With a mm and it’s showing moisture ranging from 10-14%. It’s all Oak, so I’m wondering if it’s possible for it to get it any lower? I looked at some of the moisture equilibrium info, but I’d rather pluck nostril hairs than do math. Has anyone got readings lower than 10% on oak? I finally got a mm, so I could know for sure my wood was ready to burn. The bulk of my hoard is oak and the oak Im burning and selling this winter has only been ssc for 2 years, so I was curious/concerned. My lot is wooded, so all my stacks are shaded most of the day.
Good topic. I don’t have much to contribute, but my best guess is people that live in drier climates like Texas could probably get it down further than those of us on the more humid east coast.
Depends a lot on if the tree was healthy, if it was down for a few years, covered, etc. Just to be sure you are splitting an existing split and THEN testing the freshly exposed INSIDE face of the split, correct? You're not measuring on the ends of the split, are you? If you test the outside of a split that has been drying 2 years then it will show much lower than the inside meat. Also make sure you have the needles of the MM pressed in deep but do it firmly and slowly or else you'll bend the pins (like I did). 2 years sounds very quick oak to get down to 10%. I've never had anything below 12% but I only started splitting in Oct-2019 so I don't have much data to go on. That was my load of spruce I got in Mar-2020. I'm happy if it's under 20%.
You sure your meter is reading correctly? As mentioned, oak dries VERY slowly. Maybe the slowest of all woods. With that, 10-12% is super dry. Here in NE Ohio, I have rarely see my Ash below 15%. Either way, as long as the ends are "checked" nicely and it has the right feel to it, it sounds like your good to burn it! Maybe I missed it, but when your cut and split the wood, was it dead or was it green?
You probably would have to move that wood to Arizona or the mid-west to get below 9 or 10 % iirc, EMC for the southwest is around 6%, the mid-west 6-10% and the balance of the humid coastal regions is 10-12% I'm happy when I see 14% I'd have to pick a rather dry time of year to get less than 12-14% I think. Then there's the relative accuracy of a mm. Now there's a can of worms.
For me in coastal CT, my completely dry reading is 17%. I’ve seen 16 but that is rare. I’ve heard it’s difficult to get wood below about 12. Make sure you’re measuring on a fresh face of split piece of wood.
Out of curiosity did you split a split and check the fresh split face with the MM? Checking the seasoned face will give you a lower reading. I personally would give oak at least 18 months to dry even then it may be over 20%. My oak coming up for this season is from Spring/Summer 2019. EDIT: didnt see lord of the flies response above prior to posting.
There could be some older splits, but the older looking splits were on the high end of the range. Yes, checked on the inside. Have not used the mm on new splits to check bs factor. Will test some other genus tomorrow. I didn’t use a bunch of force sinking the needles as they look fragile. There were more 13’s and 14’s than 10’s. This stack has been in my sunniest location since July. It’s mostly Willow Oak, so that may be a contributing factor. IMO it dries faster than other oak species. The tree was living when I cut it down. It may have sat in log form for 6mo.s before ss. The mm has a self test for accuracy and it was in range. It’s a Preciva.
I like to really jam them in there and i learned the hard way testing the MC of some dead black locust splits last year! Some dense stuff.
10% in the shade in 2 years sounds unlikely, but check what your local equilibrium MC is...Equilibrium Moisture Content of wood in outdoor locations
LOL!!! I bent them back with pliers and later ended up replacing them with the extra pair that came with it. Used it on myself and found i was very wet behind the ears! Reading was off the charts!
I looked at the USFS chart and most splits are in the correct range for August. 10 is an outlier for any month in my area. The chart is showing a low of 11 for January.
It can be possible in NC for wood to dry faster. Not sure hoe low wood can get but I have seen wood get lower than said air humidity. Case in point I once had some wood reading around 8% and our humidity never gets that low. This wood was tested not by me, as I do not own or use a MM but was tested with several meters including one very expensive professional MM.
I'd throw a couple splits in an open fire & watch the ends. If they don't sizzle or boil out the ends burn it/sell it. Nothing against MM & all the science stuff, but it's just firewood & it either lights & burns good or it doesn't.
I've noticed that willow oak seems to be softer than red/pin oak, even though they are in the same family...I know it will turn punky faster. Glad it droes faster. Got 5 dump trailer loads recently
