This is my first year burning - in fact our stove still isn't hooked up yet. I had it scheduled for last week but I had to put it off till late September for work reasons. Anyway, we're going into this winter relying on my father in laws 3 to 5 year stack. I cracked a bigger split and here's the reading. I believe this is ash which is 90% of what he has. Should be a big 1.5 cords when we get it all here. I really liked him since the first time I met him but now I love him for keeping his wood stack once he quit burning!!
There is no better reward to burning wood than seeing the MM say 17%. Except maybe the relaxing constant heat the stove delivers. And the laughably tiny heating fuel bills.OK, I could go on and on, but that ash is EXCELLENT!
Without this forum I'd have been burning oak I CSS in April. Obviously no need to post pics of those mid 30's readings but it's checked so everyone tells me it's ready..lol.. All kidding aside, the information you guys share here has been invaluable to me.
You'll have a great winter burning. Realizing you have prime firewood & no stove yet. One of the Best Scores of the year: Free, CSS & DRY fire wood. ( & Ash ta-boot) Spoiled ! How many cord?
Thanks man! My conservative guess is about 1.5 - that would be the minimum. I only have a little bit of it right now. The rest is still at her parents house. Next time we go up there I'm gonna bring the trailer to just get it all - should be two weekends from now.
I'm surprised it's still that wet being 5 years seasoned. My wood is about a year seasoned and it's almost all 13-15%.
This year with the weather what was at less than 20% is now more like 30%. Not just because of rain but the humidity this year has been like living in a equatorial jungle. If I hang a shirt out side for about 20 min. then bring in and iron it I do not need any steam from the iron- makes its own.
It's really humid around here in the spring and summer. I don't think any wood stored outdoors could get that low here. I'm happy with 17. I suppose it could drop a little more in the fall if it's dry.
I love me some ash! I have the same moisture meter and it seems to work well! I have some dead oak that I cut last year and split it. It read 17 percent when I split it and this stuff had been dead and down for years. I should split and read it now after it has been split for a couple of months to see if it changed at all. Looks like your first year is going to be better than most peoples! Lucky Bastach!
17% mc is about primo for our climate.....I'd say you will be good to go. Don't rely on that ash to keep an overnight fire, look for some oak for your overnight loads. But ash is one of my faves, I have a PILE of it to burn this year myself. I'll be starting out with a mix, then quite a bit of ash and walnut come late November, with oak being my overnight wood.
Hey Scotty. We've burned many, many nights with nothing but ash and get along just fine. Yes, oak will keep the fire longer but the big thing is to keep the temperature of the house comfortable and we do that for sure. As you know, we keep our home around the 80 degree mark all winter. We love it. But if we get up in the morning and the temperature is down to, say, 75, we are scurring to get the fire going!
Driving, Nice of your FIL to donate that wood to his daughter and son in law. Sounds like you have something in coming with him with the firewood, hoarding thing going on. We will need lots of pics of this ash score, stove and your creative stacks along the driveway come this fall....
