Shagbark hickory

[Indianawood]

I cut this today. Split and stacked single row. Will get prevailing wind but no sun. Ready for next January?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

is it green

 

[mcdougy]

Was there sparks when cutting it? Its pretty hard stuff.

 

[Indianawood]

is it green

Yes. Live tree cut today

 

[JohnDolz]

I cut this today. Split and stacked single row. Will get prevailing wind but no sun. Ready for next January?

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Everyone has different opinions, I have never had an issue with something that has been CSS for a year. Including Shagbark Hickory.

 

[Indianawood]

Was there sparks when cutting it? Its pretty hard stuff.

I have an echo 670 with a muffler mod and a Archer full chisel chain. The saw is a beast. Cut like butter. Splitting is a pain. I just keep a little axe close by to cut the strings apart.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

your asking alot for hickory to be dry in 12 months.. I truly doubt it will be 20%MC You may be able to get it close splitting small. if you split large probably not..
the only way to really get it down is with a solar kiln of

 

[mcdougy]

I have an echo 670 with a muffler mod and a Archer full chisel chain. The saw is a beast. Cut like butter. Splitting is a pain. I just keep a little axe close by to cut the strings apart.

I have only currently one shagbark up and it was a fenceline tree. So much dirt and whatnot caught up in the shag, that honestly there was sparks flying....I think that bark makes this a common scenario with chains.

 

[Indianawood]

I have only currently one shagbark up and it was a fenceline tree. So much dirt and whatnot caught up in the shag, that honestly there was sparks flying....I think that bark makes this a common scenario with chains.

Yep. I used to drag them with my tractor to my cutting/splitting area. Got tired of sharpening chains. Now I cut and trailer to my splitter /stacking area

 

[Indianawood]

your asking alot for hickory to be dry in 12 months.. I truly doubt it will be 20%MC You may be able to get it close splitting small. if you split large probably not..
the only way to really get it down is with a solar kiln of

Low 20s is probably acceptable, not ideal but acceptable. I'll only be burning on hotter burns when it's really cold out.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

2 years would be a better guess. 18 months maybe. 12 months is better than 2 months, but.....

I burn a fair amount of hickory, though more pignut than shagbark. Despite its weight it does season faster than oak, but we're talking 2 years versus 3.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Low 20s is probably acceptable, not ideal but acceptable. I'll only be burning on hotter burns when it's really cold out.

why not just stack it on a rack out in the sun and wrap it in July and have premium wood to burn.. your going to stack it anyway.. takes 2 hours if that to build the kiln.. then your in untra premium wood land....

 

[Indianawood]

why not just stack it on a rack out in the sun and wrap it in July and have premium wood to burn.. your going to stack it anyway.. takes 2 hours if that to build the kiln.. then your in untra premium wood land....

I'll have to look into that. My first try at that last summer didn't go well. I'll have to revisit that thread

 

[Stinkpickle]

2 years would be a better guess. 18 months maybe. 12 months is better than 2 months, but.....

I burn a fair amount of hickory, though more pignut than shagbark. Despite its weight it does season faster than oak, but we're talking 2 years versus 3.

Same here, and about all I end up with is shagbark.

 

[Woody5506]

you can burn it after 12 months but you won't like it very much.

I'm done trying to see how things burn unless they've been split/stacked 3 summers. Whether that works out to be 3 years or not, I do not care, just 3 summers at least.

 

[Dieselhead]

I just bucked up a SB hickory I lost in a storm in the late summer. About 36” at the base and 70’ tall. Anything smaller that 8” got chipped but I got a ton of wood to process out of what was left. Man do you want to talk about heavy wood to move around. A bit of work to cut it as well. 2 year minimum has been my past experience for dry enough to be happy burning. I think it explodes when you stir up its coals in the firebox.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I just bucked up a SB hickory I lost in a storm in the late summer. About 36” at the base and 70’ tall. Anything smaller that 8” got chipped but I got a ton of wood to process out of what was left. Man do you want to talk about heavy wood to move around. A bit of work to cut it as well. 2 year minimum has been my past experience for dry enough to be happy burning. I think it explodes when you stir up its coals in the firebox.

I would have kept everything larger than 3.inches.. Those branches that size are a pretty premium piece of wood. Lots of guys like the tops, including myself. nice long burns. I keep the stuff whole from 3 to 6inches put it in the shed and and let it dry.. no splitting required.. wack it and stack it.. some of the easiest wood to work with...
Good score.. but next time you may want to keep a little more and try it in that form..

 

[Dieselhead]

I had a neighbor with a tree co take care of the tree for me. It was right on the property line but landed on my side so he just charged me for his guys time. There is still plenty trust me. I started on processing today amid it beat my ass lol! Super heavy stuff, very twisty and stringy. I got all the largest diameters out of the way, I should be on easy street for the rest of the project compared to today. I have no idea how anyone splits this stuff without hydraulics.

 

[NickW]

Wow! That is a big hickory!

 

[wishlist]

Although I really like burning shagbark , it’s certainly isn’t the most “ user friendly “ wood to process . That dirt in the bark dulls the chains also as mentioned earlier sometimes stringy . And yes , heavy as heck green ! With all that said , I don’t pass it up .

 

[Dieselhead]

Messy as well. All the stringy pieces that break off also the hundreds of pieces of bark shag that it leaves behind.

 

[Woody5506]

I had a neighbor with a tree co take care of the tree for me. It was right on the property line but landed on my side so he just charged me for his guys time. There is still plenty trust me. I started on processing today amid it beat my ass lol! Super heavy stuff, very twisty and stringy. I got all the largest diameters out of the way, I should be on easy street for the rest of the project compared to today. I have no idea how anyone splits this stuff without hydraulics.

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Nice splitter, is that the 27 ton? I have one too but yours looks a little newer...and cleaner. I wasn't sure about mine with the Subaru engine at first, it seemed kinda finicky but now I've got it dialed in and it's pretty dang reliable even in cold temps it now starts pretty easily.

 

[Simonkenton]

I use a maul and I gave up on hickory long ago.
Can't split it.

 

[Medic21]

I burn a lot of hickory. The best time to process it is middle of summer for the next year. It will burn at 1 year fine but better at 1.5 summers. At 2 summers it seems to be really bug infested.

 

[Dieselhead]

Nice splitter, is that the 27 ton? I have one too but yours looks a little newer...and cleaner. I wasn't sure about mine with the Subaru engine at first, it seemed kinda finicky but now I've got it dialed in and it's pretty dang reliable even in cold temps it now starts pretty easily.

It is the 27 ton. I’ve had it since around 2012 and have probably 100 cord through it. Motors been problem free I keep the oil nice and fresh. I am running it partial choke or it will lope. I need to drop the carb and blow out the jets one of these days..