# How fast does Douglas fir dry and others on the west coast?



## whphel (Feb 3, 2008)

How fast do certaint wood dry?

In my state it is very humid (Western Washington north Seattle area). Most of the woods available are.

Large leaf maple
Pine
Douglas fir
Alder
Hemlock
Spruce (many types)
Fruits (not a bug source but) Apple, Pear, and Prunus varieties (plum, cherry, stone fruits)

I am storing my wood in a 15X25 carport and a portion of a 30X40 pole building both of which get sun and plenty of air circulation. Due to our weather here and humidity I prefer not to store wood out in the open like the guys in the east plus I have the building area to store it. What type of dry times can I expect for these types of woods split into 6x6 to 4x4 chunks for the wood listed above so I can stack apropriately for next seasons burning.

Thanks.


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## hilly (Feb 3, 2008)

I'm a bit west of you and here's what I do; it's a lot of work, but I do everything I can to burn safely. In the winter or spring I cut and split the wood and then place it in single rows where the wind and sun can get at it. At the end of the summer, after a good long dry spell I stack the wood inside my barn. 

My brother and I disagreed about whether or not you could leave wood outside, uncovered. He found out quickly that our winters are much too wet to let the wood dry between storms!


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## wulybgr (Feb 3, 2008)

East coast or West coast the same thinking still applies.  

1)Two years of seasonng is best,but 1 year the wood wil be mostly dry.

2)Get the wood off the ground.  The bottom row or two will never dry on the ground.  Get some air under it and it will dry and keep the bugs at bay.

3)Cover only the top of the pile to keep the rain off.  Do not completely tarp a pile from ground up or you will end up with a humid rotted mess.  You better off to leave the wood uncovered then to seal it up.

4)stack it in the area that will get the most sun and wind exsposure.

That is about it.  I live relatively close to you on the Kitsap side of the Sound.  I just scored a bunch of maple and amworking on getting a cople of years ahead.The best way to do the wood thing is to get ahead and stay there.That way you don't have to play the game of which wood dries the fastest and listen to your wood sizzle if you can even get a fire going.

Steve


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## RedRanger (Feb 3, 2008)

Do not do as I have done  Been putting my wood straight into the woodshed,well getting into some 18 month old stuff and it is burning like crap.  Moisture only reads 20-25% but it has mold and mildew on it, and is giving me very little heat.

Come May I will be hauling out the 4 cords that are for next seasons burning, and stacking in rows out in the sun and wind for the summer, and then wheelbarrow,by wheelbarrow hauling it all back to be stacked in the woodsheds again. If the wood is damp to begin with it simply won`t season or dry properly in the woodshed.

I`ve learned my lesson the hard way. If you are reading this you won`t have to :cheese:

The climate here on southern vancouver island is very similiar to yours.


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## Highbeam (Feb 3, 2008)

Don't forget about cottonwood, another plentiful wood that I am burning right now. You will find that a typical firewood load from a vendor will be doug fir, alder, and maple anything else is pulp wood and the mill will take it in low quality. You don't need to use up your valuable garage/bar/shop space to store firewood. Go get pallets and stack the wood in 4 foot tall rows somewhere sunny and windy. I only put two rows of wood on a single row of pallets so that the wind can blow through and maximum drying can occur. Leave it uncovered through the summer until the rains are about to begin and then cover the top and about one foot down the sides with plastic. After the full summer, our local species will be ready to burn so rather than cover in the fall you may choose to bring the wood into a shed or barn for convenient storage. I would rather only move the wood once so I cover the rows with black plastic. 

We don't have a humidity problem here. It is a cold rain.

I had a load of butt ends delivered yesterday. 5 cords of Maple and doug fir. They will be processed and stacked as soon as the ground firms up. For you folks in deep freeze climates what we have in western washington is a spring thaw condition all winter long. Mud and muck that looks fine until you start working in it and then the ground turns to goop.


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## begreen (Feb 3, 2008)

I usually get away with 1 year with doug fir, I suspect this is in part due to its high oil content. Soft maple will be ok to burn with a full year of drying if it is split into 6" and under splits. Thicker splits probably won't be dry in the middle until the second season. A couple of other wood species available in some areas of the Pac NW are madronna (my fave, although 2 years to dry) and tamarack which I haven't burned but folks say it's very nice firewood.


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## TMonter (Feb 3, 2008)

If you cut and split Doug fir green plan on one year. If you cut standing dead and split it early you can burn it same year you just need about 6-7 Months of seasoning. I cut and burn primarily Doug fir for five years now and found most of it can season in 6 months since I cut almost all standing dead trees.

Tamarack is great firewood, the problem is it's hard to find.


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## Highbeam (Feb 3, 2008)

Oh yes, I forgot about madrona. Probably the only real hardwood we have here in the NW grwing wild. It's smooth bark and high density makes it a fine wood but it is somewhat rare. Be sure to split it green, it gets really tight when dry.


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