NH_Wood said:
How long has the oak been split/stacked? I fully agree that leaving the oak for at least 2 years is best, and depending on your drying conditions, 3 years might be best. I stack in a high wind/sun area, and my 2 year old oak seems perfect.
Hopefully you can get the pine for real cheap - I wouldn't pay too much - perhaps $50/cord. I guess the issue is that if you find cut/split pine for sale, you are still paying for a man's time to cut and split a lot of wood, just low BTU wood, so I suppose it might be more expensive. Can you try to find some ash or cherry instead? You'll pay more, but it should be good to burn this winter if you get it stacked in good wind and sun - especially wind. Go single rows if you can with plenty of space between rows. Many more BTU's. Good luck!
Cheers!
Just split and stacked the oak in Jan and Feb, and am doing more now. Have been making the splits smaller than usual and cross stacking on pallets with lots of spaces for air flow.....I'm getting as much sun as I can but my lot is wooded with lots of trees, only an acre cleared in the middle of the 12 acres for the house and I'm limited on how much space I have with good sun and not much chance at a windy area. Around here the supply seems to be mostly oak, some beech, maple, and poplar. On my property in particular I've got mostly oak and sweet gum (which I hate), with a little Beech.
I've got other property that I have access to but it's not worth buying a truck.....I've got everything else I need to exploit the timber on my property, splitter, saws, tractor, etc....so am just looking for enough pine to stretch the beech I have next winter.....