Well here in the PNW, in our county its 92 degrees!! Perfect weather for dryin wood!! But, and bad day for working in the woods. Supposed to stay in the 90's for the next couple of days, then drop down to the mid 80's. So, here at least, most any wood you have split up and stacked, will probably end up being good for this fall. I do have some Oak that's been down for about a month, doubt it'll be even close for this year. Oh, it shows 21% humidity outside right now. Its been a little windy off and on, so that's going to help as well. Did split a little bit of that oak today, and its got a lot of moisture in it. Took some readings the other day it was in the mid 20's as far as moisture content, i marked it, with a felt marker and i'll recheck it again this week.
I started to panic in June with all the humid rainy days here. I hear the guys in the NE from last year saying how wet everything stayed right up until winter, and running out of wood dry enough to burn. I draped some tar paper over this winters supply as a precaution. Looks like we're past that though and it's starting to look like things are good to go. The tar paper seems to have held up, and was fast cheap and easy. End of august I'll get what's needed inside handy by the back door, under cover, and out of the winter blizzards and cold.
It's been very wet here in Eastern Pennsylvania, in fact NOAA says we are close to 16 inches above the average. I have made it a mission to keep all my wood under cover and on skids. Have lots of the free Harbor Freight tarps and have all my wood covered unless it is in my woodshed. Sometimes it seems like keeping off the ground is as important as keeping the wood covered.
Got the wood sheds full already. A bunch is waiting to be split, but no rush as I won’t need it this year. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
One bad thing about my oak, its on the North side of the shop, in the shade most of the time, its uncovered, and drying, but, its slower without the full sun on it. Plus, there's some pretty good sized splits in the pile. I'll work them out, and split them down to even a smaller size later. Being on the north side, its protected some what from the rain, and i'll cover it with tin when the time comes. Looking forward to lots of wood burning this season, i've got plenty to burn, lol.
Your probably right, but how much and when. Almost every year we get a good dry spell here in July and August. So far this year is no different. Damp in June, but bone dry now. Burn off the surface moisture, then it's in the garage to keep it dry. I went through different drying schemes, metal roof, tarps, uncovered/then inside. Most were a big pita. Stuff would blow off, tear, leak, heavy, use some of the wood and rain would come in from the side and soak it. The current system seems good for here, se wi, but milage may vary elswhere. This is the first time using some cheap tar paper, in a pinch. Its doing it's job, isn't blowing around, kind of heats and folds in place in the sun, yet doesn't puncture. A little insurance till the stack comes in the garage. I like it. Probably do it again next year. Like you said, it's always good and can't hurt. $15 for a 140ft role. I wrap beehives with it too, so there are plenty of partial roles and scraps too. Are you still using the old tin roofing?
I just finished a two cord oak stack B.Brown and its in the shade on the North side of my shed as well. Top covered with metal roofing panels (a first for me). Had used tarps prior in this spot and as Yawner stated, a PITA at times.
Well my split and stacked wood should be drying good too. Have some sitting in a pile that needs to be resplit and stacked too. It got to 112 degrees today with 10-14% humidity . way too hot to work outside for sure. Very hot again tomorrow. Need to check my oak and euch to see what the moisture content it. Was hoping to sell some wood this winter to offset my pellet cost.
When I split it, it had 34% moisture according to my meter. Will split a couple and see where it is now. Been split and stacked for about 3 months. I can tell you it has srunk and settled down quite a bit, so I'm guessing it's drying pretty good.
More than the shade, if it is too close to the shop, it is not getting good air flow through the stack. Wood can and will dry in the shade if it has good air flow.
Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage What we've found to be the very best is to cut wood in winter, split and stack it in late March or early April (depends upon the weather and snow melt). Then stack it right after splitting. We stack 3 rows together and no, it does not seem to hinder the drying effect but we also stack out in the open. We usually do not top cover until late November or early December. If, however, we have an extremely wet fall then we would top cover in September but that could be done every year if desired. We leave the wood outside for whatever time until we need it and that is usually 3-5 years, depending upon how much wood we have on hand. Then we move enough wood for winter burning into the barn closest to the house which means we don't have to fight the snow and ice.
There's about a 3- 31/2'' gap between the wood and the shop, might even be 4'', plus, when the wind blows like it is this evening, it blows right down through the wood, and out the back so its almost like a walk way/ breeze way . I'm sure that will help, right now, its 25% humidity, the other day, wens it was 19% and 90 degrees. Rest of this coming week, in the mid 80's , good stuff.
I've tried drying wood next to a shed and yes, left good room between the two but still had problems drying it. Of course if you have some fast drying wood then it is probably not an issue. Oak? Yes.
