When will your semi-seasoned larch be ready to burn?

With the sun beating down and the countryside starting to dry to a crisp, as a firewood supplier, we never stop.

One of the strategies we use to ensure year-round production is to give our customers a chance to really save money. We do this by offering firewood that you can finish drying yourself over the summer months, letting the sunny and windy weather do the heavy lifting.

Using timber that can dry below the legal requirement of 20% moisture content through environmental conditions alone is a real asset.

Now, as we enter this season, my inbox is full of basically one enquiry: “Will these logs be ready for burning this year?”

The answer is a resounding YES. The species we have selected for this task is larch, chosen for a particular reason-beyond it being the best available softwood firewood.

The reason comes from a series of observations I made while working for a previous company. We had processed some larch into a cattle shed at a supplier’s premises. Just three weeks later, I personally went in to load these split logs into a trailer to bring to our own site for drying, and I noticed a definite “crusty” sound as I handled them.

We got hold of a moisture meter, and lo and behold, the moisture content was already below 25%. This was completely unexpected.

That autumn, I carried out a careful test to better understand this phenomenon. I cut some fresh logs into quarters, marked them with numbers, and weighed them. I then stored them outside in the elements in a bread crate.

I measured their weight every two weeks and recorded the results on a spreadsheet. We finished with an oven test to get an accurate reading. Unbelievably, during October and November, those logs dried to 17% moisture content.

I have since described this as the timber almost “expelling” moisture. It explains why larch is used for cladding and fence posts-untreated, it is almost waterproof.

So, in conclusion, although current regulations require you to confirm by moisture meter that firewood is below 20% moisture content before burning, I can 100% assure you that, in a light, airy woodstore, these larch logs will be ready in 8 to 12 weeks of spring and summer drying.

I hope this goes some way to explain and reassure you of the qualities of this product.

>>> View Semi-seasoned Larch