I Hate Oak

[Bigg_Redd]

I Hate Oak

Luckily for me it doesn't grow much around here

 

[wendell]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I was just given a stack of oak that had been sitting for 10 years unsplit. I didn't expect the bigger stuff to be ready but when I split some of the 4-5" stuff and it was reading 36% I was shocked. My wood for 2014/15 is almost all oak and i'm already getting nervous.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Agreed. I inherited a bunch of oak when we bought our new house last year. Can't wait to burn it next year and be done with it.

This year I'm going with mostly ash, and I can't wait. Should be a joy. I think I'm going to be primarily an ash man going forward.

Stegman , enjoy the ash while you can. It won't be long before that is all gone. They are dieing fast. Danged Chinese stuff...

 

[lukem]

If your profile pic shows that wood stacked having the wood stacked deep can slow drying. Things will dry the fastest in single rows.

pen

No, that isn't how I have it stacked. I have some stacked 3 deep, but the avatar is just the pile of rounds I'm currently working on. This new stuff I'm stacking 2 deep. I may even peel a row off the 3-deep stack to bring it down to 2. I know I should stack it single deep, but it just takes up soooo much more space.

This post was mostly tongue-in-cheek. I don't really hate it...but I don't know if it will be my first choice in the future. I've just had a lot of it (26 truckloads) fall in my lap over the past year.

I'll probably be cutting dead/down black locust and osage from here on out. I have access to all I could ever want 1/4 mile up the road.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

If your profile pic shows that wood stacked having the wood stacked deep can slow drying. Things will dry the fastest in single rows.

pen

No, that isn't how I have it stacked. I have some stacked 3 deep, but the avatar is just the pile of rounds I'm currently working on. This new stuff I'm stacking 2 deep. I may even peel a row off the 3-deep stack to bring it down to 2. I know I should stack it single deep, but it just takes up soooo much more space.

This post was mostly tongue-in-cheek. I don't really hate it...but I don't know if it will be my first choice in the future. I've just had a lot of it (26 truckloads) fall in my lap over the past year.

I'll probably be cutting dead/down black locust and osage from here on out. I have access to all I could ever want 1/4 mile up the road.

I hear you Luke...I am not a fan of it.
I had one come down in Dec 2008, split and stacked in April of 2009...and guess what...its still 25-27% mc and was split and stacked over 2 years ago...if its free I will take it, but just not a big fan of the oak

 

[Pagey]

I've found that it gets dry as it enters the coaling stage.

 

[lukem]

I've found that it gets dry as it enters the coaling stage.

LOL!

 

[jensent]

Oak
Cut, stack and split.
Three years minimum!
Tom

 

[weatherguy]

Agreed. I inherited a bunch of oak when we bought our new house last year. Can’t wait to burn it next year and be done with it.

This year I’m going with mostly ash, and I can’t wait. Should be a joy. I think I’m going to be primarily an ash man going forward.

Im a leg man myself

 

[oldspark]

34 years as my primary wood and has never let me down, how long have some of you whipper snappers been burning (not you backwoods) :lol:

 

[Woody Stover]

My wood for 2014/15 is almost all oak and i'm already getting nervous.

The stuff I have slated for 2014 is storm-downed Pin Oak...gonna be soggy. I will be splitting it small and stacking single-row. :smirk:

 

[SolarAndWood]

Any chance this is the super quick drying variety no one has mentioned yet?

 

[lukem]

That be white oak. Dries slightly faster than my red...but still needs about 26,000 hours of drying time.

 

[SolarAndWood]

but still needs about 26,000 hours of drying time.

hmmm, got to come up with a place to park 20K pounds of wood that won't be in the way for the next 3 years.

 

[lukem]

Parking mine here. About 18' long right now...much more to go.

 

[chvymn99]

That's a great pic with the pups.... Is that landscape timbers? Looks like it should work....

 

[lukem]

Yup, timbers. On sale at menards for a buck something each.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yup, timbers. On sale at menards for a buck something each.

Hmmm. How long are those bad boys?

 

[lukem]

Yup, timbers. On sale at menards for a buck something each.

Hmmm. How long are those bad boys?

8'

 

[Thistle]

Yup, timbers. On sale at menards for a buck something each.

Hmmm. How long are those bad boys?

Standard length is 8 feet,in over 20 yrs I've never seen any longer.

 

[Constrictor]

I love me some oak. i am cutting on 2 huge oaks all this week im expecting about 8 cords from them. it will season 3 years and it will be great as always.

 

[cptoneleg]

I love me some oak. i am cutting on 2 huge oaks all this week im expecting about 8 cords from them. it will season 3 years and it will be great as always.

You ain't a kidding big uns, I cut big trees and a 2 cord tree is big, u talking twice as big,, WOW send us a picture good Luck. :bug:

 

[onetracker]

i hear ya. it really holds on to moisture...especially white oak cuz its non ring-porous. this year i'll be burning 2 year seasoned white oak that was stacked 4 deep so i'll let you know how it burns. i just don't have the space to stack in long single rows. when it is dry white oak is just fantastic firewood - among the best in our bioregion.

i've always burned oak after 1 full year of seasoning but now that we're settling in to this new place i can start to get a few years ahead. this weekend i'm gonna drop a big standing dead red oak and another green (diseased and leaning) one. i'm hoping to be filling out next years's supply and moving into 13/14.

i read an article from some clown (mis-information again) who said that white oak was awful firewood and should be avoided. he said that if you ever notice a chunk of wood in your fireplace that just won't burn, no matter how much you poke it, its probably white oak. dude! its probably GREEN you fool. but he does have a point if someone doesn't have 2 years to wait...

i love oak. i love the sound of it, the smell, the weight, the color, the coals, the bark, the leaves, the big sweeping branches, the acorns and...the heat.

OT

 

[Woody Stover]

it really holds on to moisture...especially white oak cuz its non ring-porous.

If I'm not mistaken, the White and Red Oak groups are ring-porous, as is Ash. Ash is known as a fast-drying wood, but has a lower starting moisture content. I still haven't figured out weather a wood's structure ( ring-porous vs. diffuse-porous) has a bearing on drying time...

this weekend i'm gonna drop a big standing dead red oak and another green (diseased and leaning) one. i'm hoping to be filling out next years's supply and moving into 13/14.

The consensus here seems to be that Red Oak is the slowest-drying wood, slower even than White Oak. I've burned both, but none that was dried more that six months. :lol: Those days are now behind me, thankfully. You might be able to burn the Red next year, but it had better be starting around 20% moisture content, and split small. That leaves the green tree out, for sure.

i love oak. i love the sound of it, the smell, the weight, the color, the coals, the bark, the leaves, the big sweeping branches, the acorns and...the heat.

Oh, yeah. :cheese:

 

[Thistle]

If I'm not mistaken, the White and Red Oak groups are ring-porous, as is Ash. Ash is known as a fast-drying wood, but has a lower starting moisture content. I still haven't figured out weather a wood's structure ( ring-porous vs. diffuse-porous) has a bearing on drying time...

You're correct. They are both ring porous,but White Oak has smaller pores filled with tyloses,a substance that makes the wood waterproof & the best choice for whisky,wine (and in former times) beer barrels & casks.Plus other outdoor uses like boatbuilding,fence posts,certain garden furniture.Made the frame for my backyard swing from 2" & 3" resawn local White Oak planks some 15 yrs ago.Lots of cracks,few tiny edges 'crumbling' but should last another 15-20 yrs. Plus this bench along the trail yesterday.I'll be compost before it is lol...