Gentlemen I have a question lets say you cut a cord of wood now when it is supper hot will be completely dried let say November? or you should still wait a year before using it? This is a small debate I'm having with my buddy. According to him he is now the subject matter expert!! on all wood matters.
Depends......on type of wood, climate, how large the splits are. The wood won't dry for quite a while around here until it's bucked AND split. Even plain old White pine. However, given that it's already just about the middle of July, I doubt it. Pine or Poplar, if CSS in March.......good chance. Oak, even CSS last year.....nope, not here. Will it burn? Sure, but so many BTUs will be lost trying to get rid of the moisture, it's a waste of time and effort.....unless there's no alternative. Let me go out on a limb here.........no, he's not. Sounds more like he's either unwilling or unable to stash wood in advance. I'll stop now and let others chime in.
Ok Just to say that if the tree has been dead for some time, I have reason to believe it would be ready to burn in a couple weeks to a couple months. Thing is though burning wet in a woodstove has been mired here in terms of its usefulness. Or uselessness for lack of a better term. In WA state, a doug fir can be cut in January, split and stacked and be ready by Fall, Ive got about a 1/3 of a cord of this stuff and it will burn beautifully in a pit fire but in a woodstove, I have yet to test this out. The thing is, there are so many dang variables with drying wood that no one place or even one person is going to be right unless they are going to give you this answer: "Burn DRY SEASONED wood"
P yeah I didnt wanna include oak or the like here but I hope we can get info from the OP on what wood that his "expert" has got.
Not include OAK! Well, probably a good idea, since it takes so long. We've had these discussions before but I'll relate this again. About 3-4 years ago, I cut some dead no bark Oak, and got it split ASAP. Took more than 2 years to dry and the trees were no more than 8" diameter to start.
Splitsnstacks said the similar thing the other day. Had some oak still wet even when he had it split and stacked 3-4 years ago. Its interesting enough though but some wood has a way of staying "alive" I guess!
Total BS around here. I got around to splitting some nice ash that had been sitting in a pile of 18 inch long rounds for 4 years. When I split it you could see the water running out of the splits where I struck it. It was almost as wet as the day it was cut, and yes we do have hot dry summers with temperatures in the 80s and 90s during the day. Today I saw 93ºF on my dashboard thermometer during a ride and the bike had been parked in the shade right before I took off. Ash is one of those woods, like pine, with a reputation for rapid drying but my experience tells me it really stays high in moisture until it is split.
Yes you can have high temps but what is your relative humidity? In the summer ours in WA fluctuates from single digits to 99.9 (likely rainy or super cloudy muggy) this would just drastically keep wood from drying out properly... I had to specifically note that there are too many variables that come to play here. I also put Doug fir as an example because it is one of the fastest drying species here in WASHINGTON STATE. We have wet winters and Dry summers. Most any firewood information page for Washington will state to dry your wood for a year if it is from here. There are exceptions I am sure but the local knowledge states clear. Might want to ask any Oklahoma people who live or lived there how long was it until firewood was ready depending on the species. Just too many variables depending on location, location of wood, what kind. Is it split :stacked or in a pile? Randy it would be good to mention what are the ramifications of the wood your friend has because even folks on here are in debate amongst themselves. I don't know how small your buddies splits are or even if they are split and stacked. So far we're relying on a bit of hindsight not seeing anything or description of it in detail. Not wanting to be in a debate nor eke one out. The knowledge here on FHC is good but again its relative based on where you are as well.
It would have to be pretty dry to begin with. And you'd have to keep it that way. I've had some standing dead pine tops that were CSS for about the same amount of time, which tested as the driest stuff in my stash come fall. The tops from some standing dead trees of certain species, maybe. But a living tree of any species, no way.
I spelled out hot and dry summers. We get an annual precip around 40 inches but experience weeks at a time with zero rainfall. Unlike the pacific north wet we have weeks at a time that are quite dry. Weather here is closer to what you would experience on the east side of the mountains in Washington, the area where they grow the apples. When traveling southward toward Richland from I-94, I felt right at home on the highways.
Same old story. People still haven't changed their gathering/burning habits. Learn for themselves, maybe.
That's why I burn dry wood. I have yet to hear my neighbors complaining when I have fires outside. They don't.
Well, back in the good old days when some of us were young and living life out on the prairie we had things to do so wood cutting was done in the early spring before field work or other seasonal chores needed done and the real work for the summer came apon us. But that was in the days of a masonary fire place or a pot belly stove or a wood fired cook stove. Usta remember the old 7 months and it is ready to burn. Which, back then it was with what was available to us. Coarse you could burn like this fella, Sorry, I know many have seen this but it still makes me laugh.
I watched this a coupla weeks ago. I guess you can blow on fire that is gnawing on wood like wood beetles do until you're blue in the face. Either way, that stove must look like chit as far as creosote goes. By the way that chain better get in the shop. He seems to be sawing it...
If cut from a live tree and cut split and stacked today in splits no more than a few inches thick, one MIGHT be able to get SOME firewood into low 20's moisture content by November. Types of wood that comes to mind include soft maple. Drying conditions wound gave to be great as well. Full sun and wind. My setip which gets sun for about 4 or 5 hours on summer days would not work Any denser wood will not be ready. your friends idea of wood being ready might be wood in the 30 percent range, which would produce heat, but in reality would be a pain to deal with, cause more creosote, and you would need to burn more of it. EPA stoves do work way better with good dry wood. If your friend has an older stove, it may be more forgiving than EPA stoves.
It was painful watching the first half of that where he was using dry kindling mixed with wet kindling to get a few visible flames but not much heat. Did you notice his hands were inside the firebox much of the time rearranging things? I think I would rather just build an upside down fire with dry wood and strike a match before I walk away from a 2 hours plus fire. The heck with using my lungs as a bellows to extract marginal heat from terrible fuel.
