Moisture Meter - I need one

[Gripptide]

Looking for a moisture meter. Please give some recommendations.

Thanks

 

[ErikR]

I have this.. I'ts cheap, works ok.. Others will have other opinions of it..... or even question the use of one... I have a large area of woods behind my house. I harvest a lot of dead and fallen oak. I like a MM so I know what's ready to burn now, and what needs to dry some more. I suppose I could get by without one if all I ever did was cut green wood, split it, and wait 3 years...

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Moisture Meter - I need one

By what chain of thoughts do you come to conclude that you need one?

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

I recommend a model with a "check" or "calibration" function.

Check function is: you stick the 2 pins in your hand palm (not to deep - we don't want to measure the moisture content in your blood).
This should measure around 32% MC
Then you know it's functioning well.

 

[Gripptide]

By what chain of thoughts do you come to conclude that you need one?

I do not have one and should have a better idea of the moisture content of my stacks. Am i missing something?

 

[Firewood Bandit]

Griptide,

Get one that has probes that are built fairly substantially as you need to firmly press them in the wood.

When you check a sample, take a piece of firewood and split it again and take your reading from the center, not the surface. The surface will dry down in a few days. The center takes many months. Ideally in direct sunlight and access to wind and off the ground.

 

[bigbarf48]

I got mine at lowes. It took a vet long time and no less than 6 employees to find them, so ill go ahead and clue you into the fact that they're located in the flooring section

As to their necessity, do you HAVE to have one; no. But it's a nice little gadget to allow you to check up on your wood and learn drying times/tendencies/etc, especially for a noobie.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I do not have one and should have a better idea of the moisture content of my stacks. Am i missing something?

Maybe. Do you see the thread that pops up every couple weeks that goes something like "My MM says my wood is fine but it sizzles and will hardly burn, etc" or "I've had my wood racked up for over 2 years and the MM says it's wet." ? People seem to surrender their judgement to MMs regardless of what every other bit of sensory input is telling them.

IMO you don't need one and further, they cause my heartburn than they help. I've been heating with wood for about 30 years. I've known dozens of people in that time who also heat with wood. Until I joined this board 5 years ago I had never heard of a moisture meter. Get your wood split and get it off the ground - most conifers will be ready to burn in 12 months - most deciduous will be ready in 18-24 months. It's just that simple.

 

[Gripptide]

Thanks for the replies - I too had not heard of them until this site, but figured it is one more tool in the arsenal to be as efficient as possible.

 

[jatoxico]

I have the one ErikR recommended and it works fine. I've never had a piece of wood that my meter says is 15 or 20% or whatever sizzle. Presumably you want a meter because your wood is not seasoned for 2-3 yrs. So fine, two years from now you may not need it what do you do till then?

You can live w/o all kinds of things but it's $10 and can assist you in deciding the good from bad, help select pieces that need to be split smaller or help you decide those that need to be mixed in with drier stuff until you are sitting 3 yrs ahead.

If your wood pile has been cut split and stacked for 2-3 years and you want to save the $ then do that but I don't understand why some posters deride a helpful tool .

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I have the one ErikR recommended and it works fine. I've never had a piece of wood that my meter says is 15 or 20% or whatever sizzle. Presumably you want a meter because your wood is not seasoned for 2-3 yrs. So fine, two years from now you may not need it what do you do till then?

You can live w/o all kinds of things but it's $10 and can assist you in deciding the good from bad, help select pieces that need to be split smaller or help you decide those that need to be mixed in with drier stuff until you are sitting 3 yrs ahead.

If your wood pole has been cut split and stacked for 2-3 years and you want to save the $ then do that but I don't understand why some posters deride a helpful tool .

It's not "some posters," it's just me. I deride them because they're superfluous like log-jacks. If your wood is dry you don't need one. If your wood is wet it won't dry it any faster. If you don't know whether your wood is dry or not you need more help than a MM can offer.

 

[BrotherBart]

And most people know if it is cold or warm inside the house or outside the house. But they look at thermometers anyway.

 

[jatoxico]

It's not "some posters," it's just me. I deride them because they're superfluous like log-jacks. If your wood is dry you don't need one. If your wood is wet it won't dry it any faster. If you don't know whether your wood is dry or not you need more help than a MM can offer.

It's not just you. But when you're not in the best situation wood wise, where some is ready and some is not a MM helps make the best of a bad situation. Saying if your wood is dry you don't need a meter is pointless and adds nothing to the conversation, but you knew that already I'm guessing.

 

[missedbass]

I bought the general from lowe's. It's fairly accurate. What do I compare it too? I compare it to my nose and my eyes. I split and stack, look at the splits and smell the wood.
So far the mm agrees with my senses. The bottom line is season the wood for 3 years for best results

 

[bigbarf48]

It's not "some posters," it's just me. I deride them because they're superfluous like log-jacks. If your wood is dry you don't need one. If your wood is wet it won't dry it any faster. If you don't know whether your wood is dry or not you need more help than a MM can offer.

Their use is to determine the dryness of a pice of wood, so what you're saying is not helpful and doesn't make sense. Not everyone is an expert at sensory evaluation. And just because someone wants to use a meter to determine if their wood is dry or not doesn't mean they "need more help than an mm can offer"

They certainly have a use, and they are helpful to some

 

[Quentin2]

I just bought this from lowes, it was located in the tool section with the other meters. I've been really curious to see what my wood was. This is my first season burning I had no wood seasoned but I have standing dead beetle kill which always seems bone dry.

Well it tested out mostly 15-17% on a fresh split, I was pretty pumped to see this cause I just dropped these last week. Also encouraging was a giant spruce that was a windfall that the beetles were working on but hadn't quite killed registered 25% this was cut up about two months ago. Some birch I had done at the same time was 26-30%.

This meter is gonna be quite helpful for me because I am literally harvesting to stay burning on a bi monthly basis. I need to know what I can and can't burn.

There was a heat gun as well, both were on sale

 

[missedbass]

I just bought this from lowes, it was located in the tool section with the other meters. I've been really curious to see what my wood was. This is my first season burning I had no wood seasoned but I have standing dead beetle kill which always seems bone dry.

Well it tested out mostly 15-17% on a fresh split, I was pretty pumped to see this cause I just dropped these last week. Also encouraging was a giant spruce that was a windfall that the beetles were working on but hadn't quite killed registered 25% this was cut up about two months ago. Some birch I had done at the same time was 26-30%.

This meter is gonna be quite helpful for me because I am literally harvesting to stay burning on a bi monthly basis. I need to know what I can and can't burn.

There was a heat gun as well, both were on sale
View attachment 123031

That's a good price and worth it. I'm low on seasoned wood and burning my Sandy wood now. I'm doing fresh splits and the mm does come in handy.

 

[greythorn3]

I just bought this from lowes, it was located in the tool section with the other meters. I've been really curious to see what my wood was. This is my first season burning I had no wood seasoned but I have standing dead beetle kill which always seems bone dry.

Well it tested out mostly 15-17% on a fresh split, I was pretty pumped to see this cause I just dropped these last week. Also encouraging was a giant spruce that was a windfall that the beetles were working on but hadn't quite killed registered 25% this was cut up about two months ago. Some birch I had done at the same time was 26-30%.

This meter is gonna be quite helpful for me because I am literally harvesting to stay burning on a bi monthly basis. I need to know what I can and can't burn.

There was a heat gun as well, both were on sale
View attachment 123031

you wanna go ice fishing sometime?

 

[Quentin2]

I a

you wanna go ice fishing sometime?

I appreciate the offer but realistically I won't have the time. I got too many projects and too many kids. I haven't gone ice fishing in years, what lake you fishing?

 

[D8Chumley]

That's a good price and worth it. I'm low on seasoned wood and burning my Sandy wood now. I'm doing fresh splits and the mm does come in handy.

I picked up the one from Lowes yesterday as I'm moving from my first pile into my second and I wanted to see how ready it actually was (seasoned around 15 months). First pile wasn't huge, just about a cord +. MM tested 20.5% on 2 random fresh splits yesterday. I grabbed a wagon load of it to put in the rack and started burning it yesterday afternoon. This pile is burning better and hotter than the first pile that seasoned longer. Maybe the first pile some was too dry? A lot of it was laying dead stuff I scrounged 2 yrs ago, very light ash. New stuff I'm burning is noticeably heavier and is giving me more heat. Couldn't have happened at a better time being -21F with the WC this morning

 

[Quentin2]

I picked up the one from Lowes yesterday as I'm moving from my first pile into my second and I wanted to see how ready it actually was (seasoned around 15 months). First pile wasn't huge, just about a cord +. MM tested 20.5% on 2 random fresh splits yesterday. I grabbed a wagon load of it to put in the rack and started burning it yesterday afternoon. This pile is burning better and hotter than the first pile that seasoned longer. Maybe the first pile some was too dry? A lot of it was laying dead stuff I scrounged 2 yrs ago, very light ash. New stuff I'm burning is noticeably heavier and is giving me more heat. Couldn't have happened at a better time being -21F with the WC this morning

Just curious, what price you pay for the meter?

 

[D8Chumley]

Just curious, what price you pay for the meter?

It was 26 and change with tax. Now I can satisfy my curiosity