Two choices - No good ones!

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bigoakhunter

Member
Oct 8, 2010
37
Mid-Michigan
The choices: Red Oak seasoned 8 months, split and stacked.

Cut Ash now , split and stack.

Due to unforseen curcimstances, I have only about 3/4 of the dry seasoned hardwood I need to burn this winter. The wood in question would be used in the 2nd half of winter, so it would be about 1 yr. on the oak or 3 months on the ash.

So which is it Red Oak or Ash?


Keep smiling,

Dave
 
i'd go with the Ash...
 
How small are the Red Oak splits and was it stacked in single rows in the wind and sun, what kind of stove do you have, I'm thinking both woods are going to be a PITA to deal with. Is the ash white or green?
 
Your going to use a ton of fuel......Lots of ash would be my choice.
 
I'd use the ash and stack a small collection near the stove. In two weeks that ash will be closer to ready than the oak, so put the 2-week ash with the seasoned stuff and bring in another wet load by the stove.
 
Ash for sure IMHO. A C
 
Ash - I'd get it cut and split ASAP and mix some in with the good wood - perhaps try a 1/4 wet ash to 3/4 seasoned in the stove and see how it burns. If it burns okay, that would get you through the winter. Good luck and cut a bunch more ash for next year while you are at it! Cheers!
 
Ash, less moisture.
Check & clean the chimney often.
 
Burn em both if the Oak is split small may surprice you, my first year with the new stove I burned 8 month Oak but it was White. So good luck and try to get ahead, so the unforseen thigs in life wont mess up your woodburning.
 
Gark said:
I'd use the ash and stack a small collection near the stove. In two weeks that ash will be closer to ready than the oak, so put the 2-week ash with the seasoned stuff and bring in another wet load by the stove.

I'd certainly be tempted to bring some ash indoors but I'd beware of keeping it too close to the stove.

If there is somewhere in the room where there is some airflow, the airflow will dry the wood a lot quicker than the heat from the stove.

Better option would be to get some pallets to supplement the supply, as your wood is going to burn too quickly if you try to burn it a bit greenish.

And if you burn all your green wood this winter without buying in more (preferably ash) now, you could hit the same problem next year....... ;-)
 
Some wood burners around you that are ahead of the game that would swap you some seasoned for your unseasoned? Just a thought...
 
bigoakhunter said:
The choices: Red Oak seasoned 8 months, split and stacked.

Cut Ash now , split and stack.

Due to unforseen curcimstances, I have only about 3/4 of the dry seasoned hardwood I need to burn this winter. The wood in question would be used in the 2nd half of winter, so it would be about 1 yr. on the oak or 3 months on the ash.

So which is it Red Oak or Ash?


Keep smiling,

Dave

Dave, where are you in MI?

I would begin mixing in some of the ash as soon as the cold weather hits. If you can start mixing it in December it might stretch you through this year. As for the red oak, enjoy looking at it for a while. You can enjoy burning that in a couple of years.
 
I'd get that Ash stacked & drying ASAP. I'd probably try mixing in the oak any time now to see how it does. If the oak is dry enough to burn (mixed-in) now, then I'd keep mixing it in & see if it gets you through the season, & leave you with the Ash for next year. If the Oak doesn't burn worth a damn now it won't be much better a few months from now, so leave it for next year.
The Ash should drop a good deal of moisture in the first month or 2 and be well burnable (still not great) by mid-winter.
All-in-all you're not in to bad shape. You're not gonna freeze this winter ;-)
 
Thanks for all the responses and wishes... Old Spark, the splits of oak are medium sized, in the sun in single rows. Backwoods Savage, I am in the Clare area in about the center of the state. What area are you in? I usually am ahead of game, but my brother passed away, so I have not had time to work on wood this fall.


Keep smiling, Dave
 
Did that with a cord of ash two years ago... Mixing is best but keep some ash in front of the stove every time you load it. Helps a tad!
 
bigoakhunter said:
The choices: Red Oak seasoned 8 months, split and stacked.
Cut Ash now , split and stack.
Due to unforseen curcimstances, I have only about 3/4 of the dry seasoned hardwood I need to burn this winter. The wood in question would be used in the 2nd half of winter, so it would be about 1 yr. on the oak or 3 months on the ash.
So which is it Red Oak or Ash?
Keep smiling,
Dave

First. My condolences to you and your family. Sorry for your loss.
Second. The way I understood what you wrote you have enough dry wood already to get you through until the middle of winter. Looking at what you wrote, you won't be burning any of the wood you are talking, and asking the question about, until about the middle of winter. Three months from now. If you cut the Ash, split it small(3-6" splits) and stack it, it will be okay in 3 months. Dries quick. Especially if it is out of the weather. Do you have space inside that is heated? The Ash is your best bet. Good luck bigoak. You will be fine. Keep us posted on how things are going man. Later.
 
bigoakhunter said:
Thanks for all the responses and wishes... Old Spark, the splits of oak are medium sized, in the sun in single rows. Backwoods Savage, I am in the Clare area in about the center of the state. What area are you in? I usually am ahead of game, but my brother passed away, so I have not had time to work on wood this fall.


Keep smiling, Dave

Dave we are near Marion Springs. About 60 miles to Clare via Ithaca.
 
As I've said a lot lately, I'd try to get some dead standing wood with the bark and small branches falling off. If it's not Oak, the majority of the tree may well be ready to burn. Toward the end of last season I ran out. I cut some dead fallen White Ash, split it small and stacked it in the house with fans on it. It went from 25% to 20% in a couple of weeks. Not everyone would be willing/able to engage in this sort of lunacy, though. :lol: If I'd known then what I learned this summer, I could have cut some dead standing stuff and tossed it directly into the stove. Standing wood tends to dry out better than fallen.
 
Ash . . . if cut, split and stacked now . . . and even then it would be questionable.
 
bobfeather said:
ash you can generally cut ash this morning & burn it this afternoon

May be true for the old smoke dragons . . . not always so true with the EPA stoves . . . but even in the old stoves I would say it would still not burn nearly as well as seasoning it would . . . then again I think you could probably cut and burn just about any wood out there in such a fashion . . . it just wouldn't burn that well or produce that much heat vs. seasoning it for a few months to a year.
 
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