. I would fill a rack on my covered porch whenever we'd had a few sunny days. It was always dry by the time I burned it, but the stuff in contact with the ground would suffer. Of course, the average rainfall where I lived was about 14 in. I do top cover my stacks now that I live in the mountains. I believe that soaking in water continuously from melting snow is different from being dampened by occasional rain. I've also learned that white fir will begin to grow mold fairly quickly if not split and stacked off the ground, even with the low humidity here in California.

I don't have a MM, just a calendar.

 

I live less than a hour drive West of 94bullet and have seen very similar results over the years. I too split a little on the small side. It just works better for my stove. I always wondered why so many members dried oak for 3+ yrs.

 

I remember last year it was wet and high humidity all season. Seasoned wood that had been dry had taken on moisture just from the air. Recall many members here from Penn and Jersey complaining of the same. So results from year to year may change.
Yesterday was the first time I started bringing in wood that had been top covered with rubber for a full year.
NICE!! Didn’t bother putting a meter on it. It’s the driest wood I’ve ever had

Also remember posting about those fresh cut oak rounds I left in the Ct jungle which seemed to dry nicely in one season. I can’t explain that at all. May have to try that again. See what happens.

Good video bullet.

 

Mostly how it doesn’t let go of water well. Some wood just by burning it, they had burned one year around, nope not enough still sizzles for them, 2 years better but not quite ready. 3rd year its ready for them. PNW/WA it’s usually ready in about a year or so. Depends on the size of splits and how its stacked or where.

 

I took about 2 cords of live red oak last September/October, split into 16-18" long pieces about 3x5 or 3x6. Most of it is down to 20% on ends and ~22% in the middle. All pyramid stacked on pallets in an mostly shaded area. One thing I have been playing around is how it "regains" water. We have not had much rain here over the past month but just this week had some wet days and those moisture levels went back up to ~25% in the ends and upper 20s in the middle. I can completely see how at least red oak could be <20% in 12-18 months in drier areas.

Red oak = a sponge.

 

Cover it after a year in the open. Works well for me.

 

I bet a lot of moisture retention happens because of high humidity levels. We are very dry where we are a good part of the year most of the time.

 

My stove likes smaller splits. The large splits create big coals. I'm not sure how hot it could get but I wonder if it holds heat. Have you ever stacked wood in the spring or fall when it is cool at night and warm in the day? When you get into the pile you can feel cool air coming off of it. So I wonder if it traps heat the same way??? I'll do an 1/8 of a cord by the pile. I may stack an 1/8 in the sun to see what happens too. I may even do a stack of larger splits. When the time comes, I'll make a new thread for suggestions.

I some green logs, I am going to be cutting in the next couple of weeks. I could possible put a thermometer in pile.

According to USclimatedata.com the average rainfall for me from April-September is 21.38.'' It was dry in August and September this year, next to no rainfall in Sept. I do have some wood that is 2' that was cut at the same time, it is a very small stack, but I don't have any larger splits. I can check the 2' wood.

The small splits work better in my stove too.

The title is just to get people to watch. I was just sharing my findings.

 

I would hope not, since the heat in a compost pile comes from decomposition. A certain amount of nitrogen is needed for compost to break down fast enough to generate heat. I'm guessing a firewood pile wouldn't have that.

 

What causes hay to heat up as it is drying?

 

Hay doesn’t heat up if it’s drying or close together. If it’s on the ground and heating up in the sun and still wet, that’s the beginning of decomposition. That’s why when it’s on the ground, they use those field combines that have tines on the spinners that flick the hay up. Wet hay contact on the ground is not what you want, so moving it around helps a great deal but then we’re talking about hay which does act like a straw but the semantics here is it’s so thin compared to wood. Wood has thousands of these “straws” or fibers in a given split and the smaller that split gets, the faster it dries. You give up longevity in return for quick cure. The wood heats up quicker driving out more moisture. Whatever works best for your stove, you did your homework and research, it’s a science and knowing that location of the wood where it was grown, climates and other setting variables play a huge part in the drying processes.


That being said, if you’re looking at any moisture, the splits on the bottom of your pile are likely the most wet. This is anyone who is aware of wood/ground contact is detrimental to wood drying. However the wood in the middle is still stacked up but in an odd way and direct wind contact is moot at this point, but still in some kind of suspension. If Cool air or hot air is in the pile, it’s important that it keeps moving so no wonder some have to say “hey how is air moving in the pile if it’s not stacked in rows?”. It’s merely a point of interest but the argument is what works for one doesn’t work for others. Splits being big and all, that’s more the reason why the oak is stacked off the ground so it’s not gaining any water as oak is known for not giving up water easily but can really absorb it much more so. If rain is short and sun is long in the breaks of that cycle, you’re less likely to have problems but sun must play a factor in heating up the wood or else the moisture isn’t driven off.


I’ve got stacked wood that’s been covered most of this summer but since the summer started, I didn’t uncover it often since rain would come back and forth, so some of this wood isn’t super dry but it will burn well enough for the time being. Even stacking doesn’t guarantee drying but it’s still better than leaving it in a heap where rain soaks anything here much too often.

 

Interesting question.
Don’t Risk Hay Fires — Ag News from NDSU

 

Even on a "humid" day in summer when temps are 90+, relative humidity is usually 50% or so because warmer air has the ability to hold more water. This means evaporation rates are still high even though it feels sticky to us humans.

 

moisture
the hay is still "alive" and with moisture and bacteria you have several forces turning the glucose in the hay into even more water and gases. All that conversion activity creates heat. Those gases can ignite. Which supposedly explains hay bales catching on fire in a field a day after it rains.

 

I have been using a system of cribs for years now. Pallets on the bottom, wire fence for the outside, and scrap black pond liner for a top cover. 3 cribs each holding 5 cord. 5 foot tall at the outside mounded to about 7 foot in the center. One crib is emptied and put in a 4th crib next to the house in spring for burning the next fall/winter. The empty crib is then refilled that same spring making 4 years worth split and cribbed. This was done to save time and have had no issue with wet wood. Cribs are well exposed to the predominant westerly wind. Majority of this wood is Red Oak. In my area of northern WI I don't think any less than 3 years drying would work with this system.

 

Basically, starting to decompose...

Never heard of hay bales catching on fire while in the field...only in the barn...tightly stacked. There have been quite a few barns lost in this area due to hay fires over the years...last one was 1/4 mile up the road about 8 years ago...that particular farmer has burnt down at least 3 barns over the years...and one partially burnt, twice!

 

Hmmmm....
The problem may not be the hay.