# List of Fastest Curing to Slowest Curing Wood?



## boatboy63 (Aug 15, 2010)

Just wondering, is there a list anywhere that shows in order, the fastest curing wood to slowest curing? Seems like this would be a sticky on here.


----------



## CountryBoy19 (Aug 15, 2010)

boatboy63 said:
			
		

> Just wondering, is there a list anywhere that shows in order, the fastest curing wood to slowest curing? Seems like this would be a sticky on here.



I agree, I wish there was something like this out there. The closest I've come was a list of MC when green. But that doesn't necessarily depict seasoning.


----------



## smokinj (Aug 15, 2010)

There is someone who has it...Beech is the best answer!


----------



## gibson (Aug 15, 2010)

White Oak is one of the longest to season.  Maple and Ash are in the middle.  Cottonwood is one of the shortest.  Feel free to fill in the gaps, anyone?


----------



## precaud (Aug 15, 2010)

Dead wood cures fastest.


----------



## boatboy63 (Aug 15, 2010)

I was thinking black locust was the fastest curing as it will even burn green (supposedly) and red oak is very slow to cure (2-3 years).


----------



## Jam Master (Aug 15, 2010)

Wood with the lowest moisture content to dry weight and rising to highest moisture content to dry weight are Ash-15%.....Beech-17%....Black Locust-17%....Shagbark Hickory-19%....Hard Maple-21%....Black Cherry-22%....Yellow Birch-23%....White Birch-24%Red Maple-24%....White Oak-25%....Red Oak-31%....Elm-35%...Butternut-41%....Hemlock-44%
 Ideal dry weight is considered to be 20% so MC of fresh cut Ash is 35% All info from the BTU reference guide on AS


----------



## SolarAndWood (Aug 15, 2010)

The problem with that list is it takes Hemlock a lot less time to dry than Oak.  If I needed to heat my house this winter and was starting from scratch, I would go find some softwood.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Aug 15, 2010)

I'm not so sure a list like that would be usable. Some of the fastest drying wood might not be so good for burning. The true answer to the whole problem is to get your firewood well ahead of the time when you will need to burn it. He who depends upon shortcuts usually will find the roads under construction. Or, he who waits to get his firewood in too short of time to allow for Nature's drying effect will have poor fires this winter and will usually blame it on his stove.


----------



## gzecc (Aug 15, 2010)

Here is the list I use. The bottom has seasoned ranking.
http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html


----------



## joann (Aug 15, 2010)

I have found black cherry to season really fast if stacked properly


----------



## CountryBoy19 (Aug 15, 2010)

gzecc said:
			
		

> Here is the list I use. The bottom has seasoned ranking.
> http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html


Yes, it ranks the wood once it is seasoned. But that doesn't tell how fast it seasons.

What we're looking for here is a list that says, Ash seasons faster than maple, which seasons faster than oak etc. We know the green MC of most woods, but that doesn't necessarily tell us how fast they'll season.


----------



## RIDGERUNNER30 (Aug 15, 2010)

Like backwoods salvage said try your best to get ahead of the game and when its your first year  burning wood in these new epa stoves , they will not perform like they should with wet green wood, but i was needing some wood that would dry fast and had high btu's I would be using black locust, I like it better than most wood i use.


----------



## RIDGERUNNER30 (Aug 15, 2010)

Hey boatboy 63, I see you live in northeast tn, I have seen alot of back locust trees  when pasting threw your neck of the woods. do you live out in the country ? If so i would be cutting all the black locust i could find. around here were i live the guys that have wood burners have the older non epa models and they don't believe in letting your wood season heck they have never heard of a moisture meter , but the members on this side are experts in the field of wood burning and you can bank on what they are telling you. people like backwoods. begreen, and brother bart  just to name a few can help you better than some jackass at a hearth store or some guy that cuts firewood a month before winter trying to sell it to people telling them thats its ready to go and is season.


----------



## gzecc (Aug 15, 2010)

CountryBoy19 said:
			
		

> gzecc said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thats what the green rating is.  Its excess moisture needed to remove before 20% MC!


----------



## oldspark (Aug 15, 2010)

gzecc said:
			
		

> CountryBoy19 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Not sure what your point is as it does not tell you how fast the wood seasons.


----------



## CountryBoy19 (Aug 15, 2010)

oldspark said:
			
		

> gzecc said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Exactly, it tells you how much excess moisture but it doesn't tell you how fast it seasons.

Does all wood season at the same rate? IE, oak will go from 35% to 30% MC in the same amount of time that ash will go from 35% to 30%? What we're looking for is a chart that says, Oak will season in approximately X many times as long as ash, or just a reference that says x seasons faster than y etc.

The MC doesn't tell the rate at what it seasons, just what MC the wood starts out at.


----------



## rdust (Aug 15, 2010)

This shows drying times for 4x4 lumber.  I think most of us around here have proven more time is required then what is listed here, it's some type of reference though.


----------



## Battenkiller (Aug 15, 2010)

Here is a table from the U. S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service publication, "Dry Kiln Operator's Manual".  It can be found on page 177 at the end of Chapter 7. You can download this manual in PDF form from the following website:


http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publications/several_pubs.php?grouping_id=101&header_id=p


The publication relates specifically to kiln drying wood, but I'm sure the info in the table is based on the drying characteristics of the mentioned species.  It's a start at any rate.


----------



## YZF1R (Aug 15, 2010)

The fastest is always someone else's. The slowest is mine.  :cheese:

Steve


----------



## SolarAndWood (Aug 16, 2010)

Battenkiller said:
			
		

> Here is a table from the U. S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service publication, "Dry Kiln Operator's Manual".  It can be found on page 177 at the end of Chapter 7. You can download this manual in PDF form from the following website:
> 
> 
> http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publications/several_pubs.php?grouping_id=101&header_id=p
> ...



No wonder Big Redd is always touting his Doug Fir.  And those lodgepole guys are right behind him.


----------



## Battenkiller (Aug 16, 2010)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> No wonder Big Redd is always touting his Doug Fir.



No wonder the standard EPA test fuel is Doug Fir.

I don't care, though, I'll take the slower drying hardwoods for my money. ;-)


----------



## gzecc (Aug 16, 2010)

CountryBoy19 said:
			
		

> oldspark said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## Vincent (Aug 16, 2010)

jotul 45 said:
			
		

> I have found black cherry to season really fast if stacked properly


I always have good luck with black cherry also


----------



## CountryBoy19 (Aug 16, 2010)

rdust said:
			
		

> This shows drying times for 4x4 lumber.  I think most of us around here have proven more time is required then what is listed here, it's some type of reference though.





			
				Battenkiller said:
			
		

> Here is a table from the U. S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service publication, "Dry Kiln Operator's Manual".  It can be found on page 177 at the end of Chapter 7. You can download this manual in PDF form from the following website:
> 
> 
> http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publications/several_pubs.php?grouping_id=101&header_id=p
> ...



Thanks, that's what we're looking for. Granted, they aren't perfectly tailored to what we need, but that is a very good reference to have around. It gives us an idea of what to look for if we want quick seasoning wood.

Yellow-poplar FTW

I thought the poplar that I had to take in order to get the oak, maple, and ash as well was going to be a nuisance, but now I'll hopefully have some seasoned wood for this winter (first year burning wood and didn't have a whole lot stocked up).


----------

