Dipped into the honey hole

[TimJ]

I have a large tree down in the woods. It has been laying there at least 15 years. I took some slabs off of it about 4 years or so ago and it burned like a hot piece of coal. Better than the white oak I have been burning. It would have laid there another 15 years if I wasn't so overly motivated with getting ahead and burning seasoned wood. This whole time I thought it was a big piece of beech,but after I got it home and split a piece, I have decided it is red oak. How this piece could lay there so long and not rot I don't know. In some places it was two inches in the ground. There is evidence of ants but they have not gotten very far. I bounced the maul off of two pieces before the third one split. It will be a hard job in front of me but it will get done. I would say I have a piece 20 feet long and 30 inches or so in diameter. I'll get a nice pile out of it.

 

[amateur cutter]

Nice, save that for January, & all that hard work will be a memory you'll enjoy when it's 75 inside, & 20 out. A C

 

[Thistle]

Definetly Red or Black Oak.Great stuff.Normally not very decay resistant,but sometimes you'd be surprised how long it'll last on the ground.Especially if it was a live tree that blew over.Gives it a few more years to stay around since it has to dry out first.From April-December 2011 I cut 10+ cords of that stuff,standing snags & deadfall.Some was a bit soft,depending on its size & how long it was down,but most looked like yours - super hard,dry w/ tight grain.Really rough on chains too,but worth the effort.

 

[Gark]

Just wondering, after all those years did it lose most of its moisture even though it was uncut & unsplit? Ya know, by the 'ol hand wetness tests: heft, sound and smell?

 

[TimJ]

There is no decay on this whatsoever, but I have learned most of you know what you are talking about. I drove a wedge in the center of a round and you could see the moisture coming out. Even though this tree has been down for so long, I will listen to Thistle and burn it no less than two years from now. I am getting ahead on my wood pretty fast. I have alot of oak and hickory css that I won't be touching this year.

 

[bogydave]

Premium fire wood!
Lots of BTUs.
Took a strong guy with a good back to put that round in the truck, be careful, keep the good back

 

[maplewood]

I'm surprised, too, that it didn't rot.
Any ants still in there, or have they moved out?
Glad to see others still splitting with a maul.

 

[TimJ]

I don't think the ants will move until I get it all split. Hated to bring it back to the house. I have lost a number of trees due to ants.

 

[clemsonfor]

I had some stuff that was to big for one of my loggers to haul for anything. Took a friends Dumptruck to get it. It was so big that it would not cut all the way through with my ms390 and a 20" bar. It was close enough to break it with a maul or just wedging something in there. I could barely more the rounds, not paid much attention but they must be around 36"s in diameter. I had about 24 feet or so. One was a red oak another a white oak. The last 7 feet or so of the red was hollow about 8"s in diamer to 20"s at the base?

 

[TimJ]

Third load from the honey hole. No rot at all

 

[Oregon Bigfoot]

That's some good wood right there! I hope you don't bust your back whackin' those into splits!

 

[iskiatomic]

Third load from the honey hole. No rot at all

Quite shocked myself. Anything I would come across like that would be dust.

KC

 

[TimJ]

I had to leave at least two rounds on the trunk as the piece was getting to be 4 inches in the dirt.........still no rot .

 

[mesuno]

I've found plenty of downed oak in our woods that looks like junk but is untouched inside. It seems like the outer 2" rots away totally really quickly (2 to 3 years?) but the inner heart wood is really resistant to it. I bucked a fallen oak, which fell in the great storm of 1986, last autumn. Lovely looking wood; it split beautifully and, being suspended just a few inches off the ground for most of it's length, sections of it were dry enough to add to this coming winter's pile.