What ya got? Do ya like it? Decided it was time to check the moisture in some wood that I wish to peddle. Bought a meter a few years ago on amazon. 'Meterk' was the brand of it. Made by commies...was pretty cheap. I have doubts about it's accuracy so I'm shopping something new. It was showing 10% on wood that I know is not at 10%. Accuracy is kindof critical as I plan to use a photo of the meter in the wood I am peddling for advertising. Any of you by chance have one made by General Tool?
General Tool makes a few models. I like the one I have. Seems accurate. I have another crappier one from a different manufacturer that I bought in a pinch. You have to select the wood grade (e.g. 1 is oak, 4 is pine). I hate it. Not sure about the political ideology of either manufacturing location.
What do you think that wood actually is? You can take 3 different meters and get a reading that varies 5% low to high (BTDT) if you think its more than 5% off, you can do better for sure.
The meter itself has three different settings for 'wood type'. On setting 1 I got 10% - absolutely no way, on setting two (which I believe is the correct one for hardwood) I was getting 16%, which is highly suspect considering that this wood hasn't been split for a year yet. 3rd setting showed I think 20%, which is getting closer to reality, I think. I had been expecting between 25 and 30. Splits are not showing much checking yet. I pulled two different species from two deifferent spots on the pile. Resplit and checked immediately. Wood was all split between Christmas and end of winter. Has been stacked since and has been covered most of the summer. The trees contained were almost all blowdowns with attached roots. They went down last spring & summer, with most all giving up on any leaf growth.
This is the one I have too, from big box orange. Haven't used it much since getting so far ahead in inventory, but it does seem to be fairly accurate. I need (and would recommend having) extra contact points, since I looked at mine the wrong way a couple years ago and bent them
that general is plenty enough for checking firewood, I have one and a couple of delmhorst it's not worth spending the extra for a fancier meter for firewood. imo at least.
Yep, not looking to break the bank, but what I have just isn't satisfactory. Though I will add that the pins on the cheapie are plenty stong.
My MM is a calendar. I've burned wood for longer than most people on this forum have lived (no, I am not bragging). So far the method I use has never failed me and that is one of the main reasons I promote the 3 year plan.
A sure fire method Backwoods. Meters allow burning of wood when it is ready by content rather than time. Like using a fuel guage instead of an hour meter.
I have a General Brand from the orange big box store and a cheap one from e-bay. I bought the second one since I wasn't sure the e-bay special was accurate. Come to find out that they are extremely close to each other so I probably didn't need the second one. Now one lives in the basement for woodworking and the other used on the wood pile and stays in the saw box.
What kind of wood? Depending on the answer it’s entirely possible the meter is accurate. Silver maple, box elder, ash all come to mind as super fast drying woods. Just a thought.
I had a General. While I liked it, I did find the pins to be kind of cheap and for the price they want for it, that irked me. Unfortunately I left it outside for a period of time and the screen fogged up and it’s never been the same. I always see YouTube videos that the host of the channel claims, “this moisture meter was $10.” I’ve yet to find a one that cheap. I will admit I rarely shop online.
