taken delivery of "seasoned" logs that are 30-35 moisture

happenstance

I had my first ever load of logs delivered yesterday and they were wetter and heavier than the ones i've had before from a garage. some even have green moss on the side. I was concerned but the guy said, stack them in the wood store and they will be ready to burn in three weeks.

bought a moisture meter and now know they are 30-35%.

will these ever dry in 3 weeks time?

michaelgordon

not sure on logs but i bought some tree branches about 1 to 2 inchs thick in July the were cut to about six inchs in length and put in my logstore and i tested at the weekend and they were still around 30 - 40 they started out about this as well. Saying that my logs which are seasoned are around 25-30 but i bring in a couple of weeks worth into the house in rotations so they have at least a week to dry in the warm as well and they are <20-25%

alleycat`

In my experience no they won't be "good" in just 3 weeks time.

You can try split them down some more which will help as it exposes more surface area to dry but i'd expect about 6 months as described.

The wood will start to change colour and have loads of little splits in it when they are getting near ready to go.

They will burn but i doubt they'll be what you expect as you are going to be driving that moisture out of the wood when "burning".

Breezy and dry weather is what you need.
Wet / damp air that is still won't do much of anything.

suisidevw

I'd be on the phone to him getting him to pick up and refund immediately. I'd then get on ARB Talk firewood forum for a recomendation in your area and buy off someone that will provide QUALITY logs that have been seasoned and are dry. Good luck./

SG27

The seasoned logs I bought are around 17%. I've had some logs I got and chopped from a recently felled tree in June now showing around 30% so they are staying stacked until next year. It's worth complaining.

Greenfires

SG27 wrote: »

The seasoned logs I bought are around 17%.

This is one of my biggest gripes about kiln dried logs. You bought seasoned at 17% - presumably at "seasoned" prices. Kiln driers generally work to an average of 20% - but they always charge more because "these are kiln dried Sir - best logs you can get!"

suisidevw

Yup, kiln dried is a joke, an expensive marketing joke. Just get same results as firewood sellers get from leaving them to season naturally.

Skulls

Although I agree 'kiln dried' is a marketing ploy, I have tried the kiln dried logs at 'Home Bargains' at a price of £3.99, just to see what they were like. I must admit they are about the best logs I have ever tried and at £3.99, not overly expensive. I now use one kiln dried log split on top of some kindling to start my fire before loading with heat logs.

Greenfires

I'm not disputing that KD logs are good. I suppose they're a safer bet than just buying seasoned - as unfortunately there are a good few cowboys in the firewood game, and seasoned can be anything from bone dry to "came out of Mrs Miggins garden last week". At least KD logs will be ready for the stove straight away. My only gripe is all the hype they attach to them, making out they're such a superior product, when in fact in a good summer, naturally seasoned logs done properly will often be even drier than KD. There's also the issue that a lot of KD logs are imported from Eastern Europe - better for the importers bank balance, but hard to justify on environmental grounds. UK grown firewood has to be a better bet, and hopefully will eventually get a lot of neglected woodlands back into proper management if the owners see that there's a value in them.

G_M

Sounds like a clear breach:

Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 goods must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.

If they refuse a full refund, sue.

Until people start doing this, cowboys will continue to sell damp logs.

Gloomendoom

Is there a legal definition of 'seasoned' in the context of firewood?