Bark and dry wood

[Troutchaser]

Has anyone noticed that some species hang onto their bark more than others?

Just an observation:
I've got some oak that has bark lifting off in sheets; yet, in the same stack, some ash bark looks to be cemented on.
Is it a definite indication that some of this wood isn't dry? (stacked last Feb./single rows/sun/wind/on pallets)
I didn't think the oak would be, but did think the ash should be ready. It looks ready otherwise.

 

[heatwise]

yesterday i split some oak that the bark removed easily, so i peeled most of it off when i picked up the logs at the scrounge spot. some maple and locust seem to do it as well. pete

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Definitely some species hold onto their bark longer than others. Yet one has to be careful with this statement. Case in point is our white ash. I have some that has been around in a stack for six or seven years and the bark is still very tight. Yet, I have some other ash that I cut last winter and maybe half of the bark fell off as I was splitting it. Reason? Emerald Ash Borer. We did not have them 6 or 7 years ago but we surely do have them now. What I cut last winter was either dead or very close to dead.

 

[Battenkiller]

Fall and winter cut wood holds onto its bark like a tick on a dog. I have a 3" thick plank of cherry that was supposedly cut about 60 years ago. Its bark is still tight as can be along most of its edges. Spring cut wood may lose its bark in six months. Standing dead may depend on exactly when in the year the tree actually died.

 

[Troutchaser]

Thanks. Your comments make me feel a little better about it. I assumed that if wood was dry the bark would magically come off. Didn't think about time of year having an effect.

Dennis, like you said, some of my ash has shed its bark. Some of it is holding tight. Interesting.

 

[maplewood]

Fall and winter cut wood holds onto its bark like a tick on a dog.

Hmmm... I hadn't paid attention to this, either. I've got to try more fall / early winter cutting. It's always a little disagreement between my dad and I: I want to pop off any bark that isn't glued on (and throw it away), to let it dry better. He wants me to burn all the bark in the boiler: "There's heat in that stuff". It's just messy to me to handle bark that isn't attached.

 

[Troutchaser]

Fall and winter cut wood holds onto its bark like a tick on a dog.

Hmmm... I hadn't paid attention to this, either. I've got to try more fall / early winter cutting. It's always a little disagreement between my dad and I: I want to pop off any bark that isn't glued on (and throw it away), to let it dry better. He wants me to burn all the bark in the boiler: "There's heat in that stuff". It's just messy to me to handle bark that isn't attached.

Funny. I throw it around trees for mulch. But I do wonder how much time I've spent pulling it off and keeping track of it.

 

[DiscoInferno]

The stuff I cut fresh and stack under cover, the bark generally stays on and intact. Stuff that's been on the ground and got waterlogged, or started to rot, or is stacked in the open and can keep getting wet, the bark generally comes off. If it's a thick bark (red oak, ash, hickory) I'll stack it with my kindling and burn it. Bark burns great, but leaves a ton of ash behind.