As BS alluded to in another thread, even stuff that's been down awhile isn't necessarily going to be dry if it's not bucked and split. I dropped a 10 inch oak last year and gave it ALL YEAR to age. Cut to lengths this week and GUESS WHAT? It's practically dripping. Pulled my "special words" out. Guess I am getting a head start on next year, after all.
Oak especially needs to be split & stacked off the ground, with good air circulation & it still takes a couple /three years to burn well. Other woods can get dry enough to burn ok if split & stacked thru one full summer. Standing dead, the top 2/3-rds is your best chance to get dry stuff. & even it will benefit with a full summer of spit & stacked If you have a lot of oak you are planning to use next burn season, good luck oak usually takes 2 to 3 years. Pictures of the wet oak ?
I did the same with a hemlock. We dropped a couple large hemlock this past spring at the g2g and I cut and split them last week. Still literally dripping like you said. And this is in the pine family, supposed to dry fast. Just goes to show that drying doesn't start until it's split.
A valuable lesson learned this week. If you want wood to dry, it needs to be c/s/s in wind and sun. This is especially true with Oak. When it comes to Oak, most here don't allude, we sometimes use all caps to explain how important it is to get it c/s/s 'd ASAP and give it at least a couple years. If you'd like to accelerate the drying process, you can use Uncle Augie 's kiln drying method. So, did you also split the rounds? You'll be in for another big "special words" day in the future if you don't. Nice job getting ahead for next year, but the Oak may not be ready to be a part of that plan. What stove do you have? Maple and Ash might be gooder choices for next year.
Oak is definitely the worst for holding mositure. I had this hickory come down this past week and when I bucked and split it everything was under 18% moisture content. I even had pieces of fresh split that were 16%. It just takes a long long long time for it to dry without being bucked and split.
I put some of it into a stack that's to be wrapped for my own version of UA's solar kiln. Some of it will just have to wait.
Make sure you have slits in the bottom and the stack is wrapped on all sides, the top,and the bottom. Without this you risk failure in your kiln.
