Oak moisture after being down 15 years

[JimBear]

Title says it all, this oak has been down 15 years. I forgot it was there, it got pushed out so a fence could be put in a water gap.
I am still surprised by the moisture content

 

[xman23]

I assume it was off the ground and out of weather. Don'r see and punk. Split it and burn when its ready.

 

[Sawset]

Don't see any punk

Looks like the outer 1-1/2" or so is decayed, plus I see worms and tunnels. Oak can be surprisingly resiliant. I remember as a kid fishing, walking out on an oak that had just fallen into the river. 25 yrs later I walked back in there and it was still there, just as dead, maybe a little less sturdy. Anyway, some of the oak I cut up has been down a long time, 20-25yrs. The stuff is still hard, maybe a little less dense, and can be literally sopping wet. Some of the red oak dries to about the weight of silver maple. The white oak just decays from the outside and sluffs off the softer stuff leaving a very solid interior. Just broke open some locust rounds that had been sitting for 5yrs or so. Water drained from the heartwood in the middle. Not much drying going on when it's not split and exposed to dry air.

 

[georgepds]

If it is underwater it lasts a looooooong time. There are Roman wood docks near the tower of London that have been there for ~1800 years


The trick is to avoid worms. I have a civil engineer friend in New York who makes his living doing underwater inspections of bridges and docks. He tells me , since the Hudson cleaned up, the wood piers are infested with a worm that just ruins them. Before cleanup, it was too filthy to support worms

 

[Simonkenton]

I am surprised there is only one inch of rot on the outside. I would have thought it would be 100 percent rot after so many years.

 

[Sawset]

If it is underwater it lasts a looooooong time. There are Roman wood docks near the tower of London that have been there for ~2000 years

Someone mentioned that the timbers at notre dame went through a 60yr "seasoning" process of - cut, submerge, dry, hew, assemble. Don't think I'll have time to try that.

 

[JimBear]

I am surprised there is only one inch of rot on the outside. I would have thought it would be 100 percent rot after so many years.

The root ball was suspending one end & the other end was being supported by a 6” limb, it only had about 2” of good heartwood left. There is another one there also I will try to get a pic of them later today. They were covered in multi flora rose bushes, raspberries & other various shrubs & vines.

 

[Woody Stover]

I am surprised there is only one inch of rot on the outside. I would have thought it would be 100 percent rot after so many years.

Only the sapwood rots quickly. There are tops in our woods that have been there almost 30 years. They don't look like they would be very good as firewood any more, though. I should cut into one and look.

some of the oak I cut up has been down a long time, 20-25yrs...Some of the red oak dries to about the weight of silver maple. The white oak just decays from the outside and sluffs off the softer stuff leaving a very solid interior.

The Red Oak is probably not as durable as the White..fungus or whatever may work its way in more quickly on the Red. You don't have to leave it out there that long, though. After five years or so, the rotted sapwood is pretty easy to skim off with a hatchet. I've got ten or fifteen Reds out there that have been down that long..might be time to check them out when I get my in-laws ahead a couple years using White Ash.

 

[xman23]

I got oak rounds that had been on the ground for 2 years. The sap wood was a bit soft but the rest was fine. I top cover so even punk wood stays dry

 

[JimBear]

I assume it was off the ground and out of weather. Don'r see and punk. Split it and burn when its ready.

Pic #1 is of the rootball still a couple chunks to cut off there.

Pic #2 is what/where it was laying

Pic #3 is where another is laying under the multi flora roses. I trimmed some branches earlier in the year. You can see part of it on top of the rootball in pic #1

 

[KJamesJR]

Looks like the outer 1-1/2" or so is decayed, plus I see worms and tunnels. Oak can be surprisingly resiliant. I remember as a kid fishing, walking out on an oak that had just fallen into the river. 25 yrs later I walked back in there and it was still there, just as dead, maybe a little less sturdy. Anyway, some of the oak I cut up has been down a long time, 20-25yrs. The stuff is still hard, maybe a little less dense, and can be literally sopping wet. Some of the red oak dries to about the weight of silver maple. The white oak just decays from the outside and sluffs off the softer stuff leaving a very solid interior. Just broke open some locust rounds that had been sitting for 5yrs or so. Water drained from the heartwood in the middle. Not much drying going on when it's not split and exposed to dry air.

I still have 8”x8” oak sills under my 250 year old timber framed house. Most of them are still in great shape. The beams inside are practically petrified. Like stone.

 

[Woody Stover]

The white oak just decays from the outside and sluffs off the softer stuff leaving a very solid interior.

Yep, White Oak heartwood is pretty much waterproof. What JimBear has appears to be maybe Black Oak, a type of Red.

 

[neverbilly]

I'm shocked it's still any good. I don't think there is any way would one last that long where I am (ark-la-tex). Heat and humidity are killer here.

 

[Bushels20]

Perfect example of why downed/dead trees still need to be c/s/s’d for proper seasoning.

 

[Ashful]

I'm shocked it's still any good. I don't think there is any way would one last that long where I am (ark-la-tex). Heat and humidity are killer here.

Oak heartwood lasts a long time. I’ve brought home oaks, both red and white, that have been down more than ten years. Once you get thru the sapwood, they’re usually as solid as the day they last stood. There’s a reason shipbuilders coveted white oak.

It’s not all free lunch, tho. Removing a 2” rind of punky sapwood is some work.

 

[Sppako3]

Perfect example of why downed/dead trees still need to be c/s/s’d for proper seasoning.

It is. Always amazes me how long it can take for something to never really dry out.