I don’t often get them green because I can only cut them dead standing or dead and down. This one was actually three as gambel oak usually grows in clumps (stands or groves) and had been blown over and was now considered dead and down. I take any oak any way I can get it. And yes, I’d say that is about average. The forest service rules for cutting dead standing gambel oak (the only oak that grows here) is nothing bigger than 10” diameter measured at 4 1/2 feet from the ground. Any dead and down has no restrictions.
Look at those huge radial cracks in those rounds... How long in your hot/dry climate before you'll be able to burn it?
After I get it split I will put a moisture meter to it. I will probably be able to burn it this winter. I’ll post what the moisture level is when I get to that. The dead standing around here goes sometimes for a few years before anyone notices it. Bark is falling off this stuff. So its already been drying for some time as it stands there waiting for me.
Todays forest scrounge was a trifecta! Gambel oak is hiding under the folded up bed cover but its there, aspen and Douglas Fir!
I live around lots of forest service forests and they let you cut firewood with a permit. Its real cheap-$5 per cord. There are certain rules you have to follow so that pink tag is this years color. It changes every year and you have to punch out the hole that coresponds to day, day of week, month, time of day (am/pm) etc. Then you have to afix it to your load before leaving the forest. Its kind of like a deer or elk tag but I hunt firewood in this case. If a forest service employee happens by they can tell by the color of the tag if you paid or are using unused tags from last year with out even stopping you. If you aren’t even displaying a tag you might possibly get stopped and they ask to see your permit. If they see your tag they don’t even bother.
