3 year seasoned oak burns great! UPDATE

[gzecc]

Just started burning white oak I received from a neighbor a few yrs ago. It took 3 yrs to get to be <22%. Its very nice to burn now. Glad I survived the three years to enjoy it. (It was stacked in the shade. I'll never do that again.)

 

[rdust]

:lol:

I was splitting some red oak today and I was splitting it in the 6" range which is big compared to how I split oak in the past. The whole time I kept thinking man this is going to burn really good in 3 years!

 

[CALJREICH]

How old are you that you say you are glad you survived to enjoy it?
I wouldn't mind leaving all the money I have when I die, but I'd be upset if I leave 3 year old seasoned oak stacked on my place. I'll be so upset I'll probably stop breathing. Is that how you feel too?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

3 year seasoned oak burns great!

One would hope so

 

[modo]

Just don't get why you people think oak needs to season that long. It's not a mummy! Cut and split it at the same time, then make sure it has plenty of air and shelter for a year, or 18 months at the most, and burn it!

 

[ecocavalier02]

buring 3 year old red oak here. as long as i have 2 or 3 coals left i a cant the whole load to go up in flames in minutes. lol

 

[gzecc]

How old are you that you say you are glad you survived to enjoy it?
I wouldn't mind leaving all the money I have when I die, but I'd be upset if I leave 3 year old seasoned oak stacked on my place. I'll be so upset I'll probably stop breathing. Is that how you feel too?

48yrs. Old enough to know no one gets out of here alive. The return on investment for oak is just too long. Investment in time to high and seasoning too long. I will work for locust and ash all day long. Scrounge this yr burn next!

 

[oldspark]

18 months for Oak is all it takes if you do it right, I am lucky I have dead Oak on the ground that dries to 20% or so in one summer.

 

[ansehnlich1]

My red oak and chestnut oak has been sitting for about 3 years. I have it split real big, 4, 5, 6, inch splits, and it's cut to 22 inches. I stuff 4, maybe 5 of them bad boys in the oslo and I'm good to go with a heavy layer of coals 10 hours later.

 

[Dune]

Just don't get why you people think oak needs to season that long. It's not a mummy! Cut and split it at the same time, then make sure it has plenty of air and shelter for a year, or 18 months at the most, and burn it!

Everyones situation is different. I started burning a 30 month old stack of oak this month. Small branches, splits and stuff on top of the pile are super dry. Large rounds and stuff that was burried are going to wait another year. I have no wind in my yard, and not a lot of sun either. If my current plan works out, I will be seasoning oak for three years in general.

To be clear, the wood I am rejecting as not seasoned well enough will burn. But I will use more wood than if it were dryer, and my chimney will fill with creosote faster.
You can burn oak green if you try hard enough, but you will waste a lot of wood and produce a lot of creosote.

 

[oldspark]

Let me add this, if it is a green Oak and you have big splits and good size rounds it may well take 3 years or so but in single rows in the wind and sun the med sized splits will get there much quicker.

 

[joshlaugh]

I am always impressed that other woodburners are so patient to wait for oak to season properly. I have burned some red oak in the past but usually just don't have the space to store it for that long. I will have to stick with my sugar maple, and hickory for longer burns.

 

[oldspark]

I am always impressed that other woodburners are so patient to wait for oak to season properly. I have burned some red oak in the past but usually just don't have the space to store it for that long. I will have to stick with my sugar maple, and hickory for longer burns.

You have Sugar Maple and Hickory, to hell with the Oak. :cheese:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I believe there must be a big difference in the oaks from one region to the other. Around here 3 years is about the minimum even stacked both in sun and wind. I plan on cutting some pin and red oaks this winter but for sure won't be burning it for 3 years. I'm patient; it will wait.


Btw, folks who burn oak before 3 years I usually find also burn other wood before it is really dry. I'm not running anyone down with this but just stating what I have found. For me, the wood needs to be dry and I hate to accept anything short of that.

 

[PapaDave]

I've got oak that's between 18 months-2years. Most is burning really well, no sizzling, or bubbling. However, some is doing just that,....for a short time, so it's ALMOST dry.
Mine gets stacked single row, in pretty good wind and as long as the sun shines, lots of sun too.
Next year, the wood will be over 2 years dried, having been stacked summer of '09.
This stuff is burning better than any prior years wood.

 

[oldspark]

I believe there must be a big difference in the oaks from one region to the other. Around here 3 years is about the minimum even stacked both in sun and wind. I plan on cutting some pin and red oaks this winter but for sure won't be burning it for 3 years. I'm patient; it will wait.


Btw, folks who burn oak before 3 years I usually find also burn other wood before it is really dry. I'm not running anyone down with this but just stating what I have found. For me, the wood needs to be dry and I hate to accept anything short of that.

Easy there big fella, too many varibles to say that.

 

[madrone]

Just don't get why you people think oak needs to season that long. It's not a mummy! Cut and split it at the same time, then make sure it has plenty of air and shelter for a year, or 18 months at the most, and burn it!

18 months ain't going to cut it here for oak.

 

[cptoneleg]

I cut and split a chestnut oak last may, stacked about half, in the woods, alot of shade, the other half out in the open, alot of sun and wind, the stack in the woods is still above 30% the stuff with good sun and wind, is testing 24-28%. I have about 4 cords out in the sun and wind all cut this past summer, I hope it"s ready next season. That will be between 13-18 months.

 

[Dune]

Let me add this, if it is a green Oak and you have big splits and good size rounds it may well take 3 years or so but in single rows in the wind and sun the med sized splits will get there much quicker.

The one constant seems to be that a lot of people burn wood which could stand to be dryer.

 

[cptoneleg]

Yes, and I might add these were extremly small splits, been about 8 months in sun and wind and still not ready. I split in such small splits after reading this site and trying to season wood for my new stove

Thanks

 

[oldspark]

Let me add this, if it is a green Oak and you have big splits and good size rounds it may well take 3 years or so but in single rows in the wind and sun the med sized splits will get there much quicker.

The one constant seems to be that a lot of people burn wood which could stand to be dryer.

Maybe, but you will not change their habits no matter what you do, I had some small splits that were OL on the MM last spring that were 20% last fall so I know it can be done

 

[loon]

sounds like there are alot of people with nice access to oak ;-P there are maybe a dozen across the road but a whack of them at the deercamp but thats a 3 hour turn around compared to the 5 min elm here..

what i do at the camp is find fallen leaners with no bark on them then cut split and burn the next year... they burn very nice...

mind you i split them smaller than the elm here for sure..

loon

 

[CTburning]

I burn mostly Red and White Oak and can tell a major difference between the red and white. The white I'm burning now has been c/s/s and covered in a cord cord shed for 20 months and is burning perfectly in my Fireview. The Red Oak is burning but I have a couple of pieces that hissed water like crazy. The Red Oak has been split at least as long as the White as it was leftover from the previous year. It sat bucked and off the ground for at least 6 months before it was split and packed in with the white. It is still not as dry as the White Oak.

 

[quads]

Just don't get why you people think oak needs to season that long. It's not a mummy! Cut and split it at the same time, then make sure it has plenty of air and shelter for a year, or 18 months at the most, and burn it!

Of course you can burn oak after only 18 months, and depending on your situation/location it might even be ready. Actually, you can cut it and split it in the morning and burn it by nightfall. Dad used to do it all the time when I was a kid. And those chimney fires we had were really awesome! Like a rocket turned upside-down and strapped to the side of the house. So exciting, the big red flame shooting way up in the sky and the large plume of black smoke. Great times; the good old days. Nowadays everything is so boring and most of that excitement has gone. :-(

Oak is so much less exciting to burn after split, cut, and stacked for two years. 3 years is even more boring yet. But there is no law about seasoning oak and it can be coaxed into burning pretty much anytime, if that's what you want to do.

 

[Kenster]

I am always impressed that other woodburners are so patient to wait for oak to season properly. I have burned some red oak in the past but usually just don't have the space to store it for that long. I will have to stick with my sugar maple, and hickory for longer burns.

The pignut hickory we have around here needs at least as long, if not more time, than oak.