Pine seasoning

[joefrompa]

Hi all,

I'm going to share some pictures on here in the next few days about pine seasoning. I'm learning alot about it this year. I've got roughly 3-4 cords of pine prepped for burning this winter.

I wanted to share some things I've seen recently.

1. I've had one stack of pine exposed but under shade for about 5 months. Plenty of hot weather, but also exposure to rain. This past weekend I took a piece out of the middle of the stack and I ripped the bark off. Underneath were several live, developed larvae sitting in very wet/damp wood. They were continuing to thrive because the wood was wet after 5 months of sitting on the outside of a stack in open air.

2. Pine absorbs water like nothing else. I recently picked up a piece that had been seasoned but felt against damp mulch in a dark area and had lain there through all the recent rains. The water line was half-way up the side of the pine and it weighed as much as a piece of fresh oak. It was like a sponge.

3. It seasons faster than ash I'll wager. Let's say the goal is 18% MC - I'd bet a split of pine would reach it faster than a split of green ash.

4. It's bark traps moisture like there's no tomorrow. Stripping the bark takes a moment and is easy after ~2 months since spliting. It seasons VASTLY faster without its bark. (figure it goes from 2 exposed sides to 3 - a 50% increase in surface area).

5. Because it's such a moisture-rich wood, it harbors more bugs IN and AROUND its piles than other woods I have like oak, elm, and ash. The pine stacks are filled with the crawlies.

That's it

Joe

 

[CTYank]

That's why the pine I'm planning to use this season has been covered, on top, as long as possible. Keeps the drying process going forward. Before burning, it'll spend some time "finishing off" near the stove.

Were I to go for seasoning, I'd lean toward garlic and basil. (The word has no meaning re wood.)

 

[joefrompa]

Bah, I like the word seasoning with wood

 

[Redbear86]

I was wondering if theres anything to worry about as far as beetles in the house, sounds like they'd leave the dried wood of a house alone, just want to make double sure though before i bring home some beetle killed wood

 

[billb3]

Your house bugs and [del]pets[/del] other critters will take care of any that don't crawl into a corner and die.

I've got larvae under oak and cherry bark, too. I suppose you could put them in a dehydrator and make super protein rich trail mix. I toss them in the stove. Crank up the stereo so the neighbors don;t hear their screaming.


I'll often leave the pine in rounds until Winter . They seem to split a little easier frozen ( despite the knots) plus more of the bark falls off after about 6 months or more.

 

[Redbear86]

Thanks for the advice, i didn't even think about the bugs when i got the permit to cut this dead stand

 

[onion]

That's why the pine I'm planning to use this season has been covered, on top, as long as possible. Keeps the drying process going forward. Before burning, it'll spend some time "finishing off" near the stove.

Were I to go for seasoning, I'd lean toward garlic and basil. (The word has no meaning re wood.)

Merriam-Webster disagrees with you:


season verb
sea·soned sea·son·ing

Definition of SEASON

transitive verb
1
a : to give (food) more flavor or zest by adding seasoning or savory ingredients
b : to give a distinctive quality to as if by seasoning; especially : to make more agreeable <advice seasoned with wit>
c archaic : to qualify by admixture : temper
2
a : to treat (as wood or a skillet) so as to prepare for use
b : to make fit by experience <a >

 

[maplewood]

After an especially wet summer, I'm re-thinking how I dry my softer woods.
I've had some pieces, like your experience, that have stayed wet all summer. My pine in particular, but some pieces of my white birch are still heavy, too.
I try to remove bark when I can do so easily, just for drying reasons. I hate to throw away those BTU's, so my son's bonfire pit gets most of them in ready-to-light cardboard boxes. He loves it!
I've had some colourful mold show up in a few places where the moisture stayed in the piles. Scotch pine and poplar wood were the most frequent hit. Green, yellow, black and purple stuff was on about 5% of the wood.
So - my re-thinking. I'm considering building a simple woodshed, a 4/12 pitch roof on posts, to store my softwood under. To keep all the rain off it, so it doesn't have to re-dry the surface. My hardwood (mostly maple) can re-dry the surface water easily, and not rot. But the softwood, in the same style stacks (two ranks per pallet, at least 2.5' between pallet rows, lots of sun and breeze) suffers this occasional mold, and it doesn't dry as well.
Does anyone out there keep their soft woods especially protected from the rains, to keep this mold at bay?
Or, once again, am I the only one?
Thanks

 

[jimbom]

...

Were I to go for seasoning, I'd lean toward garlic and basil...

Now I am a 'garlic and basil' citizen? Dang. I much prefer seasoned citizen.

 

[joefrompa]

Maplewood - My pine seasons just fine considering the constant moisture it gets - like, a week after a heavy rain I pick up a goodly exposed piece and it's doing great. Nice and lightweight. Feels almost hollow inside.

I just feel the lower pieces absorb more superficial moisture - i.e. their cell structures are breaking down just fine, but they are absorbing water from the surface vastly easier and deeper.

Also, yeah, my wood rows - even single-piece wood rows - have faces covered in mold and mildew on the pine pieces.

 

[fire_man]

After an especially wet summer, I'm re-thinking how I dry my softer woods.
I've had some pieces, like your experience, that have stayed wet all summer. My pine in particular, but some pieces of my white birch are still heavy, too.
I try to remove bark when I can do so easily, just for drying reasons. I hate to throw away those BTU's, so my son's bonfire pit gets most of them in ready-to-light cardboard boxes. He loves it!
I've had some colourful mold show up in a few places where the moisture stayed in the piles. Scotch pine and poplar wood were the most frequent hit. Green, yellow, black and purple stuff was on about 5% of the wood.
So - my re-thinking. I'm considering building a simple woodshed, a 4/12 pitch roof on posts, to store my softwood under. To keep all the rain off it, so it doesn't have to re-dry the surface. My hardwood (mostly maple) can re-dry the surface water easily, and not rot. But the softwood, in the same style stacks (two ranks per pallet, at least 2.5' between pallet rows, lots of sun and breeze) suffers this occasional mold, and it doesn't dry as well.
Does anyone out there keep their soft woods especially protected from the rains, to keep this mold at bay?Or, once again, am I the only one?
Thanks

Absolutely I keep softwoods covered. I know Cottonwood is technically a "Hardwood" but boy does that wood absorb water. Might as well be make of cottonballs, hence the name. I cover my Cottonwood and Pine, especially the full year before I actually burn it.

 

[billb3]

Does anyone out there keep their soft woods especially protected from the rains, to keep this mold at bay?
Or, once again, am I the only one?
Thanks

I have to have a roof to keep the rain off ( nothing on the sides, I want the wind coming thru) or I grow fungi on everything, oak , cherry, maple. It's just too humid all Summer long. Even clothes / towels won't dry for three days sometimes out on the line or fence and can start to smell like they were left in the washer for a week.
I really don't do much with the pine, though. Only thing that seems to want anything to do with the pine around here is powder post beetles and a little bit of black mold sometimes.

 

[maplewood]

Does anyone out there keep their soft woods especially protected from the rains, to keep this mold at bay?
Or, once again, am I the only one?
Thanks

I have to have a roof to keep the rain off ( nothing on the sides, I want the wind coming thru) or I grow fungi on everything, oak , cherry, maple.

Thanks. I'll start planning something right away. I've got some pine poles and can cut a bunch of fir beams and rafters, and I've got some used tin roofing.
Yes, I'll take pics!

 

[billb3]

I don't have anything fancy.
plywood sheets, linoleum strips, particle board shelves ( they don't last too long ). Every little bit helps and it doesn't have to look pretty behind my house with no neighbors.

 

[Dune]

What kind of pine are you talking about?

I really don't think pine seasons as fast as ash. I season pine for two full years. Ash seasons well in under a year.

 

[ruserious2008]

I got some pine this spring that was cut into 16-20" logs summer 2010- some big honkers over 20" diameter also.
When I split them in April I measured 6 fresh split pieces and had 22-26% moisture. I grabbed 6 pieces from the middle of the stack and split them early August and had 12-14% on them.
Uncovered and with a ash tree to the south where most of the sun would come from. Open area all around but limited sun. Burned some of that pine last few nights and even after the soaking rains from hurricanes and their remnants in August burned well with no hissing.
I split some ash around that time now that I think of it.....I'll have to measure that tomorrow and post again. Uncovered also.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

How's this for seasoning soft wood? I cut soft maple many times during the winter just so the deer have some good eating. I can cut a soft maple in, say, January or February one year. I only cut off the stump and do not cut into firewood length nor do I limb the tree. I leave that for a year and the following year I can cut it to length and burn it right then. Yes, soft maple will dry even when it is not cut to length!

Moral of the story: there still are exceptions to almost every rule.