Friend came with a splitter and split most of the rest of the maple and beech that was cut and bucked in the early Spring. Probably close to four full cords split today. I was at Canadian Tire early this morning, moisture meter was on sale 70% off so I said what the heck and bought one. Checked a bunch of the newly split sugar maple just for the heck of it....ranges from 15 to 24 %, mostly right near 20%. Was I ever pleasantly surprised. The three + cords I split by hand earlier this year, which I have not had to get into yet, must be nice and dry. Put a load of the newly split in the stove this evening just for the fun of it and do I ever have a beautiful fire going. It' s been burning since 6 PM, now 11:30, the first floor is 72. The wind is positively howling off the lake out of the north, the noise is getting pretty amazing, but we are nice and cozy with soft blue flames.
If I can clarify this- You split almost 4 cord, with an average MC of 15%-to-24%, as of today. And then you loaded your stove with this freshly split wood, and have a beautiful fire going in it. Hmmm.... Not possible. Not possible. Not pos..... error in the matrix.
Sounds like he's burning dead standing , beetle kill lodge pole That enough to get you thru winter ? The burn test burn is the best way to test wood IMO. Burns great , ready to go
The wood that was stacked in early Spring will more than get me through the winter. I have not yet burned any of it. Have been burning uglies and brush. Still have a face cord of uglies for the shoulder season at the end of this burning season. If the weather we have had so far is any indication of the winter to come, I will have wood left in this year's stack for next year. The wood split yesterday is for next year and on. I had originally brought is some scraps that were lying around the newly split wood, then for the heck of it tried my new moisture meter on them. They all read really low...under 20 %. I wasn't expecting that. Thought I could dry them, because they were so thin, near the fire and add them to my other fires. But once I saw the moisture content, I went back to the wood and brought in some of the uglies from that were going to be a pain to stack. Checked the moisture on the freshly split faces and was pleasantly surprised. So, I decided to start my evening fire with just that wood. Beautiful fire resulted. I'm happy. This wood was all cut and bucked in early Spring. The trees were not dead. Woodland Dynamics (who cut the trees) bucked the trees and left the rounds on their sides, and slightly out of line, so that all the rain we had didn't do any harm, and the wind could get at the cut faces. This particular tree, a large sugar maple close to 30 in. DBH, was sitting on the limestone slab (bedrock) in front of my house, exposed to the North and West winds. It has been a very windy year. I have not checked the moisture content of the other trees split yesterday. It may be quite different. Two smaller trees (Beech 16 in DBH and sugar 24 in. DBH) were closer to the lake, more exposed to the wind, while the others were further back along my road, slightly in the woods and pretty protected from the wind....relatively speaking. It was very windy here, as I said. Anyway, will be interesting to check, but will be just out of curiosity, as this wood is all designated for next year and beyond.
Maple and Ash seem to dry pretty well in the round, in my experience. My BIL had some norway maple and white ash rounds sitting for a year or more. Brought my MM over there one day and thought I'd be able to show him the error of his ways. He had some black walnut that pegged the meter, but the maple and ash that were stacked on their sides, and not touching the ground, were 15-17%. Didn't know whether the same would apply to sugar maple though. Good to know!
Good stuff sherwood. Seen the sale at CT but didnt stop in? How ya's making out with the storm right now?
Windy, to put it mildly, off the lake. Relatively calm once we get in the woods. Artan and I have been for three walks today...about 1/2 mile each time. Not very much snow yet, despite the forecast, so no snowballs on his legs, for which I am thankful. The wind is so strong off the lake that I have no snow at all on my porch or steps. Happy I don't have to shovel. How is the storm in your neck of the woods, Loon?
Emma slept right through it and by the looks of the water trough on the front deck, we got quite abit.
Amazing. We are just a few miles apart, yet other than wind this was a non-event here. I have a few inches. I actually feel a little better seeing the amount of snow you got: the weather forecasts weren't as ridiculous as I thought for our region.
I've been splitting some white oak that I bucked and stacked at the beginning of this year. Various pieces are showing 25-30% on the MM. The idea that wood doesn't dry in round form isn't totally true, it just does it much slower. I was pleasantly surprised since usually white oak is dripping wet when I split it
