Man, I love white Oak!

[Jutt77]

My folks brought me out a little bit of white oak from Virginia during a visit in October. I split it and stacked it then in a sunny dry spot. Fast forward 3 months and its fully seasoned and ready to use. With predicted lows hitting -7 tonight I decided to break out some of the oak and burn it. We're used to our stove surface temp hitting around 450 degrees using pine. This white oak on the other hand is burning around 525-550 degrees it seems like for hours! You hardwood guys have it good...

Stove rockin at 525:

Damper only 1/4 open:

The goods (I need more):

 

[xman23]

Jutt, the rough bark makes me believe you have Chestnut Oak, also called rock oak. White oak is a smooth finer bark. Rock is easy splitting, white is a little stringy. All the oaks are great burning.

Tom

 

[Stump_Branch]

I would be curious as to how long was it cut up before you got it. 3 months is a miracal seasoning time for oak.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

The splits appear to have checks,and look like they must have been c/s some time ago. 3 month split oak would burn like a wet towel.... :sick:

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Checks don't mean anything. You could have checks in very short order- it just means that the ends are drying faster than the middle

 

[smokinj]

Just through in a splitt that just made it in the furnace had to be a 15-20lb'er..Great stuff

 

[Wood Duck]

That is not White Oak. I agree with xman23 that it looks like Chestnut Oak. Same wood, different tree. Did it really season in only three months, or was it partially seasoned when you got it?

 

[smokinj]

At this point firewood for sure! lol

 

[billb3]

If you're impressed with three months seasoning you should see what it's like when it gets so well seasoned the bark starts falling off.

 

[smokinj]

If you're impressed with three months seasoning you should see what it's like when it gets so well seasoned the bark starts falling off.

That wood looks pretty good for 3 months look at the checks

 

[jeff_t]

My folks brought me out a little bit of white oak from Virginia during a visit in October.

Isn't that how invasive species travel?

 

[Kenster]

My folks brought me out a little bit of white oak from Virginia during a visit in October.

Isn't that how invasive species travel?

National forests often forbid the import or removal of wood for just that reason.

 

[Jutt77]

I would be curious as to how long was it cut up before you got it. 3 months is a miracal seasoning time for oak.

The seasoning rule is all about the climate. Denver is one of the driest climates, aside from Desert locations, in the country. We also average 300+ days of sunshine. Plus its windy as heck on the Front Range. The combination of the 3 do indeed make for miraculous seasoning times

 

[Jutt77]

My folks brought me out a little bit of white oak from Virginia during a visit in October.

Isn't that how invasive species travel?

I don't know, is it?

 

[Jutt77]

The splits appear to have checks,and look like they must have been c/s some time ago. 3 month split oak would burn like a wet towel.... :sick:

3 month split oak seasoned in NY would burn like a wet towel, no doubt about it. 3 month split oak seasoned in Denver, however, burns like a $%##% champ! We both live in totally different climates.

I split it in October myself, that I do remember. Not sure how long it was cut into round though. What I do know is that its burns extremely well hence the hot sustained burn times.

 

[Jutt77]

My folks brought me out a little bit of white oak from Virginia during a visit in October.

Isn't that how invasive species travel?

National forests often forbid the import or removal of wood for just that reason.

I didn't even think about that. Guess I wont be getting any oak from Va anymore. Thanks for crushing my wood dreams and killing my buzz guys

 

[Adios Pantalones]

LOL- live and learn. It is how things like the Asian Lonhorn Beetle and others spread. I stopped bringing my own firewood when I go camping upstate. Welcome aboard

 

[Jutt77]

That is not White Oak. I agree with xman23 that it looks like Chestnut Oak. Same wood, different tree. Did it really season in only three months, or was it partially seasoned when you got it?

OK, thanks for the clarification, I'm still somewhat new to tree IDing. Yep, it did indeed season for just 3 months. Just remember guys, it seasoned in an extremely dry climate, in a spot that was both sunny and windy. The checks and how well it burned certainly appears to equate to proper seasoning, at least based on what I read here on Hearth.com.

 

[billb3]

Hah,
bark falling off may not be a indication of seasoning but rather age - probaby a good indicator of seasoning here though.

I don't trust checks and cracks.

You don't get them with a lot of cut standing dead wood.
Something to watch otherwise though, for sure.


Some people even like oak in their wine.

 

[Jutt77]

So you guys got me curious if this wood is actually seasoned or not. There are checks in the end grain but as some folks mentioned that doesn't always equate to fully seasoned wood. It burns well but I'm still new to this whole wood stove obsession so what appears to be burning well to me may not be burning as well as it possibly can.

So I have a digital multi meter (moisture meters are for girls and in a moment of pure nerdiness last night, I cut a piece of the oak in half with my miter saw, drove 2 small nails (spaced 1.25" apart) a half inch into the wood of the fresh cut and found I had 18 megohms of resistance. Using the table 1 chart found here: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr06.pdf, 18 megohms of resistance equates to around 14.5% moisture content using the data row for white oak. Is Chestnut Oak around the same hardness as White Oak?

At any rate, 14.5%MC sounds pretty good to me.

 

[Thistle]

Yes it is. None of it around here that I'm aware of.Grows more to the east,from north to south.In the White Oak group,wood is pretty much the same in hardness,density & appearance.Bark & leaves different though.

 

[smokinj]

So you guys got me curious if this wood is actually seasoned or not. There are checks in the end grain but as some folks mentioned that doesn't always equate to fully seasoned wood. It burns well but I'm still new to this whole wood stove obsession so what appears to be burning well to me may not be burning as well as it possibly can.

So I have a digital multi meter (moisture meters are for girls and in a moment of pure nerdiness last night, I cut a piece of the oak in half with my miter saw, drove 2 small nails (spaced 1.25" apart) a half inch into the wood of the fresh cut and found I had 18 megohms of resistance. Using the table 1 chart found here: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr06.pdf, 18 megohms of resistance equates to around 14.5% moisture content using the data row for white oak. Is Chestnut Oak around the same hardness as White Oak?

At any rate, 14.5%MC sounds pretty good to me.

lol Outstanding!

 

[Prosecond]

I agree, it looks like chestnut oak. Chestnut oak is part of the white oak family and once made into lumber it is just white oak.

If you cut a healthy tree you should be fine transporting it and not worrying about invasive species. The law may think differently though.