Stringy White Oak?

[Srbenda]

I have some very large rounds, from what I believe to be a white oak that my neighbor took down. It's only been about 2 weeks since the tree came down, and it is still incredibly stringy and fiberous.

Comparing that to some red oak, which seems to positively POP apart when it's split.

Is this typical of white oak? I am ready to just start taking red oak from here on.

For entertainment purposes, here's my weekends worth of work in red oak.

 

[oldspark]

Here's my take on Bur oak which I have read is very similar to White oak, when it is really grean is splits clear totaly and very easily with my SS, after it has been cut and some of the moisture is starting to come out it is harder to split and get more stringy and then when a large amount of moisture is gone the oak starts to split easy again. It does not take long for the wood to start to get stringy so I like to split my rounds "fresh".

 

[Srbenda]

I was working on this the day after it came down.

 

[Jags]

A closer pic and even one with bark will help with the ID. And YES - I have had some white oak be a little stringy at times, but not too bad. Most of it will pop apart fairly easy.

 

[quads]

It varies from tree to tree. Both white oak and red oak can be tough to split and stringy at times. Depends on how the tree grew. Some of the hardest splitting rounds I have ever encountered were white oak. White oak is also some of the easiest splitting wood too! Red oak generally splits easy, except for some of the knots and crotches and sometimes when it grows twisted.

 

[SmokinPiney]

Like already said, some white oak can be very stringy and some will pop right apart.

But also don't be fooled by the sneaky sweet gum! Many folks think it's white oak and it does resemble it but have fun splittin it.
Does the wood you have, have a darker heartwood or is it mainly yellowish?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've not run into any stringy white oak but also do not cut much of it. I have split quite a bit for others but all split, well, like oak.

 

[JeffRey30747]

My father and I cut down a post oak that still had a few of the dead cruciform leaves on it for a positive ID. It is in the white oak family and was stringy when we split it. I don't know if all post oak is stringy or if it was just this particular tree as I don't run across many while cutting firewood.

 

[Wood Duck]

I have split lots of White Oak, and I have found plenty of stringy pieces. Some of the nice, straight, branch-free sections split very easily, but you are also likely to find stringy pieces that are tough to split. The base of the tree, large knots or crotches, and sometimes pieces that look pretty straight on the outside, but have a knot hiddin on the inside, are tough. I think it is wel worth the effort.