oak trees cut/stacked 3-4 years ago, now seasoned?

[par0thead151]

i have access to a LOT of wood(north eastern wisconsin) that was cut down 3-4 years ago. when cut down, the branches were cut off, and the rest was cut into 9' segments and stacked outside not under cover or protection from the elements.
what can i expect from this sort of wood?
will it still have too high of a moisture content to burn this winter? assuming i split and stack them in a dry place next weekend?

 

[iceman]

i have access to a LOT of wood(north eastern wisconsin) that was cut down 3-4 years ago. when cut down, the branches were cut off, and the rest was cut into 9' segments and stacked outside not under cover or protection from the elements.
what can i expect from this sort of wood?
will it still have too high of a moisture content to burn this winter? assuming i split and stack them in a dry place next weekend?

it will vary .... some of the wood (the pieces that are closer to end) will prolly be ready .. the rest if you hurry up and split it might have a chance ... oak takes awhile to season and even in log form ..... 50-50 chance... my gut tells me it won't be ready in a month BUT... if you split them in real small pieces and stack loosely by mid dec-jan you should notice a big diff in burning at least

 

[par0thead151]

i have access to a LOT of wood(north eastern wisconsin) that was cut down 3-4 years ago. when cut down, the branches were cut off, and the rest was cut into 9' segments and stacked outside not under cover or protection from the elements.
what can i expect from this sort of wood?
will it still have too high of a moisture content to burn this winter? assuming i split and stack them in a dry place next weekend?

it will vary .... some of the wood (the pieces that are closer to end) will prolly be ready .. the rest if you hurry up and split it might have a chance ... oak takes awhile to season and even in log form ..... 50-50 chance... my gut tells me it won't be ready in a month BUT... if you split them in real small pieces and stack loosely by mid dec-jan you should notice a big diff in burning at least

thanks for the info. i will try to get back to this thread about what the majority of the wood is, as i do not recall.
it is from vialis country in northern Wisconsin.

edit to add:
i know this is the wrong forum but i do not want to have a ton of posts running at the same time.
my friend has a stainless liner on his wood stove and he claims it is not necessary to clean/sweep this type.
if there is merit to this, how much more does a stainless liner cost than the standard accordion type that go in most wood burning insert installs?

 

[Jags]

Your friend is a ding-dong - nuff said.

Depending on species, after three or four years you may find everything from rot (punky wood like in the case of soft maples), to semi-dry (ash) to still wet (oak). Only one way to find out - start whackin' at that pile.

 

[fossil]

...my friend has a stainless liner on his wood stove and he claims it is not necessary to clean/sweep this type. if there is merit to this...

There is none. Rick

 

[smokinj]

...my friend has a stainless liner on his wood stove and he claims it is not necessary to clean/sweep this type. if there is merit to this...

There is none. Rick

I check mine once a month this is the 4th year.Clean it 2 times not bad.

 

[Jags]

...my friend has a stainless liner on his wood stove and he claims it is not necessary to clean/sweep this type. if there is merit to this...

There is none. Rick

I check mine once a month this is the 4th year.Clean it 2 times not bad.

I suspect that has more to do with your burning habits then the material your stack is made from. ;-)

 

[smokinj]

...my friend has a stainless liner on his wood stove and he claims it is not necessary to clean/sweep this type. if there is merit to this...

There is none. Rick

I check mine once a month this is the 4th year.Clean it 2 times not bad.

I suspect that has more to do with your burning habits then the material your stack is made from. ;-)

lol yep,but with the oak cut and split who knows what you will have til then

 

[Jags]

...my friend has a stainless liner on his wood stove and he claims it is not necessary to clean/sweep this type. if there is merit to this...

There is none. Rick

I check mine once a month this is the 4th year.Clean it 2 times not bad.

I suspect that has more to do with your burning habits then the material your stack is made from. ;-)

lol yep,but with the oak cut and split who knows what you will have til then

By stack, I meant flu . Not your wood pile. :lol:

 

[smokinj]

...my friend has a stainless liner on his wood stove and he claims it is not necessary to clean/sweep this type. if there is merit to this...

There is none. Rick

I check mine once a month this is the 4th year.Clean it 2 times not bad.

I suspect that has more to do with your burning habits then the material your stack is made from. ;-)

lol yep! Until the oak is cut and split who knows what you will have til then

By stack, I meant flu . Not your wood pile. :lol:

yep my wood is a pile.lol Until the oak is cut and split who knows what you will have til then
I am losing it done to many chains today

 

[Backwoods Savage]

i have access to a LOT of wood(north eastern wisconsin) that was cut down 3-4 years ago. when cut down, the branches were cut off, and the rest was cut into 9' segments and stacked outside not under cover or protection from the elements.
what can i expect from this sort of wood?
will it still have too high of a moisture content to burn this winter? assuming i split and stack them in a dry place next weekend?

3-4 years ago with oak, I'd expect an inch or so of punk on the outside of the logs but still very good wood. Perhaps towards the middle of the log it will still be too green to burn. I say go get them quickly!

 

[par0thead151]

the type of wood is ASH, and after looking it up on the BTU per cord of wood, ASH appears to have one of the higher BTU output ratings, yes?

 

[Wet1]

Ash is very good wood. It also starts with a fairly low moisture content and tends to season pretty quickly for this reason. As long as it was kept of the ground, it should be good and worth grabbing.

 

[par0thead151]

Ash is very good wood. It also starts with a fairly low moisture content and tends to season pretty quickly for this reason. As long as it was kept of the ground, it should be good and worth grabbing.

it was stacked on the ground, but there are atleast 3-4 cords per 1 cord that was on the ground(as the one stacked on top of the other is no longer touching the dirt), as the ones on the ground i will leave for next season once they have a chance to remain off the ground for a while.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

I was pushing in a trail with my bull dozer last summer. I killed it from tracking around it. I pushed it over three weeks ago cut it up and split it. It was the wettest wood I have ever seen. Not only was the sap wood wet it was soaking wet all the way through to say the least I was quite surprised. That weekend I also picked up a 20" dbh poplar I pushed over three years ago. It was at least foot off of the ground on the roots and branches and it was still too wet to burn.

Billy

 

[Backwoods Savage]

the type of wood is ASH, and after looking it up on the BTU per cord of wood, ASH appears to have one of the higher BTU output ratings, yes?

Ash very well may all be good yet. I've noticed that ash doesn't seem to rot as fast as other woods. Yesterday I was back in our woods and took note of an ash I dropped 2 years ago but for some reason never finished cutting it up. I rolled the log over and it looks just fine. I'll cut it this winter.

Yes, ash has good btu output ratings. Sometimes it seems to burn a little slow, especially on the start up and that is why I usually put a soft maple in with the ash to get it started.

It is hard to believe, but once in a great while you will run across an ash tree that you would swear is something else because it just does not want to burn really good. Yes, it happens, but not often. When that happens, I'll mix half and half with maple, elm or cherry. I've never quite been able to figure out why this happens but then, I've also not pondered it for long. I just burn it anyway.

 

[Jags]

Sometimes it seems to burn a little slow, especially on the start up and that is why I usually put a soft maple in with the ash to get it started.

It is hard to believe, but once in a great while you will run across an ash tree that you would swear is something else because it just does not want to burn really good.

Dang Dennis, I am glad you said that. I have not been a big ash burner through the years (mostly oaks, osage, cherry, maple) but I do have quite a pile that I will be burning up this year (probably 2 cords worth). Moisture averages about 18-20%. I thought I was going a little goofy(ier) when I noticed the same burning characteristics. It made me scratch my head why everybody drools over it. Now it makes a little more sense to me.