Poor Heat Output From 3+ Yr Seasoned Oak

[thephotohound]

2 months ago, I came across an ad in Craig's List for a cord of 3+ year old split seasoned oak for $80. THinking it was too good to be true, I rushed over to find that the wood had been sitting in an area of this guy's backyard with absolutely no air flow, no sunlight, and packed so tightly, ... well... packed tightly. There was indeed a cord, but 1/2 of it was just completely rotted. I salvaged the other 1/2, and paid the guy $40, assuming I could stack it for a month or two and drive the surface moisture out. Well, the good news is I was right. It is as dry as a bone. The bad news is it almost seems like the BTU's have been cut in half. It burns fast, but the heat output is a bit disappointing. Is it possible that the BTU's "rotted away", and even though it is hard wood and as dry as a bone, it's no better than pine?

 

[Jimbob]

Sounds like it turned "punky".

 

[wahoowad]

Maybe it isn't oak

 

[jpl1nh]

Photohound, I'm a dead wood scrounge master cause' I've got acres and acres of standing and lying dead behind my house. I've come to know the various states and speeds of degradation of differnt types of wood pretty well. Red oak especially takes quite a while to go punky, starts on the outside but the inside stays hard. Nonetheless, eventually all wood goes south, ie: for it to have the heat benefit necessary, you'd have to keep moving further and further south! The best wood by far is always wood kept protected from water from the moment it was dry. Still, it's low cost and good for starting fires and getting quick, short term heat, no?

 

[Harley]

I'd guess its a little worse than properly seasoned pine, the way you describe it. I'm not surprised that oak would be punky and wet the way it was stored - once it's dried out (even though it's hard wood) you probably won't get much heat out of it (though it will burn fast, and be good for cooler, not cold days, or split it up some more and use for kindling. Overall - probably not a bad deal if you normally would buy the wood.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I've seen some oak where the outer couple inches is complete white-rot, but the inside is intact. Other times, I've seen 12"+ diameter logs that were uniformly punky but still the original color (brown-rot, I guess). The latter type has lost most of its heat value, and because it's all spongy and porous it doesn't coal well. A neighbor once gave me his stack of wood that sounds like yours; it was mostly compost.

 

[thephotohound]

It is as dry as anything I've ever seen. The best thing I can compare it to is a natural sponge... you know the ones that come from the sea and are all dried out. Large cells, crunchy but spongy, if that even makes sense... I still think it was worth the money, but that's one more question I'll ask when I am offered "free" wood.

 

[DiscoInferno]

That's the stuff. Burns fine, just not as long and not as many coals.

Good luck asking questions about free wood. I find most craigslist posters either don't know, or don't want to admit the condition/species/ease-of-access of their wood. Most postings around here include such terms as "seasoned", "great", "ready to burn"; the wood is almost never seasoned and is rarely stacked off the ground, so if it's more than a year old it's starting to rot. I've learned to look gift horses in the mouth, so to speak. In particular I've seen things like "5 year seasoned" which inevitably means "pile of rotten mush barely identifiable as wood". I try to stick to recently-cut wood, luckily there is no shortage of that since most people want it gone ASAP.

 

[thephotohound]

Disco -

Thanks for the advice - I'll keep that in mind. By the way - is that a picture of your house? It's absolutely gorgeous!

 

[DiscoInferno]

Disco -

Thanks for the advice - I'll keep that in mind. By the way - is that a picture of your house? It's absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks. That's our house on 4.5 acres in the UP of Michigan, which we had built 5 years ago. It's a modular, so it was built in a factory in Wisconsin and trucked in 4 sections. Very reasonable price vs. site-built, and equivalent quality (the snarky comments of certain self-interested detractors notwithstanding). The deck, porch, and garage (not visible) were site-built. It's right on Lake Superior, so actually the view the other way looking out at Grand Island is much better. It's mainly a summer/vacation home for now because there's no economy up there to speak of, but I expect to retire there in 20 or 30 years. I cut, split, and stack wood there each year so I should have a lot by then (if I can keep it from rotting)!

 

[MANIAC]

Disco -

Thanks for the advice - I'll keep that in mind. By the way - is that a picture of your house? It's absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks. That's our house on 4.5 acres in the UP of Michigan, which we had built 5 years ago. It's a modular, so it was built in a factory in Wisconsin and trucked in 4 sections. Very reasonable price vs. site-built, and equivalent quality (the snarky comments of certain self-interested detractors notwithstanding). The deck, porch, and garage (not visible) were site-built. It's right on Lake Superior, so actually the view the other way looking out at Grand Island is much better. It's mainly a summer/vacation home for now because there's no economy up there to speak of, but I expect to retire there in 20 or 30 years. I cut, split, and stack wood there each year so I should have a lot by then (if I can keep it from rotting)!

I was beginning to think I was the only guy who cut and split for a weekend home. My wife and I are hoping to move to our place in Maine but I'm not sure I can wait the 20 years it may take. I second the beautiful house comment! Enjoy.

 

[DiscoInferno]

It was buying that place and dealing with the wood from clearing the site that got me into scrounging and woodburning in MD. My parents cut and split their own wood when I was young (I grew up in the UP), but I had never done it myself. It was sort of my way of making the "big city" seem a little more like home, I guess.

 

[JBinKC]

I also get my share of dead wood and agree with the posts here. Oak rots from the outside in. There is nothing wrong with the wood but deteriorating oak does take on moisture very easily like a sponge. Even covered wood exposed to humidity can add to poor performance. Another thing to add when you are cutting wood and see a rough hewn ripple in the wood it is past its prime.

 

[Bill]

I had some softer woods I cut last year and ran out of rack to dry, so I left it stacked by trees on the ground. Lets just say it's got a fungus growing out of it that looks like little white ears. I picked some off the piles and it's very heavy, not good. I may have to put this in the fire pit.

By the way I also cut wood for my cabin, so there's more of us out there.