I was into cutting down dead standing red oak two and three Winters ago a few miles north of gboutdoors (between Long Pond and Silver City Galleria, you could throw a stone to the next dead oak there were so many ) and the oak from about ten feet and higher was all 16-18%. (fresh split, not sticking a end cut ) Dead standing long enough to have no small branches left to contend with. A little punk and carpenter ants in one or two here and there. We had a good bonfire going and threw the wood with ants in it on the fire. It was far too cold for them to move. The rounds from the bottoms of the tree trunks were heavy and soaking wet. Water would squeeze out while splitting. Those were mostly at 20% in two months, even in the dead of Winter. I took all the heavy wet stuff because I wanted it for the next year. My buddy was loading his stove and selling cords. It got me ahead to where I can almost keep up with what we are burning from my own lot(s). I'm still looking for local log loads though. Driving heavy loads 20+ miles was not easy on the truck and we had access into the woods there when it was dry or frozen ground only. Any time it rained we couldn't get in there.
I used mine frequently before I got on the 3+ yr plan. I would stick fresh cut rounds like gboutdoors and sort accordingly while stacking. Now that I'm ahead I still use it once in awhile to check the progress of upcoming years wood just to double check. Some of my stackong spots aren't ideal so it will clue me in if I need to skip the stack for a year or move it to a more prime spot for the summer. Yes its a toy, but also a gadget to make sure I'm using the best wood pile for the season.
That's impressive billb3 Just didn't want there to be any confusion for members who might have stumbled across the pic and not have a solid explanation... I hope any such folks will read your post
Yes cut 3 dead standing Red Oak Saturday morning loaded up and back to the stacks to split and stack. Sorry Eric VW but this load was all split and stacked by Sat. afternoon. But I can go stick some of the splits for you this morning . Here it is as I am loading it. Back at the stacks to split. Quick check with the meter. This is less than an hour after dropping it. This was all in a post "oak for breakfast " I did Sat.
You knew it was coming! "The best device for measuring the moisture content of split firewood is a multi-year calendar!"
I use my meter religiously. Not everybody has the time, energy or ability to have 3,4 or 5 years of wood laying around. For those that do, that's great, but it's not reality for everyone that burns wood. A meter allows me to know, not guess what the moisture content is. I can put more wood into service faster using a meter. It's also a great learning tool for those without 50 years of wood drying experience. I've been using mine for firewood for a few years now and I'm still surprised sometimes with MC. There is absolutely no drawbacks to using a meter. You can spend under $50 and know what the MC is of the wood your cutting, sorting and choose to burn. No brainer decision if you ask me.
+1. You make some very good points especially concerning people who may not have long time experience and hard working people who do not have the time for 3 years worth of wood. Some of us like my self who are retired get spoiled by all the time on our hands to do what we like and forget that there are still people out there who do 50 and 60 hour work weeks.
I burn almost 100% fast-drying softwoods - pine, douglas fir, aspen, a little tamarack. It has all been CSS in the sun and wind for at least 2 years. I burn the oldest stacks first. Do I need a moisture meter? Nope, my methods are effective. Do I like having a moisture meter? Yep. They are pretty cheap, and another tool in the box, along with the stove top thermometer, the flue thermometer, the IR thermometer, and the glass door on the stove. I have burned effectively without any of these, so none of them are needed. But each adds another piece to the knowledge and experience that makes me a cleaner and more efficient wood burner. None of the tools are perfect, but they all are helpful. Keep learning, and get the tools needed to help you do so.
I've been burning wood for pretty much all of my life. Even with decades of experience, I still find the MM a very valuable tool. I'll be using mine when I split all the wood I've been cutting this winter. I use it to catalog what wood/ trees are at stages of drying. Using a MM will only help you understand the MC of a piece of wood, rather than guessing what the actual content is. Combine years of experience with hard data and you are only learning more. Fwiw, the Ryobi phoneworx mm can record all the data you need, with pictures as well as relative humidity, temperature, date, and pictures, and it's $35 at most, and sometimes only $25 when on sale. It works with smartphones.
I bought one just a few weeks ago because I'm so new to wood heating and reading so much about the importance of dry wood on this forum. I think it was $20 on Amazon. It was more curiosity for me knowing what a particular species or size or presumed dead split would read for moisture content when I was splitting. I've used it a few times and was most amazed just this weekend when I was splitting some red oak that I know was standing dead (or dead towards the top) that I had cut down last year and had been stacked in rounds for a good year. When I was splitting it, the grain had that carmalized, aged look to it that I would have assumed was good to burn as is. But when I checked with my meter, it was 30-33%! Granted, the rounds wern't stored in the best location; in a somewhat shaded spot with built up leaves and squirrel nut remains packed in the stacks. But I'm still learning the whole art and reading moisture content of different splits is really interesting. I need to test more of the stuff I'm burning now, which is mostly 2 year old red oak and hickery. Maybe this weekend...
