Amazing Results From Wood Drying in Pile

That farmer likes to put his hay away wet

 

Nah, it is...I worked for him for a while...he is always pushing it on how long (or little, as the case may be!) he leaves the hay dry

 

High moisture in the hay causes formation of Mesophillic Bacteria to form, if the moisture content is too high. At that point thermophillic bacteria form which elevate the internal temps even higher. I think it is near 170-190 deg F....based on memory. Once you have volumes and volumes of tightly packed hay, the lack of airflow to dissipate the heat allow for spontaneous combustion. The same theory is true of large stacks of wood chips at power plants and larger landscape firms that have large piles of wood chips. I have a small pile of chips outback...maybe 3 pickup loads in total in one spot. If I open that pile up, it is incredibly hot.

I have to think one could never stack firewood so tightly that this phenomenon could occur. I guess if you were getting truly squared up waste from a sawmill and stacked it like legos maybe. I do not get concerned wit the distance between stacks for this reason, as the air is flowing through the splits in addition to down the rows.

 

Arent holshausens basically just a pile of splits in the center, with a neatly stacked outer "shell." The design doesn't seem it would allow alot of air flow, but folks swear by the design and seasoning of splits.
Now I dont know if it would season wood in the time the video shows. But its interesting.

 

Good point. Some modern designs call for a Pipe up the middle that is supposed to act like a chimney. Guess if you leave a few feet out to get heated by the sun it can draw.
Older methodology on some called or a hole in the middle at the top. Like a teepee might hav for smoke.
I’m sure many builders leave out this aspect of the design.
Never built one tho.
If you can keep out the water it will dry. How long it takes compared to other methods I don’t know.

 

Seasoning wood is still better than not seasoning wood.

 

My neighbor treats his hay with something so he can put it up wet, if he has to. I'm not sure what he uses, but that article says it can put of cyanide gas.

So pretty much water causes hay to catch on fire

Here is what I was talking about in the video, which is kind of a modified holzhausen. post#11

Drying Time - Tossed in a Pile Vs. Stacked Neatly in a Row???

 

Which is why: You gotta make hay while the sun shines.

 

I live farther south than both of you. If I only dry my oak one season, regardless in a pile a row, double row etc it will hiss and steam in my stove. I have come to see that two years with two summers is best and three years is the best for my wood. I burn 90% oak.

 

Like you said, 2 years seem sufficient in dead standing oak. IMO

 

If I dried in a pile like that I’d have a pile of punky unseasoned junk, I’ve tried it here in nj and it does not work with my sun angle, air flow, temp and humidity

 

I know nothing is similar to the OPs example at all to my recent experience. However, I picked up a cord and a half of green cut Lodgepole at the end of August. I split half in the beginning of September and stacked it squarely and neatly on a pallet (no real sun exposure except late day.)

The second half I split mid way through September and just left in a pile which is exposed to the sun from 3pm till dusk.

All splits when first split were around 35%. I just tested the splits from both and the splits from the stacked group were 22.3% or so. My pile of splits is at 21.4% or so...

No real distinction but green lodgepole (at least in my environment which is dry with typical relative humidity at 25 to 30% humidity, and not uncommon for lower...) seasons pretty damm quick...

 

The lodgepole I've cut was below 20% when it it the ground. That's fast!

 

Yeah the folks I got it from in Truckee had cut it the day before I "horded" it. I've never burnt any before and look forward to seeing how it does with my Ideal Steel in a few more months

 

I've had two people comment on the video, on youtube, and they both said they had wood stacked and in a pile, and there was no difference in the MC. The one person lived in Florida and the other in Australia.

 

I need to watch this video when I get a chance.

 

Same process is occurring as in a compost pile.

 

I did the same thing the last two years and there were no difference. I'm in Northern California. It gets hot here. Many days over 100 degrees in the summer and very low humidity.

 

Yep, I’ve stacked heaped wood after a year in the heap and the middle stuff was nasty as you describe. The heap method doesn’t work for me.

 

A lot of that has to do with your climate and how much sun the pile gets.