Recent Water Oak score - With Pics!

[Kenster]

My neighbor gave me this water oak log a few weeks ago. I guess it was about sixteen feet long. About 18 inches or so thick. My 16 inch bar was a few inches short of cutting all the way through. It had been standing dead on his property for a while and had been dropped and on the ground so long his wife said to get rid of it. We cut it in half and I used my 1952 Ford 8N and boom pole to lift it up onto a trailer and took it around to my place. I bucked it into 16 inch logs then split it. Here are some pics of the adventure.

Half split. Kinda stringy in the center. Very hard, solid wood. Took a few mighty whacks with an 8lb maul before it started to crack.

All these splits came from just one round.

A good shot of one of the rounds

There were 12 or 13 of these rounds. Mostly 16 inch measured with the saw bar. The last one, which was also the widest, was about 20 inches. I thought I
would use that long one for a new splitting stump but decided the wood was too good to wasted it as such, so it got split also. Hand splitting that 20 inch piece was a real challenge.

Getting it stacked.

It made a pretty good stack. Just about filled a pallet almost chest high.

The designs were found on the wood throughout the entire log. I assume some bug laid eggs and the larvae moved out and away. Every one is nearly perfectly symmetrical as if computer generated. Very strange.

I'm hoping that with our hot Texas summers this will be ready to burn next winter.

 

[smokinj]

I would say you will be safe to burn that by winter! Great score!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That looks like some great firewood. I've wondered about water oaks and now I know. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[Kenster]

Savage, water oak has a very smooth, straight grain. They split nicely into perfectly straight splits, for the most part.

 

[thenorth]

Kenster!!

"Hand splitting that 20 inch piece was a real challenge."

heck, i would never hand split.... use an axe, or a hyd. splitter..........

lol......

nice wood, well done there bud.........

john

 

[firefighterjake]

Don't take this the wrong way or anything Kenster, but you've got some great looking wood there.

 

[raybonz]

Simply awesome looking wood! Looks ready to burn long and hot too.. Never heard of water oak before this post how does it compare to white and red oak? Great pics thanx for posting!

Ray

 

[FLINT]

awesome man.

for some reason a lot of people avoid dead wood, but most of the wood i cut is standing dead or down. oak can stand dead for a while and be totally fine.

that wood will for sure be ready to burn this coming winter - heck you could probably almost burn it now.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Avoid deadwood? Man, I seek it out. Cuts up to a year or so of seasoning time in the case of the deadwood Red Oak I harvest. Some of it is ready to burn right away. The remainder in about 6 months, tops. Green Oak wood types need 1-2 years to season properly after splitting (up to 2 years for White Oak especially).

That's beautiful Water Oak, BTW. The many splits show how ready that wood is.

 

[raybonz]

Avoid deadwood? Man, I seek it out. Cuts up to a year or so of seasoning time in the case of the deadwood Red Oak I harvest. Some of it is ready to burn right away. The remainder in about 6 months, tops. Green Oak wood types need 1-2 years to season properly after splitting (up to 2 years for White Oak especially).

That's beautiful Water Oak, BTW. The many splits show how ready that wood is.

I'm with you on that brother! That's the best wood especially if it isn't punky..

Ray

 

[JeffRey30747]

We always cut dead and blown down wood whenever it is still good and available. That lets a living tree live another year and grow a little bigger.