The results of a three year wood seasoning experiment

[Badfish740]

Ok, well it was unintentional, but still. After Hurricane Irene blew through I had the good fortune to run across a couple truckloads of white oak. A huge one came down in front of my job so I loaded up day by day after it had been cut up:

I never even got any of the trunk-just the top-and that was two sagging longbed loads in an F350! Anyway-I had so much wood at the time I never got around to splitting it, just stacked up the rounds under cover on some pallets. I started running low at the end of last year and decided that I'd better get working on the Irene wood. I split about 1/2 a cord with my Fiskars on some of the pleasant July days we had this past summer. So basically this wood sat for nearly three years in the round (covered-which I think is important), and was cracked open four months ago. Not much of the bark had fallen off and the wood had not really rotted at all. The ends were heavily checked though. I knew I was taking a gamble with it, but I've got seasoned wood coming so I figured if this stuff was still soaked through I'd just toss aside until next year.

Lo and behold, however, I burned the first loads this week and it lights easily, no visible or audible hissing or spitting, and its throwing a ton of heat! Now, before anyone goes and gets any ideas, I'm just putting it out there that this worked for me. I don't have a moisture meter, so I can't check the moisture content, but obviously its burning like good dry wood. Just food for thought...

 

[billz]

thanks for writing that up. good to know.

 

[muncybob]

Interesting because I just burned a load of 1 year split red oak and got all kinds of condensation

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

i'd be curious what it actually measured on a moisture meter

 

[homebrewz]

Last March I helped some friends cut and split a cord of white oak from a dead tree which had broken in half and fallen over. I imagine the tree had sat for at least a year or two before we cut and processed it. They burned some splits recently, and it's burning fine with no hissing or excess moisture. It's burning better than the "seasoned" wood they just bought and had delivered. I told them to save the oak until the coldest months, if possible.

IIRC, I remember reading something about differences in seasoning times between white and red oak.

 

[Badfish740]

Interesting because I just burned a load of 1 year split red oak and got all kinds of condensation

IIRC, I remember reading something about differences in seasoning times between white and red oak.

Now that you mention it, from reading a few books on boatbuilding by John Gardner (former curator of small craft at Mystic Seaport and god of small boat building), I know that white oak is prized for boat building while red oak is considered worthless because of it's tendency to rot. Maybe red oak is more apt to retain moisture than white oak?

 

[STIHLY DAN]

I have 4 yr css red oak that lights easier and faster than 2X4's.

 

[Longstreet]

At first I thought that oak had fallen into a pond. Then I realized it was just a flooded street.

Great story OP, glad to hear you are having some luck.

 

[Badfish740]

At first I thought that oak had fallen into a pond. Then I realized it was just a flooded street.

LOL...it was a hell of a scene. We had an unprecedented amount of rain with Irene which I guess just softened the ground to the point that the root system just had nothing to hang onto any longer. When it fell it took down four or five telephone poles with it!

 

[njmeder]

Strange, I myself am burning oak from Irene which was c/s/s a week after the storm and find that the red oak dried and burns much better than the white did. Stacked at same time and in same pile. Can't look past the fact it was free and from next door so no complaints, just observations!

 

[Woody Stover]

IIRC, I remember reading something about differences in seasoning times between white and red oak.

Sounds familiar. I haven't tested the White Oak I was hoping to use this winter but it's been stacked for 3 summers....some medium-large splits in there however....