To get maximum heat from any firewood, it needs to be cut, split and seasoned for at least 9 months and preferably a year. The idea that there is no moisture in the wood because the leaves are gone is a myth. Even trees which have been standing dead for several years contain a surprising amount of moisture.

thanks mainegrower, but of course this wood is for next year, 12 months+ from now. I am just wondering if the sap left in these half dead trees has already traveled down to the roots.

I prefer to get some of the work done now (cutting, splitting stacking) if possible, rather than working outside in harsher weather.

The amount of sap in the upper part of a living (or half living) tree at a given time depends on temperature, soil moisture, and other factors. The longer you wait to cut the wood, the less time it will have to cure. Don't analyze the situation too much, and cut the trees when it's convenient to do so.

Brandon has this right. If there is any difference in the basic moisture content of wood, and how long it takes to properly season it, based on when it is cut, it is so small as to be insignificant. I am not sure how this myth about the sap being down (or up)got started It could be that in spring and summer, the growing sapwood under the bark is "wet" when the bark is peeled off. But this has little to do with the amount of moisture in the wood as a whole. I season firewood for at least a year, and for a month or two before I burn it, I keep it out of the rain. I never worry about what time of year I cut it--I just make sure I season it long enough.

--Spruce

OK, thanks, this does make sense. Firewood, being what it is, it is only total moisture that counts, not what the drying process looked like.

On the other hand folks who use wood for woodworking projects (that is air dried lumber) must only harvest lumber in winter, when healthy trees have reached their natural "dry" cycle. Much of the sap really does store in the roots during the winter. That's when they must be cut. This minimizes warping and checking in the drying process.

I have always cut a little firewood, but this past summer installed a wood burning furnace, in series with my electric furnace. Last winter I cut 5 cords. So I am trying to learn more about best firewood practices.

On the other hand, I have seasoned air-dried lumber on several occasions. Right now, I have 400+ board feet of black walnut in my garage. It was cut in January five years ago. Hardly a crack in it.

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tom:

"On the other hand folks who use wood for woodworking projects (that is air dried lumber) must only harvest lumber in winter, when healthy trees have reached their natural "dry" cycle. Much of the sap really does store in the roots during the winter. That's when they must be cut. This minimizes warping and checking in the drying process."

I find this surprizing. I am a timberland owner, and I produce the highest quality logs I can. I cut my timber when I can, and have cut in both winter and summer. Some of the logs I have custom sawn and then I sell the lumber. Some I sell as logs. There is no price diffferential, and no one has ever expressed any preference for logs cut at one time or another.

One exception is veneer logs. Generally these are cut in late fall or winter. But I was told by my veneer log buyer that the reason for this is the "shelf life" of the logs is longer in cold weather. He said that the veneer logs should be sliced when very fresh. But more recently he said that he could do some buying in summer due to some new log handling methods his company had adopted.

Now if I think as logically as I can about this sap business, I am really stuck for a good reason why there should be any difference. The only part of a tree that has moving sap is the sapwood. The heartwood, the portion that is the largest part of the wood of most larger trees, does not have active sap/water moving cells. With species such as oak and cherry, the sapwood layer is relatively thin, and this lighter colored sapwood is generally not used for the higher grade furniture, and its presence in a piece of lumber knocks the grade, and price, way down. So, based on what I know about how trees "work," and how lumber is sawn and graded, I don't understand why there should be any real difference.

--Spruce

We do our own custom sawing for lumber and turning. It gets done whenever it fits in. However, for lighter colored woods, especially maple, discoloration sets in more quickly in warm weather, so we don't take down trees in spring or early summer. Fall harvest (winter would be fine also, but often the snow is too deep,) waxing the log ends, and then cutting and stickering for air drying in a covered shed gets us fine quality wood.

Wood for the stove gets cut spring (as soon as it dries out enough for the tractor) through fall for the following year (about 1-1 1/2 years ahead) and is kept under cover, either in an unheated shed or simply by putting a top on the stacks to keep rain off. They are brought inside the shed before snow flies in the year they will be used if they aren't already. Limbs and trimmings from the sawmill get cut for the woodstove whenever they happen, but again, a year ahead of burning. I think that good sun and cover from precipitation is more important to the dryness of firewood than when it's harvested, as long as it has sufficient drying time. Cherry seems to dry moderately quickly.

nhbabs:

Yes, the maple needs to be sawn fairly quickly--we always did that first.

But for the cherry: how long can one wait? One year we got the maple out fast, but because of some problems with weather, and one or two other things, the cherry sat for too long (something over a year) and we lost money. How long can cherry logs sit outside before there is significant loss? My partner handled the sawing and I never saw the results, and he never really owned up to what happened. It was his job to move the logs to the mill and arrange for the sawing, so I guess he felt guilty, and didn't want to discuss the issue.

--Spruce