Those who have stored big oak rounds, how long have you gone until you split them and what was the condition? I have been splitting large red oak, willow oak, water oak, white oak rounds. The trees were felled 12-15 months ago and the logs have been on the ground for 12-15 months. The bark is falling off of most but the wood is fine. It did cure a little, as they are lighter in weight from freshly felled/bucked rounds. The sap wood is only very slightly starting to go punky but hardly noticeable. I wonder if the rounds are stored on pallets for one more year (about two years total), the sap wood would be soft and rotten? Just curious, what do you think?
That is interesting that you know willow oak and have experience with it. Do you have water oak there? That is a super common tree here. They grow really big. They are dying around my town, being 80 to 120 years old by my estimation. Drought and and also an extreme cold spell and a few super hot spells have taken their toll but it also might just be age, when they get over 80+, they succumb to various factors or diseases. Plus, blowdowns due to wind. My understanding is that a willow oak and water oak are both in the red oak family. I find that neither of them split as pretty as a good red oak but I do find some nice wood in them in the butt logs, just not quite as 'perfect' as a good red oak. Willow oaks grow really big, too. When I was a kid (and it's still that way among the general population who have not learned better), we called willow oak "pin oak." We thought it was because they have long, narrow leaves like a pin. Wrong. Willow oak! To my knowledge, we do not have pin oak here.
Some water oak, but not as common as Willow oak. Water Oak and Willow oak wood are similar, so it probably decays similarly.
I've stored red oak in rounds for over a year when I first started burning. It was up off the ground on pallets. I really didn't see any degradation that I remember.
Second this notion. We had a bunch of trees, (mostly red, some white oak, hickory and maple) cleared out for our barn probably 3-4 years ago now. I got them bucked to rounds and stacked up on pallets, covered with metal roofing the whole time. I finally got a hydraulic splitter recently and got around to splitting them last weekend. most are very dry but solid. Bark falls right off a lot of it which is awesome but the splits could probably be burned this year if I needed them. just keep them dry and off the ground
If you put them on pallets off the ground and cover it should greatly extend their usable life. Quarter/sixth them up for ease of handling, I personally dont like wood with loose bark and dirt under it. Its extra handling, but if you cant split them right away its work a shot. I do that at my storage with wood i wont split right away. Either pallets or sleepers (2x4' 4x4's, limb wood) etc
Just noting as a possibility... I often think that rounds and split firewood do not last as long around here as they do in less humid parts of the country. It also might have to do with long periods of winter rains that we can have here... like two weeks straight and it rains a little or a lot just about every day. Somewhat like a monsoon season. Always in the winter and it can go into spring. Over the past decade, we have had several years with super wet springs, raining really often through May and even June. In the winter during those wet periods, if it's not raining, it'll be close to 100% humidity.
We've cut up white oak that had been sitting around for over 10 years and heart wood still solid and looked fresh cut. Sap wood and bark long gone. This was stuff just laying out in a field on the ground.
I been cutting up and splitting huge red oak rounds cut 4 years ago in my buddies yard…the outer layer is punky not too bad tho…im happy with it tho because it already feels dried out after being split for only a couple months ! Saving me 2 years of waiting
Like several have said, depends on how you treat them. Under a good cover like a barn or shed they'll be good for a long time, especially if you also get them off the ground a bit. I have had some wood that was well under a shed almost dry rot, but that was not the case with most wood... thinking it may have not been totally prime to begin with.
I’m processing about 20 cords of oak logs that’s been laying on the ground since 2018. No miracles here. It’s in a rotting state. The heartwood seems ok on most but I know from experience it has lost some of its integrity. It will burn faster than oak that was split and dried ina more timely manner. It’ll be fine for me. Selling,,,,that’s another matter. Lower cost maybe? I just can’t see throwing away 20 cords of wood so I’ll keep processing. edit: these were dead trees when I got them. Fresh cut live trees May give better results. The logs have bark in the pile. By the time I get them out, bucked up the bark is long gone. Rot and dirt underneath. Even finding some nice size night crawlers under the bark. That’s a first for me in oak
jo191145 , that is the best way to stack wood I have ever seen! Efficient, simple, ear crib style. Just wonderful, thanks for the pictures and ideas!
Better pic of the crib. Started with a large supply of six foot pallets but the supply dried up. Found the long horizontal and likening them better. Either method works. Yeah I got tired of stacking and stacking makes little sense with a conveyor. Piles on the ground is not a long term storage solution either.
I don't want to derail this thread. If you don't mind, I am going to copy and paste the two provided photos and create a thread titled, "jo191145 wood crib". I have questions. Edited to add: The new thread is posted and is titled, "jo191145 wood crib".
