Will this wood be ready for me this year?

[enchant]

Since I'm getting on in years, I no longer buck, split and rotate my firewood. I prefer to get it delivered and ready to burn. There's a place near me that sells kiln-dried firewood for $650 plus delivery. Seems like highway robbery, but I don't have many options. It's my experience that if I find someone selling "seasoned" firewood, their website says "Seasoned for over a year" (which still isn't enough), but when I call and ask, they say it's more like 9-10 months, and when I actually get it, it seems more like 9-10 weeks. So I've gone with the kiln-dried since it's dependable.

This year's load of kiln-dried isn't burning quite as readily as in the past. I split a few largish pieces and the moisture content is ~25, which seems a bit high to me for $650/cord. I have to suspect that they're leaving it in the kiln for less time to increase throughput.

There's a place nearby that always has a mountain of wood out in the parking lot, so I went and talked to them today. They say it's $425/cord. They say they have it delivered weekly from Maine (I'm south of Boston) where it's kiln-dried. I told them I'd like to steal a piece and check it out. I did, and the moisture content is 30.

So here's my question. If I got a cord of this delivered now and stacked it in my wood shed (little air flow), might it be be burnable by November? I don't really want anything over 22 or so.

 

[NickW]

Depends on the species and wood shed location... Ash, probably; oak, no.

 

[stoveliker]

Or ask for pine or fir. It'll dry in a year and most wood dealers can't sell it because no one wants it. (The old myth about creosote..)

So it might be cheaper.

 

[Dieselhead]

At those prices I’d buy oil or propane first. Wow.

That being said how big are the splits? That will have a large effect on drying time.

 

[enchant]

Or ask for pine or fir. It'll dry in a year and most wood dealers can't sell it because no one wants it. (The old myth about creosote..)

What?? Of course pine causes creosote! (No, I'm kidding.) I don't think I'd want pine simply because it'd be so much more work tending the fire. AND I'd think I'd need twice the space to store it since I'd be going through twice the wood.

 

[enchant]

That being said how big are the splits? That will have a large effect on drying time.

I didn't look closely at the pieces. I just grabbed one of the larger ones which was maybe 6". So I'd guess most were in the 4-5" range.

 

[Dieselhead]

I didn't look closely at the pieces. I just grabbed one of the larger ones which was maybe 6". So I'd guess most were in the 4-5" range.

I think it’s going to be close. It depends on our upcoming season humidity wise and how is the wind going to be. 30 to sub 22 is much more of a gamble than the KD you have now being prime for the 25-26 season.

 

[stoveliker]

The pine I have is 17 million BTU per cord. Red oak is 24.
That's a 1/3 difference indeed.
But,.if at a discount I'd go for it, if your firebox is 3 cu ft and not smaller.
The work would consist of stacking. The carrying is nice, however. My split tote can be a beast to haul if I fill it to the brim (which I do) if it's with oak. With pine it's - well, I presume 1/3 less. Easy peasy.

I was suggesting this because asking for ash, or soft maple etc that would likely be reasonable in a year depends on the seller knowing his wood...
Most of them do know to distinguish the group of pine, fir, spruce from the others.

Anyway your choice of course.