Burning firewood is all pretty new to me so I picked up a moisture meter few months back to make sure I am burning dry wood %20 or lower (Boy does dry wood make a difference). However I notice some of the pieces I burn hiss and don't burn well which I know is immediate indication its wet. My dumb question is how far do you push in the pins on the moisture meter? I push in as far as I can but that's not very far as most of my wood is white & red oak. I get a below %20 reading but still some of it hisses. Do I need to push those pins on the moisture meter all the way in? Thanks in Advance!!!
Not a dumb question! You are ahead of the curve by already having a meter! Split the test peice and push pins in in the middle not on the ends the ends are usually the most dry. If you just touch the pins to the wood and take a reading then bury them they should read the same this way. Most manufacturers say to push the pins in all the way. But if you do I've found d it impossible as well. I just stickem in nice and firm.
No no most of them are dead tree's that I've dropped or some of them were already dropped. Some of the dead tree's I've dropped were very high moisture still but some of them were very low and some burn nice but just some don't. Just such a difference in the flame from a wetter piece to a dry piece make all the difference.
I use roughly 20 lbs of force. Think of the energy it takes to lift a case of beer, or about 20 lbs, and that's about how hard I push, maybe less. That will bury your pins deep enough I would think. And sometimes a piece is 90 % good, and then has more moisture by a knot or whatever. Did you warm up your wood/pieces of wood inside to room temp, then split it and check the center?
Take one of your logs, split it in half and them touch the pins to the fresh side of the split, you really don't have to push them in at all. Then you'll have an accurate reading of the wettest spot of the log.
The only dumb question is one not asked. Check your wood on a piece of room temperature, 70° or so, fresh split wood. Fresh split, as in, split and measure instantly getting the pins firmly into the center if the split. Standing dead trees will dry from the top down and take years for the main trunk to dry, if it doesn't rot first. Fire wood needs to be split to dry properly. Splitting increases the surface area allowing moisture to escape. Logs and rounds may dry slowly over years or in the case if birch will just rot if not split. This is why woods Like oak, sugar maple, hickory and the like are rarely dry even if they've been standing dead for 3 or 4 years. And remember my motto: "The best device for measuring the moisture content of split firewood is a muli-year calendar."
No I didn't just split them and checked them. I will grab a bigger piece and split it and recheck some of the bigger pieces. Thinking that might be the problem some of the larger pieces holding little more moisture in the middle. I will try getting the pins a little deeper too just don't want to pop one off doing so. Thanks!
It's just a matter of time before you become an old hand at this, and will know just from the weight and the sound if your wood is ready to go.
Thank You! Am getting there, I've picked up some pieces felt the weight and been kinda hearing the sounds and getting a decent idea of what's really dry. Still pretty green at it but I've been burning past few nights and learning more and more. This weekend suppose to be pretty cold for my area low's in the mid-upper 20's. I know for some folks that's like summer, ha!!!
ReelFaster , yep, you need to split a few pieces to get an accurate reading. As has been said, different parts of the tree dry at different rates, so it's entirely possible that you'll get a variety of results from wood out of the same tree. I think you might be surprised at what you find once you split a few. I don't rely on how the wood sounds when you smack a couple pieces together. I just got some very wet Maple that sounds like bowling pins being banged together, so in my humble opinion, it's not a good indication of dryness. Neither is checking on the end of a split, or color. Like Ralphie says................. Lacking that, a MM works too.
That's for sure on the sound check I just finished stacking some maple last night that most of the pieces sounded good when tossing into the pile off the splitter but had water juicing out at the wedge and were visibly wet inside as well
Indeed with dead trees, you can find the moisture content with a wide range. Generally speaking, the top half or top third will be ready to burn right away but that bottom third or half might be full of moisture. Just one more good reason to get on the 3 year plan. Shoot, you won't even need that moisture meter then because if you have handled the wood correctly, it will all be nice and dry. You'll not fight the fire; you will burn less wood; your chimney will stay clean; and best of all, you will enjoy the heat it gives.
Maybe my experience with poplar is different then, but like I said weight and sound. With a high water content, they should obviously be heavier and yeah they make a sound but it's like a thud. Take for example unseasoned white poplar. A 6.25" round 16" long weighs around 15 lbs if it was alive when cut. It will shed a little better than half it's weight when it's completely dry. I find it pretty easy to tell the difference by weight alone.
That's exactly been my limited experience so far. I was wedging a dead tree few months back and it started shooting out water at the base. I literally jerked a bit LOL I didn't know what the hell it was coming out at first!! Turns out the center had been bored out by insects a little bit. Top was pretty darn dry good to burn. I've found allot of the dead wood behind my house has been ravaged by bugs. Also got Wood Roaches.....Yep I never heard of em either I thought they were good ole roaches in the wood but after more googling turns out there is such a species loves moist wood, hides under the bark, the wife is gonna love that, HAHA! Now am clanking every single piece we bring in to burn just in case.......!
If you are on the 3 year plan, you should be safe regardless. I believe even if the moisture content is below 20%, it still may hiss a little also.
I have heard a sap blob on the outside of tinder dry pine hiss, snap, crackle, and pop, likely in single digits MM%.
I rely quite a bit on my moisture meter due to the way I harvest trees but the sound of 2 very dry pieces of wood banged together is unmistakable eh?. I get some larch that is so dry it makes the sound that reminds me of banging two wooden baseball bats together. When the mc is higher they dont make that sound at all, its more of a thud.
I guess it's not my 100% tell tale but there is noticeable sounds often between wet and dry wood..... bottom line is I just like that hollow sound just like a strike on the lanes or a home run hit of a good ash bat
