Shagbark and red oak leaving me unimpressed

[Sledhead00]

So this past weekend I loaded up my wood box for the week with a pretty healthy dose of my shagbark and red oak. This would be/is the first big run for this stash. I was pretty excited as I've never had great quantities of either in the past.
Well while I'm not horribly disappointed I'm far from thrilled with the performance so far. I loaded up the osburn last night and had it cruising by about 815, I woke up around 230 and came out to see what was left and for the second night in a row i had limited coals left in the back and a awful lot of ash and the box was 200-230, and house temp was down to 64, from 69 at 900 with a 675box temp. Over night temp was 19.
I've had far better results from a box full of ash or locust.
Now to be fair this wood was cut/split nov/dec '15.EDIT: Correction it was C/S/S Nov/Dec'14. Stacked in the sun and in the prevailing wind but still i am pushing it a bit and I have gotten a little sizzle from a few pieces at the first few minutes tops.I've had no trouble getting a fire going with it however. (I brought a couple pieces inside last night,so I can split and check moisture in a bit)
The other thing is that I'd call most of the splits medium sized at best so I'm jamming more in leading to more surface area to burn quicker?
I guess I was expecting coal overload and to hold a good box temp longer as I previously said like locust or ash has given me.
What am I missing? I've got a lot (4-5 face cords)of pignut hickory slated to start on for late next winter and now I'm a bit unsure. Those splits are about twice the size to.

 

[TedyOH]

I use the exact same blue bin.
Give that wood another full summer, 2 would be better for a total of 3. My 2 summer seasoned red oak coals very well.....had a box full of coals this morning, 7 hours after loading. Hickory leaves a lot of ash unfortunately.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

Give that wood another full summer

Had a company drop off wood first year. Mostly ash, which was burnable, but not great. Separated the little bit of red oak out for the next year which would have given it over year and a half cut and split. Still sizzled, so I kept if for the next........Huge difference and worth the wait. I bet the cellular moisture content is still on the high side and causing most of the problem.

ickory leaves a lot of ash unfortunately

Wasn't aware of that. As much as walnut? Or worse? never burned that much but just got a big load of shagbark. Was more to get, but rethinking.

 

[TedyOH]

Wasn't aware of that. As much as walnut? Or worse?

Not sure - I never burned walnut, no trees around me......but in comparison to ash and maple, I would say hickory leaves 2 to 3 times as much ash, I think it's worth it though as I have dual use for hickory, the insert and I have a Lang BBQ pit

 

[SeanBB]

I had a lot of red oak that I cut, split and stacked in March 2012. In the winter of 2013/2014 I tried burning it and it was ok but not as good as I expected. I moved it into one of my outbuildings that is well ventilated and tried burning it again last winter and it was much better. I still have some left and this winter I have been mixing it with other wood and it is excellent. So that particular wood needed almost 5 years to be at its best. It came from the trunk of a huge tree, six foot DBH.
I have some other red oak that was CSS April 2015 and some of the smaller splits are dry and burn well already. I guess it's different from tree to tree.

 

[Longstreet]

Wasn't aware of that. As much as walnut? Or worse? never burned that much but just got a big load of shagbark. Was more to get, but rethinking.

Hickory and walnut are very closely related from a botanical view. Both in the same family - juglandaceae. They share many similar traits, including fireplace manners I'm sure.

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

Hickory and walnut are very closely related from a botanical view. Both in the same family - juglandaceae. They share many similar traits, including fireplace manners I'm sure.

That's true. Prob going to hold off on getting the rest then. Ashes for me is a big pain in the arse. Love the Englander, but the ash tray design looks like an afterthought at best.

 

[blades]

Oak- 3 years before ya burn it in my neck of the woods same for most of the other types in that density class, Of course White oak takes even longer as it hates to give up its internal moisture.

 

[Sledhead00]

Thanks for the responses. Like I said, its burning well and I'm getting good heat I just thought it(hickory in particular) had better coaling properties and would heat off longer...
I was unaware that hickory was a heavy ash producer. It's a great heat producer so at least its got that, ill just have to learn to deal with the extra ash. I just split and measured moisture in both the splits in the pics with two different meters. The hickory was 18% & 22% the oak was 20% and 24%. The low reading meter was one I got from Osburn when i bought the insert and the higher readings came from this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008V6I840/?tag=hearthamazon-20
So certainly could stand to loose a few more points. I've got about 3more face cord of Ash and 1 of way old locust I can pull from that is ready now.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Of course White oak takes even longer as it hates to give up its internal moisture.

really?? I find red oak to be worse than white in terms of giving up moisture.

 

[TheAardvark]

Its just not dry enough. Dont have experience with hickory, but red oak is quite excellent when dried below 20%

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

really?? I find red oak to be worse than white in terms of giving up moisture.

Beat me to it. I'd much rather take white over red. White seems to be a year faster in drying and burns hotter. I have some bur oak I'm mixing in now and it's only been css two years and its in the mid teens. I did split small though, which helped.

 

[splions]

Red oak needs two years of drying to burn nice...it's still too wet.

 

[Stinkpickle]

really?? I find red oak to be worse than white in terms of giving up moisture.

It was listed as the reason they use white oak for whiskey barrels and not red.

 

[Stinkpickle]

I don't even try oak until it's been split and stacked for 3 years anymore.

 

[ValleyCottageSplitter]

I got a small load of shagbark hickory from my friend this winter. He was nice enough to give me some of their well seasoned stuff. It's barely registering on my Dr. Meter after sitting inside for a week. It burns super hot in my heatilator fireplace. Our room was getting to upper 70's. It also left tons of coals after just throwing in three logs. It filled up the grate quickly and was hard to throw much more in there.
In my short experience it seemed to match expectations from the btu charts.


Is it possible it is a little punky? From the pic it looks like there is a little bit of growth on the side.

 

[Marshy]

When you tested the moisture did you freshly split a piece and test on the new split surface?

 

[weatherguy]

Locust is better than both oaks so if your used to that I can see some of your disappointment, another good year in the sun and wind will give better results.

 

[woodsHAM]

I'm lost as to how his wood is not seasoned enough..hear often on here if wood isn't seasoned perfectly it will coal up. Sounds like coals are the mission he is shooting for but ending up with a good but not overnight burn down to ash ? I myself love hickory mainly shagbark around my area and put it right there with locust for cold nights.

 

[Stinkpickle]

I'm lost as to how his wood is not seasoned enough..hear often on here if wood isn't seasoned perfectly it will coal up. Sounds like coals are the mission he is shooting for but ending up with a good but not overnight burn down to ash ? I myself love hickory mainly shagbark around my area and put it right there with locust for cold nights.

It's probably a combination of...
"Now to be fair this wood was cut/split nov/dec '15"
... and...
"oak"

 

[Bmore]

Hello,
I burn mostly red oak. Unfortunately it is not great to burn until it has been cut, split, stacked, covered for 3 seasons. I have burned it at one season (fair results) two seasons (good heat but need too much air so shorter burns) 3 years burns hot and long!! This is my first season with 3 year oak. It's very good, but hope it's even better next year. Good luck!

 

[Sledhead00]

I got a small load of shagbark hickory from my friend this winter. He was nice enough to give me some of their well seasoned stuff. It's barely registering on my Dr. Meter after sitting inside for a week. It burns super hot in my heatilator fireplace. Our room was getting to upper 70's. It also left tons of coals after just throwing in three logs. It filled up the grate quickly and was hard to throw much more in there.
In my short experience it seemed to match expectations from the btu charts.


Is it possible it is a little punky? From the pic it looks like there is a little bit of growth on the side.

No its not punky. That's just some fine sawdust piled up from some bugs that bored into some of the pieces. It got wet and froze in place.

When you tested the moisture did you freshly split a piece and test on the new split surface?

Yep, brought both pieces in the house and warmed them for about 18hrs, split, then tested them.

I'm lost as to how his wood is not seasoned enough..hear often on here if wood isn't seasoned perfectly it will coal up. Sounds like coals are the mission he is shooting for but ending up with a good but not overnight burn down to ash ? I myself love hickory mainly shagbark around my area and put it right there with locust for cold nights.

Haha, that's what I thought to. I've read so many comments on wetter than ideal wood and coaling and then I get this... LOL

It's probably a combination of...
"Now to be fair this wood was cut/split nov/dec '15"
... and...
"oak"

I've got to go back and amend my original post. I apparently can't tell time or read a calendar. It was actually CSS in Nov/Dec '14. Still short on 3yrs but better..

 

[Sledhead00]

Locust is better than both oaks so if your used to that I can see some of your disappointment, another good year in the sun and wind will give better results.

Haha, it does pump out some great heat and give a nice secondary show! Plus it's about 4yrs old and man lights with ease!! I've got a little more than a Facecord left of it and I really dont want to waste it this yr if i can help it. Id like to keep it for next yrs coldest of cold days/nights

Hello,
I burn mostly red oak. Unfortunately it is not great to burn until it has been cut, split, stacked, covered for 3 seasons. I have burned it at one season (fair results) two seasons (good heat but need too much air so shorter burns) 3 years burns hot and long!! This is my first season with 3 year oak. It's very good, but hope it's even better next year. Good luck!

Yea, your yr 2 sounds about right. Typically I can close the stove down in the 400-425range, with this stuff I find I need to wait to 500-525 range or else it snuffs out.

 

[woodsHAM]

I think people get carried away with moisture meters and "3 year " plans. I guess myself and everyone else i know that burns have been doing it wrong for many years ! Everything i burn is seasoned a year and burns just fine in my stove ! Yes their are occasionally pieces that i can tell by feel that are still too wet so i leave them in the pile for later use but i refuse to stick every piece of wood i burn to check its moisture just seems silly to me. But i guess to each their own.

 

[TradEddie]

Oak takes at least three summers to reach ideal dryness for burning in a modern stove. Hickory seems similar but I've found that even when completely seasoned, the secondary ignition temperature of hickory seems higher that other woods I've burned. Seasoned hickory burns great at mid temperatures, but when aiming for a slow burn, it still smokes too much.

WoodsHAM, your experience is probably accurate if you've got a non-EPA stove, but even so, if you think one year seasoned oak burns well enough, you should leave a few splits for two more years and see what a difference it makes. Even in a non-EPA stove, dry wood burns longer hotter and clearer. It's not that you've been doing it "wrong", but there is a better way. I was a convert to well-seasoned wood, even before i had an EPA stove.

TE