# Oak seasoning time.... is it worth it?



## mhrischuk (Sep 3, 2011)

Do all of the good firewoods take the same amount of time to season as oak? If not isn't the long seasoning time a big negative to using oak when/if you can do other woods that dry significantly faster?


----------



## ecocavalier02 (Sep 3, 2011)

Theres def other wood that seasons faster than oak and is still a quality fuel. ash being one of the best i think for how fast it dries and it still being a good hardwood to burn.  if your like me and have 3 years worth of oak on hand its not so bad. so if you have a lot on hand once you wait that one good period of time for it to dry its not like waiting so much anymore cuz your so stocked up. But i guess it depends on how much storage you have. but Yes the oak is def. worth the wait.


----------



## BrotherBart (Sep 3, 2011)

I burn 99% Oak. Red and white. I let it dry for two years then move it into the shed. The bit of Beach that I burn seems to be ready in a year. 

As to worth it, no question. If the stuff ain't the king of overnight burning it is a big stout queen.


----------



## Stax (Sep 3, 2011)

Looking at your land, I would say it would be well worth it.  For us suburban .25 acre guys, not so sure.


----------



## gzecc (Sep 3, 2011)

I personally try to stay away from oak, but its tough.  Take a look at the bottom of this page.  There are woods as good with less seasoning times.
2 yrs is a long time to wait. I could be dead in two years. As a matter of fact a good friend of mind just died in a motorcyle accident 2 days ago. You never know. One day your here, next day your gone!
http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html


----------



## Blue Vomit (Sep 3, 2011)

Mike,
I think it depends on your individual situation and schedule. If you are ahead with your supply, or can buy seasoned wood for the near future, and have the storage space, it's definately worth it. 
Everyones situation is different. I find myself often turning down oak. Mainly because I haven't had the time to get ahead, and dont have the storage space needed to properly season oak at this property. I am almost done c/s/s ing my 2112/2113 wood. This is mostly black locust, hickory, ash, cherry, and some oak. I turned down alot of oak becasue I wanted to get my 2112/2113 supply done and didn't want to risk oak not being seasoned after 18 months. I know my ash, cherry, hickory, locust will be.
As soon as the 2112/2113 wood is done I'll be getting all the oak I can, but wont touch it until 2113/2114.

As most here will tell you, getting 3 years ahead will solve your problems. I'm trying, but other life demands are not helping me.

I have burned dry, seasoned oak and I have burned near green unseasoned oak. Trust me, let it sit for 2 years, it's worth it.

good luck


----------



## Thistle (Sep 3, 2011)

In a word....Yes. Other woods such as Hickory are a bit denser with less moisture content,but still dry faster.Definitely worth the wait. Roughly 70% of what I burn is  standing dead or deadfall Red,Black,White & Bur Oak.With the remainder Shagbark & Mockernut Hickory & the occasional Mulberry,Silver Maple,White or Red Elm,Black Cherry,Honey Locust,HopHornbeam/Ironwood.


----------



## mhrischuk (Sep 3, 2011)

I have 3 cords of split and seasoned oak delivered the other day. First look tells me it's partially seasoned but the splits aren't big overall. I'm not sure how well this stuff is gonna burn but it will get at least another 2 months outside while I burn off my super seasoned stuff in the garage.


----------



## Woody Stover (Sep 3, 2011)

Thistle said:
			
		

> Roughly 70% of what I burn is  standing dead or deadfall Red,Black,White & Bur Oak.With the remainder Shagbark & Mockernut Hickory & the occasional Mulberry,Silver Maple,White or Red Elm,Black Cherry,Honey Locust,HopHornbeam/Ironwood.


I'm in the same boat. Most of the dead standing or storm-damaged stuff I've got right now is Black or Red Oak, so I have no choice but to get far enough ahead for seasoning time to be irrelevant. This year and next, I'll make it on some of the faster-drying stuff I've lined up. If I get what I have in the pipeline stacked soon, I should be three years ahead before Winter arrives. From then on, I'll be floating on a boatload of Oak.


----------



## raybonz (Sep 3, 2011)

mhrischuk said:
			
		

> Do all of the good firewoods take the same amount of time to season as oak? If not isn't the long seasoning time a big negative to using oak when/if you can do other woods that dry significantly faster?



As others have stated Oak is excellent firewood IF you give it 2+ years to season.. If you need wood now your best bet is Ash as you can practically burn it as you cut it.. I also find that pine (yes pine), soft maple, cherry and locust dry fast.. I have burned tons of Oak mostly red oak and it coals really well and burns hot and long.. Here is a good BTU chart:

http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

Ray


----------



## woodsmaster (Sep 3, 2011)

Sure it's worth it. Ideally you should be a couple years ahead anyhow.


----------



## wood-fan-atic (Sep 3, 2011)

[quote author="mhrischuk" date="1315035592"]I have 3 cords of split and seasoned oak delivered the other day.quote]

Are you sure? I mean _REALLY _ sure its seasoned? If you are planning on burning it at _ANY_ time this season - you might want to invest in a moisture meter and split one of the larger pieces open and take a reading. Oak can be very decieving - it could look seasoned - and still ring out at 50% (the hightest reading on the MM). It could really put you in a bad situation if you didnt find out your wood was not ready until its 15 degrees in January--- and too late to find an alternative.


----------



## mhrischuk (Sep 3, 2011)

This load happens to be lots of small splits that wood tend to season faster. When I stack it I'll attempt to sort the dryer stuff into a separate stack. Some of it looks to be more seasoned that other pieces. Maybe because it was more exposed to the sun on top of the pile so I'm not sure. The guy said 1-1/2 years. Like I said I figure I'll use what's in my garage... about a cord that is super dry and maybe mix in some of this new stuff as I go to extend the really dry stuff. Has anybody ever done that?

What did they do before moisture meters existed?


----------



## madrone (Sep 3, 2011)

mhrischuk said:
			
		

> What did they do before moisture meters existed?



They burned green wood, so they didn't care. 

I don't have room to store Oak for 2 years. It's dandy wood when it's seasoned, but in my case, I prefer almost anything else. In this climate I've had 3 year old oak sizzle in the stove. If I had plenty of room, though, I'd probably say it's worth it.


----------



## shawneyboy (Sep 3, 2011)

Me personally have currently 16 cords c/s/s.  That in addition to the 4 cord for this year in the shed/under the deck, means I have 20 cord or about 5 years of wood on site.  I can and most likely will top out with another few cord to season before I stop stockpiling my supply.  With that amount of storage space, Oak is most definately worth it.  On those dead of Winter January nights I can load up the stove with all Oak and know I will be warm and toasty and after shutting her down, have ample heat and coals when I wake up.  I have all sorts of Red, White, and Rock Oak on mine and my neighbors property that I can use, so for me with all the factors it is well worth it.

If you have limited storage space, and you are only able to stay a year or so ahead, that may be a different story.  Once you are collecting/stacking for 2-3 years in the future, Oak is the only way to go IMHO.

Shawn


----------



## Kenster (Sep 3, 2011)

95% of the trees around here are oak: post oak, live oak, water oak.   So, I use what I have and let it season accordingly.  I've got plenty of room for stacking, even when my bride insists I keep it out of view.   Two years seasoning time is best - three if you can.   But I tell you, with months of temps here way over 100 degrees and a hot dry wind blowing all summer long, really wet water oak that I cut just the past early February is showing about 17% on the Moisture Meter now.   A storm damaged post oak that I took down in November and bucked to nine inch lengths for N/S stacking is also showing well below 20% in just ten months.  And that was not a standing dead- it had the top twisted off in strong wind and was as green and wet as could be when I felled it.    

All my wood has been sitting out in a blast furnace since Spring time so I cheated the Seasoning Gods out of at least a year.  

To answer the OP's question.  Yes, definitely.  Oak is worth the wait.  I don't have much choice in wood.  Some of the guys here WISH they had my problem of only having oak!


----------



## Bigg_Redd (Sep 3, 2011)

mhrischuk said:
			
		

> Do all of the good firewoods take the same amount of time to season as oak?* No. No conifer takes more than year to be ready, for example.*  If not isn't the long seasoning time a big negative to using oak when/if you can do other woods that dry significantly faster? *That's what I think but most voices screaming in this echo chamber loudly and roundly disagree*



You are welcome


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Sep 3, 2011)

If you are ahead with your wood pile as you should be then the drying time for oak is not a factor. Two years? We wait 3 years to burn our oak. Is it worth the wait. Absolutely.

I have never owned a MM nor do I need one. I simply wait and let Mother Nature be my friend to get the wood ready to burn. Also, I never trust a wood burner to tell me if that wood is ready or not. Nor do I believe them when they say how long it has "seasoned." To them, if a tree is cut now and then next year at this time cut it to length and split, they say it has seasoned a year. Not so! Drying time starts only after it has been split and stacked. 

Burn low grade wood and you get low grade fires, will burn more wood, will get creosote, hard to light fires and will never get the full benefit of burning wood. On the other hand, let that wood sit 2-3 years and you will be amazed at how much heat you get and you'll get that heat a whole lot easier and won't have to clean creosote from the chimney.


----------



## fredarm (Sep 3, 2011)

If you can get it, standing dead oak (or deadfall) dries faster than green cut oak.  I find the branches and top third are ready to burn almost immediately (although I try to give them a few months stacked after being split) and the lower part of the trunk is ready in a year.


----------



## mhrischuk (Sep 3, 2011)

I was looking at it closer today. The stuff does look and feel decently dry. Knocking two together gets a nice hollow ring.. no thud.


----------



## raybonz (Sep 3, 2011)

mhrischuk said:
			
		

> I was looking at it closer today. The stuff does look and feel decently dry. Knocking two together gets a nice hollow ring.. no thud.



Try resplitting a few splits Mike that will tell the story.. Some ppl split a split then hold to their cheek, if it feels cool it's probably damp..

Ray


----------



## mhrischuk (Sep 4, 2011)

Will do. Thanks


----------



## madrone (Sep 4, 2011)

Bigg_Redd said:
			
		

> mhrischuk said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I have to agree that if someone offered me a cord of doug fir or a cord of oak, I'd take the fir.


----------



## woodchip (Sep 5, 2011)

I say oak seasoning time is worth it as firewood prices will only go up as more people buy wood stoves. 

You want to be a couple of years ahead in any case, as most woods take a couple of years to dry out fully once cut and split. 

So getting a 3rd (or even 4th) year ahead, and having that 3rd or 4th years wood as oak seems to be a good investment to me. 

Several years worth of wood also allows for time out for health mishaps and back injuries, just having the bare minimum gives no leeway.

So if you are going to have a cushion, it might as well be one of the the finest burning woods around........ ;-)


----------



## Todd (Sep 5, 2011)

You don't need no stinkin moisture meter. Put some liquid soap on one end of the split and lock your lips around the other end and blow, if it's seasoned you should blow bubbles on the soap end. Not kidding it works and is recommended by Morso.

Oh and yes, Oak is worth the wait.


----------



## gzecc (Sep 5, 2011)

Todd said:
			
		

> You don't need no stinkin moisture meter. Put some liquid soap on one end of the split and lock your lips around the other end and blow, if it's seasoned you should blow bubbles on the soap end. Not kidding it works and is recommended by Morso.
> 
> Oh and yes, Oak is worth the wait.


If my wife saw me kissing the wood like that, there would be hell to pay!


----------



## raybonz (Sep 5, 2011)

Todd said:
			
		

> You don't need no stinkin moisture meter. Put some liquid soap on one end of the split and lock your lips around the other end and blow, if it's seasoned you should blow bubbles on the soap end. Not kidding it works and is recommended by Morso.
> 
> Oh and yes, Oak is worth the wait.



LMAO yet another compelling reason to not buy a Morso...

Ray


----------



## Stevebass4 (Sep 5, 2011)

yes it is worth it 

bucked up last year - splitting and stacking today for hopefully next year







hello Ray


----------



## raybonz (Sep 5, 2011)

Stevebass4 said:
			
		

> yes it is worth it
> 
> bucked up last year - splitting and stacking today for hopefully next year
> 
> ...



Hey Steve long time no see! How ya been? Sold my old CDW stove and they took it away today.. I got $350.00 for it so I think I did OK.. Drop in sometime stranger!

Ray


----------



## Stevebass4 (Sep 5, 2011)

sounds like you did pretty good!!  - everything is going well.  figure i need Heath.com to keep me motivated to do the wood so i'll be around for a while ;-) 

still love your wood shed..   someday i'll make one


----------



## raybonz (Sep 5, 2011)

Stevebass4 said:
			
		

> sounds like you did pretty good!!  - everything is going well.  figure i need Heath.com to keep me motivated to do the wood so i'll be around for a while ;-)
> 
> still love your wood shed..   someday i'll make one



It could be better but I love it anyway.. Got tired of the wind undoing everything so it's worth the trip

Ray


----------

