This is for new people.

Decided to burn some of last winters left over red oak not ready to burn yet.

It was cut in march 2011 so make sure you season your red oak for at least 3 years.

Right now 400 stove top 2 med splits criss cross normally i run at at 500 to 600 with the same amount of birch or black gum.

Yep. Pretty much. Sometimes, it is good sooner, but you can't count on it.

I should also mention i had to leave the air half open the whole burn to maintain fire and flue temp.

Why in the world did i choose this wood for a bed time load been 2 hour babysitting the stove so it wont gunk up the pipes.

any gunk built up in one night is easily burned off by a nice hot morning fire, provided there isn't a reservior of fuel already stuck to the flue. this has worked for me for 38 years of woodburning. i clean my own chimneys (3 flues total) and i never have any buildup. i feel like the maytag repairman.

Getting close to when i clean the pipes out each year.

As much as I love oak it is a PITA to burn if you cant dry it long enough ! We do not have a lot of room to dry on our property so unless it is free I don't get oak anymore. When I do it goes on the back of the stacks where I forget it exists until it falls 2 or 3 years later and I have to re-stack it again .

Pete

I have enough birch and black gum also in a few months i have a stack of poplar split last month

But i think the oak needs to be moved off my car port and get some sun.

Check local listings, but burning a test fire of questionably seasoned wood is usually best done outdoors in a fire pit. You can get a pretty good feel for things by how well it burns, the amount of smoke it puts out, and the amount of water coming out of the ends. I did this with some oak I considered burning this year. It ain't ready yet. Maybe next year.

Heck seems any of the softer woods that I have used this year will run hotter but not for very long. If the damper is wide open and left to burn I think it could over fire.

Need wind more than sun. Both are nice though.