How big of a round will season in the 2year window? I like having large rounds for overnight burns, but I don't want to have a wet one either. 8" too big unsplt??
Oak rounds
- Thread starter mcdougy
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
walhondingnashua
Minister of Fire
Most of it has bark on it....they are red oak tops. The trees were cut green last winter by a logger
IMO it needs split down to forearm size. Red oak takes for ever to seasons in round if ever.
I find that the bark on red oak rounds leads to rot underneath, gets punky steadily towards the center the longer it is unsplit. Got to get that wood exposed to the air, then the bark falls off as it dries.
You are looking at 3 years minimum for a 8 inch split...I burn a lot of oak and like my splits on the large size as well...6-8 inch range ...mostly 6 in...and it takes 3 years for the 6 in...there is no short cut unless you decide to build a kiln....I just stay ahead..
walhondingnashua
Minister of Fire
I'm hoping it's nice stuff.....I will put the axe to anything over 4"
Found the wet ro dry weights interesting....pretty good little chart ingeneral
hickoryhoarder
Minister of Fire
I've never kept oak rounds bigger than 4" diameter. Big splits take about 3 years to season. And the 4" rounds seem ready in that time too.
walhondingnashua
Minister of Fire
I have a buddy with acres of osage and i still haven't an effort to get any. I know how good it is but have been leery of splitting it. The new splitter changes that.
According to that list I linked, osage splits easy.?? It says locust is difficult and even refers as red oak as medium to split, which im finding the red oak fairly easy, much like ash.
Here in Northern Indiana we don't have Osage.
Lots of ash oak hickory ironwood cherry
Ash rounds work fantastic, I leave many rounds in the 6"-8" form for longer burns (overnight or all day)....your entire list of hardwoods looks great to me. I dont have much experience with them besides the ash and a few trees that have come down or in cherry case blown over. I've been burning basically straight ash thus far, this my first time cutting something else (red oak in this case) The EAB has run its course around here and most of the ash is getting to a punky/unsafe status for felling.
Osage isn't plentiful around here either 
looks like its about as good as it gets.....low water, easy splitting, and 165% of the heat compared to green ash......fires twice as hot almost sounds like a slight learning curve as well...less wood in the stove at times must be the solution?
looks like its about as good as it gets.....low water, easy splitting, and 165% of the heat compared to green ash......fires twice as hot almost sounds like a slight learning curve as well...less wood in the stove at times must be the solution?I'd love to try some Osage. I have a bk so set thermostat and forget about it. It looks like shagbark hickory is the closest ill get. I've got some split but its only about 8months so mc is still to high. I do mix a split in here and there but I won't get the full experience until next yearOsage isn't plentiful around here either
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
I've been using 3,650lbs for dried red oak (compared to 3,528 listed at the link you provided). Seemed to have been pretty accurate the times I checked it against volume in the past. I'm in the process of checking it again, and so far it appears that weight may be slightly too heavy (~4% or so). Although it's been a small sample size so far (~0.65 cord by volume), with a lot of smaller pieces. We'll see how it goes moving forward once I get a larger sample size.
hickoryhoarder
Minister of Fire
I don't burn overnight, because I'm a city dweller, and we limit stove use to twice a week. We'll have a fire from 6 pm to 9 pm, and that'll heat the house 'til about 7 a.m. But the fire is down to small coals by 10 or 10:30, probably out around 11:30.
I use a lot of maple branches -- one or two inch diameter, red maple. And tulip too, similar size. That's what falls in our yard or the neighbors. Bigger rounds, I use whatever people around here don't want -- ash, pin oak, hickory, maple, sweet gum...
If you ever get some Osage there is no reason to fear it in a BK...I run a Princess and stuff it full and run it like anything else...the difference is that the osage will burn far longer and put out solid btus well past other species of wood..it is a beautiful thing in a BK!
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
My father told me that my uncle once loaded down his stove...I believe it was a ashley...with hedge years ago. He said the stove was over fired and glowing and it got so hot in the house that his wife's candles were melting lol. Now uncle Dave is crazy as a pet coon and he probably wasn't worried a bit but I just cringe when I think about it. He walked off with the air full bore which is why it happened but I always think of him when I put hedge in the stove lol.
DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
I remembered this thread tonight when I loaded the stove with one piece of unsplit live oak (it's similar in density to hedge) in the center. I live in south central Texas, so summer is something like its own kiln here, and so we are able to dry oak rounds even in just one year. (I recognize that this is not the norm and am not disputing the advice you were given by those who live in more similar climates to yours). Having moved from a cooler, more humid, climate, we were rather shocked by how quickly our wood seasons, and we're glad, too, because larger splits and rounds give great burns, and some of the live oak we can't manage to split. None of it is huge, but it's often very twisty.
![[Hearth.com] Oak rounds](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/271/271602-67294a2f2d5f9fbeabc19e2641b4b91e.jpg?hash=Wsz_cBySD6 "[Hearth.com] Oak rounds")
The oak is in the center. It was probably about six inches in diameter. We couldn't test the moisture, of course, but it lit right up even on low coals in a cool stove and was producing secondaries even before I closed the primary air. There are two big cedar splits on the side and a couple of small cedar branches on the low spots in the top. It's supposed to go below freezing tonight (that's a cold night here), and I'm looking forward to having the main area of the house still warm in the morning because of this load.
The oak is in the center. It was probably about six inches in diameter. We couldn't test the moisture, of course, but it lit right up even on low coals in a cool stove and was producing secondaries even before I closed the primary air. There are two big cedar splits on the side and a couple of small cedar branches on the low spots in the top. It's supposed to go below freezing tonight (that's a cold night here), and I'm looking forward to having the main area of the house still warm in the morning because of this load.
aansorge
Minister of Fire
I went swimming in a the comal river in Texas a week ago. Burning wood in South central Texas, ha!
