I've got about 2 cords of each in separate piles. Both have been seasoned since last summer (2009). I know oak is good for heat output and ask burns real clean, but if you had a choice, which species would you use? I can mix the two, no problem, but wondering if there would be any benefit to using more of one then the other. They both look really dry, but I'll bet the ask is a bit drier then the oak.
Ash or Oak. Which to use this winter?
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If I had that stash of wood, I would have a big grin on my puss. I actually have the same stash but mine is green waiting for newt season. Anyway, the answer is easy, it all just depends on what is going on outside.........plan on burning primarilly oak on those cold winter nights with maybe a stick of ash to get things going. Use the ash for not so cold weather as it burns out a bit faster than the more dense oak. I grab different types of wood from my current stack just about every time I take an armload.......one big stick of oak for the back, a couple of sticks of white birch to get a fire burning and then whatever for the middle. It's all good, but when it's cold IMHO oak is the best as long as it's good and dry. If it's not, you will very glad you have that ash.
midwestcoast
Minister of Fire
The ash will almost surely be much drier than the oak. Red Oak especially takes 2 years to season. Ash is about the fastest drying dense hardwood. That ash is as good as it'll get now. If your oak was split & stacked by early summer 09, it'll likely be pretty good this year; If it was mosre like aug-sept then it'll prob be just okay (use it for mid-winter overnights to burn slower). All this assumes reasonable split size, stacks, sun, wind....
NH_Wood
Minister of Fire
If you NEED the 4 cord for this winter, my thought would be to mix the oak and ash. The oak will likely NOT be well seasoned if only seasoning for ~ 18 months. Your ash should be primo. Mixing the two might give you easier starts and better burns. Do you have a moisture meter to check the oak? If not, split one of the oak splits and see if the inside seems a tad damp and still has a strong oak smell - if so, probably not ready for the stove by itself. You could also try a load of oak in the stove now and see if you get good results (easy startup, no hissing, clean glass, etc.). I'm thinking you won't. Good luck! Cheers!
I'd use the ash first. I have a cord of oak from summer '09 that I'm saving for 2011-12. I will burn my two cords of '08 oak this winter. My rule is oak gets 2+ years, everything else I use gets 1+ years. All my wood is now vintage-dated - my wife thinks it's sad that that makes me happy.
"I will burn no oak before it's time."
- Paul Masson Bunyan Branchburner
"I will burn no oak before it's time."
- Paul Masson Bunyan Branchburner
Todd
Minister of Fire
If that's all the wood you have and you plan on burning 24/7 this year in a Northern climate like Maine I'd mix it all together. The drier Ash will help out the Oak.
On the other hand if you find the Oak to be dry enough and burns well then save it for the heart of Winter and use the Ash for the begining and end of the season.
On the other hand if you find the Oak to be dry enough and burns well then save it for the heart of Winter and use the Ash for the begining and end of the season.
I'm thinking you will want to use the ash for most of your burning. If your oak is dry enough use it for the coldest days, if it is not quite dry, mix with the ash throughout the burning season. If oak is real wet, save it for next year, and find some more ash, or other dry wood.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Todd said:
I agree . . . although the general consensus is that most folks find oak does best when seasoned for two years. I suspect just burning the ash will not get you through the winter so you'll need both the ash and oak.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
jzinckgra said:
There can be a couple of answers here. The first is that your oak is no doubt not ready to burn so the ash will win out hands down. However, if the oak was as dry as the ash, I would burn the oak only on the very cold nights. You could fill the stove with all oak or perhaps half oak and half ash. The oak would go on the bottom.
My wife and I were talking about a similar situation here. I have been considering cutting a few oaks here (I don't have a lot of them) because one or two are either dead or very close to it. We have lots and lots of white ash that are also dead so naturally, we burn a lot of ash right now. But perhaps I will cut some oak to have a few years up the road and will use that only on the coldest part of winter and nights only. That should work out good along with all this nice ash.
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