A little white oak bucked this weekend.

[ohlongarm]

I just recently introduced my friend Tim to this site he's hooked,he bucked this monster this weekend ,and it should be ready this fall,tree has been down for 2 years.

 

[smokinj]

Thats a nice one. Iam still working on one myself.

 

[Woody Stover]

Love the White! Smells so good.
He might be surprised at how wet that wood still is though. You've got a meter, don't you?

 

[Flatbedford]

That is a monster, but I wouldn't count on it for next year. Those big Oaks hold a ton of moisture until they are split.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

They appear to have been cut very small. Perhaps this was to hasten the drying?

 

[ohio woodburner]

They appear to have been cut very small. Perhaps this was to hasten the drying?

The rounds look small but those splits look huge, maybe its just the picture. I'm with flatbed with this one too. I think you'll be surprised with the moisture.

 

[thewoodlands]

ohlongarm, that is a nice size tree but I'm with the rest when they say it might be to wet for burning for the 2012-13 season.

zap

 

[cptoneleg]

Don't know why but sometimes the dead and down for x amount years seam to have as much, or more moisture than a live one.

The drying clock starts once split and stacked. (usually, especially with Oak)

 

[TimJ]

Hello all. I've been visiting this site now for a couple of weeks. Ohiolongarm told me about the site. I have enjoyed it. I have 18 acres of mature woods, mostly white oak and hickory. I had it logged to help pay for my two sons college tuitions about 6 yrs ago. They took 29 trees total, as I would not let them take anymore. I was totally disgusted with the outcome and decided to turn my lemons into lemonade and began burning wood. I have a Charmaster oil/wood combo made in Wisconsin I believe.
In reference to all the comments made above on the oak tree I took down, I have been cutting all my wood in late spring early summer and burning it the same winter. What I have seen here and learned here is that the consensus is that oak takes two years to dry. I need a new game plan. I cut those rounds about 12 inches so I could hand split them. I thought they would be ready this winter. Since visiting here, I have put all of this wood on pallets and stacked. I had been throwing it under a lean to with open sides in a large pile. I really had no problems to speak of though, although I did have enough creasote built up. I went out last night and cut myself 30 big rounds again. After getting into it I realized it was again a piece of red oak. Need to collect some wood ready this winter and save this oak for the following year if I can. How about Shagbark hickory.............if I get it now will it be good for the winter ? or at least alot better than the oak
Thanks for the site

Tim

 

[cptoneleg]

It will be alot better- first winter I burned 6 month cut/split/stacked Oak, You just have to work on it and get farther ahead than just cut in spring and burn that winter, all wood takes longer than that to dry. Oak just takes the longest. Single rows stacked in the wind and sun will dry fastest. It is alot of work to get ahead.

Good Luck and Welcome

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Tim. The hickory will be ready before the oak but a year is still best for drying. To hasten the drying, you can make your splits small. As you know, stack them off the ground. You need the wood quickly so do not attempt to make the stacks pretty. Stack the wood rather loosely so the air can flow through the stack easily. If you can stack so you have both sun and wind, so much the better but if you have to choose, then go with wind first. Also, stack in single rows and I'd put enough space between the rows so you can walk between them if you have enough room to do this. For stacking the wood, most on this forum favor pallets but I really do not like them at all. I simply cut some saplings in the woods and lay 2 of them down and stack the wood on top. Cheap and then you don't have the ugly pallets to tend to after emptying them nor do you have to worry about rot and walking on them. More than one fellow has been hurt when a pallet broke as he was walking on them. Good luck.

 

[TimJ]

Thanks for the responses. I started making my splits smaller.............I though the bigger the better
Backwoods, I'm thinking like you........getting some saplings and stacking on them.
Got a piece of property with a fair amount of locust I eyed last night. Think I'll cut a few

 

[cptoneleg]

Locust c/s/s now would be your best bet for wood this coming winter, I also stack on saplings or watever I can find ( not pallets) I have lots of old 4x4 s that were free.

 

[TimJ]

There's a nice big dead ash there..............should I cut that before I get into any of that locust ?

 

[Bocefus78]

Ash is a fast drying species. It splits easily by hand as well. IMO, get on it first. The locust will also be ready this season but burn it the really cold months.

Oops, welcome to the forum also!

 

[cptoneleg]

You on a roll now as stated the Ash is fast drying, yes get the Ash and Locust that you need for this winter but don't let up on the Oak , thats how you get ahead.

 

[TimJ]

you just help develope my strategy..............thanks

 

[Redlegs]

Welcome Tim! I've been using some pallets lately, but I have used railroad ties and I have several rows on trees hedge post/limbs. The hedge lasts almost forever on the ground and the price was right. I'm jealsous of the oak and especially that hickor,y as I love the smell of hickory burning. It heats like a champ, and as I recall it pretty high up on the BTU charts. I just picked up a moisture meter at Lowes, and I think it was $30-40 but it takes the guess work and moves your operation up to a more informed level. I started measuring wood all over my stacks and found that I had wood at lots of different MC levels, and Iultimately what I really learned is that I am a lousy guesser of firewood moisture content levels. As I just spent nearly $3K for the entire fireplace insert with liner upgrade, a couple of bucks more to KNOW what I am burning in it seems reasonable to me - but thats just me. Hope that helps.
Again, welcome to the forum!

 

[TimJ]

Thanks........if your a lousy guesser, then I guess I would be as well. I did a quick search on MM but my search said $300 to $400 for a meter. I must have been looking at the wrong thing. Do you believe they are accurate or can one use it incorrectly without alot of experience ?

 

[Redlegs]

Like I said, I bought mine at Lowes and I belive it was in the $30-40 range - I was picking up some stuff for the honey-do list and smuggled this in amoung other items.
See if this works:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_78059-56005...entURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=moisture+meter&facetInfo=

it says $29.98 on the ad and if the link does not work it called
General Tools & Instruments Moisture Meter-Digital Item #: 78059 | Model #: MMD4E

Hope that helps...hey my typing got bigger ???

 

[TimJ]

thanks again.........link worked

 

[tfdchief]

Love White Oak. One of my favorites. +1 on all the seasoning advise, Might be OK next winter, but probably not (the best) You will know when you burn it

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Thanks........if your a lousy guesser, then I guess I would be as well. I did a quick search on MM but my search said $300 to $400 for a meter. I must have been looking at the wrong thing. Do you believe they are accurate or can one use it incorrectly without alot of experience ?

Very definitely they can be used wrong and not get true readings. To me it is still much better to get your wood ahead of time and let Mother Nature do the drying for you and not worry about moisture in the wood. There are many other benefits to getting the wood ahead of time too besides not need a MM. The best benefit is that should something bad happen to you, like has happened to several folks on this forum, and you can't get wood some year, then you still have wood to keep you warm. Look at Steve, the fire chief. His body was really wrecked last summer and that meant no more wood cutting for him for a long while. But, he was ahead on his wood pile and got along fine. It is also a reason why I try to keep well ahead on the wood. I'll soon be 70 with a pretty messed up body. What if I can't cut? Sure, I can lean on friends and relatives and many continually ask if I need help. We are grateful for that, but I still like to do it myself. So when possible, I'll be 5 years or more ahead on the wood supply, and I don't need a MM to tell me if the wood is ready to burn. Save some dollars with that too.

 

[Redlegs]

Dennis, I hope to get as far ahead as you. One load at a time I am increasing my stockpile.

Tim, the moisture meter will help newbies like you and me be more efficient until we can get a pile like Dennis has.

George

 

[cptoneleg]

Dennis, I hope to get as far ahead as you. One load at a time I am increasing my stockpile.

Tim, the moisture meter will help newbies like you and me be more efficient until we can get a pile like Dennis has.

George

That Dennis (old fart) hates MM, so what I have one, just as a toy.

For example dead and standing or dead and fell over you never know them trees will really surprice you. One will be low on mosture and one wont.

We all agree get at least 3 yrs ahead and everything works bettter.