Life of a firewood log

[livemusic]

Say that you were going to cut and stack hardwood logs for processing into firewood. How long would those logs last and still be good to buck/split into firewood? I would think you'd need to lay down some crappy logs (like sweetgum) for them to lay on and it would need to be in the open so air circulation is there, plus the sun.

Also, do you think logs 'season' at all in log form or is it close to zero? I would think it would season a little bit.

[mike_belben]

With bark on, sitting on skids, 2 years and theyll start getting punky.  Bark off 4 years then mushrooms start. 

[livemusic]

With bark on, sitting on skids, 2 years and theyll start getting punky.  Bark off 4 years then mushrooms start.

I understand your first sentence but not the second. Going by first, one would need to process logs into firewood before they sit for 2 years. What does the second sentence imply? And do you mean they start with bark on or start with bark off? Actually, they couldn't start with bark off unless you stripped the bark. Enlighten me, you always have good knowledge of all things wood.

[47sawdust]

log drying in log form is next to none,in La. they probably take on moisture.

[livemusic]

log drying in log form is next to none,in La. they probably take on moisture.

I wouldn't doubt it except for the summer droughts we often have. Just brutal heat. This past summer was not that hot but miserably humid. But in a drought, it's 2-3 months of oppressive heat, often long stretches of 100+ and humidity is lower.

[thecfarm]

Not going to dry much in log length. Wind can't get at the middle of a log. But I do a lot of things that is not a good way to dry wood. And I know it. Cut wood in August, push it up into a pile, tree length, it's not going to dry. Good thing I have a OWB. That way I can burn green wood and burn more wood to dry it.  ;D
If into the dry wood thing, you should have enough split and cut for 2 years. One year drying and one year that you are burning.

[Nathan4104]

This is a loaded question, with so many variables, it'll have as many answers as people answering it!
I set my 8' logs on skids, mostly to keep them out of the dirt. Piled Anywhere in the sun and wind is better than not! In a field of tall grass may not be as good as in a paved parking lot  
And don't put a tarp over the pile and expect it to dry. 
And White Birch, even with a saw groove down the length of the log, will not really dry well.  In 3-4 years it's punky and like Mike says, a mushroom farm. 

[mike_belben]

With bark on, sitting on skids, 2 years and theyll start getting punky.  Bark off 4 years then mushrooms start.

I understand your first sentence but not the second. Going by first, one would need to process logs into firewood before they sit for 2 years. What does the second sentence imply? And do you mean they start with bark on or start with bark off? Actually, they couldn't start with bark off unless you stripped the bark. Enlighten me, you always have good knowledge of all things wood.

Throw down 2 junk logs and pile logs on it as you skid them.  The bugs are gonna be eating under the bark.  In a year itll start falling off.  By the 2nd year you start having basically compost under the bark and it starts eating into the actual wood so it just starts looking junky.  Home stove good, for sale wood bad. 
If you were to take that pile at a year and transfer to another set of skids you could drop the logs to bounce most bark off then just a light shovel or spud scrap would finish stripping.  Now youve got bare sapwood off the ground.  The bark worms abd mulch will be gone but mushrooms will start and by year 4 be pretty significant.  Again, still burnable. Probably take 20 years to fully rot debarked wood on skids.. But its unsightly.  That doesnt sell good.  
And no nothing is gonna dry in log form.  Itll "season" meaning convert sugars or something like that, but not dry.  Nothing dries for real until you split it and but it in a low humidity or high sun and wind environment.   Stacked out in the open in singular rows with tin on top is the fasteat itll dry short of a kiln. Sun and wind are your friends. 

[mike_belben]

I put double spaces all over and the editor loses them all the time.  Always has. 

[livemusic]

With bark on, sitting on skids, 2 years and theyll start getting punky.  Bark off 4 years then mushrooms start.

I understand your first sentence but not the second. Going by first, one would need to process logs into firewood before they sit for 2 years. What does the second sentence imply? And do you mean they start with bark on or start with bark off? Actually, they couldn't start with bark off unless you stripped the bark. Enlighten me, you always have good knowledge of all things wood.

Throw down 2 junk logs and pile logs on it as you skid them.  The bugs are gonna be eating under the bark.  In a year itll start falling off.  By the 2nd year you start having basically compost under the bark and it starts eating into the actual wood so it just starts looking junky.  Home stove good, for sale wood bad.
If you were to take that pile at a year and transfer to another set of skids you could drop the logs to bounce most bark off then just a light shovel or spud scrap would finish stripping.  Now youve got bare sapwood off the ground.  The bark worms abd mulch will be gone but mushrooms will start and by year 4 be pretty significant.  Again, still burnable. Probably take 20 years to fully rot debarked wood on skids.. But its unsightly.  That doesnt sell good.  
And no nothing is gonna dry in log form.  Itll "season" meaning convert sugars or something like that, but not dry.  Nothing dries for real until you split it and but it in a low humidity or high sun and wind environment.   Stacked out in the open in singular rows with tin on top is the fasteat itll dry short of a kiln. Sun and wind are your friends.

I did not mean that logs would ever season fully. I meant even a little bit. I said, "do you think logs 'season' at all in log form or is it close to zero? I would think it would season a little bit." One reason I ask is because if you are too busy to buck and split, you can stack logs and not have them rot until you can get to them. The question being how long would they be good for. From what you said, I guess they're ok for a year?

The other benefit if logs season at all is that if you sell split firewood from those logs pretty soon after splitting, at least, the customer is getting wood that is more seasoned than green.

Another reason for asking is that I know a seller who has logs show up on his processing area and the bar is falling off and I always wonder where these are coming from. I don't know if he has them somewhere else or if he's buying them. But, they are not green fresh. He does NOT ever stack wood. These bark-falling-off logs show up, he splits and throws the splits onto a trailer and sells that load to the customer. No stacking. People buy it and he's been there for years, so, I assume that the wood burns. Yes, it's probably too green, but people keep buying it. Wood I sell is more fully seasoned but I'm beginning to wonder if it even matters around here! Actually, to tell the truth, hardly anybody around here except me sells seasoned wood.

[mike_belben]

The 1st piece bucked off each end will be a little dry, the rest wont make hardly any difference.  Its minutia.  



If you are selling seasoned wood you need to get more than him for green.  Seek out stove vendors.  Theyre all selling high performance catalytic convertor stoves that NEED seasoned and bone dry wood.  Theyll have people calling them for dry wood. 

[stavebuyer]

If you cut and drag in the spring when the leaves are just coming out you often end up with "debarked" logs. These if left in the sun will not only split and check at the ends but often radially down the length of the log. Those logs will season quite a bit in log form. Any sawmill without a wet storage can tell you just how much they dry out

[mike_belben]

That is true.  Whether you are a sawyer or a wood burner, neither log will do what you actually want it to! 

[livemusic]

If you cut and drag in the spring when the leaves are just coming out you often end up with "debarked" logs. These if left in the sun will not only split and check at the ends but often radially down the length of the log. Those logs will season quite a bit in log form. Any sawmill without a wet storage can tell you just how much they dry out

That's interesting, I assume that you speak of hardwood (deciduous) trees? Do you know why this occurs?

[stavebuyer]

Fast growth in the spring. Trees produce large cells known as "early wood". The self-splitting is due to high moisture differential/rapid drying that occurs especially in logs with no bark. Hickory sometimes will almost quarter itself the entire length of log just laying in the sun.

[moodnacreek]

log drying in log form is next to none,in La. they probably take on moisture.

I wouldn't doubt it except for the summer droughts we often have. Just brutal heat. This past summer was not that hot but miserably humid. But in a drought, it's 2-3 months of oppressive heat, often long stretches of 100+ and humidity is lower.

Drying logs is pretty much wishful thinking unless you are in an arid state especially if the log is standing and has no bark. Cut and split and under a roof is what is needed.

[Corley5]

Feed roller tracks make all the difference when it comes to seasoning in log form  ;) ;D 8)

[PoginyHill]

Moisture in wood moves primarily along the grain - it dries mostly from the ends. Bark is a good moisture barrier. But even without bark, moisture doesn't move too much radially through wood.

Bark tends to "loosen up" during the growing season, then adhere more tightly during the dormant months. Logs harvested in the winter will likely have bark right through processing - even if stored for a while. Summer-harvested logs will lose there bark quickly, much while being skidded.

[reride82]

There is a bunch of variables to consider. Location, tree/log species, site conditions, etc. I'm guessing there is significant difference between Louisiana and Montana where I'm at. My primary source of firewood is lodgepole pine that has been standing dead for the last 15-20 years and is anywhere between 10-25% moisture content cut right from the tree. I had a bunch of Douglas Fir come down in a snow storm 3 years ago that was green when it came down. I cut and piled them in somewhat convenient locations in log form to about 6' lengths. the logs in full sun with good airflow are in way better shape than the ones piled in the shade and protected from the wind, they are getting soft. Long story short, it depends.  :D

Levi

[mike_belben]

Oaks will be 30-50% moisture, and if louisiana is like tennessee, its a swamp all summer and a rainstorm half the winter.  Hence ya really need the tin so that the moisture you get out on an sunny monday doesnt go right back in on a rainy tuesday.   I have positively had bone dry maple suck water back in from the air, while covered.  

[Corley5]

  Our northern hardwood will dry in the log IF the bark is broken.  If it isn't after 6 months a 16" block off each end will be seasoned.  The rest doesn't know it's dead.  The same wood cut with a processor leaving feed roller tracks will season.  It's evident when processing.  You can see the dry wood at the holes in the bark in the cross section.  The sugar maple flooring bolts I bought in May and June were stacked in my yard into late August and early September.  When processed they were well on their way to being seasoned.  It was all cut with a harvester.  Those same logs hand cut would have still been very green.

[SwampDonkey]

Yep, agree with Corley. And also his last sentence. I've cut firewood (hard maple) in tree length form and hauled out into the field. Leaves came out of little green twigs that the saw never removed and stayed green all summer.

I like to get the wood processed as quick as it's cut these days, otherwise you have beetles in the house, especially bark beetles if you have spruce firewood. I mean thousands of little pepper sized beetles that will head to the basement windows when they come out of that wood. :D They don't bother your house structure, they just want out doors.