4 yr. seasoned White Oak..

[Tar12]

It is a very long road to reach the 4 yr mark...but oh so worth it! The firewood gods have smiled upon me in recent years with a over abundance of Oak and I set my long term goals to have PREMIUM firewood to feed the BK Princess...the difference between 2yr and 3 yr and 4yr seasoned Oak is huge! The 4 yr lights right off and I am cruising for the night time burn in 10-15 minutes tops...heat output has increased...wood consumption has decreased...I find myself turning the stove down lower than I have ever have done before..this is going to be a great year for me as I am installing all new energy efficient windows and doors insulation and siding starting this week..this was long over due in this leaky old house....cant wait to experience the results of all of this hard and expensive work! lol

 

[VirginiaIron]

I see in the manual that the wood should be stacked and kept dry for a MINIMUM of two years. So that makes sense. Congratulations on keeping your fuel supply dry and plentiful.

 

[kennyp2339]

I know isn't it nice, I'm burning 3 year oak, maple, ash & cherry this year, the wood has been sitting in my woodshed for 2 years, just roof cover, open sides. the oak is lighter than you think when you pick it up, almost match light at this point, I estimate around 15% moisture content.

 

[ratsrepus]

Ive noticed that some questionable wood I have, that happens to be in front of my 3 year old very dry stuff, seem to go through the princess easier that it does the ashford. ILL be moving it out of the way this weekend. Should have done it way earlier.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I have about a cord of now 4 year oak. I am very excited to feed it to stove. Now it just needs to get cold enough.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

It is a very long road to reach the 4 yr mark...but oh so worth it! The firewood gods have smiled upon me in recent years with a over abundance of Oak and I set my long term goals to have PREMIUM firewood to feed the BK Princess...the difference between 2yr and 3 yr and 4yr seasoned Oak is huge! The 4 yr lights right off and I am cruising for the night time burn in 10-15 minutes tops...heat output has increased...wood consumption has decreased...I find myself turning the stove down lower than I have ever have done before..this is going to be a great year for me as I am installing all new energy efficient windows and doors insulation and siding starting this week..this was long over due in this leaky old house....cant wait to experience the results of all of this hard and expensive work! lol

I get the sense you had to wipe away a single tear with that 4 yr old oak. Just joking with you , very nice work to get to that point!

 

[ratsrepus]

I have about a cord of now 4 year oak. I am very excited to feed it to stove. Now it just needs to get cold enough.

I don't live very far from you, and Its cold enough

 

[RandyBoBandy]

I don't live very far from you, and Its cold enough

I’m burning for sure. Just not my choice oak yet. Saving it for the real cold days.

 

[Tar12]

I get the sense you had to wipe away a single tear with that 4 yr old oak. Just joking with you , very nice work to get to that point!

Almost! lol You have to bust arse for a couple years to get there then you can cruise and never worry about it again...I have 25 cord of Oak split stacked and covered waiting in the wings...its going to be interesting to see how many cord I use this year after the new windows and doors and insulation is installed

 

[Woodsplitter67]

It is a very long road to reach the 4 yr mark...but oh so worth it! The firewood gods have smiled upon me in recent years with a over abundance of Oak and I set my long term goals to have PREMIUM firewood to feed the BK Princess...the difference between 2yr and 3 yr and 4yr seasoned Oak is huge! The 4 yr lights right off and I am cruising for the night time burn in 10-15 minutes tops...heat output has increased...wood consumption has decreased...I find myself turning the stove down lower than I have ever have done before..this is going to be a great year for me as I am installing all new energy efficient windows and doors insulation and siding starting this week..this was long over due in this leaky old house....cant wait to experience the results of all of this hard and expensive work! lol

Tar. Just as a heads up. You dont need to wait 4 years to burn any type of oak. I burn oak as my primary wood, some cherry but mostly oak. Im also burning white oak as i like it. The seasoning time for oak is 6 months for any oak. I put together a cheapo kiln and had all my large oak splits to sub 10%MC in one summer. The oak was cut in may, started the kiln in july, stopped in october and 10%mc

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Tar. Just as a heads up. You dont need to wait 4 years to burn any type of oak. I burn oak as my primary wood, some cherry but mostly oak. Im also burning white oak as i like it. The seasoning time for oak is 6 months for any oak. I put together a cheapo kiln and had all my large oak splits to sub 10%MC in one summer. The oak was cut in may, started the kiln in july, stopped in october and 10%mc

25 cords is gonna take a big kiln!

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Almost! lol You have to bust arse for a couple years to get there then you can cruise and never worry about it again...I have 25 cord of Oak split stacked and covered waiting in the wings...its going to be interesting to see how many cord I use this year after the new windows and doors and insulation is installed

Good job getting all this done. Bet your gonna enjoy it going forward.

I'm not sure even 4 years is enough. I'm planning ahead for the next generation. Now we just need to have some kids...

 

[kennyp2339]

I'm planning ahead for the next generation. Now we just need to have some kids...

Have the kids 1st... free labor

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Have the kids 1st... free labor

Free? I think that's the most expensive labor ever! Google just informed me that the average cost of raising a kid is $233k!

I know Tar has had some of this help on this front, though.

 

[xman23]

Almost! lol You have to bust arse for a couple years to get there then you can cruise and never worry about it again...I have 25 cord of Oak split stacked and covered waiting in the wings...its going to be interesting to see how many cord I use this year after the new windows and doors and insulation is installed

It depends how much of the leakey house has been improved. Every bit helps. Insulation is one of the biggest issues. With the window change did you pull the complete window out to the original rough opening? If so you can insulate around the window, You will see the difference in the rooms farther away from the stove. They will be warmer than the were.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

25 cords is gonna take a big kiln!

Who ever needs to season that much, its still worth looking into.
The rolls of plastic is sold in 100ft lenths
A kiln could be set up this way. Based on 18in splits 3 rows would be 4.5 foot wide stacked 5.5 foot high and a lenth of 80ft long would yeald just under 15.5 cords per run. You could do 2 runs in one kiln or 2 kilns and 1 run, for a total yeald of just about 31 cords per year. Which would easily cover the 25 cords needed.
Im posting this because some people really believe that it takes years to season wood and it dosent. You all could have enough seasond oak for the burning season with in 6 months.. its just a thought fo you guys..
Im sitting on 13 cord of log lenth white oak.. im going to cut it up over the winter and burn it for the 19/20 wood burning season..i will have it at sub 10%mc

 

[kennyp2339]

Who ever needs to season that much, its still worth looking into.
The rolls of plastic is sold in 100ft lenths
A kiln could be set up this way. Based on 18in splits 3 rows would be 4.5 foot wide stacked 5.5 foot high and a lenth of 80ft long would yeald just under 15.5 cords per run. You could do 2 runs in one kiln or 2 kilns and 1 run, for a total yeald of just about 31 cords per year. Which would easily cover the 25 cords needed.
Im posting this because some people really believe that it takes years to season wood and it dosent. You all could have enough seasond oak for the burning season with in 6 months.. its just a thought fo you guys..
Im sitting on 13 cord of log lenth white oak.. im going to cut it up over the winter and burn it for the 19/20 wood burning season..i will have it at sub 10%mc

pics bro

 

[Hogwildz]

Patience does pay off. Congrats on reaching the optimal of burning Oak. You now know what some of us have been saying for years. Enjoy, I know you will.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

pics bro

Picks of what???

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Who ever needs to season that much, its still worth looking into.
The rolls of plastic is sold in 100ft lenths
A kiln could be set up this way. Based on 18in splits 3 rows would be 4.5 foot wide stacked 5.5 foot high and a lenth of 80ft long would yeald just under 15.5 cords per run. You could do 2 runs in one kiln or 2 kilns and 1 run, for a total yeald of just about 31 cords per year. Which would easily cover the 25 cords needed.
Im posting this because some people really believe that it takes years to season wood and it dosent. You all could have enough seasond oak for the burning season with in 6 months.. its just a thought fo you guys..
Im sitting on 13 cord of log lenth white oak.. im going to cut it up over the winter and burn it for the 19/20 wood burning season..i will have it at sub 10%mc

Love your passion about the kiln concept. You and Poindexter could go on and on.

I tried three mini kilns this year, three tomato cages with clear bags over them with some sopping kindling in them. At first, there was condensation on the inside of the bags every day, then that stopped after several weeks.

I'm totally sold on the concept.

Would like it if someone other than Shelterlogic would come up with a commercial solution.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Love your passion about the kiln concept. You and Poindexter could go on and on.

I tried three mini kilns this year, three tomato cages with clear bags over them with some sopping kindling in them. At first, there was condensation on the inside of the bags every day, then that stopped after several weeks.

I'm totally sold on the concept.

Would like it if someone other than Shelterlogic would come up with a commercial solution.

My son and i just put up a greenhouse this fall. Im going to try 1 rack in there to see how that works.. this may be a option.. i will look up the shelterlogic site and see what they are all about.

 

[kennyp2339]

Picks of what???

15 cord kiln

 

[Woodsplitter67]

15 cord kiln

I dont have a use for a 15 cord kiln. I didnt state that i have one. I said that it could be done, and it can be if needed there no difference between one that is 20ft or 80ft the principal is the same and the material is available

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I dont have a use for a 15 cord kiln. I didnt state that i have one. I said that it could be done, and it can be if needed there no difference between one that is 20ft or 80ft the principal is the same and the material is available

Well, how about a picture of what you do have.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Well, how about a picture of what you do have.

There's a thread that is set up in the wood shed with one of the first kilns that was set up if your intrested. Im not posting a how to in this thread and totally derail what tar started. . I posted in here to let you guys know that if you really like oak, and the more difficult spices, that there is really no reason to wait that long. I belive theses forums are to help each other. If you guys want to sit on your wood by all means go ahead, if you want to season more of what you like to use theres a different option, thats all.