How to "season" wood quickly? And wood length?

[PapaSmiff]

I was fortunate enough to convince the person cutting down my neighbor's tree to give me the wood. Not sure why he agreed. But now I have about 2 cord of green, uncut wood in my driveway. FREE!!!! The trunk is about 20" in diameter. This will be fun to cut with the 16" length bar on my Shandaiwa 488.

My question is: How can I get the wood to dry enough for use in March? Or should I give up on it for this season and just wait until next season?

If i cut it to 18" in length, split it to 2" or 3" in diameter, and stack it in my garage, will it dry enough by March to use in my arch?

[500592]

If you really wanted it to be really dry you could put it in you garage and run a dehumidifier

[RileySugarbush]

Split it and stack it loose inside and have a box fan blow on it. The sooner you start the better, but air movement even during the winter will dry it out.

[hkillam]

You need air movement and sun. Storage in garage not a good idea until it is already fully seasoned. If it's oak it wont be ready. Ash or basswood, no problem. Other hardwoods will have various outcomes. Splitting smaller will definitely help.

[SeanD]

I've been in a similar bind and beggars can't be choosers when you are short on wood. If at all possible, try to give it another year. It will burn so much better if you do. It's such a downer when the boil drops because green wood is going in.

Try to get it split and stacked ASAP, but also look on Craig's List for people getting rid of seasoned wood or pallets for free. The more of that you can collect, the less of the green stuff you'll need this spring.

No big rush, though. You still have about twenty-four hours before the snow flies :cry:

Sean

[SeanD]

Hey Papa,

I just did a quick search on the Western Mass Craig's List. There's a bunch of dry wood out there. There's a guy in Chicopee with a truckload of old flooring. Maybe he'll deliver it too.

When you do a search, go to the "Free" section and search for "firewood" "fire wood" "wood" and "logs". People refer to their wood in different ways and misspellings abound.

Sean

[SeanD]

I forgot "pallets", too. There's a guy in Holyoke who already has them broken up.

[RileySugarbush]

You need air movement and sun. Storage in garage not a good idea until it is already fully seasoned. If it's oak it wont be ready. Ash or basswood, no problem. Other hardwoods will have various outcomes. Splitting smaller will definitely help.

I don't agree. A couple of years ago I had a big red oak go down in August. Cut logs in September and had it all split and stacked in my sugarhouse by the end of October. I kept a fan on it well into winter and it dried out well and burned very well. You could smell the green wood for the first month. No sunlight, just air circulation in a covered building.

[hkillam]

I don't agree. A couple of years ago I had a big red oak go down in August. Cut logs in September and had it all split and stacked in my sugarhouse by the end of October. I kept a fan on it well into winter and it dried out well and burned very well. You could smell the green wood for the first month. No sunlight, just air circulation in a covered building.

Interesting. I haven't been so lucky. I've tried both red and white oak indoors with a fan, and outdoors in sun and wind. Gave up on the indoors experiment after four months. My moisture meter showed the indoor wood wasn't drying nearly as quickly as the outdoor. I'll feel lucky if the oak I'm stacking right now is ready to burn for winter 2012/13. Just how BIG is this fan your using?:rolleyes:

[Maplehobbyist]

When wood is dried in a kiln, there is both air circulation and heat. The air movement is what removes the moisture, but warmer air can hold more moisture than cooler, allowing the wood to be dried faster. Of equal importance is allowing the saturated air to escape. Moving air that is full of water isn't going to remove any more moisture.

[GramaCindy]

Hey Papa, I read this in the previous to yours thread…."How do you stack your firewood" Interesting.http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/fluckiger132.html

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

http://www.backwoodshome.com/art/dot.gif

do this in garage with air moving like others say you be all set
very neat concept makes sense

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Hey Papa, I read this in the previous to yours thread…."How do you stack your firewood" Interesting.http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/fluckiger132.html
dammmm u grandma i didnt read your ost just post from favorites daaaaaaammmmmmmm u hahahahahahahaha

[GramaCindy]

dammmm u grandma i didnt read your ost just post from favorites daaaaaaammmmmmmm u hahahahahahahaha
Hey Flat Lander! You've got to get up PRETTY early in the am to beat me~ LOL!

[vikingHB]

GramaCindy

Have you tried this wood stacking method.
Looks like a great idea, my only concern is the center of the pile not getting much sunlight for good drying conditions.
Indoors I think it be a good way to get plenty of air for the wood to dry.

[red maples]

in the dead of winter even with snow on the ground it is dryer outside than the sahara dessert. true fact.

I would stack it outside in a sunny area open area so the wind can blow through the stack and remove snow piles from either side, If possible put a piece of ply wood over the top with a a 6 inch over hang, cover only the top only with with a brown, black or dark colored tarp draping only about 6 inches over the sides. stack it single file if possible. if you have to stack 2 rows leave at least 1 foot between the stacks. and you should have no problem.

If you stack it in the garage stack it away from the wall point fans at it and run the dehumidifier on warmer winter days keep a humidity gauge out there to make sure your humidity stays low.

[GramaCindy]

No, Viking I have not, just saw the post on here and thought it looked like a great idea.

[White Barn Farm]

I found plans for a solar firewood dryer and am trying it to see how it will work on our house wood. Basically a greenhouse covered in plastic with a vent at the back wall to let the moisture out. I have a stack 4'x4'x12' on pallets to let the air in. I built it last Saturday and can see the green beech cracking nicely already. I figure that it will be drier than stacking it outside and when the sun shines it heats and dries even more. I built it in about 2 hours and had all the materials but could buy the stuff for next to nothing.
Worth a try and fun to check the progress.

[hkillam]

I just remembered the other reason I wouldn't, personally, season green wood indoors. "unseasoned firewood = food source to many things. Let the drying happen outside and you greatly reduce your risk of having an infestation of any kind in your home as a result of the firewood." For some, the garage is considered "indoors", for other, it isn't.

I've only been taping and boiling for one year, but I've been burning 5 or 6 cords of various hardwoods, for home and outbuilding heating, for the last 5 years. Whenever I have a wood species ID question, or stacking, seasoning, splitting, tree felling, or anything wood-fuel related, I do my research at "www.hearth.com". I highly recommend it if you want to tap into a wealth of wood fired experience. The specific section of that forum is call "The Wood Shed" and you can go there directly with this link: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewforum/27/

[Brent]

Here's what I would do

If your garage door faces south and has a clear line to let sunlight in ... go with the garage

put it on skids with open spaced boards

stack it criss crossed ie one layer east/west next layer north south, with lots of air space between pieces

put a fan on it full time

open the garage all day when there is no snow or rain flying.

If the garage isn't facing the right way

skids and stacking as above

stack it where it will get sun an lots of wind. An old timer near here who sells firewood by the truckload
says wind is more important that sun.

put a tarp over the top, or better some old plywood that will protect it from percipitation.

when the snow flies horizontally, wrap it to keep the snow out.

and of course the finer the splitting the better

If it gets to burning season, I'd have some seasoned wood and this stuff and burn them mixed as needed.
If they start hissing steam when you light the fire, give up on it till next year and engage plan B

[sap seeker]

Trade someone 1.5 cords of green for 1 cord of seasoned and you'll be further ahead of the game.

[batsofbedlam]

Can't haul firewood into Maine.

[markct]

shouldnt be a problem cutting it with a 20 inch bar, you could cut a bit more than twice that diameter with that size bar if ya needed to, we had a log here that the 28 inch bar on my big saw couldnt touch in the middle, that made for a bit of agravation but after some notching got the last couple inches cut and seperated

[PapaSmiff]

Here's some pictures of the wood I need to cut and dry. I acquired the wood on the day before the recent Nor'easter.
478847894790

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I search drying wood and found this thread.

I have a similar question but on a larger scale. I ran out of wood last year only about 3/4 way through the season. I scrambled and made it most of the way, so this year I am trying to put up many many more cords. I am thinning, so supply isn't an issue.

QUESTION IS: Considering our poor drying year in Central VT, how do I get my firewood to dry the fastest? In terms of stacking styles, spacing, on pallets, in sugarhouse, fans, heat, etc. Is there any research on the topic?

I am cutting Ash, yellow/white birch, soft maple, beech, striped maple, Ironwood, spruce, hemlock and white pine. A lot of the wood is less than 4 inch diameter and doesn't require splitting for my arch. Lengths are 30-40" pieces.

My woodshed is 3 sided, 20*20 and will hold 20 cord +/-.

Here are my options as I see it and was interested in opinions on what people think will work best.

Option 1 - Stack all wood outside in open area with at least 4 ft between stacks with metal roofing on top - Then move into sugarhouse in October/November

Option 2 - Stack in Sugarhouse using criss-cross stacking of each row to promote air flow. Leaving 1' between stacks for air. Then to run fans on stacks.

Option 3 - ?? Was thinking about stacking Woodshed full, covering with tarps or poly, then heating using small wood stove and fans? Seems like a lot of work, but I want dry wood. Has anyone ever done this? I was also wondering if mixing the types of wood would aid in drying, for example putting a layer of Ash between layers of other wood since Ash is practically dry the moment it get's cut down? just a thought.

Option 4 - I am open to suggestions.

My goal is 40-50 cord, so I plan to stack a bunch outside anyway since the wood shed only holds 20. But Where I am not sure is if I should stack it all outside for now.

[Shawn]

Burn pine and hemlock in sugar house. Was able to haul out four cords prior to our great summer so far with rain, as cannot get in woods now as to wet. Got another two cords from neighbor and have split that all up early before like I said our great summer to date and have six cords of it split and sitting in open field piled up and is drying good with sun when we get it. Will stack it all outside on pallets in late August and cover top with tin. Sugar house woodshed is already full from end of year with left over. Will have a total of ten cord to go with . My cord wood for house I do during the winter and haul out and cut up and split and let sit in pile until late spring and then into wood shed.

[maple maniac65]

stack inside and buy a huge DE HUMIDIFER kind of hard to dry wood in the Northern Tropics

[wiam]

I don't know how far you want to go but there is a firewood dealer near me that is putting racks in a heated tracor trailer box to kiln dry it.

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I will look into the DE Humidifier, I suspect that since my woodshed isn't sealed and since the floor is dirt, that it wouldn't do that much for the wood.

I like the concept of Kiln Dried, but don't have a Trailer and they are about 3-4K to buy used in my area. Maybe someday.

I didn't mention it before, but I am also going to try to burn a lot of Poplar this year. They are like weeds in my woods that must be pulled.

I think I am going to try a mixture to test a few different options. Outside with good spacing and tin covering, vs in sugarhouse with fans, maybe heat and De Humidifier. My gut tells me the fans would help alot.

I was also considering removing the back side of the woodshed. It's three sided now. However, I could remove siding off back if the wind makes that big a difference.

I was thinking instead of removing all the siding off the back I could cut a few large holes with doors on hinges that I could drop down in Winter.

I wonder how hard it would be to turn my woodshed into a makeshift kiln? If I used Poly to seal the wood it might shrink wrap it all when heated.

I need a few months of sunshine. Then hopefully my anxiety about this will subside a little. I am just dropping trees everyday, hoping they will be dry enough to burn in March and I'm not feeling optimistic with the 20+ inches of rain we've had in the last 2 months.

[RileySugarbush]

When I drop nuisance elms, I leave branches and leaves on for a couple of weeks. The seem to suck the moisture out of the trunk in that time and the wood is much drier when I cut and split it. I've never tried it on a bigger tree, or Oak/maple, but it should help.

[happy thoughts]

When I drop nuisance elms, I leave branches and leaves on for a couple of weeks. The seem to suck the moisture out of the trunk in that time and the wood is much drier when I cut and split it. I've never tried it on a bigger tree, or Oak/maple, but it should help.

That's an old timer's trick I was going to suggest but you beat me to it :).

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

Thanks, that's a good idea. I have actually heard of that before. I guess I need to put some of these old timer tricks back into my operation.

[SeanD]

You're right. It's so damp here that it takes wood forever to dry out. My yard is shady which makes it even worse. I've had my best wood when it has been stacked and drying for 18 months to 2 years. I fell behind last year, so I'm in the same spot you are.

I have to get my wood into the sugarhouse now because this is the only time I can do it. The reality is I'm way too busy in the fall. My sugarhouse bakes in the summer, so I'm hoping that helps it dry out better.

I think your best option is the easiest. Fill both your woodshed and the outside space now. Then in October/November move whichever is driest into the sugarhouse. Whatever is left behind is your wood for the 2015 season. You don't burn 40-50 cord, right? Then you are in a cycle where you can just let time do its thing and the wood you are splitting during the summer is for two seasons away.

Sean