Oak Dilema

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TheBigIron

TheBigIron

Feeling the Heat
Dec 23, 2014
274
Peru, IL
Walking in the timber this morning and found a nice oak that has been lying there for a while.. Started cutting pieces to size and put in my cart to haul to my splitter. After doing this for 3 hours or so, I took a walk further up and noticed that a huge white oak had recently fallen (within 6 months, and off the ground as well).

Couple of questions that I have are;

(1) do I mess with the big oak that has been lying on the ground for years and half of the trunk is rotten when I split into it this afternoon and clean that all up so nothing is wasted?

(2) Or do I not even waste my time with the rotting wood and go get the clean wood and that isn't ready to burn yet however needs to be processed before mother nature takes over?

Thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Dave
 
It all burns. Just separate the punkey stuff from the solid wood. You need to keep the punk covered. When it's dry it makes good shoulder season wood.
 
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Deal with the punky stuff first, get it processed and off the ground so it can start drying. Then go after the primo stuff. You have time and it's not going anywhere.
 
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Thank you, that's what I had in mind but wanted some opinions.. How far is to far gone though with oak. I mean this stuff is like 36" diameter and like 14" is powder.. Is it worth the time and effort still??
 
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I think so you would clean it up regardless might as well make it worth while. Just my thought.
 
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The46Zone said:
Thank you, that's what I had in mind but wanted some opinions.. How far is to far gone though with oak. I mean this stuff is like 36" diameter and like 14" is powder.. Is it worth the time and effort still??
Click to expand...

Sounds like 22" of primo wood. I'd probably take what I could from that tree.
 
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Consider how much do you have on hand right now? How much time do you have, and also that processing that will make a huge mess.
 
Are you 2 years ahead in your wood now? If yes, be selective and focus on quality qood. If not 2 years ahead, take what you can get to be there.

And depends on the time you have too. I'm 2+ years ahead but have burned mostly punky/softwoods all season which has spared my really nice hardwoods for yet another year of seasoning.
 
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dead fallen and dead standing often seasons rather darned quick.
Might be ready for next season as long as you can keep the punk from acting as a sponge/rain and the heartwood is still hard as a stone.

Mother Nature is pretty slow, if you don't get to finish the new fallen and it was alive when it fell and is off the ground, if you don't get to it until next year you won't notice much different about it a year from now.
 
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Some old decaying oak is good for the little critters.
 
wahoowad said:
Are you 2 years ahead in your wood now? If yes, be selective and focus on quality qood. If not 2 years ahead, take what you can get to be there.

And depends on the time you have too. I'm 2+ years ahead but have burned mostly punky/softwoods all season which has spared my really nice hardwoods for yet another year of seasoning.
Click to expand...
I'd like to say I'm at least a couple years ahead, with cords of black locust, mulberry and red elm on hand, but I hate seeing an oak go to waste especially for me cause they are few and far between down in my timber. I'm gonna go for both.
 
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Paulywalnut said:
Some old decaying oak is good for the little critters.
Click to expand...
I leave a few dead oaks for critters also as long as I have enough for myself. If I suspect there is rot or hollow I might leave it. Especially if it is hard to get to.
 
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lindnova said:
I leave a few dead oaks for critters also as long as I have enough for myself. If I suspect there is rot or hollow I might leave it. Especially if it is hard to get to.
Click to expand...
Just the bottom 14" or so is rotten, that is on the ground. I cut some of it yesterday. Still wet and needs to dry and be stacked.
 
xman23 said:
It all burns. Just separate the punkey stuff from the solid wood. You need to keep the punk covered. When it's dry it makes good shoulder season wood.
Click to expand...
Excellent advice. Punky and standing dead wood dries really fast and makes good cool season wood. I leave all my drying stacks uncovered and exposed except for three cord size racks that are always under cover for punky sorts of splits. They will continue to last for years if kept dry and off the ground. On the other hand, my neighbor cut a standing dead oak last year, split it and left it in a pile on the ground. This season it was a wet, buggy, unburnable mess. Night and day between his pile and mine.
 
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