Advise on what order to burn my wood in this season

Hmm.. Start with soft hardwoods for shoulder or cool mornings. Ash might be okay too. Locust, I doubt if that will be ready. That's a 3 year season for me. Oak? I like 3 seasons on that too. The white oak maybe. Split one and check the moisture.

I'd burn the hardwoods on the super cold night's and use the softwoods for daytime.

The Maple and Ash should be ready, then the two-year Oak. You might first try the rows of Oak that were facing into the prevailing wind. Have you got a moisture meter? That would help you figure out where to go after the Maple and Ash....

For a woodstove i'd say Maple for shoulders, ash and locust for the cold months. Let the oak season another year. Congrats you got some nice wood to burn! Us less fortunate souls burn aged pine, punky birch and elm in shoulder season

In this locale with our finicky stove, locust needs 3 years C/S/S or it's reluctant to light and burn right. You may have to put a couple splits of ash and maple in the overnight oak loads to get them going. Regretful, but the locust needs to wait for more years. To stretch your supply of ash+maple, put one (or two) splits of oak in the shoulder and daytime loads on top of the load.

Was all that wood cut live or was some standing dead?

I'm with most these guys. I always start with the softest woods and save the good stuff for later. When it comes to Oak. I wonder sometimes if it will ever dry. I don't have much room either and I'm sitting on a ton of Oak that has sat through two full summers and winters. I think I need to get into that this year just so I can make space. Maybe something will come along to help me hold off. I usually run into enough wood to burn for a month or two to start the season. Someone will give some old wood and or have an old dead tree or something. I can really only burn well seasoned stuff in my unit but I always seem to have handed to me a lot ready to go.

tumm21 said:

Hey guys. Thanks in advance for the advise. I have 2.5 cords of soft maple and ash split and stacked 2 full summers. I have locust split and stacked 12 months 3 cords, and I have red and whit oak split and stacked 18 months but also two summers 5 cords of that. All my stacks are on pallets 5 ft high and 3 rows deep open to the wind and sun. I dont have enough room to stack in single rows so lets not even go there. Where do I begin and end. I usually burn between 4 and 5 cords. Thanks

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I would start with whatever is closest to the house.

If it's all the same distance from the house, start with whatever has been split the longest.

tumm21 said:

Hey guys. Thanks in advance for the advise. I have 2.5 cords of soft maple and ash split and stacked 2 full summers. I have locust split and stacked 12 months 3 cords, and I have red and whit oak split and stacked 18 months but also two summers 5 cords of that. All my stacks are on pallets 5 ft high and 3 rows deep open to the wind and sun. I dont have enough room to stack in single rows so lets not even go there. Where do I begin and end. I usually burn between 4 and 5 cords. Thanks

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tumm, that soft maple should get you through Christmas. If you have some really cold nights in December, then burning the ash then. I'd stay with the soft maple as long as you can and then the ash. For the really cold January-February nights, I'd mix the ash and white oak. That should get you through the winter in fine shape.

Backwoods Savage said:

tumm, that soft maple should get you through Christmas. If you have some really cold nights in December, then burning the ash then. I'd stay with the soft maple as long as you can and then the ash. For the really cold January-February nights, I'd mix the ash and white oak. That should get you through the winter in fine shape.

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Basically what he said, except I'd try the locust before the white oak. Put it on an already hot fire and see how it does. I think you can get through this winter without burning any oak if you want to.

Locust will feel heavier. It is a very dense wood.

I have a lot of red oak that's been stacked 3 summers. In a pile 16 ft X12 Ft,X 6 ft hi, in mostly shade. I checked the moisture today in the rain from a piece in the middle of the pile. It was 14.6 moisture content. Good to go.

STIHLY DAN said:

I have a lot of red oak that's been stacked 3 summers. In a pile 16 ft X12 Ft,X 6 ft hi, in mostly shade. I checked the moisture today in the rain from a piece in the middle of the pile. It was 14.6 moisture content. Good to go.

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Dan, you have learned like the rest of us. Wind and air circulation are the key factors in drying wood. We've stacked in the shade many times and had no problems. We have also stacked in the big stacks like yours and had no problem. Mostly though, we stack like this:


Stacks are 4 1/2' high when green. Many think that center row won't dry as well. If that were the case they would end up with the outer 2 rows lower than the center row. That does not happen. We usually have it stacked by April but leave it uncovered until early winter.

That is exactly how most of my stacks are. I have to large square stacks, but that was a room issue at the time. I wont do it again tho.