# Yay. more free willow oak



## jlove1974 (Dec 15, 2010)

Just when I thought I was done cutting and splitting this crap, I scored some more free wood on CL.

It seems the only wood I have been able to obtain for the past 3 years has been willow oak. Yay!
It only takes forever to season when split. Good thing I augmented it with some ash this year...

ON to the score:

The lady told me that she was going to call back some of the other 15 ppl that had called but I was the first 
The ad was posted 15 minutes before I emailed them. She told me it was 'willow' and I was betting it was willow oak, since she told me it wasn't weeping willow.
I was right. about a 75ft tall tree, with about a 28" DBH. There is one crotch in it that weighs at least 600lbs. I have a friend with a 'grapple truck' so no worries.
I will post pics after I pick up the first load. Time to sharpen the chain....

I miss good ol fashioned Red Oak that splits easily, and seasons in 18 months if cut after leaf drop.


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## jlove1974 (Dec 15, 2010)

oh and the good thing is: it's easy to back a truck up to, it's already bucked up for the most part, and I can't beat the price.


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## basswidow (Dec 15, 2010)

I'm just thinking how productive I would be if I had a friend with a Grapple truck!  

sounds like a good score!


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## jlove1974 (Dec 15, 2010)

basswidow said:
			
		

> I'm just thinking how productive I would be if I had a friend with a Grapple truck!
> 
> sounds like a good score!



You ain't kidding. He's also got a screw-type mechanical splitter that he repowered that will split a 40" log! it'll bust one about 40" in diameter lol


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 15, 2010)

jlove, around these parts we always give any red oak 3 years after being split before burning.

Sounds like you found a great deal!


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## jlove1974 (Dec 16, 2010)

ya I usually like to let it season at least two summers. Our summers are about 75 days of 90+ degree weather, and we have been in droughts the past 3-5 years so it seasons quick for me
if I expose it to the sun and wind. This year though I am planning something a little different.

I am gonna build a 'plastic sheet greenhouse' over the woodpile where I stack my green wood. I'm gonna cook some of this moisture out courtesy of our hot summer sun.

Aiming for 10-12 months for MC to be below 25% on my cheap-o-meter


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 16, 2010)

Jlove, you will have much more success with leaving the wood out in the open. Rather than trying to cook the moisture out, just let the wind blow it out. Stack it so the wind hits the sides of the stacks. Sun is nice too but wind is the most important for drying wood. So in drought years, that wood will dry super during the summer months but if you build a greenhouse over the wood pile, you'll actually trap more moisture. Nope! Stack it outside in the air and let Mother Nature do her thing.


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## jlove1974 (Dec 16, 2010)

I read a survival blog and this guy seasons his wood in about half the time by using plastic sheeting, http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_firewood.html

However, I am gonna improve on this idea a bit. suspending it ABOVE the woodpile, while keeping it off the wood at the sides and draining moisture from the sides (like a survival still, if you are familiar with this). 

The plastic is only focusing the sunlight, keeping the elements off the wood and basically cooking the moisture out, and the air is still able to circulate around it. cheap and easy. He weighs it down with cast lead. It's a good idea IMO.
Much better than keeping it in the shade inside a woodshed where the sunlight never shines.


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## Shari (Dec 16, 2010)

Hmmm... guess I have to check out the difference between 'willow oak' versus 'weeping willow'.  To me willow is willow and oak is oak - opposite ends of the BTU chart.

Shari


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## jlove1974 (Dec 16, 2010)

Shari said:
			
		

> Hmmm... guess I have to check out the difference between 'willow oak' versus 'weeping willow'.  To me willow is willow and oak is oak - opposite ends of the BTU chart.
> 
> Shari



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_phellos

just IMO, any true Willow is shite whether seasoned or not, and willow oak is shite until it's seasoned. 
It's big, heavy, hard to split derivative of 'red' oak but the wood is actually white. Red oak splits easily.
This stuff is like splitting concrete when it's wet. A tell tale sign of willow oak is if it's covered in vines.
For some reason, the last couple of trees I have harvested has been covered with english ivy (different sites...)

Anyhow, it's very common around here and the rest of the east Coast due to the rapid growth rate, and ornamental value.

Here's a forest service link to it. They are like weeds around here. And don't plant them if you don't have a leaf vac.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/quercus/phellos.htm


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 16, 2010)

jlove1974 said:
			
		

> I read a survival blog and this guy seasons his wood in about half the time by using plastic sheeting, http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_firewood.html
> 
> However, I am gonna improve on this idea a bit. suspending it ABOVE the woodpile, while keeping it off the wood at the sides and draining moisture from the sides (like a survival still, if you are familiar with this).
> 
> ...



I haven't yet read that link you gave but did want to comment that most folks will not move wood into a woodshed until it has dried outdoors. I still hold that wind is more important than sun and even heat....but the heat does help if not too humid. Just have to remember that as temperature rises, the air holds more water, so you do need the wind.


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## jlove1974 (Dec 16, 2010)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> jlove1974 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



you are right about the wind, but it should be about equal. Think about swimming. When you get out of the water, which dries you off faster, just the wind (if it's overcast) or the wind and the sun.

We do get quite a bit of humidity here in South Central NC....some days it's 85 degrees and 85% humidity. Anyhow, I'll try it on a cord or two, since it's cheaper than building a woodshed (even with pallets...). I'll check MC before and after this summer's scorching days. Right now the stuff is 'OL' according to my HF mini moisture meter, so I won't even both checking it until about May....

Also, I have some of this stuff criss-cross stacked with the wedges on top like a little roof. That seems to help but takes up more room. I do this on both sides of my main stacks to let the middle get airflow.


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## kwikrp (Dec 16, 2010)

Any photos of the bark, a split, and /or leaf???


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## jlove1974 (Dec 16, 2010)

kwikrp said:
			
		

> Any photos of the bark, a split, and /or leaf???



it's all in the links I put up there, but here:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=willow+oak 







http://lmgtfy.com/?q=willow+oak


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## jlove1974 (Dec 19, 2010)

wow. This stuff is heavy, and full of water.....they cut it down to get direcTV signal for NFL sunday ticket 
And my splitting axe just bounces off of it like Elm....guess it doesn't matter how late in the year you cut it.
It still had most of the leaves on the branches on the ground! Don't u just love global warming lol 
 I am just glad my neighbor let me borrow his 16ft trailer because there's no way
we can get into the backyard fence with the grapple truck. I barely cleared it
with the Suburban and the trailer. I'll post some pics of the 'small' rounds I picked up tomorrow


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## jlove1974 (Dec 20, 2010)

some pics of the 'score' lol:











Here is some of the previous willow oak I cut this fall:






criss-cross might help season faster....





Here is some "campfire" wood, mostly sycamore with a little ash and a little ceder mixed in, my little trailer, and the bottom of my Scanoe






Here is my winter ride. I paid a good $200 for this thing a few years back






And here is the fire-breathing smoke dragon Oak Ridge. I retrofitted it w/ 2500 degree super-insulation all the way around the back of the insert.
The original fiberglass from 1981 was pure crap.


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## Nic36 (Dec 21, 2010)

I have several cords of willow oak stored in my barn. It will be a while before I can get around to burning it. For oak, I have burned white, red and water oak so far. Willow oak is more dense than all of those. I have processed it all with my hydraulic splitter, and on several pieces I am very thankful I am not hand splitting. 

When it is seasoned, I bet it will be awesome. 

The pictures are of a large willow oak that fell in my yard. I cut most of it up with my 55 Rancher, but inevitably had to buy the 372XP for the trunk.


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## jlove1974 (Dec 21, 2010)

Nice! Ya on those big rounds of this stuff, there is no way you would split it by hand easily like red.
Whats funny is you say it's more dense - I thought so too, but it doesn't show up separately on a log heat chart like it deserves.
I think it's closer to white oak than red in density...I hope it's closer to it in actual BTUs when seasoned....

I am just thankful that I have been coming across some random dead logs of ash and had about a cord of seasoned red oak.
Otherwise I would be burning greenish wood like all the other rednecks around here do.
Whats funny is my friends look at me like I got 3 heads when I tell them I am going to season this stuff for two full summers.
But they sure like to come over when the Oak Ridge is running about 645 degrees and it's 15 degrees outside lol.

Also I like the Husky, and I imagine it's a workhorse. Nothing like revving a 70+ cc 2-stroke eh?


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## Nic36 (Dec 21, 2010)

I found a BTU chart on the internet a while back. It had Willow Oak listed on it separately. I did not bookmark it, unfortunately. However, it listed Willow Oak as having higher BTUs over White and Red oak.

I will look for it again.


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## jlove1974 (Dec 22, 2010)

just found this:

http://www.xomba.com/characteristics_of_various_firewood

in million BTUs per cord:
Oak, White 29.1 poor light slight
Oak, Willow 29.6 poor some slight

As I had suspected, it's higher than white oak AND hickory, although it takes longer to season than both...


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## Nic36 (Dec 22, 2010)

Good find. I looked for a chart, but was unsuccessful. 

I have enough red and white oak stockpiled to last me probably 3 more years before I get to the willow oak, so I should be good.


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