I've been burning firewood this year, that I css in early 2017. My first season with 3yr seasoned wood. Mix of oak, beech, and black birch. I first learned of the 3yr plan, shortly after joining FHC. ~ Observations ~ It burns really well Beech, after 3 yrs, is heavier than red oak of similar size. I really like how it burns. Bark is shedding in full sheets. When a split is placed on hot coals, it easily catches. Sheets of beech bark, burns like cardboard. Did I mention how well it burns? If you have the storage for 3yrs of wood, then get there. Do it. You won't be sorry.
I'm just really getting going on the 3 year plan myself, but I've always had access to standing dead Ash, Oak, Maple and others so I've never really burnt any green or wet wood. I'm right there with you on how nice it is to toss in a few large splits on some coals and have a roaring fire in a few minutes ready to cut the primary air back. I never even cut kindling anymore. A couple beer cartons get some smaller splits going just fine. (empty cartons of course...) We have a HUGE White Oak tree back in the corner of the woods that died 20 years ago. Whenever a limb falls off of it, I save any straight piece for the sawmill and CSS the rest. A summer in the woodshed and it is awesome heat on a cold night. The sap wood is pretty much gone, but that heart wood is solid as a rock. I'd love to harvest more of that tree, but it is scary big. I've been studying it for a couple years, but I'd rather not be a youtube star when it swats me like a fly... Three year plan... Definitely the way to go!
Big Dead White Oak Thanks for asking for the pix. That was fun going back there on this crisp beautiful sunny day. Tractor and tree about the same distance from the camera in this pic. There's a fallen limb that I had done some cutting on last summer, but never finished up. I got about 6 rounds that I had split last fall and they've been in the mix I've been burning for this cold snap. There's a 12' section of this limb about 16" diameter that I want to get on the sawmill. Not enough hours in the day!!! This crotch is at least 7' across. Over 5' DBH It is on the edge of the valley over looking the Flat Run. This limb sticks out over 60' from the main trunk. A couple of Red Oak logs from a blown down limb. I need to get those up on the sawmill and quartersaw them. These are about as big as we can cut on our mill. There's a few deer back here too.
Nice! I have some big oaks similar to that at my deer camp. Always looking at how I would drop them too.
I agree Mike, I have been burning red oak that was c/s/s In feb/March 2017. I use it in my fireplace and firepit. Believe it or not every now and again I do see a split or two still hiss out a little water.
That one looks like a prime candidate to supply limbs for you, the trunk for the wildlife. I have one just about like it, probably only about 2/3 the diameter. I'm not even considering trying to fell it. Way too dangerous, and the wildlife needs some big snags around, anyway.
I was joking with woodsman the other day we talk about wood like wine. “I cut this red oak back in summer of 2016. It was hot and humid, oak had that warm vomit smell. The burn is nice and hot with a pleasant aroma not like the green wood it was years ago”
I cut a couple large red oak trees at our old house that were standing dead for 4 years. They had been struck by lightning. They were wet and slimey under the bark and smelled like nasty cat pizz. Wife told me no way was that coming into the house to be burned, but once they dried out over the summer in the woodshed, they were fine. Most of the Oak trees I CSS have some sort of nasty odor during processing, but end up with a pleasant odor once well seasoned.
I’ve smelled that for the first time years ago when I joined this place. Not exactly a smell you run into often around here. Mostly Doug Fir, maple and alders generally. So I cut a beam from a dunnage pile apart and smelled that smell of ....,whoo wee...I about dunked it in the waste bin. Not often I run into the smell so much anymore but the oak from out East is hard as it gets. Saved for special nights.
If its safe to remain standing, that is great example of a pasture tree or “wolf tree”, a relic of a time when that piece of land was wide open pasture. Tree is likely at least 250 yrs old and is a magnet for wildlife. Not to mention I think getting firewood from that thing would be a real chore. I’d leave it.
There is something cool about multi hundreds years old huge trees. This one was at an entrance to the Quabbin Reservoir in central MA. It was approx. 8' across at the base. It has since been cut down. Here's another one at a local to me golf course. Also in the 7.5-8' diameter range. Biggest I have on my 21 acre property are in the 48"-54" diam. range. That's also the biggest size range I've personally taken down.
I look at that Oak tree and dream about the massive amount of wood in there, but yeh, I'm not going to mess with it. I'll harvest whatever it graces me with by dropping it to the ground for me, but nature can take it's course with this one. I'll stick to the 3 or 4 year plan because we have tons of good stuff to cull out anyway. I like cutting up Beeches and burning them... Poof, up in flame Beech...
