# moisture content of fresh white oak ?



## woodsmaster (May 16, 2012)

I cut a half dead white oak last fall and split it a couple months ago. the wood is reading 29% on my moisture meter. I thought this seemed low, I was expecting 39%. is this normal and how dry do you all think it will be this fall ?  I plan on cutting dead white ash for this winter but think the oak will be close to ready. What do you think ?


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## Snotrocket (May 16, 2012)

In my experience it depends on when it's cut. If I drop trees in Feb/March the wood dries a lot faster than wood I drop in the middle of the summer.

29% seems like it would be high if it's standing dead that was cut 6 months ago.


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## pen (May 16, 2012)

If you took a piece (or several) out of that pile and had the 29% reading on a freshly split face, I'd say you are doing well with that for this time in the year. Doing that again as time goes on, say in July, and then in Aug, will give you a better idea for where you'll be come October / November.

pen


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## woodsmaster (May 17, 2012)

Snotrocket said:


> In my experience it depends on when it's cut. If I drop trees in Feb/March the wood dries a lot faster than wood I drop in the middle of the summer.
> 
> 29% seems like it would be high if it's standing dead that was cut 6 months ago.


 
only the outer limbs were dead. I also cut a cotten wood tree at the same time, the moisture meter pegs out at 55% on the on the cotten wood.


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## jimbom (May 17, 2012)

Lots of stuff to read and opinions to hear about rate of drying.  My personal solution is a scale.  I record the weight and date on two or three pieces.  Do this every month or so.  The smallest typical piece, the largest typical piece, and maybe the average piece.

It dries fast at first.  Then the process slows down.  That way I take in all the variables about my wood, drying conditions, length, size, etc.  At some point you will discover for your particular circumstance that, more drying time is not going to get much more water out of the firewood.  My oak reaches a point where further drying doesn't gain me a lot on the performance of the wood.


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## JoeyD (May 17, 2012)

What moisture do you have? Some of the cheaper ones I see recommended here don't allow for different species. I have a lingomat that has two settings that I use for woodworking, its not good for firewood because it only reads accurately up to about 22%. I am not looking at the meter right now but I do know oaks and cherry are different settings. It also comes with charts that help you come up with more accurate readings based on temperature and humidity. I never really looked into what went into separating the groups.


So my point is, unless you have a higher end meter results can be different based on species and environment.


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## jeff_t (May 17, 2012)

JoeyD said:


> What moisture do you have? Some of the cheaper ones I see recommended here don't allow for different species. I have a lingomat that has two settings that I use for woodworking, its not good for firewood because it only reads accurately up to about 22%. I am not looking at the meter right now but I do know oaks and cherry are different settings. It also comes with charts that help you come up with more accurate readings based on temperature and humidity. I never really looked into what went into separating the groups.
> 
> 
> So my point is, unless you have a higher end meter results can be different based on species and environment.



I have a cheapy HF meter. I checked some cherry that was bucked for 6-8 mos before I split it and I got readings of 19-20%, standing dead ash that was 25%, oak that has been split and stacked for three years at 28-30%, and some mulberry that has been split and stacked for a year and a half at 35%. Eleven dollars well spent?


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## woodsmaster (May 17, 2012)

JoeyD said:


> What moisture do you have? Some of the cheaper ones I see recommended here don't allow for different species. I have a lingomat that has two settings that I use for woodworking, its not good for firewood because it only reads accurately up to about 22%. I am not looking at the meter right now but I do know oaks and cherry are different settings. It also comes with charts that help you come up with more accurate readings based on temperature and humidity. I never really looked into what went into separating the groups.
> 
> 
> So my point is, unless you have a higher end meter results can be different based on species and environment.


 
 I also have a lingomat, it was not a cheapy. It has two settings for different species. So far I've found it to be accurate. The cotton wood I checked had leaves growing out of it so I wasn't suprised to see 55% on that. I was suprised to see the 29% on the oak though.


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## TradEddie (May 17, 2012)

Snotrocket said:


> In my experience it depends on when it's cut. If I drop trees in Feb/March the wood dries a lot faster than wood I drop in the middle of the summer.


 
Logically, a tree in winter should contain far less moisture, so you're starting off better.  I had red and white oaks taken down in early March 2011, split and stacked immediately.  I tried a few splits in my old smoke dragon in October, and they burned well enough.  Knowing that I was getting a new insert, I brought some inside my garage for about a month, and those had reached 20% by February, although the splits still outside were more like 25%, not good enough for the new insert, but not bad for less than a year.  Previous oaks taken down in Summer were barely burnable even in the smoke dragon after 18 months.  Makes me wonder if it might even be quicker to wait until late winter to take down an oak, certainly a nicer time to split.


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## Woody Stover (May 17, 2012)

woodsmaster said:


> I cut a half dead white oak last fall and split it a couple months ago. the wood is reading 29% on my moisture meter. I thought this seemed low,


I had a White that blew down in Summer '11. The green leaves sucked some of the water out, and it was around 29% when I bucked it in March this year. I've heard that the White is supposed to dry a little faster than Red but I'm expecting to still see low 20s on the wood this Fall. Yeah I could burn it but I've got drier stuff, so I'll let it sit rather than deal with the slow starts and dirty glass.


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## woodsmaster (May 17, 2012)

I don't plan to burn it this year ,but think It may be close to ready this fall and would probably work in a pinch.


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