# red oak vs black oak



## noremi (Jan 28, 2010)

Could someone tell me the difference in the two? Do they season about the same time wise? Are the btu`s about the same? The reason i`m asking is that i have found some black oak that is down, and i was wondering if it was about the same burn wise or the red oak was better,I hear alot about red oak but very little about black oak.


----------



## bogydave (Jan 28, 2010)

Black oak is in the Red oak family & sold as red oak.
It should be the about the same as red oak in your area, for seasoning & burning btu's.
Where it grew & how fast it grew has allot to do with it also, high land, low land, wet land etc.


----------



## quads (Jan 28, 2010)

It's hard to even tell the difference between the two.  Black oak has a little bit deeper bark, maybe.  Everything else about them as far as firewood, is the same.  When I was younger, had never even heard of black oak.  All the trees around here were referred to as red oak back then, nowadays they are all called black oak!


----------



## wood spliter (Jan 28, 2010)

I just also found a score of Black oak.  I have half the load just need to go back and get the rest.


----------



## Wood Duck (Jan 28, 2010)

I have lots of both Black and Red Oak, and I don't know how you can tell the difference between Black and Red Oak down logs. Black has hairy leaf buds and shiny leaves which differ from the smooth buds and generally less shiny leaves of Red, but you can't see these things on most down trees (unless it is a recently down tree that fell when the tree had leaves). I do find some of the wood in my mixed Black Oak and Red Oak pile is very red, while some is more blackish. I wonder if i am seeing the difference between Black and Red Oak. Many trees are named for the color of the wood, maybe these are too.


----------



## jessem (Jan 28, 2010)

Black oak grows a lot slower, the grain is a bit more compacted and physically it has a yellow inner bark that differs from a red oak


----------



## EKLawton (Jan 28, 2010)

jessem said:
			
		

> Black oak grows a lot slower, the grain is a bit more compacted and physically it has a yellow inner bark that differs from a red oak



You go tothe lumberyard to buy wood its red or white thats it..


----------



## jessem (Jan 28, 2010)

I know that red oak logs will bring 20% more than black oak logs, I guess if you were buying 2 common boards or pallet grade the lumber would be grouped together.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jan 28, 2010)

Oaks in N. America are in the white oak or red oak sub group.  There's a ton of variability there (swamp oak, live oak... very particular).  Black oak is about like any common red oak for cutting/burning if I recall correctly.


----------



## FLINT (Jan 28, 2010)

Wood Duck said:
			
		

> I have lots of both Black and Red Oak, and I don't know how you can tell the difference between Black and Red Oak down logs. Black has hairy leaf buds and shiny leaves which differ from the smooth buds and generally less shiny leaves of Red, but you can't see these things on most down trees (unless it is a recently down tree that fell when the tree had leaves). I do find some of the wood in my mixed Black Oak and Red Oak pile is very red, while some is more blackish. I wonder if i am seeing the difference between Black and Red Oak. Many trees are named for the color of the wood, maybe these are too.



I'm not aware that the wood is any differently colored, but the inner bark of black oak is very yellow like someone else mentioned, so thats an easy way to tell.  black oak bark also tends to be more 'chunky' and less 'stripey' than red oak - although there are a dozen types of 'red' oak, especially in the southeast, so unless you have leaves and buds in can be very hard to tell the diff.


----------



## noremi (Jan 28, 2010)

It`s very hard for me to tell the difference. So if they are about the same burn wise then it really don`t matter. I have never burned either, everybody say`s it`s about the best , I did work up some chestnut oak last jan-feb i am burning it and hickory now,I don`t know if it`s fully seasoned but it seems to be, I really couldn`t imagine anything burning much better.


----------



## golfandwoodnut (Jan 29, 2010)

i cut down a black oak this fall, right by the house, it is a courser bark but in the same family.  I have a huge red oak in the woods where the bark is much smoother and striped as mentioned earlier.  Here is a picture of the red oak.


----------

