G'day mate! How you going? I used to work with a bunch o' Aussies heh heh. Pray tell what is your system (the short version if that pleases you)? I like having the MC especially for those times when you find out something is not ready to burn that you were certain was ready. Saves you some headache later on. It's also super useful as others have pointed out if you get a load of some wood that has been lying around for some time, or if you scrounge and find something half dead, etc. It gives you a nice starting point. That's another reason why I try to keep the same wood from the same load in the same stack.....Doesn't always work out that way.....but for example I have two holz hausens of spruce from the huge score I found on the side of the road right after buying the truck. I know if I check a few splits, it's pretty indicative of both of those stacks (~5 cord) and thus one doesn't need to check 1000 splits.
Far more evaporation takes place in summer vs winter though. Many mornings humidity is in the 90’s year round. We get a lot of 90+ in south Jersey and humidity levels (even though it feels really sticky out during the day) drop far below 50%
G’day LordOfTheFlies, the short explanation is, I stack my wood in to IBC’s and cover with a roof made out of half of the plastic liner cut diagonally. I then place them in spaced rows Out in the hot Aussie sun to bake for a few years. The wind blows through there well too When I need firewood I just drive down the paddock with the tractor and bring a tote back to the shed and remove the plastic roof. Job done. It removes a lot of handling.
Ah you're the guy with the diagonal IBCs! Ha! I only have 6 of them, 4 with the plastic that I use for kindling. I remember now you posting pics of this. Very nice........it's a bit less humid down under, n'est-ce pas? Than say here in the Northeast where it can get just dreadful at times.....like last week. I would love to have enough land to warrant a tractor (and numerous other toys). Maybe one day..........
I know that not much evaporates in winter, but I think the freeze in winter opens up the fibers do it can dry better in the summer. The good thing is that once wood is air dried to a low moisture content it is hard for it to pick up moisture from the air.
Brad we get a good mix of weather where we are but our summers are very dry and hot. the split was probably 3 years old, re-split immediately before the test with moisture meter of course. Humidity can get down in to single digits, Heat above 110F and wind in excess of 60 mph. When that happens every thing dries out quickly. Check out this old thread from a couple of years ago. Do I currently have the hottest wood stacks on FHC?
Even though I have a moisture meter, I rarely use it. It'll get used with standing dead trees, mostly. Or, like above when I use it for a demonstration. Beyond that, it's the 3yr plan for me.
now you guys have me wondering..... I think I might find sorting the dead standing trees by checking the fresh cuts advantageous. Oh boy, might as well break the news about a new toy to my Mrs....
Paid for itself the first year. I was gathering wood at the same time I normally load the basements. Found 6 small dead standing oaks that were dryer than anything in my stacks . Straight off the splitter into the basement they go. That’s a win.
