How much can I anticipate this oak drying over the summer?

[PDutro]

This white oak fell back in 2021 and the property owner cut it into rounds and stacked it. I brought it home and split it today. The MC at center of splits is 30% +/-

The ends and outer ring is drier, maybe 20%. If I stack it perpendicular as I go to allow a lot of air flow, any chance this will be under 25% by winter? I know white oak is especially slow to season. Does the fact it fell and has been stacked in rounds for 2 years factor in to total drying time?

 

[KDubU]

I would say it should be ready next season. Perhaps build a cheap easy solar kiln and put it in and then it may be ready by October.

 

[qwee]

Western Oregon? Oak is a 3 year drying wood. And white oak is even denser than red oak. You might have Oregon oak? You might be able to get the drying process done in 2 years but you live in a rainy high humidity area.

Oak is what it is - a great firewood when dry, but it takes a long time to get there. Yes in the round with the bark on it it lost a little moisture but not too much. Maybe get some alder or Doug fir. These 2 can be dried in a year. If you are in Eastern Oregon, 2 years and it might be good.

 

[brenndatomu]

It won't be ready this winter, probably not next either

 

[PDutro]

I would say it should be ready next season. Perhaps build a cheap easy solar kiln and put it in and then it may be ready by October.

What kind of design are you thinking?

 

[KDubU]

What kind of design are you thinking?

Look up @Woodsplitter67 and view his signature. He explains how he built it and I am doing the same this year as I am way behind on wood. I bought some heavy duty clear plastic and built two kilns, one is full of maple and the other red oak. Hopefully the 3 cords under them will dry enough by Oct. I am also in the process of building a wood shed as this property did not have one and I have plenty more wood to split and stack.

 

[Ashful]

Kiln it, or save it for autumn 2025. No way in hell will that wood be ready this fall, without the aid of a kiln. Oak takes 2 - 3 summers to dry in most of North America, and your climate isn't one that is going to accelerate that.

 

[brenndatomu]

No way in hell will that wood be ready this fall

Oh, I dunno...I kinda suspect it'd dry pretty darn quick in hell

 

[TomMcDonald]

Oh, I dunno...I kinda suspect it'd dry pretty darn quick in hell

Portland?

 

[Woody Stover]

Oak takes 2 - 3 summers to dry in most of North America, and your climate isn't one that is going to accelerate that.

The smaller splits I see in the pic, maybe two summers here. Not sure how humid it is there, though. The bigger splits I see, three summers here.

I've been toying with the idea of splitting some Oak into flat blocks about like a 2x6, to see how fast it dries. Then when loading the stove, I could lay them in flat, like a stack of pancakes. It might burn a lot slower than if you made the same wood into 3" triangular splits, but the planks would hopefully dry almost as fast.
It'll be interesting to see the results of this experiment--I'll be splitting some Red Oak within the next month or so, and I'll make some planks and keep them in an accessible place..

 

[PDutro]

Portland?

Lol! Basically.

 

[PDutro]

The smaller splits I see in the pic, maybe two summers here. Not sure how humid it is there, though. The bigger splits I see, three summers here.

I've been toying with the idea of splitting some Oak into flat blocks about like a 2x6, to see how fast it dries. Then when loading the stove, I could lay them in flat, like a stack of pancakes. It might burn a lot slower than if you made the same wood into 3" triangular splits, but the planks would hopefully dry almost as fast.
It'll be interesting to see the results of this experiment--I'll be splitting some Red Oak within the next month or so, and I'll make some planks and keep them in an accessible place..

Looks like folks are having a lot of success using a simple kiln set up with 6mil plastic sheeting and getting wood down below 10% in 60-90 days. I think I’ll give it a whirl.

 

[Woody Stover]

Portland?

Or Black Summer?

Looks like folks are having a lot of success using a simple kiln set up with 6mil plastic sheeting and getting wood down below 10% in 60-90 days. I think I’ll give it a whirl.

It should work well, from what I've read here. I try to avoid using plastic when I can, but if my back was against the wall I'd hafta do what I hadta do. Or I might just stack the Oak and let it sit, and grab some Doug Fir for this year. Begreen is getting it dry over a summer. Might be half a summer if the heat continues out there..
I think I saw a guy kilning some Oak here last summer. He had several stacks, looked like the size of a pallet, which he then wrapped in brown or black plastic a while after he split it. I don't know if I'll see it again this year--I'll have to make it a point to go by there. I'd like to catch the guy outside so I could ask him about it. And find out where he got the idea..maybe here on hearth! 😎

 

[Hwkmn05]

I burned the last of my oak this winter that I stacked in 2017, most I couldnt burn until 2020. I always demand NO oak from suppliers now.

 

[Ashful]

Looks like folks are having a lot of success using a simple kiln set up with 6mil plastic sheeting and getting wood down below 10% in 60-90 days. I think I’ll give it a whirl.

Calling @Poindexter and @Woodsplitter67 . They're our solar kiln experts, as of late.

edit: Nevermind, I see you already found Woodsplitter's old thread on the subject.

 

[Woody Stover]

I burned the last of my oak this winter that I stacked in 2017, most I couldnt burn until 2020. I always demand NO oak from suppliers now.

I really like the way Oak burns, coals and ashes, be it Red or White. The drawbacks are that on the dead wood I cut, I sometimes have to deal with punky sapwood. Then there's the drying time. But once I was three years ahead I started grabbing whatever wood was available, and haven't looked back.

 

[PDutro]

I really like the way Oak burns, coals and ashes, be it Red or White. The drawbacks are that on the dead wood I cut, I sometimes have to deal with punky sapwood. Then there's the drying time. But once I was three years ahead I started grabbing whatever wood was available, and haven't looked back.

Yeah this tree had some pinky sapwood. Do you burn it? It’s not crumbly, just feels light.

 

[Ashful]

Yeah this tree had some pinky sapwood. Do you burn it? It’s not crumbly, just feels light.

I usually try to separate it off and toss it in the burn pit, if it comes off easy enough. But I don't waste too much time and effort on it, if it's well-adhered.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

If its a little punky I keep it.. its wood.. it burns and heats the house.. I will burn it when Im home. For overnight.. Ill load the dense stuff.

 

[Poindexter]

Not sure I have much to contribute.

I must have seen this on phone previously as I didn't see the pics, but woodsplitter67 was already involved.

The one pertinent thing I do have (with zero useful experience re western US oaks) is I see some fungi growing on the end grains of some of the splits. So I would surmise wherever the rounds were stored before splitting was probably a bit too damp for seasoning after splitting, but I stand to be corrected by those who are familiar with Western oaks.

The thing about kilns is how much acreage have you got? If you got 25 acres, getting three years ahead somewhere on the property with just cinderblocks, pallets and tarps should be no problem. I am on a suburban lot around 7000 sqft, my house foot print is 1200, I got parking for six vehicles, and I was burning 10 cords per year not long ago. My choice was to get my fuel ready in one summer, or buy oil.

As I have gained confidence seasoning softwood I am actually removing some of my kilns this year for more traditional style sheds, and turning the remainder of the kilns over to my wife for green house space.

Good luck and best wishes,

 

[Poindexter]

I guess I would add, with spousal approval, I would much rather stack those fresh splits against the chain link fence rather than against the pictured board fence. I haven't spent much time in Portland, but the winter I spent in Eugene was pretty darn damp.

 

[Woody Stover]

Yeah this tree had some pinky sapwood. Do you burn it? It’s not crumbly, just feels light.

I usually try to separate it off and toss it in the burn pit, if it comes off easy enough. But I don't waste too much time and effort on it, if it's well-adhered.

Yeah, if I can just scrape it off easily with a hatchet blade, I will. Otherwise I don't bother.

 

[PDutro]

Not sure I have much to contribute.

I must have seen this on phone previously as I didn't see the pics, but woodsplitter67 was already involved.

The one pertinent thing I do have (with zero useful experience re western US oaks) is I see some fungi growing on the end grains of some of the splits. So I would surmise wherever the rounds were stored before splitting was probably a bit too damp for seasoning after splitting, but I stand to be corrected by those who are familiar with Western oaks.

The thing about kilns is how much acreage have you got? If you got 25 acres, getting three years ahead somewhere on the property with just cinderblocks, pallets and tarps should be no problem. I am on a suburban lot around 7000 sqft, my house foot print is 1200, I got parking for six vehicles, and I was burning 10 cords per year not long ago. My choice was to get my fuel ready in one summer, or buy oil.

As I have gained confidence seasoning softwood I am actually removing some of my kilns this year for more traditional style sheds, and turning the remainder of the kilns over to my wife for green house space.

Good luck and best wishes

Unfortunately the chain link fence is at the property where I picked up the wood from. I don’t have a great place for wood that isn’t adjacent to a board fence.

That said, there are spots in the yard where I get decent sun, and often have breeze so I think it could be a lot worse based on my area.

Thankfully I’m a bit southwest of Portland proper, we have about 1/4 acre lot. Not enough to keep three years worth of wood stacked, but two years for sure. I’m going to experiment with the kiln and see what happens. I’ll set it up in the next couple weeks and run it through September probably. Fortunately I have access to some dry wood that a relative has offered to give me so if the kiln doesn’t get the oak down to where it needs to be I’m not going to be without wood to burn.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Poindexter]

I’m going to experiment with the kiln and see what happens.

Certainly do that. I like to have an opening at the top about the size of a cantaloupe or a basketball for each cord enclosed in my kilns, but I am getting 22 hours of direct sun on my kilns up here. I don't know of anyone in any location having bad results with passive solar firewood kilns. For me local I don't like the short life expectancy of my plastic membranes at -40 and -50 dF, the plastic just gets real stiff and cracks super easy in cold weather.

There are many many burners in the PNW running Douglas Fir, seasoning one year (one full summer), and having good results.

Last year, maybe year before last, I started burning (pseudo) hardwood 'birch' in my shoulder seasons. In early fall and late spring (for me local) having a firebox full of coals at +/- 600 dF is enough to keep the chill off the house for 24 hours at a time, give or take. You might be able to do that with your oak as well once it is seasoned. When 24 hours burns with birch aren't keeping up for me anymore as the snow accumulates, I just transition to 12 hour burn cycles with spruce, blah blah as the mercury drops.

I do encourage you to get familiar with DFir if you aren't already. I think of Doug Fir (and Southern Yellow Pine - SYP back east) as the 'tweener' woods between familiar Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF(s)) softwoods and the various hardwoods. Both DF and SYP can be seasoned fairly quickly, but punch above their seasoning time on the BTU/cord scale. FWIW 'SPF' is a little bit stronger than SPF(s), and grows in Canada. SPF(s) grows in the USA with a lot of overlap among species, but ultimately SPF(s) is a bit weaker in the various engineering values.

Tamarack is pretty good firewood that should season quick if someone offers you some.

The main thing with wood stove fuel is to get your rounds split at least once ASAP, stack them off the ground and get them top covered so the clock can start moving.

FWIW Oregon White Oak, Quercus garryana, is in the Beech family, https://owic.oregonstate.edu/oregon-white-oak-quercus-garryana . You might pick up your scraps from splitting, put those in a pierced foil envelope and try cooking some potato on your gas grill with just a bit of olive oil and salt. If the potato are good, try some beef or chicken. If the potato suck, take the rest of your scrap to the landfill or use it as kindling. Regular back east American Beech, Fagus grandifolia, subject to a new blight, is a very mild BBQ wood with quite a delicate flavor that works on beef and pork as well as poultry and shellfish. I will probably try smoking cheese on F. grandifolia someday- oh wait I have all the hardware I just need some free time.

FWIW if you come in to some Blue Oak (my mom in northern CA has one in her yard) you should definitely get some of that just for cooking. Blue Oak is fabulous on beef as red hot glowing coals, and pretty darn good as a smoking chunk on charcoal for beef. Blue oak should work good on pork with some hickory or pecan, and should do fine on poultry alone, but all of mine comes home in a checked airline bag, so ribeye and porterhouse at my place.

 

[Poindexter]

I don't recall exactly why this link to yet another open tab in my browser is a thing. Eastern NA beech is a fabulous wood. I bought a bunch of it and am using it to make shop furniture like my till for handsaws. The 'flame' grain figured lumber I find especially attractive. F. grandiflora. https://www.uky.edu/hort/American-Beech

I should start a new thread. In fact, I will.