Craigslist$@^#! Any way to dry wood fast?

[KINGOFTHENORTH]

Ive seen this trick work well before....pile wood inside,hang a burlap bag full of calcium(25-30 lbs) near wood pile over a 5 gallon bucket......youll have to dump the bucket quite often at first but it slows down to a pail a day after a week or so......water is drawn out of the wood(and air i imagine) and drips into bucket......old timer showed us this trick a few years ago.....work slick.....good luck!

 

[pl@yer]

Green/unseasoned wood is sappy wood. You can usually smell the sap and the ends look white. Water wet seasoned wood is not a big problem usually will dry up after a few windy dry days. The water evaporates pretty fast compared to sap.
If your wood was not seasoned properly you are really going to have trouble getting it dry.
If your wood is being stacked inside an enclosed space like a woodshed etc. you could setup a humidistat. Basically a bathroom fan sucks the denser humid air from floor level and exhausts it. The "Holz Hausen" method of stacking wood might help cure it quicker outside as well.

 

[zzr7ky]

If I really needed dry wood I would look for someone local to swap with. I would swap a board member for wood of similar quality (oak for oak, ash for ash, etc...).

ATB,
Mike P

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Adage of buyer beware comes to mind. Sorry this didn't work out for you, but "seasoned" has no universal meaning, and what is "seasoned" for one purpose may not be "seasoned" for another purpose. Although others may disagree, I'm not aware of any quick, inexpensive way to dry wood. Outdoor, open air stacking is best, IMO, as it costs nothing and the sun and wind do all the work, but it can take 1-2 summers, sometimes even longer, to get well dried wood for best burning in a wood stove.

I suggest looking again for wood that actually is dry and leaving what you bought this time to burn next season.

Ugh..That is what I figured...Seasoned wood in my area is so expensive I may just call it quits for this year and start getting ready for next. The local guy is asking $375/cord.

$375 a cord in MA?!?!?! You should be able to get kiln dried cord wood at that price!

That is how I ended up on CL. It's absurd.

I'm guessing Littleton - they are up at $375. Every week it seems to go up $25

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Any way to dry wood fast?

Not really.

 

[LLigetfa]

My mother would put wood for the cookstove in the oven.

 

[CowboyAndy]

anyone realize this is a 7 month old thread?

 

[Valhalla]

The problem is still had by many!

Find a local wood burner that has a very large supply, certainly more than needed for this coming winter.

See if they will allow you to swap your unseasoned fuel for a similar quantity and type.

You do all the work. Invite them to dinner afterward. You may also find a new friend, besides proper fuel for this winter.

Good luck!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

My mother would put wood for the cookstove in the oven.

Oh ya, I remember those days very well. We also used the oven for drying gloves.

 

[BrowningBAR]

anyone realize this is a 7 month old thread?

Well, that wood might be burnable by now, I suppose.

 

[billb3]

My mother would put wood for the cookstove in the oven.

He might have another kid in the oven, by now.

 

[Lazy Flame]

anyone realize this is a 7 month old thread?

Aww, so what. It's a timeless topic no?

I live in the river bottoms. Nothing dries down here. When you figure out how to reduce the moisture in a 5mi radius I'll quit postin it, lol.

my most recent dry stacks went to mold. Next I'll try roofs and covers. If that doesn't work out I'll hafta build a woodpile pavillion.

I don't wanna run my Lp furnace due to the stench. Something needs cleaned out. I think sveral mice made housies in my plenum while I used the wood burner last year. the ac didn't get any play because it was so cool. Life in the lowlands is complex.

I think I hear banjos.

 

[humpin iron]

buy your wood in March an April......then who cares how wet it is, you got 6 months to make it right

 

[pl@yer]

anyone realize this is a 7 month old thread?

doh!

 

[Lazy Flame]

anyone realize this is a 7 month old thread?

doh!

Just cuz it's old don't make it dead.

Some things are timeless! Like wood heat, done from the dawn of time!

 

[ChrisNJ]

Adage of buyer beware comes to mind. Sorry this didn't work out for you, but "seasoned" has no universal meaning, and what is "seasoned" for one purpose may not be "seasoned" for another purpose. Although others may disagree, I'm not aware of any quick, inexpensive way to dry wood. Outdoor, open air stacking is best, IMO, as it costs nothing and the sun and wind do all the work, but it can take 1-2 summers, sometimes even longer, to get well dried wood for best burning in a wood stove.

I suggest looking again for wood that actually is dry and leaving what you bought this time to burn next season.

Ugh..That is what I figured...Seasoned wood in my area is so expensive I may just call it quits for this year and start getting ready for next. The local guy is asking $375/cord.

$375 a cord in MA?!?!?! You should be able to get kiln dried cord wood at that price!

That is how I ended up on CL. It's absurd.

I'm guessing Littleton - they are up at $375. Every week it seems to go up $25

Damn that is a lot of money for a cord, I could make a decent profit if I had a big truck and the time to drive it up there, hell I bet my supplier would drive it up there for that price, he charges $125.00 a cord for mixed hardwood.

 

[Valhalla]

High moisture? Humidity? Ground fog?

A hard problem to solve, sun warmed sheds do help. Keep all rain and dew off the wood. Airflow is necessary through the stacks. Maybe also open spaced stacks, with wider gaps.

Good luck!