Oak branches??

My experience with white oak causes me to think it seasons faster than other oaks. I would stack it, cover just the top and you may be surprised what moisture you find come fall.

We had a timber harvest in the spring (May) a few years ago, and a friend took red & white oak treetops down to 2". He said the small stuff burned just fine in his insert in Oct/Nov. The large splits took ~2 years.

Because they are unsplit, I'd simply wait another year and be sure they are good. Some folks do burn stuff a whole lot sooner than I would even consider but that is how some folks get into problems too. Of course, if you don't mind cleaning the chimney more often.... I'd wait and then for sure it would be good to go.

Backwoods Savage said:

Because they are unsplit, I'd simply wait another year

Click to expand...

I had some Shingle Oak branches that were 1.5-2". They were still hissing when the small splits weren't. All stacked in June.

It's gonna depend on temperature, airflow and LENGTH of pieces.

The longer they are, the longer it'll take for the moisture to diffuse out. Simple enough, but how short is enough? Experiment and take notes. You could periodically pull a sample piece, cut it in two, and measure the MC at the cut face. Of course, we'd be interested in hearing.

I find that those 1-3" branch pieces take forever to season. I threw a few(maple I believe) in yesterday that had been in the stack for over 2 years and they hissed like a pissed off cat.

Hello postalizer...it ain't rocket science dude... Your small stuff will be nice and burnable in a few months. Cover the top of your stack and shortly you should be good to go. I burn stuff every year that is six months along the drying route...my Mid-Moe Allnighter loves all sizes. I clean my chimney in the fall...mid-winter and spring and never have a problem. I have burned wood for over forty years...plus ten years of burning hard pea coal...till the coal dealers went into rip off mode on their price per ton. Franklin

Oldmainer, because you clean your chimney that often it should tell you that maybe your burning habits should change! I do not mean this to put you down at all but hope to help.

I realize you have been burning wood for 40+ years and so have I. But I wonder if you are just using the old ways and not willing to change or try something different. (I know several people with this attitude and most are not willing to change.) If you would start stacking your wood up for longer periods of time you would not be cleaning that chimney so much. For sure, here we are talking about oak which naturally takes longer to season....and this is even unsplit! Burn wood with this little time to dry will not give the best results. The dirty chimney is just a sign that something is wrong.

btw, we have used our Fireview for 4 winters now. The chimney has been cleaned once....and got about a cup of soot and no creosote. So yes, burning good dry wood does make a big difference. Less creosote also means you will be getting more heat from your wood so then you even will cut less wood. Its a winner all the way around.

Got Wood said:

I find that those 1-3" branch pieces take forever to season. I threw a few(maple I believe) in yesterday that had been in the stack for over 2 years and they hissed like a pissed off cat.

Click to expand...

+1. I had a cord or so of red oak tops - all ~ 2" max. Stacked on two pallets in good sun/wind. Even after 2 years, still some hissing. On the other hand, similar sized sugar maple was ready to go after a year. Cheers!

I'll state it again. Three years to season oak.