visual appearance of splits, one question (for now)

[My Oslo heats my home]

OK, Ive been loading up my back covered porch with a portion of this years wood supply.
As I empty the drying racks I usually will get a "feel" for some of the splits I'm handling
(weight, checks on end grain and sound)
I just ran into my 2 year old red oak and so far so good. I have selected a few splits here and there
to check for MC, all has come back 20% or under. My question is, or should I say my observations are;
The end grain on most of these splits has not checked at all. Is it common for some species to not
check during the drying process?
thanks...

 

[pen]

Just want to double check. When you checked the moisture, did you split the wood and then check it on the fresh inside face?

If so, then you are just fine to go. I have some pieces that crack like crazy, and others that just plain do not, even of the same species at times.

pen

 

[jimbom]

My experience is limited to my oak. I have noticed the fresh splits check and open a number of good size cracks soon after stacking. After a period of time, these close up. Further seasoning opens some, but not as many. I have many seasoned oak splits that have little or no checking.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Just want to double check. When you checked the moisture, did you split the wood and then check it on the fresh inside face?

If so, then you are just fine to go. I have some pieces that crack like crazy, and others that just plain do not, even of the same species at times.

pen

Yes, I resplit and checked on the inside face. It's just odd that nearly 1.5 cords of red oak has hardly checked at all. And I'm only basing this on what I have seen in the past with the same wood type.

 

[PapaDave]

I've c/s/s oak, and seen checking pretty quick, then even after several months have the cracks close up on a really damp day (no rain).

 

[Pagey]

I've found that it can depend somewhat on how exposed the end grain was to the wind and/or sun. Some of the stuff I have on my outermost rows will check nicely, but some of the stuff behind those rows, while still dry, may not check as much on the ends. I think the checking is caused by the end grain drying relatively quickly. By that I mean if the ends are exposed and dry faster relative to the rest, they'll check. If the ends are not exposed, they'll dry close to the same pace as the "heart" of the round and won't check as much.

Someone please correct me with far more accurate science if I am wrong.