Moistue content again, hard to believe

[DanCorcoran]

"Now I’ve run out of sheds to keep my wood in, any more that I get is gonna have to start going outside."

The more airtight your sheds are, the longer the drying process will take (unless you have heat and/or forced air ventilation, as in kiln drying). Outside and covered (top, not sides) should be a lot better than in closed sheds.

 

[cptoneleg]

4 to 6 month old Oak I think you are still doing something wrong 25 to 27%, you said you had other woog

 

[fabsroman]

you guys were right, I was just checking the moisture content on the outside of the splits and getting 10-12%.

now that I re-split a few it went up to about 25-27% on the inside. Seems more realistic to me.

thanks for the input, I'm still learining.

now I'm trying to figure out how you guys get so far ahead on your wood and where do you keep it.

1st season I had NO wood to burn. was scrounging pallets and burning them.
This season I will be a little better off, but will probably still struggle while I'm waiting on the wood I do have to season.
I guess it just takes a couple of years before you can ever think of getting ahead of the game.

Now I've run out of sheds to keep my wood in, any more that I get is gonna have to start going outside.
Got to build some racks.

thanks again

James

This is my first year burning. I started cutting, splitting, and stacking at the end of July after I got the chainsaws and had bought the furnace. I am guessing that I need 3 cords per year and I already have 6 cords cut and split. 1.5 is stacked and we made racks on Wednesday for another 3 cords. I have enough lumber to make racks for another 3 cords, so I will be able to stack 7.5 cords after Irene passes through. The key is knowing a lot of people. I have around 150 clients, have lived in this area my entire 40 years, and know 3 farm owners. Haven't even asked the farm owners yet about getting wood from their properties. Essentially, you have to have the connections and be motivated to get ahead. That applies to life in general.

My one hang up is finding places to stack all this wood. Right now, I have the 1.5 cords stacked right by the deck. I have 1.5 cords of seasoned stuff sitting in a big pile in the driveway that I am going to put under the deck right by the basement door. Probably going to throw a brown tarp over the seasoned stuff. Then, I am going to stack 3 cords in the driveway. Might be able to squeeze 4.5 cords on the driveway and still be able to park the cars and truck in it. Project for next spring is a wood shed. Once I get the wood shed in place, I am hoping to be able to have 10 cords c/s/s and be well ahead of the game so I don't have to c/s/s during the summer ever again. Just trying to decide if I want to go 8x16 or 8x32.

What I am finding is that the hardest part of this is getting a system in place with the infrastructure. In essence, getting the tools in place, getting a spot set up for splitting, making racks, and finding places to stack the wood in the racks. This should be a lot easier in the years to come. Another project for next spring is going to be an enclosed trailer. I am getting ready to buy the plans for it and a car hauler from Northern Tools. Then, it will be time to research welders and take a welding class. Always wanted to learn how to weld. Once the trailers are built, I will be able to haul a ton of wood in a single trip. It is all about getting a system setup and in place.

 

[oldspark]

fabsroman, have you got that tractor yet, I think I saw one of your posts on tractorbynet?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

you guys were right, I was just checking the moisture content on the outside of the splits and getting 10-12%.

now that I re-split a few it went up to about 25-27% on the inside. Seems more realistic to me.

thanks for the input, I'm still learining.

now I'm trying to figure out how you guys get so far ahead on your wood and where do you keep it.

1st season I had NO wood to burn. was scrounging pallets and burning them.
This season I will be a little better off, but will probably still struggle while I'm waiting on the wood I do have to season.
I guess it just takes a couple of years before you can ever think of getting ahead of the game.

Now I've run out of sheds to keep my wood in, any more that I get is gonna have to start going outside.
Got to build some racks.

thanks again

James

James, it is better to stack the wood outdoors where wind will help to dry the wood. Most folks who store wood in sheds will first dry it outdoors because inside a shed the wood will dry so much slower.

We just put up a shed last year and I moved the wood we were to burn though the winter into the shed sometime in October. I'll do the same thing this year. Here are a few pictures of our outdoor wood stacks. We have time for the wood to dry so we stack 3 rows together and sometimes even more. But if we needed the wood to dry faster than we'd stack in single rows.

(broken image removed)

(broken image removed)

(broken image removed)

You will notice that we like to cover with old roofing. But the first summer and fall we do not cover. Then cover just before snow flies but cover the top of the stacks only. Never cover the sides or ends. Also stack so the wood does not touch the ground but you only need 4-5" off the ground. Landscape timbers will work fine. We just cut some saplings in the woods and lay those down to stack on.


This one is when we started moving some wood into the shed.
(broken image removed)

 

[fabsroman]

fabsroman, have you got that tractor yet, I think I saw one of your posts on tractorbynet?

Yep, I have been posting a lot about it over there. I was going to buy one in April, but the guys over there talked me into a zero turn mower as a dedicated mower, which is what I needed the tractor for at that immediate time. The mower has been great. Bought a John Deere Z445 and have all of 22 hours on it so far. I hate mowing grass, but this mower makes it bearable. Initially, I was looking at the John Deere 2520 compact utility tractor. Good thing I didn't buy it because I already want the 4320. Way too much stuff to do around this house like grading, pavers, french drains, drywells, etc. for me to be using a 2520 to move all that dirt, asphalt, pavers, sand, gravel, etc.

Another good thing about waiting for the tractor is that it allowed us to replace the furnace and AC. The furnace is a heating oil furnace which I didn't like to begin with when we moved in in February. We were keeping our fingers crossed that the AC would work and we would have some options about when to replace the furnace and AC. Well, it didn't work and the cost to repair it was going to be $500+, so we decided to put that money toward a new system since the current one is the original system and it is 24 years old. Between the mower, the $3,000 washer/drier set, the furnace, the chimney, the chainsaws, etc., we have used up most of our cash and I am now trying to get $10,000 in place for the year end contribution to the kids' 529 plans. If we are lucky, we will have the tractor in the spring after tax season, but I think I will opt to pay off my wife's car at that point unless I find a really good deal on a 4320. Once I get the 4320, I will be working on the house for 5 years straight, if not more. The furnace became a priority once I started actually looking at the Home Office Deduction forms for some clients of mine with oil heat. We paid $450 for oil in mid February and it lasted us 3 weeks. What I was seeing on my client's home office worksheets was $3,000+ for heating oil. Saving $3,000 a year makes sense on that purchase. Kind of like the money we save by me mowing the grass. The mower will be paid for in 3 years. Likewise, the furnace will pay for itself in 3 years. The grass and the heat aren't things that we could let go for a couple of years. The landscaping and water issues are things that can wait another year or two.

However, having the tractor will make cutting and stacking wood a lot easier.

 

[nate379]

Some of it was getting there, but I bought it for pretty cheap. Ended up with ~4 cords of good useable firewood and paid $450 for it... and then have probably .25 cords of campfire wood.

Bought some birch not long ago, was cut 2-3 years ago and not split. Was so full of moisture it was dripping off the splitter after a while.

Birch bark is to wood what baggies are to sandwiches.. Surprised the wood wasn't rotten..

Ray

 

[Woody Stover]

Never give up hope of getting some dry wood, even though time is short.
I cut three White Ash across the way a couple of months ago. The first tree went to SIL #1 about seven weeks ago, and the second went to SIL #2 three weeks ago. We're getting great drying weather now so I think that stuff will be OK when it's needed. Both of these trees started at about 25%
Now, the real shocker was the third Ash I cut. When falling it, I could see dark chips coming out of the back cut and I thought "Oh, this wood is gonna be too far gone." Well, I bucked it a few days ago, just to see. Didn't look all that bad so we split it today. Surprisingly, there was hardly any punk at all. The wood was discolored in some spots but the "thumbnail test" found mostly hard wood. The best part is, all the wood is 16-20% and most of it feels light and sounds dry. I'm thrilled!

 

[weatherguy]

If you need more seasoned wood check craigslist. My first year I bought 5 cords of wood at the beginning of the year, most of it was seasoned in time except for the oak, which I learned takes about 2+ years to season properly. I got by barely. The second year I found a guy that switched to pellets and had 10 cords of seasoned oak. I bought 4 cords already split for $80 cord. Now Im closing in on 10 cords and I have 4 seasoned and ready to go, I plan on having at least 3 years on hand at all times. I still check craigslit in case I find another pellet burner with leftover wood.