Seasoning Firewood

[the old grind]

My neighbor has been heating with wood for almost two decades and always seasons what he's bought for the wood burner. He's quite the expert after all these years, and this is how it's done. "The more you know."

 

[Oaktree]

He just dumps it in a pile, not stacked or covered? Not the best way to season wood.
THIS is how it's done:

 

[CalG]

Better, is the mortal enemy of "good enough".

I HATE blue plastic tarps!

;-)

 

[4570Man]

I dump my wood because stacking is extra work but I do at least keep it under cover.

 

[tradosaurus]

So how long do you "season" wood until ready to burn?

 

[/pine]

It's all about the moisture content...!
If you don't know what it is...you're only guessing how "seasoned" it is...!

 

[4570Man]

So how long do you "season" wood until ready to burn?

My wood storage system isn’t as good as it could be be so I try to keep wood cut 2 years ahead.

 

[BnRidge]

He just dumps it in a pile, not stacked or covered? Not the best way to season wood.
THIS is how it's done:

View attachment 776711

Looking around, most don't do it your way. My neighbor has also been heating his place for 10 years, with rounds and logs laying around, then split and piled when needed. Two weeks ago he split a trailer full. Two days ago he fired up the stove and promptly had a chimney fire with smoke damage and a burned out roof and attic. I doubt he has learned. I've heated with wood for 15yrs, with an inside stove, have about 5yrs supply drying like you have done. Every time I drove by the neighbor and saw the crap he was burning I thought it's only a matter of time.

 

[Wagtail]

So how long do you "season" wood until ready to burn?

Due to available covered areas to season my wood, I get it in & stacked mid-Spring (soon after the burning season) so that it has all Summer & mid-Autumn to dry.

The smoke is minimal and white during the 'heating period'. In other words, 5.5-6months of the warmer weather seems to work for me.

Edit: Oh, and my main wood is a eucalypt called 'ironbark'.

 

[WinterDeere]

Burning mostly red oak here, although due to recent events (EAB and a tornado), been getting into some ash and hickory. I try to have it stacked under cover at least 3 summers, before I burn it.

Here's what I'm burning now, date on tag shows when it was split and stacked:



So, I guess the stuff I'm burning now seasoned in the summers of 2020, 2021, 2022.

In fact, I was out getting some splitting done this morning, while the ground is frozen: