Oak, I've been listening but I did not hear.

[jatoxico]

I messed up. Had posted about getting a nice score of standing dead oak mid August. Did some quick checking w/ a meter while SSing and what I checked was in the burnable range. Well now that the season is underway I did some more extensive checking and some of the stuff is wet, like 36% wet. Doh!

The difference probably comes from the fact that there was about 4 trees that were delivered so some decent some not so good.

So now I'll have to scamble and split some smaller, bring it in the house, mix w/ the dry locust I have and all that other stuff you have to do. Oh well.

I got the dry wood religion but made a rookie mistake.

 

[shawneyboy]

Mistakes happen, can you just wait it out, and burn it in another year or 2 ?

Oak is awesome when it is dry, it is just painful to get to the point where it is dry. I am lucky enough to have 16 cord out there getting ready to burn, in addition to the 4 cord ready to go for this year. If you have the space, maybe just stack it up and use it in 2012-2013 or 2013-2014.

Shawn

 

[jatoxico]

Can't really wait. If I can't burn it by mixing in I'll have to get some bricks or something. This subject has been addressed in a lot of threads so I think I can get all the ideas I need to get by from this site which is such a great resource. Just going to be more difficult than simply grabbing off the pile.

The take away though is don't judge a book by it's cover, as it was standing dead this stuff "looks" dry but as has been said many times here...oak takes time, around my area anyway.

 

[dafattkidd]

Jataxico,
If you have to burn the oak I've found it helpful to split it small as you said, and try to mix some construction debris in with it.

A helpful trick for splitting splits is to get a car tire, lay it on the ground, fill it with splits and split them in the tire. I love this method. I often have to split splits for some reason or another.

 

[snowleopard]

Someone told me a story that happened when he was a kid: they lived on a farm on the downhill side of an outside curve of a road, and they had a good view from the kitchen window where they sometimes saw vehicles slide off the road and down the hill in snowy weather. Saw one come down one day, and his dad drove the truck up to check it out. When he got there, he saw a man had crawled out of the car, and up the hills, and was standing on two arm-wrapped crutches--this was back in the days of polio. The farmer looked at how far the car was down, unloaded the chains from the truck, and explained that he'd have to go back and get his tractor to pull the car out. By the time that he got back, the man had crawled back down the hill, hooked up the chains, and crawled back up.

After the farmer pulled him out, the man tried to pay him, and the farmer refused. The fellow with the car insisted, saying, "My dad told me that if a mistake doesn't cost you anything, you don't learn from it."

That stuck with me. I am rich in my many mistakes, some of them rookie, and some just plain bonehead. Learning as I go, though . . .

 

[jatoxico]

Jataxico,
If you have to burn the oak I've found it helpful to split it small as you said, and try to mix some construction debris in with it.

A helpful trick for splitting splits is to get a car tire, lay it on the ground, fill it with splits and split them in the tire. I love this method. I often have to split splits for some reason or another.

Hey Kidd, the construction debris is a good idea, maybe I can lay my hands on some. I tried splitting w/ a bungee so now I have fewer bungees. I've seen the tire trick but have not tried it. You are using this method w/ good results? How did you attach tire to splitting log?

 

[Dix]

Don't forget pallets & pine, Ja.


If my next years was ready, I'd swap you out some.

 

[jatoxico]

Don't forget pallets & pine, Ja.


If my next years was ready, I'd swap you out some.

If I find some pine I'm all over it!

Thanks for thinking of me but even w/ this setback I will be fine just trying to burn optimally. Sure lot's of people would not even consider my situation to be a problem. Tossed a couple splits of the oak in today and it burns fine although I can tell a difference. Startup would prob be tough but in a hot box it's good enough. On a reload I threw them in back w/ dry wood in front figuring they would dry out then catch as the fire works its way back.

I've whacked up pallets before but I find it's a PITA. Have you bought bricks local, if so where?

 

[Dix]

I've never bought bricks, but had a friend that got them off of Craigs list, and felt sorry for me enough to share quite a bit last year.


I just googled, and found this guy in Holbrook


http://longislandpelletfuel.com/prices.html


Worth a phone call.


I'll keep my eyes out for some pine & pallets. Last year I was burning anything I could find after mid February. Buying wood at 7-11 sucks.

**ETA** this is the guy that was on Craigs list

http://thelogsplitter.net/enviblocks.htm

 

[jatoxico]

I've never bought bricks, but had a friend that got them off of Craigs list, and felt sorry for me enough to share quite a bit last year.


I just googled, and found this guy in Holbrook


http://longislandpelletfuel.com/prices.html


Worth a phone call.


I'll keep my eyes out for some pine & pallets. Last year I was burning anything I could find after mid February. Buying wood at 7-11 sucks.

**ETA** this is the guy that was on Craigs list

http://thelogsplitter.net/enviblocks.htm

Added the link to my favorites, may need 'em. Thanks Joe

 

[Dix]

Joe, keep in mind that in February, they'll be out.

Now is the time for action, one way or the other.


**ETA** that smaller split oak will have had a few months to season, come February, making it quite dryer. Keep that in mind.

 

[dafattkidd]

Hey Joe,

I don't use a splitting log. I just split right on the ground. If I'm splitting on my lawn (which happens sometimes) I will put a piece of plywood beneith the tire. Also you can probably get free construction debris at your town recycling center. Smithtown has a great facility, but you are probably town of Huntington so that wouldn't work for you. Give your town sanitation department a call. They try to recycle useful items and give it away for free no questions asked. I used to make regular trips to the Smithtown dump my first year burning. Hope that helps.

 

[rottiman]

Can't really wait. If I can't burn it by mixing in I'll have to get some bricks or something. This subject has been addressed in a lot of threads so I think I can get all the ideas I need to get by from this site which is such a great resource. Just going to be more difficult than simply grabbing off the pile.

The take away though is don't judge a book by it's cover, as it was standing dead this stuff "looks" dry but as has been said many times here...oak takes time, around my area anyway.

Yup, Oak is Oak and there are no shortcuts to getting it dry. Sorry to hear that your caught short. Just have to keep searchin for a alternative this year.

 

[Exmasonite]

I had a problem last year with some damp wood, not seasoned enough. As a newbie, i was kinda up a creek and didn't have too many other options. My biggest concern was excessive creosote build up with subpar wood. I ended up getting a cord of GOOD seasoned wood delivered, nice and dry. Not sure who told me this theory but here is what i heard:

The biggest issue with wet wood is at lower temps... like sub 300 or something. So, what i did was focus on building up a good, roaring fire with the good wood and added the other wood once the fire was up to temp. I did ok last season... checked the flue frequently, got a good sweeping this spring. Have much better wood this year. Lesson learned.

So, just get a good fire going and burn the wet wood when it's roaring.

 

[jatoxico]

Hey Joe,

I don't use a splitting log. I just split right on the ground. If I'm splitting on my lawn (which happens sometimes) I will put a piece of plywood beneith the tire. Also you can probably get free construction debris at your town recycling center. Smithtown has a great facility, but you are probably town of Huntington so that wouldn't work for you. Give your town sanitation department a call. They try to recycle useful items and give it away for free no questions asked. I used to make regular trips to the Smithtown dump my first year burning. Hope that helps.

I'm actually in Brookhaven but closer to the Smithtown recycling center. I did not know about that option, good tip.

 

[jatoxico]

I had a problem last year with some damp wood, not seasoned enough. As a newbie, i was kinda up a creek and didn't have too many other options. My biggest concern was excessive creosote build up with subpar wood. I ended up getting a cord of GOOD seasoned wood delivered, nice and dry. Not sure who told me this theory but here is what i heard:

The biggest issue with wet wood is at lower temps... like sub 300 or something. So, what i did was focus on building up a good, roaring fire with the good wood and added the other wood once the fire was up to temp. I did ok last season... checked the flue frequently, got a good sweeping this spring. Have much better wood this year. Lesson learned.

So, just get a good fire going and burn the wet wood when it's roaring.

I think that's good advice. From my quick experiments yesterday (reloads) looks like about 30% of the wet stuff will work. When I went 50/50 the temp was sluggish to come back up and never got as hot as I wood like to see, recipe for trouble.

 

[Dix]

Truck load of pallets (at least) behind Best Yet on 27 in Shirley (X William Floyd). North west side.

 

[jatoxico]

Truck load of pallets (at least) behind Best Yet on 27 in Shirley (X William Floyd). North west side.

Hmm...maybe build pallet wood shed and be ready for the long haul! Part of my problem is transport. I'm on the lookout for a PU or Cherokee but till then I'm limited. My test runs yesterday worked out OK and I re-split about 3 wheelbarrows worth today. Crossing my fingers.

 

[Dix]

My F250 is on the road next week ;-)


I have an idea, but neither you, Dom, or myself have a splitter >:-( We gotta fix that.


My idea involves pine.


Sending PM.

 

[Kenster]

Jataxico,
If you have to burn the oak I've found it helpful to split it small as you said, and try to mix some construction debris in with it.

A helpful trick for splitting splits is to get a car tire, lay it on the ground, fill it with splits and split them in the tire. I love this method. I often have to split splits for some reason or another.

Hey Kidd, the construction debris is a good idea, maybe I can lay my hands on some. I tried splitting w/ a bungee so now I have fewer bungees. I've seen the tire trick but have not tried it. You are using this method w/ good results? How did you attach tire to splitting log?

I don't know what you mean by "splitting log." If you mean a stump... some people nail or screw down the tire to the stump. I just work off the ground. Lay the tire on the ground, fill it up with rounds, whether it's one big fat round or smaller ones, Or splits that you want to cut up even more. Just go around whacking them with your axe, manual splitter, Fiskers, Maul... whatever. The tire keeps the wood all together and upright so you're not constantly bending down and standing the wood up again. It also keeps the debris right there in the tire so it's easier to dispose of, or throw in a bin for later burning.

 

[jatoxico]

Jataxico,
If you have to burn the oak I've found it helpful to split it small as you said, and try to mix some construction debris in with it.

A helpful trick for splitting splits is to get a car tire, lay it on the ground, fill it with splits and split them in the tire. I love this method. I often have to split splits for some reason or another.

Hey Kidd, the construction debris is a good idea, maybe I can lay my hands on some. I tried splitting w/ a bungee so now I have fewer bungees. I've seen the tire trick but have not tried it. You are using this method w/ good results? How did you attach tire to splitting log?

I don't know what you mean by "splitting log." If you mean a stump... some people nail or screw down the tire to the stump. I just work off the ground. Lay the tire on the ground, fill it up with rounds, whether it's one big fat round or smaller ones, Or splits that you want to cut up even more. Just go around whacking them with your axe, manual splitter, Fiskers, Maul... whatever. The tire keeps the wood all together and upright so you're not constantly bending down and standing the wood up again. It also keeps the debris right there in the tire so it's easier to dispose of, or throw in a bin for later burning.

Yeah stump or a big round. On ground or on round sounds like either way will work. My ground tends to be a bit muddy so I like to keep things off the ground but I'll give it a try. Thanks

 

[CTYank]

You can seriously dry out splits by stacking them near the stove, butts facing stove.
Side benefit in winter is that the moisture driven out of the splits keeps the house from becoming dessicating.
Stacked a foot away, I've never seen them top 180 deg F. in 2-3 weeks. Drier = better.
Skids and a cheapie circ. saw can help a lot, too. (Having a saber-saw, that's preferable here, with demo blade.)

 

[jatoxico]

You can seriously dry out splits by stacking them near the stove, butts facing stove.
Side benefit in winter is that the moisture driven out of the splits keeps the house from becoming dessicating.
Stacked a foot away, I've never seen them top 180 deg F. in 2-3 weeks. Drier = better.
Skids and a cheapie circ. saw can help a lot, too. (Having a saber-saw, that's preferable here, with demo blade.)

Hmm, being from dead standing they are a dirty mess but maybe I can contain the mess and get some drying action.

 

[firefighterjake]

Pallets are your new best friend if you have to go with the wood this year . . . start gathering 'em.

 

[CTYank]

You can seriously dry out splits by stacking them near the stove, butts facing stove.
Side benefit in winter is that the moisture driven out of the splits keeps the house from becoming dessicating.
Stacked a foot away, I've never seen them top 180 deg F. in 2-3 weeks. Drier = better.
Skids and a cheapie circ. saw can help a lot, too. (Having a saber-saw, that's preferable here, with demo blade.)

Hmm, being from dead standing they are a dirty mess but maybe I can contain the mess and get some drying action.

If your splits have fuzzy outer layer (like sapwood digested by fungi) I'd suggest keeping them a bit further from the stove. That fuzzy stuff can light off pretty quickly. (No, it's not happened to me outside the stove. Yet.) Being extra-careful about that, I'd keep fuzzy faces of splits facing away from the stove, move them farther away, or burn them first.