Can Wood Be Too Dry

[TROY COOK]

Blah Blah Blah, so what is your favorite type of wood to burn?? around here hard maple is king! We also have what we call ironwood.Some guys wont burn it,Because it will warp there stove.. I like ironwood It's grows so slow It's hard to find It much bigger around than a coffee can..

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ramsay, there certainly is nothing wrong with burning ironwood. I'll burn that any day. I'll also take both hard and soft maple. At present our main hard wood is going to be white ash, simply because it is all dying so we are cutting it into firewood. Of course we still have a good amount of cherry and elm with a tad bit of oak too.

Our woodpile is 7 years old so all of our wood is nice and dry. It burns excellently and we get no creosote.

 

[Wood Duck]

Do wood resins evaporate (volatilize) under normal wood seasoning conditions? I have never heard that they do, and if they do not then the BTUs contained in the wood resins must still be in the firewood even after most of the moisture from the wood or resins has evaporated. The message posted here said that the resins volatilize at around 500 degrees F, not at normal wood seasoning temps. If over-dry wood really had 50 to 60% less heat value than less seasoned firewood I think it would be big news and there would be more information available. The linked chimney sweep site did not have any information that suggests over-dry wood loses half its energy content. I'll keep stacking my firewood as far in advance as I can manage, hopefully at least two years, although I am not there yet.

 

[quads]

Isn't prehistoric Amber actually wood resin? You know, the stuff that ancient mosquitoes and other things became trapped in and are now fossils? Just guessing, but if that's wood resin, then I don't see how it could evaporate if it can become fossilized. I think only the moisture (water) evaporates and the solids of the resin are left behind, or am I missing something? If the resin helps the wood to produce more BTUs, then losing the water from the resin can only make it better up until the point that it becomes petrified, I would think.

So, unless I'm guessing wrong, the only way to have wood that is too dry is when you let it season for millions of years and it becomes petrified (rock).

 

[savageactor7]

As far as dry rotted wood goes I would call that punky wood like what's pictured. We have about 4-6 years of wood staged up and it's all good wood too, junk wood doesn't get stored. But I sure do get a good feeling when I harvest some dry junk like this to use during burning season...esp so in the winter. Like for 90 min work we can heat the house for 2 -3 days. Call me crazy but standing dry rotted wood is a easy take...no limbs, so easy you can split it with an IV in each arm...and it's free.

It not only saves and help grow our good stash but it's good land housekeeping as well. Not the kind of wood for overnights but if your in and about the house we have no problem throwing it in the fire. btw there are no bugs in this.

If trees are dead and soaken wet for some reason they dry out way super faster that live wood. Course that's after C&S-ed and elevating them off the ground. We've pulled submerged dead trees out of the swamp processed them and within a months drying they're light to the touch and burn very well in the campfire. Most of that junk that's leftover for campfires we'll use for shoulder season. Hey it's all good if you use it the right way.

 

[SolarAndWood]

So, unless I'm guessing wrong, the only way to have wood that is too dry is when you let it season for millions of years and it becomes petrified (rock).

I'm definitely not that far ahead yet.

It was interesting that the DOE link in the chimneysweep link simply made the gasses statement as accepted fact. It would be nice to see the science/empirical evidence behind it.

 

[TROY COOK]

BACKWOODS SAVAGE, Dose the ironwood you find look like this? or is the bark smooth? we have some of this ironwood around our camp..I love it,I was saying some guys say it burns to hot,I'm not telling them other wise..We also have smooth bark ironwood or beech I think that's the same tree? that's a good hardwood also,Very stringy bit hard to split.Myself I have never used a log splitter! Some guys go to the mall,I use my MAUL !

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ramsay, that sure looks like ironwood. I'm not sure where you live but if I'm not mistaken, there basically is no beech west of the Escanaba River. For sure there are many beech east of Escanaba.

And beech nuts make great deer food!

 

[TROY COOK]

Backwoods savage, we live over by the town of Ironwood,Lots of hard maple some Ironwood and I have found some beech I know It's not recognized of being in the western U.P. but my marquette hunting buddys bet me I could not find beech over here!but I found some! they also thought there was no sandhill cranes over here either,I found beech trees like sand country.the marquette guy's also think they have zero wood tics over there too

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ironwood, so you are way over west. I like that area.

Another place I've found plenty of beech is in Menominee county SW of Escanaba. And is there any place in the UP without ticks??

The sandhill cranes really seem to be spreading out more and more. I'm seeing them in many areas that have never had them before. I sort of like the birds but they are bad in farming country. They don't just eat the stuff, they have to pull it out by the roots. Bad...

 

[maplewood]

Can wood be too dry? In my opinion, most firewood would not be too dry . . . with perhaps the exception of stuffing a firebox full of dimensional kiln-dried lumber of kiln dried firewood.

Will the wood dry-rot? No . . . and certainly not in two or three years . . . more of an issue is making sure the wood is kept off the ground and if you're not going to use it for several years perhaps cover.

What is the ideal amount of time needed for hardwood to dry? Ideal . . . 1-2 years . . . realistically for most folks getting a year ahead is good . . . truthfully some manage to get half decent wood at 6 months. I think the goal is to get 1-2 years ahead.

+1

 

[Nonprophet]

Yes, sometimes with some species the wood can be "too dry" IMHO.

I've got some Madrone that is now 6 years seasoned. Madrone is a very sought-after wood in the West because it burns hot and long. However, this Madrone burned better at 3-4 years seasoned than it does now. It still burns hot, but now it burns noticeably faster than it did before. Just for the heck of it, I stacked a few splits in the rain for a week or two, then brought them inside to dry off for a few days and I recently burned them--subjectively I'd say they burned longer than their covered counterparts......

I will say that Madrone is the only species I've experienced this with--my White Oak, Fir, etc all burn better the longer they are seasoned, then again I rarely burn wood that is seasoned for more the 2-3 years and it was only a fluke that this Madrone got buried in my stacks for so long.

YMMV.......

NP