Moisture meter

Looking for an affordable meter to check some green wood. Don’t want to spend a fortune but need something that gives an accurate reading. Is this possible for less than $50??

 

I've never needed one before, but this one has great reviews and it is from a tool company I'd trust.

$30 General Tools MMD4E Digital Moisture Meter, Water Leak Detector, Moisture Tester, Pin Type, Backlit LCD Display With Audible and Visual High-Medium-Low Moisture Content Alerts, Grays

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00275F5O2/ref=psdc_553270_t1_B0056TLHIE

 

We sell moisture testers for logging and a grain moisture testers. The wood moisture testers are spendy. But designed to be thrown around. Suggest looking at Amazon.

 

Appreciate that the two types of meters mentioned are measuring an electrical property and then relating that property to the wood's MC.
I have tested many meters and have yet to find one that has readings above 30% that are accurate. The problem, briefly, is that when there is liquid moisture present (above 30% MC), it behaves like a "short circuit" and so the electrical property does not vary much when the wood is a little above 30% MC or a lot above 30% MC. For freshly sawn lumber, you can probably get a closer estimate of the MC by using the typical green MC values for the species, rather than use a meter.
I did give a rather thorough review of these moisture meters when used on kiln dried lumber. That review, based on lots of tests, is in DRYING HARDWOOD LUMBER. Each type has some strong advantages over the other and some disadvantages. Together, the two are awesome. For KD lumber, when properly used, the meter values will be within 1% of the true, oven-dried values.
When comparing the two meters, the pinless meter is measuring the average MC of the piece. The pin meters are either measuring the wettest spot along the length of an uninsulated needle or measuring the MC at the tip of the insulated needle (the tip is not insulated). The insulated needle allows one to measure the MC at various depths.

 

I’ve used all types of MMs that cost thousands of $ in research projects for school, professionally I’ve never needed more than the $50-100 models available from Granger (or anywhere) made by Extech, which is a FLIR (forward looking infrared) company. Depending on what you're doing, some are good for interior flooring, some for troubleshooting, etc.

 

A little later to the party for the OP, but ill add in for future reads. My Harbor freight moisture meter is plenty accurate in determining if wood is green or seasoned. Comparing the readings to the sizzle, its dead on. And, less then $20.