How To Dry Firewood Faster

Today we’re talking about tips and tricks on how to dry your firewood faster

Order your own Hometown Acres gear here:

Check out our Amazon store for all our favorite products used on the channel

[josephforgione]

I’ve been cutting and splitting my own firewood for the past 20 years and your video accurately describes the best practices for effective wood drying. Thank you for sharing your video.

[Dreyno]

Here in Ireland we get a lot of rain. People stack it along walls and cover it with sheets of corrugated iron with rocks/concrete blocks on top to weigh it down. Some people build a small roof on pillars. Or cover it with a waterproof tarp.We don’t get reliable sunshine but we get a lot of wind. Wind dries better than sun because it blows right through the timber.

[gonow]

Actually winter is a friend of the drying process as well ! The freeze expels moisture at a high rate as well ! Thanks for the video it was a nice watch !

[kinetickutz]

I like the tip about facing the sun. Never heard anyone recommend that one yet. You can also cover top with tarps to block rain, cross stack to open up more airflow, and cut smaller pieces.

[JuicyRedman]

I never really comment on videos but I need to let you know that in order to dry your wood faster you should pile it right side up. You are piling your wood upside down especially if you are not covering it. Always pile your wood with the bark side up. That way it naturally sheds water when it gets rained on or snowed on.

[kameljoe]

When I cut and split firewood I always split it in blocks 4 sides to have more sides to dry out. Wood sheds are very ideal. High and dry and stacking them full. Summer is also good for drying out the heat and low moisture really helps. If you are using fire wood then split enough more more than a few years every year is far better. Keeping the rain and snow off of it will allow it to dry down to the normal 10 to 15% after a few years. Everyone wants to only cut and store for a years worth which is what gets them in the end. Plan out and build a wood shed for upwards of 5 seasons of wood. If you need 10 cords per year you should have a shed to stack 50 cords. That would be about 15 by 60 long lean too, make sure you have about 4 feet of over hang so that you can avoid most of the rain and still allow good air flow to pass by. The more wood you have the less work you will have to do each year. I see people on youtube trying to catch up with wood all the time. Spend the time and effort to get enough wood ready. Buy a wood splitter, buy or borrow equipment find locals and share in the work. A group of people with some equipment can process a lot of fire wood in a solid week end. Doing this a more than a few times a year will get every one a stack of fire wood for years to come.

[optimoprimo]

I live in South Eastern Ontario. I do everything possible at every stage of the firewood hunting and harvesting to maximize the drying process. I cut all my trees in November and december when moisture from sap is lowest in trees. I select 70% Ash, 10% Maple, 10% Beech, and the other 10% is of cherry, apple and iron wood. I stay away from oak because it takes forever to dry. I buck all trees up at the end of February and all of March. I collect all the rounds all of April and May and stack them in single rows off the ground in full sun and wind. Then I stack it off the ground as I split all of June. Then I let it sit in upper field uncovered with full, wind and sun July and August. September and October I transfer wood to lower field for easy pick up when selling. I stack it in 3 single rows of 240 feet each still exposed to sun and wind and rain... Usually I sell 35 cord a year. I burn the same wood as I sell and my wood gets down to 9 to 15% moisture. After that it will fluctuate with humidity in the air.... I have split wood in shed that is leftover from 3 years ago and it stays at around no moisture reading to 6% depending on external humidity. So I'm satisfied with 9 to 15% to burn. I've never had any issues and my clients keep coming back and have never complained. In fact I have 2 clients that drive an hour to pick up 4 cord every fall. This year has been perfect for drying. We have barely had any rain. It was like an oven all summer and even now we are have warm sunny days. Nature has been the kiln this year.

[daviddeaton]

You made a lot of good points Adam. I dry my wood in a single row for about a year then into the woodshed for another year. I am currently about 2 1/2 years ahead. I burn strictly oak and locust in my house. In my garage I burn whatever is dry. I get a lot of soft maple and it drys much faster than hard maple, usually about 6 months will do. Good video my friend!

[lostinmyspace]

I burn mostly oak and maple. Bringing in firewood from outside cold air, the wood needs to warm up before burning it. I make sure the firewood is cut on 90 degree angles on both ends. When I bring inside, I will put the wood standing up in soldier course fashion in front of the stove and the high heat will further dry the wood. I can bring in wood without any visible checking on the ends, but when I stand them up on end in front of the glassdoor, in about an hour or less, the checking ( cracks on the ends) will develop showing signs of dryer wood. Remember to at least bring your wood inside the room where the stove is, to bring it up to room temperature.

[finnnilssen]

Hey Adam, just a few tips. If you can, you should consider adding a second layer of pallets underneath your stacks when theyre sitting on dirt and grass like that. Air flow is your friend, stack loosely but not so that it tips over. 2 layers of pallets lets more air flow underneath it. Also you should leave a gap between your rows to let air pass between them. Im not familiar with how much rain you get over there, but here in Norway we usually cover our rows with typical tin or aluminium roofing panels and a strap around to secure it from blowing off. With all that rainwater not running down into your stacks, the wood dries really fast. We usually cut and stack before easter, leave the stacks open till mid summer and then we cover them from the rain until mid august. Its usually something between 14-17% moisture by that time, and most people sell it in late july/early august so the customer can fill up their storage. In september/oktober the air gets more damp and the wood will pick this up if left outside.
Covering from the rain also prevents the wood from turning as grey which my customers usually pay extra for ("designer birch wood", yes my friends laugh at me). If I could attach a picture Id show you but Im sure you get the deal.
Anyway, super happy that your wood selling business is blooming, nice stacks and as always thanks for a nice video. Keep up the good work and stay safe. //Finn

[markjones]

Good tips Adam. I let my wood dry for 5 years then move what I need for winter undercover in the summer, never have to worry about wood not being seasoned. It burns hot and after the burning season when I clean the flue I never get over a cupful of creasote.

[healyfamily]

Looks good. Never had a problem burning wood that has seasoned for a year even uncovered. To each his own.

[CyberTransport]

I split mine a little smaller (no bigger than the pieces after you split at 3:10, stack on pallets and keep it covered with a tarp so the rain doesn't soak it every time. Wife and I made a lot of stops at Harbor Freight for free 5x7 tarps with any purchase :). I've heard I may be able to get free tarps they cover lumber with during shipping on rail. Seems like getting is split before July is a huge help.

[MogCity]

For the Aussie hardwoods i cut, 3 years including 3 summers is ideal for where i live. Split and stacked straight into a woodshed with concrete floor. Any dead standing timber i cut, 6 months on the deck around the house is enough to complete the drying process. Nice video and nice stacks. Cheers Matt

[kevinbrewer]

I did have my wood in a pile for about two years. I recently bought a residential splitter it's big enough for my needs. I also have my stacks on pallets double rows. I have my end towards the west for the sun and the wind to blow through the pile.

[falfield]

Really good video and I agree completely with all the points you made. A few things were missed though, if 'faster' is the key word. 1) Cover the stack. Not necessary in deserts, but anywhere else, the number of gallons of water an average season's rainfall will land on the wood is always a surprise to the people I calculate it for. Sheet iron and building blocks is the remedy. 2) De-bark it. Bark is extraordinarily effective at keeping water in (the water just under the bark will move quicker going down through the 5 inches of wood beneath it to reach the split face than it will going up through the bark itself). 3) Split it smaller (obvious I know) and aim for shallow rectangles in cross-section rather than wedges. This reduces the distance the water needs to travel to reach an open surface and requires a straight-grained non-fibrous wood like ash/maple. 4) Choose your species. The pore structure and tenacity of bark vary a lot between species and some (eg birch, hazel, sycamore) give up their water easily. Others are less willing eg oak, holly. And elm is extraordinarily slow to dry. It gets its bad reputation for firewood because of this, when in fact it is a brilliant heat source, and when really dry, has a very low tendency to smoke.

[Nopsi]

Cheers from Germany! My firewood gets about 18 months. I badically have two stacks, one is the one who will be burned in this Winter, the other one next year 😉 sometimes 12 months of drying is enough, but 18 months always does it. firewood starts loosing heating/ fire power after 24 months of drying. Best example is birch wood, if it gets to old, it just falls apart.

[waltmoore]

This past year we used a Shelter Logic to season our firewood. We stacked about 3 cord in the shed an hung a fan from the top. We put the firewood in the shelter in April. We checked the moisture a couple times a month. By September it was below 20%. This was green oak mixed with dead ash. Started burning in November and most readings are 15%.

[SoulDamnFunky]

I'm in quite a different situation. I live in a Victorian building in a South coast British seaside town. I got some wood from the tree surgeons who were working outside. Got nowhere to store outside, plus it's cold and wet here. I was gonna whack it all in the oven but heard some bad reports so I guess I'll have to wait for it to dry indoors and use next winter.

[jlaw]

I have all mine under a lean to wood shed. Mostly open on the sides. Keeping it covered is really helpful in NW PA.