Measuring moisture in rounds?

[rudysmallfry]

I recently harvested a large load of wood from a friend's yard. I plan to not split anything under a certain size and eventually burn it as rounds. Mostly the Maple, Hickory and Black Locust. My question is, how do I know when it seasoned to under 20%? Do you just split one to check and let one piece speak for all the others?

 

[begreen]

I recently harvested a large load of wood from a friend's yard. I plan to not split anything under a certain size and eventually burn it as rounds. Mostly the Maple, Hickory and Black Locust. My question is, how do I know when it seasoned to under 20%? Do you just split one to check and let one piece speak for all the others?

That might work for limbs from the same trees, but not necessarily for different species. Give them extra time. Rounds dry slower.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Wood will not season in rounds.. I did a thread on this like 4 years ago.. I had oak sitting in rounds for a year and it only dropped a few percent. Bark is like plastic wrap.. moisture is not going to go out of it.. You will lose very little moisture from the end grain.
Your wood will start to rot from the bark going to the center of the round
Limb wood is a little different.. I dont split anything 6"in diameter and smaller.. Anything larger gets split.
You need to quarter up the rounds at a minimum to slow/prevent rot, it will not season very fast and the likelihood of it getting to 20% in a reasonable time just sitting on a rack is slim
Your better off picking away at it and splitting here and there stacking as you go.. The maple may dry faster depending on species.. the hickory and locust.. not so much.. both are hard woods

 

[rudysmallfry]

So limb wood less than 6" can be left in rounds. Split anything else into at least quarters? Works for me. I have plenty of limb wood.

 

[Woody Stover]

I split anything bigger than 4", and sometimes I'll split 4-inchers if I need more small stuff to mix into the stack. Or I'll hit a 4" with a maul to crack it, not split it all the way. I figure more air can get in. I might do that on both ends, at 90* to each other. A 6" round will take a long time to dry, in my experience.

 

[kborndale]

Species matters, birch left in rounds will rot before it's ready to burn. Oak has real thick bark and takes forever to dry in rounds. Ash or red/silver maple have thin bark and will dry pretty well in rounds. Just make sure they aren't on the ground and know it will take quite a bit longer than split wood to season, especially larger rounds.