Firewood Moisture Meter

[nobull1]

As some of you know I am in the firewood sales business.In our area it has a lot of fly by night sellers that sell green 100 cubic feet as a dry full cord /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.So the sale of your wood can require a bit of salesmanship in order to get the sale.The other day I delivered a cord of wood to a first time customer and to my surprise he had a moisture meter /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.Now I make a practice of telling people what they are getting be it seasoned, dry, green and the amount in cubic feet "128" before I leave the yard /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif. This saves problems at the customers house for them and me. So as usual I gave the pitch and made the delivery.I must say I was a little apprehensive when he pulled out his meter and started sticking it in about 20 pieces of wood to get a general reading. Now the wood I sold him was what I would call half dry meaning that you can burn this year but you better keep the draft a little more open to help prevent creosote. My best wood has been gone for about 4 months now and this is what's left. His meter said it was between 18-20% which is what I would have thought or maybe even slightly higher. I have never thought I needed a meter as I can tell usually by weight and sight of the wood how dry it is. The other thing is most of my wood is around for close to a year in my yard before being sold. The customer was happy with that, probably being told up front before he got it helped. So anyhow where this all goes is I think it could be a good selling tool. Most competitors wouldn't use one mainly because they don't want to tell the customer for fear of losing the sale. I would tell you and take one with me and show you what it is as well as write it on your receipt. So my question after all this ramble is what's a good one to buy? The one the customer had was a Delmhorst worth approx $300.00. I have seen others for as low as $100.00 or less. The accuracy should be close but I don't think it has to be perfect. Afterall this is firewood not kitchen tables but I only want to buy one and use it forever.

 

[Egon]

Think I saw a moisture meter for around 20 bucks at Princess Auto several weeks ago. No idea of quality.

Egon

 

[nobull1]

Thanks Egon I didn't notice one there but it's easy not to see everything when your walking around in there /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif.The problem is as you said is quality. That is the least expensive I have heard of and you would think that it would be the least accurate,but I don't know. I would hope that there is a real difference in the accuracy when a semi good one costs $300.00. Maybe some others have a little more experience than me with these meters,as I have none /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[FL_Cracker]

I think you would want to have a real good unit. When you tell someone how dry the wood is, you don't want them to pull a better meter and get a different reading.

 

[nobull1]

Sort of like "you call that a knife" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Hate to have to take my wood and go home /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[nobull1]

All joking aside you do have a valid point. Hard to argue when my meter is better than yours /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[beenthere]

Did the meter have pins that were about 1 -1½" long? Did he take the reading across the grain of the wood or along the grain? Probably didn't get to the core or center of the wood unless it was split in pretty small pieces. You can do some oven samples on your own and have a real exact test of the mc of your wood, which I would do for sure if you have a meter and want to check your readings. Take a small block of the wood from the center of a piece (about 1" cube) and weigh it. Then dry it either in an oven or microwave until it doesn't lose anymore weight. Then take the original weight minus the dry weight, and divide that difference by the dry weight. Multiply by 100 and you will get the moisture content of the block of wood in percent. Moisture meters will not get an accurate reading above 30 %, as they just measure the free water in the cells of the wood, and not the moisture that is in the cell walls, called bound water. There are adjustments for different species of wood too.
Here is a site to look at the Delmhorst pin-type probes, that go with a Delmhorst meter. Just the pins are around $100.
Forestry Suppliers

 

[nobull1]

Yes the meter did have pins and he checked across the grain.For sure it didn't check more than a inch into the wood. The amount of moisture that would be important to me would be between approx. 12 and 25%, above or below that wouldn't be needed. The species is a bit of a issue though as you have to compensate for different types and I have mainly two birch and maple. I get the idea that what the meter says isn't right for some and you have to add/subtract from the readings.

 

[theonlybull]

i'm amazed it was that dry, givin the type of year we've had this year. our wood gets put in during the first couple weeks of septemeber. and it was nowhere near as dry as normal....

 

[nobull1]

I agree it was a poor year for drying wood. I figured it would rot before it dried this year /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.But the wood had lost a fair amount of weight, and like I said was a little drier than I thought but not a whole lot. I believe once the cellular water is gone, the surface[rain water] dries real quick if air space is available. So even when it appears not to be drying due to wet weather I believe a certain amount is drying all the time. Then after you have a couple of dry days it appears real dry almost by magic /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. The problem this summer was to try and get more than one day of sun at a time. It was my best year ever for pasture and worst year ever for drying wood.

 

[SPIKER]

have any of you ever built a wood drier using black poly and 2x/s?

I had a "Handy Man Club of America book/mag (yes member herer) ) it detailed how to build a solar powerd one. which used heat gains and airflow from the solar heat gain to dry the wood at a rather quick pace compaired to standard air driing!. If anyone is very interested I think I maybe able to pull a link to it or post a scanned photo of the unit .

basically it is made using dimensional lumber frame around the wood pile, slanted black poly for roof and sides, with air space at lower front (South side) and upper rear (north side) with sides closed to near ground level. wood up off dirt is a given. keep the poly tight by bending the 2x2 frames slightly UP and stapeling the bent up edges similar to installing a window screen. bend them slightly (use weight and blocks so that the frame forms a U shape (the U is more of a dish shape and staple the sides that are the uprights. lay down blocks say 1" across two sides then weight the center so it dishes up then attach poly to the sides where the blocks are and remove the weight. when the weight is removed from the frame center the poly is pulled tight. twist the frame 90 degrees and repeat to make very tight... add center braces only if needed... errect the frame over wiht air spacea ll around the ploy covered frames. leave frames in contact with the ground all way around EXCEPT for the 2" gap at south side bottom and 2" gap at north top side. angle the roof so HOT air rising form south runs up and along twards north side opening. 20~30 degree roof angle is best if i remeber right so you will have ot make a longer north wall than south wall by that distance. north wall can be covered in clear if you want. others said the clear sun on wood was better for roof and south wall, BUT the mag said black absorbs the heat better and creats more air flow

anyhow hope that was awaste of no ones time.

Mark M
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Lloyd_E]

NoBull1,

Lee Valley has them in Halifax for $99 and $349. The lower priced one is +/- 0.5 % at 11% and -/+ 1 to 2% at higher ratings. Probs look to be about 1".

Hope this helps.

Lloyd

 

[beenthere]

That looks very interesting. How do they suggest (if they do) measuring the wood to tell when it is dry?

Any pics? or sites where there is a pic?

Thanks for posting.

 

[nobull1]

Thanks Lloyd,I will take a trip in to see them in the next few days.

 

[GRUB]

beenthere, I thought you divided by the wet weight. I am going to try it.

SPIKER, I would love to see some of those pics.

Thanks Guys

 

[beenthere]

Nope, you divide by the dry weight. Wet weight will give you some real wierd results, as wet can be anything, whereas dry is 'constant' and a firm base.

 

[jas67]

So, can anyone recommend a firewood moisture meter for under $100, or can I not expect a decent instrument for that price?

Thanks,
Jay

 

[forgeblast]

is it just to figure out when the wood is ready to burn?

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/86463-holz-hausen-dry-wood-three.html

shows how to stack a holz hausen. I did a test this year. stacked on holz hausen and one normal stack.
1. the holz was easier to stack.
2. i am burning the wood i cut in june now
3. we had wicked rain all summer long very damp yet it dried very well.
4. it is very easy to pull wood from the stack plus it sheds snow. I do have a tarp over mine.