Buried treasure

I was out marking some trees I'm planning to cut, and tripped over this guy - decent size black locust. Fairly close to the road too, which is good because I don't have a trail in this section.

I have another down this size, about 50 yards from this one, that I was already planning to grab, and another one up at the house already. Looks like BL is next on the chopping block!

Ill probably end up with a years worth of ash, and another BL once I have all this processed, all for future use. Which dries faster?

 

NICE.

Which dries faster? You have two different wood spectrum dry times there. Ash is the quickest hard wood and locust is one of the longest dry times. No matter, they both rock! Get it fast before I learn where it is!

 

Both 12 to 18 months...locust has a low mousture content to begin with...its ready when the moisture meter reads less than 20%...

 

Now you've done it, Scotty knows you have a downed locust.

 

Split the BL and test; I've found some on the ground, or standing, that was 20% or less but usually that stuff has no bark. I'm guessing the log shown will need more time in the stack. As you're bucking that, you might hit some where the core is rotted but keep cutting and you will find more good wood.

 

Your right. I always think of those two as being grouped with the pine as a soft wood and not a hard wood. Ash was my first score as a wood burner and it dried quickly in the mind of a novice. Chalk it up to bias.

 

While we are on the subject, is there a table that gives general numbers in terms of dry time? That would be helpful. I seem to be under some false information over some species.
I know that there are a lot of variables that are involved like sun and wind, but a general idea would be good.

 

I think a good rule of thumb would be to look at the janka hardness rating. The harder the wood, the longer the dry time. There's probably some species variance though that more "seasoned" burners would know about.

I know a lot of green burners that like to burn ash, because you can "burn it right away". And I have burned a lot of green ash myself before discovering this site. Ash burns great green, but like anything else, it needs to be dry so you don't have to get on the roof in the winter to clean the chimney.

[EDIT] Moisture meters can be found pretty cheap, and most guys here swear by them.

 

Unfortunatly the hardness isn't always a good gauge of dry times and I am not aware of a dry times chart probably because there are so many variables involved. Best and general rule of thumb is a big percentage of wood will dry after split and stacked in 1 full year short of a few exceptions. Probably easier to list the ones that won't than the ones that will. (this is cut green and live). A couple that are more apt to not dry in one full year is oak and hickory, sugar maple is on the fence but usually better if given longer.

 

Yeah I hear ya. I have a pretty good idea on most of them. The reason I was thinking about it was, I am compiling a field guide of sorts that has all of the stats and descriptions of most of the trees in my area so I can identify the ones I'm not used to easier. What can I say, I'm anal about stuff sometimes.
Anyway, I wanted something more detailed than my knowledge about different species in case I was misguided about some things.

And... I do have a MM and use it fairly often. Its a handy tool. I just dont have the patience to experiment with every species in terms of how long to dry every one.

 

If you're talking specific amounts of time, that varies quite a bit dependent on the conditions. You could store it in a solar kiln and get anything matchstick dry inside 8 months. If held under the same conditions, with equal initial dryness, I think the hardness will be a pretty good gauge.

Anything over about 1000 seems to fall in the "more than a year" category.

 

Totally agree, easier to list the usual suspects that wouldn't dry in a normal time frame than the rest that would.