Listen closely……

Listen closely and you can hear the wood drying. Today I was splitting the wood that I gathered up yesterday from Target rich environment!!! . I was taking a break and thinking about going to do something else and come back to this after dark by lantern light. Whilst I was sitting on the tailgate of my dump truck load of standing dead elm rounds, I kept hearing a very faint sound. Not really a creaking sound, but also not really a cracking sound either. At first I just figured it was a couple of the rounds settling as I had recently moved a few of them around. The longer I sat there listening, the more apparent the sound became. That’s when I realized what I was actually hearing. The weather is fairly breezy and mid 70s at the time and humidity was 14% according to my phone.
I have heard that “ on a still night, you can hear the corn grow” . While I have never experienced that I can say that I have listened to the wood drying.

pretty cool actually, has anyone else ever experienced this?
I went back about an hour later after it had warmed up to nearly 80* to listen, just to be sure I’m not losing my mind. Sure enough I could still hear it.

 

Could it be wood boring insects? I’ve heard pine beetles munching away. The elm doesn’t look like it can get any drier.

 

I’ve definitely heard the borers munching but never wood drying. Wish I lived far enough out that I didn’t hear traffic/neighbors etc. Not often it gets that quiet around here.

 

Almost sounds like some kind of wood yard spiritual experience I would never hear that out here, with summer days being about 923% humidity. Maybe after a cold front moves through during winter though.

 

I have never experienced but not paying it isn’t possible either. Those are some dry conditions.

 

It might not be drying, but rather the stresses in the wood creating cracks. Wood builds up a lot of stress in log form and can really let it go when cut. I have had rounds creak and make noise, kind of like sand or small pebbles flowing.

 

Some ideal drying conditions and pretty cool to hear. Too noisy here to say I've experienced it.

If that elm gets any drier it might self combust. Thanks for sharing.

 

I finished splitting up the load by lantern light. Randomly checked the moisture right in the middle of a couple of the biggest rounds. Ranged from 12 to 16

 

I can kinda go along with this theory to a point. The last load I got from this score sat in the back of the dump truck for close to a week maybe and when I went to unload/split it, I was surprised at how cracked and checked the ends were.
Here’s a couple pictures of the ends of some of the round that I cut yesterday. Obviously the big cracks on the outside edges were there when cut. But the smaller cracks and checks inside the rounds are less than 24 hours old.
So I can kinda agree that what I was hearing was “stress cracking” but it seems like that would be caused from the wood shrinking as the moisture escapes.
I seems like it was a series of perfectly timed events that I was just lucky enough to be present for. I sat on the tailgate to rest for a bit when I finished loading yesterday in some very peaceful rural quietness and didn’t hear it. And made it a point to sit and listen before I fired up the splitter and hissing lanterns, …. Nothing.
Just seemed to last for a few/several hours in the warmth of the day.

You know the sound you hear when you bring a piece of equipment or vehicle into a shop and shut it off? Then you can hear it cooling off (usually the exhaust system) kinda a tinking sound. My splitter does it also when it is cooling down.

 

I am sure there was some drying going on too, and I was not trying to say you were wrong at all. I think it was likely both. I see it when milling poles. Sometimes I can mill perfect looking boards and the bext day there are cracks in them.

We milled up the joists for the shop mezzanine this summer and we could hear them creaking and popping in the heat when we put them up. It was pretty weird. They were drying and stress relieving at the same time. It sounded like someone shooting a bb gun in through the shop door and hitting the wood. The joists still look great, and are quite solid. They are doug fir.

 

I’ve not heard that with wood but when I was young, I worked on a wheat harvest crew one summer. The wheat had to be very dry before you could begin cutting. If the had been any moisture the night before or even a really heavy dew, you had to wait for it to dry before you could start cutting in the morning. When the sun came up and started shining good and it started heating up, you could stand at the edge of a field and hear the wheat crackle as it dried. That’s the sound I had in my head as I read your description.

 

I’ll sell it to ya.
At slightly below Nashville prices. It’s perfectly dry.
Or….. I could let you in on the score and you could come get your own load, I’ll help. There is enough here to share, but only if you have a current FHC membership card.

 

I don't know what you heard. Others have shared some interesting suggestions. What you conveyed is a wonderful experience and why I love working outside. I'm in an office at work so when I am home I am outside as much as possible. Yesterday I took a break under a tree. A breeze was making the drying oak leaves rustle. Every now and then an acorn would fall. I could hear a squirrel gathering those acorns in the distance. We all need to just sit and listen more often.