Does Wood Start Seasoning At All When Bucked But Not Yet Split?

[turbocruiser]

That's a lot of touching of the wood. Careful you may go blind.

Its okay I've got great 20/15 vision so lots and lots of reserve for more fondling, I do have some astigmatism though so things always look a little crooked, maybe that will get worse? The good thing is that lodge pole pine is almost always super straight so I probably won't ever even notice! Ohh well I gots to do what I gots to do!

 

[kingston73]

Back to the original question, I was just out splitting some rounds that I'd cut to length 2 years ago. I'd stacked them and they got misplaced and forgotten so I'm finally getting around to splitting them. I checked the first few I split and moisture content was in the high 20's, this was with 2 year old cut wood. The same trees that I'd split and stacked are currently around 15%.

 

[turbocruiser]

Back to the original question, I was just out splitting some rounds that I'd cut to length 2 years ago. I'd stacked them and they got misplaced and forgotten so I'm finally getting around to splitting them. I checked the first few I split and moisture content was in the high 20's, this was with 2 year old cut wood. The same trees that I'd split and stacked are currently around 15%.

What species was that out of curiosity and were the rounds and splits all stored in similar way? In other words were the rounds that got "misplaced" sitting somewhere where they wouldn't cure as fast? Thanks.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Despite the slower cure, I don't split rounds that are small enough to go in the stove door (up to 8 in.). I like them at night when I don't need a lot of heat, just want the fire to last all night.They provide a much longer burn than if they were split. Or is that just because the MC is higher

 

[dmmoss51]

Of course an 8" round won't take as much time to dry as a 24" round either.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Turbo, this makes me curious why you, "stage them for a future single split." You also state that is when the weather is warm enough to finish the splitting. That is interesting because when we hand split, we always did that in the winter months. I hate splitting when the weather turns warm and wood will usually split the easiest right after being cut.

I know that's tru with some wood, but it's definitely not the case with lodgepole pine. I think it's because it dries so fast, lodgepole pine rounds develop end cracks that run deep into the wood and act like natural fracture weaknesses that seem to facilitate splitting. Whatever the reason, I can tell you from experience, it splits a lot easier after it's had a chance to dry out then if it's still green and/or freshly cut. The difference is pretty extreme too, it can be a bear to split when green, and a real pleasure to split once it's developed some fracture cracks.

 

[oldspark]

I know that's tru with some wood, but it's definitely not the case with lodgepole pine. I think it's because it dries so fast, lodgepole pine rounds develop end cracks that run deep into the wood and act like natural fracture weaknesses that seem to facilitate splitting. Whatever the reason, I can tell you from experience, it splits a lot easier after it's had a chance to dry out then if it's still green and/or freshly cut. The difference is pretty extreme too, it can be a bear to split when green, and a real pleasure to split once it's developed some fracture cracks.

Yea not the case with Elm either, if I stack the elm rounds in a single row and let them set one summer the Elm splits a lot better.
I know BWS agrees with the Elm thing because we have discussed it before, a handful of woods(or less) are the exception to the rule.

 

[kingston73]

What species was that out of curiosity and were the rounds and splits all stored in similar way? In other words were the rounds that got "misplaced" sitting somewhere where they wouldn't cure as fast? Thanks.

They are/were locust rounds. By misplaced I just had them sitting in the wrong order on my pallets, but they were all in the same place in my yard. I shift the wood from 1 pallet over to the next as I cut and split it so I know how old each pallet is, but I guess I started moving one section and either just forgot or got distracted, so the rounds I'm talking about ended up at the bottom of a pile of freshly cut rounds.

 

[kingston73]

I know that's tru with some wood, but it's definitely not the case with lodgepole pine. I think it's because it dries so fast, lodgepole pine rounds develop end cracks that run deep into the wood and act like natural fracture weaknesses that seem to facilitate splitting. Whatever the reason, I can tell you from experience, it splits a lot easier after it's had a chance to dry out then if it's still green and/or freshly cut. The difference is pretty extreme too, it can be a bear to split when green, and a real pleasure to split once it's developed some fracture cracks.

I've found this to be true for locust as well, at least whatever kind I have in my yard. The stuff is a royal PITA to split when first cut.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I have found that oak splits much more easily when green/wet. I reasoned that it's due to the fact that you can't compress water.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I spit some green big leaf maple a couple years ago,,, it was ridiculously easy to split. I have no idea if it was any harder to split if it was dry, but I sure couldn't imagine it being any easier to split.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I know that's tru with some wood, but it's definitely not the case with lodgepole pine. I think it's because it dries so fast, lodgepole pine rounds develop end cracks that run deep into the wood and act like natural fracture weaknesses that seem to facilitate splitting. Whatever the reason, I can tell you from experience, it splits a lot easier after it's had a chance to dry out then if it's still green and/or freshly cut. The difference is pretty extreme too, it can be a bear to split when green, and a real pleasure to split once it's developed some fracture cracks.

This is good to know for those that have lodgepole pine.

As oldspark stated about the elm, we actually wait until the tree is dead and most of the bark has fallen from it. In this way, rather than having a stringy mess with the elm, many times it can be split with just an axe. However, I still go for the hydraulics....

 

[turbocruiser]

I totally realize this isn't an indication of thorough seasoning but the wood that I cut just two weeks ago is already starting to show deep splitting on the ends! This stuff seems to be truly fast to season. I'll follow through as promised and share some moisture readings when I first split this stuff and then after some time seasoning.