Awesome video. I personally find it unnecessary and annoying that these moisture meters feel the need to beep like a cardiac monitor at me. I can read the numbers, I don’t need it to scream at me when the level is high lol
Great finally a sensible comparison with pinned and pinless which shows that the pinless is no use for firewood but likely great with flat cabinet work. Thanks for splitting the wood and measuring the centre with the pinned meter it confirmed that the pinless reading of 11% was no use and the pinned gave a true reading of 18% In UK it is now illegal to burn unseasoned wood or sell unseasoned wood.
That buck was thinking hey buddy get your firewood of my land! Great video with lots of good info. Much appreciated this will be my first year using wood for heat.
Thank you! We appreciate you watching and commenting. It's been a pretty mild winter so far here in northwest PA. My wife prefers that - but I'm ready for some snow!
Thanks! Today's gadgets are amazing. I remember it seems like not that long ago I was still clunking wood together to see how it sounded to determine if it was dry enough. ;)
Every 10 degrees below room temp adds 1% to the average reading. If you're splitting dry logs in the middle of winter, say 10 degrees out. Yours going to get a 25% reading when it's actually 19% if it was in your house at room temp. Just something to remember.
We usually seasoned ours about 2-3 years before burning. And we kept it elevated to prevent the termites from getting to it. Bad termite problem here. Thanks for the info, Chad! 👍🌲🪵
Thanks, David. 2-3 years is a great seasoning time! We try to keep ours off the ground normally too. My stack of rounds is on the ground (poor planning), but the split wood is usually on skids or in IBC totes.
Elevation alone is not the key. Moisture must be present for termites, no matter where it is. You can throw a handful of termites in your house. If the wood is dry, they will go elsewhere.
General with pin is what i bought for firewood. I guess pins give close to accurate reading on something small and uneven like firewood for pizza oven.
I just checked some ash that I cut split and stacked outside under a covered roof 1-1/2 years ago with a pinned meter that measured 9% on the outside and 16% when I cut it in half and checked the center of the wood
Good video! I’ve got a central boiler 6048 going on its 12th winter and it will burn whatever wood you put in it. However, the drier the wood the more BTUs you get and the less creosote build up you have. I’ve got a friend who also has a 6048 and he leaves his logs set all year then just chainsaws off chunks and burns it. I like to mix some split wood that’s dry and some big chunks that are somewhat seasoned. Seems to burn well. I do get creosote build up in the chimney. I just take the chimney down about every 2 years and burn it out. One of the benefits of the outdoor boiler, if the chimney catches on fire, oh well. It will burn out eventually.
Thanks! I appreciate you confirming my guesses - that you can burn any wood in those boilers (dry, seasoned, unseasoned, green, fresh cut, small pieces, large pieces. But I figured if it wasn't seasoned, you'd miss out on some BTUs and end up with significantly more creosote build up in the burning chamber and the pipe.
We usually stack the wood in the IBC totes. But it doesn't look as nice as a perfectly stacked row of firewood. I'm just horrible at making those nice looking rows! I need the firewood totes for containment. :)
I think part of my issue is that I don’t have much area with lots of great airflow. We live in a valley. And all my firewood “hiding places” don’t get as much sunshine as I’d like. Thanks for watching!
Seasoning does NOT indicate (water) dryness. I suggest we measure moisture with a percentage moisture meter and use that meter as per the directions. SEASONING is a a term for makers of furniture or musical instruments in which the pitchiness may take 10 years or more to harden. There are tables on line showing the energy of dry North American tree samples. eg --Cottonwood is one of the worst, Douglas Fir is one of the good ones
Thanks for watching! I agree- testing firewood with a moisture meter is very important. Here's a recent video where I talk about the % moisture content that I find acceptable. ua-cam.com/video/_vKusEEhmXI/v-deo.html
Hi, enjoyed the simplicity of your video. I live in a higher elevation area with a lot of wind. Split some wood a couple of months ago from a tree that was downed. It's already reading 10-15% on the meter. However, bark is still intact so it's clearly not seasoned. I'm confused because there's so much talk about wood having to be seasoned for a year but then people say 20% or less is good. If it was recently cut and is reading below 20% is it okay to burn this winter?
In my experience, the bark does not always fall off entirely. If you make a fresh split and the moisture level is 10-15%, it sounds like it's seasoned. Wind definitely helps remove the moisture faster. I did a video about how wood even dries in the winter due to the dry air. ua-cam.com/video/v0QK3-Ycll0/v-deo.html
When using a moisture meter, I noticed that when you just turn it on and read it it may say like 40% but if you press down on it it goes up relative to how hard you press on it maybe say 45% or more. It just resting it on the wood the proper method of use?
Thanks! It's great to have firewood ready before it gets cold. I haven't heard any winter predictions for our area yet, but I'm hoping for lots of snow!
Sometimes she is right. Though I don’t find the IBC totes an eyesore. I don’t think they make great landscaping - but I don’t think they look terrible.
I watched your other video on meters as well. What are the readings of the meters on the end grain? How close are the pinless to the pinned type in that scenario? I realize it isn't the best way to measure the MC of the wood I'm just curious about what they read in relation to each other. You did it with a few of the pin style but didn't show the pinless on the end grain.
Thanks, Mike. Are you working with an outdoor wood burner, an outside fire pit, or an indoor wood stove? I've found in our indoor stove, that no matter how hot the bed of coals, green/wet wood just doesn't burn well, and creates a lot of dangerous creosote in the burning chamber, the stove pipe, and the chimney. I look forward to hearing about your setup. Thanks!
@@PurpleCollarLife Have done the hot coal thing , in a fireplace, never inspected the flue , to see if any residue was left. Definitly do it outside a lot. have a lot of oyster roasts, gatherings in the cold weather.
Great question! We are in northwest Pennsylvania. So we have all 4 seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). We are probably right in the middle as far as humidity. Obviously we're not as humid as the south east (Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.). But we're also not as dry as the south west (socal, Arizona, New Mexico, etc.). The nice thing is that our winters are fairly low humidity. And firewood does season through the winter as long as there is dry airflow around it. I did a video about that here: ua-cam.com/video/v0QK3-Ycll0/v-deo.html Thank you for watching and the great question!
Dude it would be nice if you knew how to use these meters before you make a video. You need to test on wood at indoor temps for a couple days. Then you need to resplit each piece. Then you put the pins in the fresh split surface Parallel to the grain. The way you are doing it is giving you the wrong readings.
Thanks for the tips. I actually made another video where I showed this in more detail (splitting right before testing, and testing the fresh split surface area.) ua-cam.com/video/E4avQWrcbNI/v-deo.html
We're always improving our system. Those stacks were before we started using skids and IBC totes to store our wood. You're right - it's somewhat counterproductive to season your wood, but leave it on the ground and uncovered.
Lol got your hands full with wife. She wouldn't like our province... Usually woman here are happy as long as it is neatly stack. I also don't really get the appeal of hardwoods.... I can burn softwoods in 3-6 months....
Check out our moisture meter comparison and review here: ua-cam.com/video/886Qsi2lsGM/v-deo.html
Awesome video. I personally find it unnecessary and annoying that these moisture meters feel the need to beep like a cardiac monitor at me. I can read the numbers, I don’t need it to scream at me when the level is high lol
Thanks for watching!
Great finally a sensible comparison with pinned and pinless which shows that the pinless is no use for firewood but likely great with flat cabinet work. Thanks for splitting the wood and measuring the centre with the pinned meter it confirmed that the pinless reading of 11% was no use and the pinned gave a true reading of 18% In UK it is now illegal to burn unseasoned wood or sell unseasoned wood.
That buck was thinking hey buddy get your firewood of my land! Great video with lots of good info. Much appreciated this will be my first year using wood for heat.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the video! We really like wood heat. Plus, we enjoy the process of cutting and splitting the wood.
@@PurpleCollarLife it's been a lot of fun so far. Good exercise and fresh air with good reward. Take care friend.
Great vid! Really nice to see the variety of meters out there and the pros and cons. Nice job!
Thanks WST!
Thanks for explaining how to use the meter. Great job!
Glad it was helpful!
Exactly. Some of us have a catalyst therein. Nice work Sir
Thanks!
Good information, thanks for passing it along.
No problem 👍
Great video. It would be neat to see a comparison of outdoor fires with the three different types of wood.
Great suggestion! We can do that in a future video. Probably a Spring or summer video. ;)
Great video , thanks for sharing ! ... hope you are having a lovely winter :)
Thank you! We appreciate you watching and commenting. It's been a pretty mild winter so far here in northwest PA. My wife prefers that - but I'm ready for some snow!
Good tips and comparison between the moisture meters.
Glad it was helpful!
Cool demonstrations Chad thanks!
Thanks! Today's gadgets are amazing. I remember it seems like not that long ago I was still clunking wood together to see how it sounded to determine if it was dry enough. ;)
Every 10 degrees below room temp adds 1% to the average reading. If you're splitting dry logs in the middle of winter, say 10 degrees out. Yours going to get a 25% reading when it's actually 19% if it was in your house at room temp. Just something to remember.
Very interesting!
We usually seasoned ours about 2-3 years before burning. And we kept it elevated to prevent the termites from getting to it. Bad termite problem here. Thanks for the info, Chad! 👍🌲🪵
Thanks, David. 2-3 years is a great seasoning time! We try to keep ours off the ground normally too. My stack of rounds is on the ground (poor planning), but the split wood is usually on skids or in IBC totes.
Elevation alone is not the key. Moisture must be present for termites, no matter where it is. You can throw a handful of termites in your house. If the wood is dry, they will go elsewhere.
General with pin is what i bought for firewood. I guess pins give close to accurate reading on something small and uneven like firewood for pizza oven.
Thanks for watching!
I just checked some ash that I cut split and stacked outside under a covered roof 1-1/2 years ago with a pinned meter that measured 9% on the outside and 16% when I cut it in half and checked the center of the wood
Thanks, Mike. That's good info!
I use to get van loads of fireweood every day for years all for free from funiture manufacture all hard woods cut to size
Nice! Thanks for watching.
Good video! I’ve got a central boiler 6048 going on its 12th winter and it will burn whatever wood you put in it. However, the drier the wood the more BTUs you get and the less creosote build up you have. I’ve got a friend who also has a 6048 and he leaves his logs set all year then just chainsaws off chunks and burns it. I like to mix some split wood that’s dry and some big chunks that are somewhat seasoned. Seems to burn well. I do get creosote build up in the chimney. I just take the chimney down about every 2 years and burn it out. One of the benefits of the outdoor boiler, if the chimney catches on fire, oh well. It will burn out eventually.
Thanks! I appreciate you confirming my guesses - that you can burn any wood in those boilers (dry, seasoned, unseasoned, green, fresh cut, small pieces, large pieces. But I figured if it wasn't seasoned, you'd miss out on some BTUs and end up with significantly more creosote build up in the burning chamber and the pipe.
waw beautiful place
Yes, thank you
I need one to check stumps. I think it would help me better estimate how much time a stump will take me rather than just measuring the diameter.
That's a great idea! It's certainly a use I hadn't thought of.
I'd say when you just dump the wood into cages it is a bit of an eye sore. Well stacked wood is beautiful
We usually stack the wood in the IBC totes. But it doesn't look as nice as a perfectly stacked row of firewood. I'm just horrible at making those nice looking rows! I need the firewood totes for containment. :)
Crazy on your cherry. It takes 90 -120 days for split cherry to drop to 20% for me. From fresh cut
I think part of my issue is that I don’t have much area with lots of great airflow. We live in a valley. And all my firewood “hiding places” don’t get as much sunshine as I’d like. Thanks for watching!
Seasoning does NOT indicate (water) dryness. I suggest we measure moisture with a percentage moisture meter and use that meter as per the directions. SEASONING is a a term for makers of furniture or musical instruments in which the pitchiness may take 10 years or more to harden. There are tables on line showing the energy of dry North American tree samples. eg --Cottonwood is one of the worst, Douglas Fir is one of the good ones
Thanks for watching! I agree- testing firewood with a moisture meter is very important. Here's a recent video where I talk about the % moisture content that I find acceptable. ua-cam.com/video/_vKusEEhmXI/v-deo.html
Useful info!
Thanks, Sam!
Hi, enjoyed the simplicity of your video. I live in a higher elevation area with a lot of wind. Split some wood a couple of months ago from a tree that was downed. It's already reading 10-15% on the meter. However, bark is still intact so it's clearly not seasoned. I'm confused because there's so much talk about wood having to be seasoned for a year but then people say 20% or less is good. If it was recently cut and is reading below 20% is it okay to burn this winter?
In my experience, the bark does not always fall off entirely. If you make a fresh split and the moisture level is 10-15%, it sounds like it's seasoned. Wind definitely helps remove the moisture faster. I did a video about how wood even dries in the winter due to the dry air. ua-cam.com/video/v0QK3-Ycll0/v-deo.html
@@PurpleCollarLife Very helpful. Thanks!
When using a moisture meter, I noticed that when you just turn it on and read it it may say like 40% but if you press down on it it goes up relative to how hard you press on it maybe say 45% or more. It just resting it on the wood the proper method of use?
Dry, Seasoned, and Ready to burn - that's the ticket - cheers
Thanks! It's great to have firewood ready before it gets cold. I haven't heard any winter predictions for our area yet, but I'm hoping for lots of snow!
@@PurpleCollarLife - Hush!
I guess she is right about the metal cages with the plastik roof being an eyesore,...
Sometimes she is right. Though I don’t find the IBC totes an eyesore. I don’t think they make great landscaping - but I don’t think they look terrible.
I watched your other video on meters as well. What are the readings of the meters on the end grain? How close are the pinless to the pinned type in that scenario? I realize it isn't the best way to measure the MC of the wood I'm just curious about what they read in relation to each other. You did it with a few of the pin style but didn't show the pinless on the end grain.
The painless moisture meters do not read well on the grain end. They’re better on a straighter surface with the grain.
@@PurpleCollarLife yeah I agree. I ended up buying one myself to see how it worked. I'm sticking with the pins.
I have plenty times , burned green, wet wood just hours after taking the tree down. A good bed of hot coals will do it.
Thanks, Mike. Are you working with an outdoor wood burner, an outside fire pit, or an indoor wood stove? I've found in our indoor stove, that no matter how hot the bed of coals, green/wet wood just doesn't burn well, and creates a lot of dangerous creosote in the burning chamber, the stove pipe, and the chimney. I look forward to hearing about your setup. Thanks!
@@PurpleCollarLife Have done the hot coal thing , in a fireplace, never inspected the flue , to see if any residue was left. Definitly do it outside a lot. have a lot of oyster roasts, gatherings in the cold weather.
did you mention how hot, dry (or moist) and long your dry season is?
Great question! We are in northwest Pennsylvania. So we have all 4 seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). We are probably right in the middle as far as humidity. Obviously we're not as humid as the south east (Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.). But we're also not as dry as the south west (socal, Arizona, New Mexico, etc.). The nice thing is that our winters are fairly low humidity. And firewood does season through the winter as long as there is dry airflow around it. I did a video about that here: ua-cam.com/video/v0QK3-Ycll0/v-deo.html
Thank you for watching and the great question!
Under 20% is good
Thanks!
What is the humidity in your area?
It varies based on season and day. We’re in northwest Pennsylvania.
Dude it would be nice if you knew how to use these meters before you make a video. You need to test on wood at indoor temps for a couple days. Then you need to resplit each piece. Then you put the pins in the fresh split surface Parallel to the grain.
The way you are doing it is giving you the wrong readings.
Thanks for the tips. I actually made another video where I showed this in more detail (splitting right before testing, and testing the fresh split surface area.) ua-cam.com/video/E4avQWrcbNI/v-deo.html
if i do not know what type of wood i have ( mixed hardwood ),what setting should i set my moisture meter on a,b,c,d.?
Hello - which moisture meter are you using?
@@PurpleCollarLife unbranded one off ebay,4 settings a,b,c,d
@@PurpleCollarLife ua-cam.com/video/SmKGoTxChCI/v-deo.html,this link shows the exact same
if you 'season' your wood, but stack directly on the ground and do not cover it....lol whatever
We're always improving our system. Those stacks were before we started using skids and IBC totes to store our wood. You're right - it's somewhat counterproductive to season your wood, but leave it on the ground and uncovered.
Holy shit 7%, that’s getting close to rotten in oz
'Women" making firewood harder since Christ was a cowboy.
Thanks for watching!
Lol got your hands full with wife. She wouldn't like our province... Usually woman here are happy as long as it is neatly stack.
I also don't really get the appeal of hardwoods.... I can burn softwoods in 3-6 months....
Thanks for watching! Hardwoods are what we have here in NW PA. Mostly Oak, Hickory, Maple, and Cherry.
Wait, so your wife controls everything and owns the house!?
I like to let her think so. Just kidding. We're a great team. We work together and I value her input.
Thinking maybe your wife should get priorities straight….just sayin
That's funny. But she's usually right.
Why you gotta rude