R.ange of moisture content of air dried logs you sell

[cessna]

From what I read on this forum some of you sell air dried logs that have a very low moisture content,down to as low as 14%. I would very much like to know the range of moisture content , that MOST of your logs are at when you sell them. I will start off by saying that mine range from 25% to 30% , not as dry as I would like by any means. BUT,BUT (yes I said but twice on purpose) unless I was to split or billet every single piece of cord wood ranging from 100mm to 600mm (seasoned for a year) I just do not see how air dried wood can be down to much lower than the 25% to 30% figure. I have a Extech MO220 moisture meter.

OK some of you mat say it is "one man band" guys like me that get air seasoned firewood a bad name, but I am telling the real truth. This is my 12th season of supplying firewood with very few complaints and a very faithful repeat order customer list.

 

One other question,do you have any customers that strut out to your truck, when you arrive at their house, with their moisture meter in their hand and then proceed to start poking the meter in to your logs and start to make a meal out of how they vary in moisture content:thumbdown:

Edited November 26, 2016 by cessna

[cornish wood burner]

We don't sell logs but dry a bit of wood for chipping and I've found that slabwood can get down to about 18% some small round about 20% This is when kept for 18 months on a windy site and the wind can blow through the stacks. If stacks are too close then the air flow suffers and the drying is poor. We chipped some soft round wood about 6 weeks ago after a dry spell and the mc was 22 to 30% That was outside to inside stacks with no cover. In a shed I would expect nearer the lower figure providing it had good air flow. Depends on the season and weather of course.

My question would be is your meter accurate.

600 mm diameter wood will take more than a year to dry to 25%

Edited November 26, 2016 by cornish wood burner

[Woodworks]

Our logs go out around 18-22% but guarantee below 25%. All cut and split for 8month to a year. Completely agree about cord almost never getting down this low. I process for lots of customers and have yet to see truly dry cord except some softwood. Softwood does seem to be capable of drying before rotting if left long enough.

 

Sycamore and beech don't want leaving more than a year in the round as they rot quickly. Birch.... well it turns to polystyrene if it's seen some rain in the forecast. Oak and chestnut can be left for years in the round and all that happens is the bark rots off leaving soaking wet heartwood. Ash well this does last well in the stack but actually seems to be slow drying even though it has low starting point. It may be regional as the South West is not known for it's low humidity Think one member on here described dry cord as rare as unicorns. One thing I have noticed though is cord that has been left for year and still wet does seem to lose it's remaining moisture very quickly. Had some oak that had been in a stack many years. Literally got splashed when splitting some of it but it dried like we lived in the Sahara. One more thing cord that has been through a harvester does dry better than hand cut. They seem to knock and loosen the bark which aids it's drying appreciably.

 

Use a relatively expensive Protometer moisture meter.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

I only dry in the round. Which is why I don't like ash or stuff over 6-8" diameter i.e. processor size anyway. I've got DF, JL and SS that's max 18%, just from hanging around. Ash, the so-called best firewood - pah! Whereas give me beech any day - small diameter will dry in the round very fast. In the right position of course, well below 25% mc.

 

Absolutely refuse to double handle. Harvester - Forwarder - Lorry - Processor - Customer.

[richardwale]

Only once had a moisture metre pulled out of its holster.

My firewood has crept up a few percent due to the weather but is going out at around 20 %.

Selling a lot of beech, which for me is the finest wood to burn. Love the stuff.

[rovers90]

Got a lot of birch last year for this winter. We are finding a lot of soil and grass in the pile and not sure if the wagon driver picked it up like that or the forwarder driver. Having to drop a grab full on to two larger logs to try and get the crap off. Where this has happened the logs are still wet on the outside.

 

Once split, a lot of the sub 6 inch diameter stuff is under 20 odd %. Larger birch tends to be very wet. Must be fine line with birch as some of it is even rotting.

[Paul in the woods]

Interesting thread. I only cut and process for our own use but we burn a fair bit. As we've been getting through the log store I've noticed that the cut and split logs in the middle are less dry, 25%+ MC on a fresh split edge compared with about 20% on a log from the outside edges. Wood has been down over a year and logged up over 6 months ago.

 

Beech has started to rot whilst on the ground a bit but is the driest but I find burns quickly. Ash, as has been said, seems to hold onto its moisture most but once dry does burn the best for me.

[SbTVF]

We have a few stacks around our place all with varying levels of exposure to the elements. stacked at the highest part of our land on big bearers with extra depth dug out between them, with the end of a logs facing the prevailing wind we can get softwood down to 20% moisture ready for the chipper within 8months.

 

Always drys better if harvested by a machine, the feed roller punctures let the moisture out for certain and even better if the bark has fallen off too.

 

Never had hardwood down below 25% at the time of processing yet, even stacked in the exposed spot.

 

I prefer sycamore or beech from a big tree to burn in my own stove. Or Hawthorne, my favourite for long burns!

I could absolutely do without ever having oak, very rarely feel like it burns properly on my stove. Could just be the stove though.

 

 

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[Logsnstuff]

under tarp it's usually 20-25% and if it's in the polytunnel then it's 16-18%

[timbernut]

Processing a mix of birch, cherry, robinia, oak and London plane (thinning from FC experimental plot), been in stack a year, average diameter 8", moisture content average 25% on split face, some of the birch spalted but the rest lovely.

 

 

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