Does firewood "season" in the round?

[Mastermind]

I've been cutting dead standing sweet gum trees a lot lately. They are dry as can be, and ready to burn. Never over 8" in diameter. They are everywhere here. Have no idea what killed them.

 

[Boomer2230]

In the winter here, I go out on the beaver dams and cut the free standing hardwood, from standing to stove in under an hour.

 

[Wolverine]

I've been cutting dead standing sweet gum trees a lot lately. They are dry as can be, and ready to burn. Never over 8" in diameter. They are everywhere here. Have no idea what killed them.

Try splitting any?

 

[Mastermind]

Try splitting any?

Split it all. Splits pretty easy where it's so dry.

 

[jakethesnake]

Split it all. Splits pretty easy where it's so dry.

Kinda stove you run boss?

 

[Mastermind]

Kinda stove you run boss?

Some epa stove I bought at Tractor Supply a few years ago.

 

[Wolverine]

Split it all. Splits pretty easy where it's so dry.

Wordle 229 2/6



What did I win? lol

 

[Mastermind]

Wordle 229 2/6



What did I win? lol

Braggin rights.

 

[Wood Doctor]

As I recall, this company operated out of Alaska. He claims he sells about half his stock in a year and rotates the other half the following year. He took this Pic at peak inventory.

Here's yet another way to stack wood that apparently the Norwegians use:

I'm not sure how they take it down, but they spiral it up somehow. It's truly either a work of art or an engineering marvel (maybe both). I suppose a bucket loader gets involved in either case.

 

[Wood Doctor]

One problem I ran into with storing rounds until they dry is with silver (soft) maple. It will actually dty rot and get punky in about a year or so, depending a bit on when it was first cut. Best bet with silver maple is to split it green and then burn it within a year or so after splitting. Not even cottonwood or poplar get punky as fast as silver maple. Box elder might, but I avoid it altogether.

 

[RCBS]

I don't consider splitting to really speed up the drying process. Inside that wood are essentially bundles of tiny straws. The tree used the straws to move moisture up and down it's length when it was alive. This is how the moisture moves still after it is cut. Firewood logs start to 'dry' the minute you buck them into rounds. A 3" round will season at the same rate as a 3" split. A round will last longer in the stove also, wood for wood content.

 

[Big_6]

I found a big dead red oak this morning while checking on my fences. Big mfer.

Did any pigs get out? What size powerhead/bar will you be using for the felling?

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[Big_6]

I don't consider splitting to really speed up the drying process. Inside that wood are essentially bundles of tiny straws. The tree used the straws to move moisture up and down it's length when it was alive. This is how the moisture moves still after it is cut. Firewood logs start to 'dry' the minute you buck them into rounds. A 3" round will season at the same rate as a 3" split. A round will last longer in the stove also, wood for wood content.

Why do we lay these water hoarding straws on the side?
Won't straws drain faster in the vertical orient?
This is since plastic straw bans and paper straw sucking for the win!

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[Wolverine]

I challenge you, next time you process a large tree, keep a 3” round and a 25” round. Let them sit for 2 years. Split both open and take a moisture content reading in their centers. I’m very confident in predicting the result.

 

[SteveinUT]

I cut a lot of standing dead pines killed by a bark beetle infestation about 20 years ago. It is as well seasoned as its going to get! Splitting is not necessary.

 

[Duce]

I cut a lot of standing dead pines killed by a bark beetle infestation about 20 years ago. It is as well seasoned as its going to get! Splitting is not necessary.

I would agree with dead standing pine, but red oak will stay wet for a long time if left in logs. I have a few red oak logs left in 18"-20" 6' long, range if we need a long term test. Dead standing pine or ash, depending on size and standing time can be cut and burnt without waiting.

 

[Timjus]

bark and sap wood will keep the moisture in. here the birch logs are done in a year if you don't break the bark.
usually old logs look and sound good from outside but when you split them its soft inside

 

[Ontario Firewood Resource]

I was splitting some red oak today that had been sitting over a year. Some rot, but still a little wet inside.

How much does wood season in the round? If you split two oak logs, one recently cut and one sitting for a year how much sooner would the one sitting for over a year take to be called air dry? Around here due to humidity, dry wood is probably 20-30% moisture.

Does the seasoning process involve a chemical process due to age? If wood sits bacteria works and the make up of what is inside the wood changes right? Of course if wood is kiln dried the chemical process is bypassed.

Yes. If seasoned naturally, but it takes 3 to 7 times longer