This is my second winter running a Mansfield, almost entirely on white ash. Here on my farm in southeast Wisconsin, all the ash are dying. I've had some sawn into boards but the firewood supply is endless, just like when the elms died a number of years ago. Ash has a reputation among some for not needing seasoning, so I wanted to share my experience. I've been seasoning some split ash for a few months, but today we were cutting trees that had some leaves last summer but were doomed not to leaf out next spring. We immediately split the logs. My moisture meter measured them at 18%. The "seasoned" ash in my wood shed measured between seven and 10%. I took a new split into my house, where the relative humidity is 35%. Within two hours, the moisture reading on that split dropped from 18% to 14%. I just used it to stoke the stove on hot coals and the fire is roaring, with the intake and stack dampers both open. We have white oak, apple, beech, hickory and maple (and some ironwood). The white ash, while it lasts, is the easiest wood to use. Cut it, split it and burn it.
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claydogg84
Minister of Fire
Some people did in fact believe Ash didn't need to be seasoned. I don't agree with that. The one part of your story that has me concerned in the 7-10% moisture content you're getting on your seasoned stuff. Either your moisture meter is wrong, you're not using the meter correctly, or your seasoned wood is actually kiln dried wood.
OK, I surrender. I didn't say ash didn't need to be seasoned. I said I burned it successfully immediately after I cut and split it. I did the same for years with elm that seasoned on the stump. The difference with the ash is that the tree had a few leaves last summer. Why are you concerned with moisture readings for seasoned firewood in the 7-10% range? My neighbor gets similar readings with a different meter. Pls let me know how to use my meter correctly. Note that I wrote that I had cut and split the wood on my farm. It was not kiln dried. Who kiln dries cords of firewood anyway? I'm interested in your opinions, but please explain your reasoning. Thanks.
I have never heard this about Ash before...I tested a few pieces a few days ago with a new meter and got 20% plus and this was from ash trees that had been blown down from a storm 2 years ago and cut and split and stacked late winter early spring of this year....my neighbor quit burning and gave me his meter and I am going to do some more testing on that ash...
I'm burning white ash, not green ash. That could account for differing moisture contents. I did burn eight cords of white ash last winter with no problem starting or restoking. Some of it I cut and split during the winter and put it right through the stove. If the wood had been 20% moisture I would have had smoke problems and creosote in the flue. After last season I had my dealer move the stove so I could build a brick hearth. The dealer took down the stove pipe and it was absolutely clean. Last year I had ash from my farm sawn into 800 BF of 5/4 boards, which I air dried. I have a piece here and just now tested it for moisture. It's at 5%. I just tested random splits of ash from my wood box at 9, 10, 13 and 11%. Keep in mind, the wood box is in the house, which is presently at 35% relative humidity. Outdoor temperature is 27. During a recent cold snap, the indoor RH dropped below 20%. The moisture of the ash splits appear to drop considerably after the wood has been inside a few hours.
I am not sure if I have Green or White ash...I need to check that out as well...a couple years back I remember cutting some ash that at the time I was impressed by how quickly it seemed to season..it lost weight quickly.No moister meter then as I was feeding a boiler...
If anything, I'd think Green Ash would dry even faster than White, since it is less dense. I believe both have low moisture even when growing, relative to many other species. Here in southern IN, I've only seen White Ash. I just dropped one that was about 28". It was still measuring 30% moisture or a little more in the main trunk, despite standing dead for several years. Any White Ash I get, except maybe some of the upper branches, gets stacked for at least two years before I burn it. I think the EAB is starting to show up here...seems like more Ash are starting to die. I expect to be burning a lot of it in the coming years, and will be sad when it is gone. I hate to lose such an all-around great firewood. 
As for the use of the meter, the wood needs to be at least 50* to get an accurate reading. Then take the splits, re-split them and jab the pins deep into the center of the freshly-exposed surface, with the grain. Equilibrium moisture content here in IN is 12-13% when wood is stored outside.
As for the use of the meter, the wood needs to be at least 50* to get an accurate reading. Then take the splits, re-split them and jab the pins deep into the center of the freshly-exposed surface, with the grain. Equilibrium moisture content here in IN is 12-13% when wood is stored outside.
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We have had a couple of diseased ash trees (not sure what variety) come down. They where all in the 30% range when split. I seasoned them 2 years and now it burns quite nice at around 15-20%.
I don't think it would burn fresh cut....
I don't think it would burn fresh cut....
I just stoked the stove with a batch of white ash cut and split last summer, measuring 14 to 18%. I raked coals from the rear toward the front, clearing a hollow in the rear for three stacked splits, placed east-west, then placed eight more splits east-west. Filled the box to the top. With the intake and stack dampers open, the box is full of bright orange flame. After the fire becomes established and the stove top is upwards of 300 degrees, I will close both dampers full. About six hours later, when the stove top is between 150 and 200, I will repeat the process. The only time I run the stove top up to 600 or above is to clean the flue. A stove top that hot burns too much fuel and makes the house too hot. Denser wood like oak or beech is more difficult to restock on live coals without using kindling. Oops, it looks like it is time to damper down the fire.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
One the trees that you recently cut down and tested, what were the outside temps?, its prob better to take a whole log, bring it inside, let it warm up then split and test to be certain that the wood is a dry as it seems to be, just for kicks bring in a couple splits tonight and resplit test tomorrow.
I've read things like this here a few times.
I'd like it to start working that way for me. I have ash in my basement now that was standing dead and C/S/S by April that has been in the basement close to the stove for two months. I don't have a moisture meter, but they're too heavy to be nice and dry. The anemic performance of my stove tells me that they could stand to be drier.
At the beginning of the season, I had some stuff that had been in my shed for a while longer, perhaps since early fall, 2016. This worked much better.
I'd like it to start working that way for me. I have ash in my basement now that was standing dead and C/S/S by April that has been in the basement close to the stove for two months. I don't have a moisture meter, but they're too heavy to be nice and dry. The anemic performance of my stove tells me that they could stand to be drier.
At the beginning of the season, I had some stuff that had been in my shed for a while longer, perhaps since early fall, 2016. This worked much better.
I can, and do burn green ash straight out of the woods. If the bark is off, and it's somewhat protected, I get moisture readings of between 12-17%. The lower I go on the tree the higher the moisture content. Some of this stuff has been dead for 10+ years.
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
Someone did mention it already, but are you testing this wood at room temperature? And are you splitting the wood and testing the inside, or just probing externally?
Because it is physically impossible to get that far below the average humidity level of you climate simply by air drying
Good questions. The numbers I've cited were from indoor testing. Readings were taken from the interior grain. The most interior -- the lumber experts I know call it the sapwood -- registers somewhat higher moisture than the adjacent lighter-colored wood. As a matter of curiosity, I moisture test wood outdoors when I split it and sometimes while it is stacked for seasoning or ricked up in the wood shed. It's a continuum, so it's interesting to observe. Obviously, the moisture content is greater in live timber that is cut and newly split. Much greater than in trees that are dead or dying. I've always cut dead or dying trees, not healthy trees. Wood from large fallen branches of ancient white oaks burns like anthracite just a few months after falling. If the tree is dead or dying and water is not passing upward through the vascular tissue (osmosis, isn't it?), the moisture content will be less than in a live tree. Emerald ash borer kills trees by girdling and cutting off the flow of water. Typically, an ash attacked by EAB exhibits distress one or two seasons before finally dying. Some of the published advice about seasoning firewood seems to be based on the harvesting of live trees. Try cutting any member of the maple family, such as box elder, in spring and sap gushes out.
There may be some space for a cot in the wood shed. You can help run the splitter in your spare time. Be my guest.can i come live at your house, please??
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
No. Testing in the sides (the split part). Although, the readings on the ends are usually not much different than on the split sides.
Thanks for your comment. Yesterday and today I had the help of two college and post-college age men, cutting and splitting white ash with diameters of between about 14 and 20 inches. All had the spalled bark, the indication of infestation by emerald ash borer. All had at least a few leaves last summer. They are in a large grove of ash, all of which are dead or dying. I brought some of the splits into my house this afternoon, including several short chunks about 6 inches long and about 3-4 inches thick, the products of imperfect splitting. My moisture meter registered about 18%. I put them into my stove on top of a stellar bed of hot red coals about three inches thick. Stove top was at about 250 degrees at the time. I shut the door and almost immediately the chunks began flaming, sending flames up to the secondary tubes. There was no noticeable smoke in the firebox. That was about an hour ago. Now I have both the intake and stack dampers shut and the stove top is up to 300 degrees and the chunks are cooking off. In a few hours they will be nothing but hot coals. I sure wouldn't wanted to have tried to ignite the high-moisture chunks in a cold stove, but they work on good bed of coals. Just FYI.
You're golden, cut and split that honey hole while you can, the Ash that has succumbed to the emerald ash borer is getting old and some of it is getting punky. Getting it cut split and stacked (CSS) will stop that process. Downstate we have a new pest called Oak Wilt. Will offer some good firewood, but damn I had to lose my Oaks.
Babaganoosh
Minister of Fire
Burn Time,
I see you saying you are testing the sides versus the ends which is good.
But in order to get an accurate reading you need two things. A piece that is approximately warmed up to room temperature (70 degrees) and a freshly split split piece.
That means you have to let it warm up, then split one of your test pieces, and then immediately stick those moisture meter probes into the newly exposed side.
Is that what you are doing? If not, you are doing it incorrectly.
I see you saying you are testing the sides versus the ends which is good.
But in order to get an accurate reading you need two things. A piece that is approximately warmed up to room temperature (70 degrees) and a freshly split split piece.
That means you have to let it warm up, then split one of your test pieces, and then immediately stick those moisture meter probes into the newly exposed side.
Is that what you are doing? If not, you are doing it incorrectly.
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