Drying wood

[possum]

I have dried wood before, but only very slowly and smallish amounts to use for wood turning.
Out here in NZ log burners are a very common form of heating, this winter we had to buy wood as the stuff we had cut was not going to last out as we had been a bit slow getting it chopped up. We have just had half a dozen or so dead pines taken down and one huge macrocarpa severely pruned and other large branches from trees taken down.
We bought 6 cubic metres this winter and at a rough guess we probably have at east 12 cubic metres from these trees (quite possibly a lot more, it isn't all stacked yet)

So what is the best way to dry out this stuff? We would have to hire a log splitter as a lot is way too thick to do buy hand with an axe. Do you split it immediately, or let is dry out a little first?[/i]

[paddy]

Wood is easier split when fresh and the smaller the pieces the quicker they dry...........so it should be cut and split to the size you will be burning it at before drying.

[wulf]

Not on top of a wood burning stove. My wife once lodged with a lady who had such a stove in her front room and decided to dry some wood for later by leaving on the top. She then went up to her room until smoke started drifting up the stairs!

No harm was done but she learnt that this was not what was meant by drying wood!

Wulf

[Magpie]

Definately needs to be split to dry... and it dries better out in the weather, including the rain.

[red]

we found with some leylandii we were given, that it was easier to split once it had sat around for a couple of months.. ie had dried a bit. then we split and put under cover.
laylandii is not the best of firewood..

[possum]

laylandii is not the best of firewood..

Odd back in the uk when serious pruning the neighbours out of control leylandii we found the wood was ok to burn without drying. (OK maybe we were wood burning virgins at this point, but it seemed OK)

[Thomzo]

I have a supply of leylandii wood which is now about 4 years old. Even after the first year it was absolutely useless, couldn't even get it started. It's OK now, burns quite slowly too. I guess if you have a stove it might burn better as it will be hotter inside.

I keep my firewood in small piles around the garden at the back of the flower beds. It's great for the wildlife. After a year or two I bring it in to the shed for at least a week, partly to let any damp dry off it and partly to allow the creatures to escape before it's burnt.

Zoe

[Jack]

Gidday

Well boith the old pine and the macracarpa will be very good burning in your log burner next winter. All you need to do is cut and split it when you get the chance, then store it in a stack. Rain won't stop it drying but the rain wet wood will not burn as good as what you can stor out of the rain. Air movement is the greatest factor in drying wood.

[possum]

Some of it is drier already than the stuff we bought as it came from long dead trees, so that is good, some is too small to split, so is just cut and stacked and some now split and some waiting to be split and some real big stuff that there is no way we can split with an axe (that and it seems a real shame to waste it that way) oh and several piles dotted round the place that we have yet to collect up.

Oh and heaven knows how many branches with greenery on them.

Any ideas on what to do with those, they aren't worth cutting up for firewood as they are only 2 - 3 inches in diameter.

Anyone got any ideas for "rustic" things to make?

[Muddypause]

I read somewhere that laylandii had a fairly good heat value because of its high tar content (in common with other coniferous trees). But this does mean you will have to burn it on a hot fire if you want to stop the tar condensing in the flue.

Regarding splitting wood - some splits more easily after drying, and some before. IIRC it tends to be hardwoods that split more easily before drying, and softwoods after. But this is probably not a hard and fast rule.

Logically, it will dry faster after splitting, when the air can get to the insides of the timber. As Jack says, air circulation is the important thing here. My dad used to stack wood against the outside of the chimney breast, under cover, to help it dry, but others just keep it in a well ventilated shed and split it as required.

Don't be put off trying to split the wood yourself - it's mostly to do with technique and the right tools rather than strength. Use a maul for splitting, rather than an axe. Although they look similar, a maul is made for splitting logs along the grain, but an axe is intended for cutting and chopping across the grain. A bit of practice may be needed to learn how to swing it, but you will do better with a well swung lightweight maul (eg 6 lbs) than a heavy one that you struggle with and which tires you out.

With a bit of practice, some wood will cleave with a single swing, but the knottier stuff may take several blows. For the really stubborn stuff, some steel wedges, driven in with a sledge hammer, may be better.

Splitting wood can be very satisfying, and you get warm when you split it, as well as when you burn it.

[possum]

- it's mostly to do with technique and the right tools rather than strength. Use a maul for splitting, rather than an axe.

I find a husband is an even better tool

[guyandzoe]

If you have a tree down and it has it's leaves on then - if you can- leave it alone until the leaves are dead that way the leaves will take quite a bit of the moisture out of the tree for you.

Then cut and split and put where it can get as much wind and sun as poss. A bit of rain wont hurt but you dont want it sopping.

You can treat it much rougher than when drying for turning because you wont mind the splits. In fact the more the better for firewood drying

guy

[possum]

Intersting first point about the leaves, I hadn't thought about that, no applicable for our lot as it is all conifers and there is so much there really isn't the option of leaving it whole

The good thing is that there is some really nice lookg crotch wood that I am going to bag for wood turning. I use parafin wax to seal the ends and then just leave it indoors and forget about it. In the old re-use, recyce mentality, my parafin wax is the stubs of our old candles melted down.

[Davie Crockett]

On the subject of wood burning, I've found this old rhyme a very useful guide to getting the right wood for the hearth:


Beechwood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new holly laid beside
Chestnuts only good they say
If for years tis stayed away
Birch and firwood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last
Flames from larch will shoot up high
Dangerously the sparks will fly
But Ashwood green and Ashwood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown

Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winters cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames burn cold
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
So it is in Ireland said
Applewood will scent the room
Pears wood smells like a flower in bloom
But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.

Loads of other useful info at http://www.the-tree.org.uk

[Thomzo]

Well done, Davie. I'd heard this before but hadn't been able to find it.

Cheers
Zoe