A neighbor who cuts a lot of firewood off his land only drops the trees in the middle of winter. I asked him why and his answer was because at that time of the year a tree naturally has the least amount of moisture in it. Makes sense to me. You’ve got some great looking splits there. It’s really going to provide some excellent firewood once it’s well seasoned.
The amount of sap in a tree, or the moisture content, is essentially the same throughout the year. This has been measured time and time again, especially by pulp companies that buy wood by weight and are sensitive to the amount of water in the tree when pulping. The sap does not go into the roots in the winter. In fact, some species see a 1% MC increase in the wood above ground in the wintertime. The difference between summer and winter is the flowing of the sap, not percentage.
Father ran a firewood business for a time in my teen years as a side hustle. We cut firewood that first season like crazy. We did not sell any firewood for the first 3 years. After that 3 years we had a lot to sell and that bought us time to be cutting new firewood and it season for a year or two before we even needed it. So start today so you can make an income within 3 years. Just keep at it and have good rates so people want to buy from you.... however don't be to cheap to where you make no money and sell out to quickly. If your piles are going very fast it is likely you are underselling yourself and losing out on profits. That $200 a cord may be able to sell for $250-300 and you stay in business but making more money.
I live in southern West Virginia and most of what I burn is red oak. I salvage trees after big storms so I cant pick and choose when I harvest my wood,but I've built my racks about a foot off the ground in my very open front yard running north to south. They get full sun exposure as the days pass and the wind almost always blows West to east through the wood. With a moisture meter I've dried oak from 45% down to 18% from july to November. I stack my wood about 4ft high and 4ft deep on 12ft long racks and I never cover it from the weather unless its winter and we're expecting snow and ice. I hand split about 5 cord a year and tryin mix thicker pieces(4") and thinner pieces(2") to aid in drying and burn time. Seems to work out ok. I still only clean the chimney once a year.
Very Informative. Maybe a wood framed solar kiln drier with opening roof panels to control heat is in your future. Would be good for speed drying lumber as well. They do get very hot inside. This is something I have wanted to see you build for a very long time.
It all depends on where you are....if you are in the Southern USA, drying times for the same piece will be faster than in the Northern USA. If you are in the Western USA, it will dry even faster than in the South, due to the lower humidity of the air. You must cover it also so that it does not get rained on, even in a stack! So there is no average environment, no average drying time, and no average wood by species. You can help it along by splitting, stacking and covering, but unless you commercially dry it by heating it, kiln drying, you will not speed up the "average drying time".
I was referring to the average drying time for any specific area. You can speed up the drying time of wood if you improve conditions for drying it faster. Yes a kiln is the best. But you can help move things along well in the right conditions.
I cut my oak in the fall, leave it on the ground over the winter. In the spring the tree will bud out and even leaf, I find this draws a lot of moisture out of the tree. I buck and split it into IBC totes and stack it loosely and mixed up direction etc to allow lots of air movement I cover my bins with half totes (cut in half to make a little roof, and park the bins spaced about 1 foot apart on the south side of my house. between wind sun and reflected heat of the front of the house it dries and checks in a few days and if I resplit (or cut) and check moisture I can hit 9-12% in 3-4 weeks.
I also find that leaving it down over the winter helps season the wood some. I am sawing oak that I got in November. I saw it up, split and stack it and its ready to go in a few weeks.
Nice observation about a felled tree trying to bud in the spring. Ties in with the 'botany': a felled tree isn't immediately dead. The tissues will remain living and respiring, running on 'life water' in the wood. If you leave the branches on, the underbark tissues will photosynthesize when it's warm enough, again running on water already in the tissues. With the connection to the roots severed, the tree can't take up more water. Photosynthesis produces 'food' for the tree and requires chlorophyll, which will be in the underbark of the branches and twigs and on the trunk in thin-barked species - why fresh-felled timber is called 'green' wood. If you fell a tree in autumn or winter and leave it entire, it will try its best to leaf out in spring. This will use 'life water and the wood will dry out because it can't be replaced. If it actually produces leaves, these will transpire - release water vapour. In a live tree, transpiration pulls in water from the roots and out through the leaves and it is the tree's mechanism for moving resources within itself. If transpiration starts, the available water in the lying tree will be used sooner, drying it faster. Of course, some tree species (crack willow, Salix fragilis in the UK) will put out rootlets from the trunk or branches where they touch the ground and can grow to produce roots and the tree stays alive in the long term - a 'phoenix tree'.
I'd recommend against mixing up.. creates walls, in the sun and wind and stacked relatively loose in same direction is ultimate, cover the top and your good to go.
Not sure what 'average conditions' are, but if you're in a place that gets really cold in the winter, the cold air will stuck the humidity out of your wood faster than warm dry air. In the Appalachian's in WV, my white oak dries in one season, even if i leave it in 6 foot rounds, because it's basically freeze- dried over the winter.
I literally noticed this with my cherry wood... its not taking it long at all to dry. I split the logs and they were at 40% ... the same day i split the splits jnto smaller pieces and left it in the sun for about 3 days and it read 18% and an even small piece was left in the sun for 2 days it read 9% 😳 i was shocked! It led me to realize the smaller you cut up the logs the faster the dry is. Im using it to smoker ribs..
Nice video! Covering the wood protects it from rain and snow but also shields it from sun and wind. So what is your strategy for covering and uncovering the stack?
Nice looking wood...oh well not to much longer till spring Troy..i bought a Bluetti eb3a Troy,,that can be charged by Solar..it takes a little over 200 watts input..or i can charge it by gen,,,i was going to get two 100 watt panels...im not using this every day...but the Sun would help me a lot...the ones they sell for this unit,,is just way out of my range of money...Amazon has them under 200,,,and harber fright has them.....not charging any batts....just unit..you got any ideas where i could get two...if not i may go Amazon...i have to buy extra cable two about 25 feet x2 an deviders....
Black pop up shed acts like a kiln mine gets up to 115 degrees or more dry lumber from sawmill so I'm thinking of getting one for my drying firewood of course I'm not in the firewood business
I’ve heard that ‘sap is down’ thing all my life but according to forestry studies it’s about the same all year. I cut in winter because it’s easier to skid on snow and frozen wood splits easier. Plus easier to see the whole tree to make felling decisions. One theory I like but haven’t tried is to cut in the spring as soon as the leaves are full and let the tree lay there for a month, and the leaves will suck the moisture out. Makes sense but spring is black fly season so I stay out of the woods.
I DON'T WANT TO MESS WITH WOOD WHEN IT BECOMES WARM AND BUGS.. ALSO HAVE WOOD SPLINTER SO THAT'S NOT A ISSUE SPLITTING. ALMOST ALL MY WOOD COMES FROM WIND DAMAGE OR DEAD.
AND JUST LIKE OTHER GOVERNMENT RUN AGENCIES THAT'S NOT CORRECT. SAP DOES MORE DOWN TO THE ROOTS DURING WINTER. TRUST ME. I GREW UP ON A VERY LARGE NURSERY FARM.
@@spacecowboy5565 What comment mentioned any government agency?? I grew up around trees too, doesn’t prove much. Call a few buyers who purchase pulpwood. They pay by weight. Ask them if the logs weigh less in winter ‘because the sap is down’. Prepare to be laughed at.
He ultimate drying conditions? Arizona. Sun. 110 degrees and 10% humidity in the summer, and 65 degrees and 15% humidity in the winter. Walk outside in a wet cotton shirt in the summer and you are bone dry in under 5 minutes.
Hi, I am currently drying oak wood. I cover it at nights and starting at 8:00 am I take it out to get Sun (Southern Cali). I'm thinking that I could dry it fast. Do you agree? 👍
Why bother removing all the snow from your racks unless you have wood ready to go on them? More snow is on the way. Just clean the ones you have that can be filled.
I need to have pathways ready and racks prepared for when I bring a truck load home. Unload, split and stack them where they go. Dry wood up front. Wet wood in the back. When I am hauling loads every day it will fill up fast. I also find that maintaining pathways every time it shows is easier than doing it at the last minute. Especially when I have a load on the truck. That stuff melts a bit and freezes again, its like a rock. Easier to move the fluff as it falls.
