this has been split and stacked since late March. Drying rather nicely I think Its in a spot where the wind blows through it and the sun is on it 3/4 's or more of the day
I only hope thats true for you. But we know what folks say how oak acts. Your splits being small will help but the weathering is anyone's guess. Im sure few others chime in soon
You will be wise to not put yourself in a position that you have to burn that wood in less than two years. If you do, you will burn it regardless of whether it is ready or not. If you are able to get some dead standing or dead and down wood in the stacks, at least you will have something to burn should you hit the oak with the moisture meter and realize too late that it is not ready.
It all depends, but If your implying that it will be ready for this next burn season? I'd highly doubt it. Next fall, could be a good possibility. Yes it drying, from the outside to the inside. So you've still got to get that inside juice out too and that's what takes time...
Ooooh, Pandora's Box being opened here. Split open a couple of those and hit 'em with a MM......then get back with us. Checking on the ends doesn't mean much this soon with Oak. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky, and you found the only Oak that dries in 6 months. If you did, I'm moving there.
Those are beautiful pics, but I don't touch oak that hasn't been split for anytime less than 3 years now. Too much sizzle here, your conditions may be better so just check.
If it's getting a lot of sun I'd shrink wrap it for 2 months in the summer. I would almost guarantee that it will be ready for the 2018 season if you do.
I'm sitting on about 8 cord of standing dead for this year. ( I'll have 10 come season ) I'm not burning that until 2019/2020. Was just amazed how fast it looked like it was dryin
Key words in bold. Moisture meter or wet/dry mass comparison will reveal the truth. Glad you are well prepared for the upcoming winter.
Again, I think you'd be surprised and maybe less pleased if you split it and took a reading. I could be wrong.........that happened once about 1973, I think it was.
This is why I took the white birch in the Spring start. I was able to get it split and stacked within a month and will likely be ready by next years fall. After two summers , should do great. But I have about a cord of oak. Not to the extreme here but smaller bits. I figure get something to fill the in-between years before its ready. By then i'll have found the sweet spots of burning, what works best, then I can tune my oak a little bit. Yeah too small of splits may hinder a burn time, but rarely do temps drop past 20 F for long anyways. Its all relative....
I'm still working on some Oak I got back in the beginning of 2015 (I think). Some had a bit of sizzle this winter ( Some was dead standing, and dead/down), but should be great by this coming winter. I decided to start getting Ash, Maple, and Beech, as I've been told it dries much quicker than Oak. Only burned a little of the Ash last winter.
Don't let all the cracks fool you. Yes, it is a sign the wood is drying but it dries quite fast right at the end. Not so fast in the center and the larger the split, the longer it takes. If it dries within 2 years, that is fantastic for oak.
Something one always has to remember too is that, yes, it can and will burn...even now. But will you get the most benefit of heat from it? So long as there is too much moisture, a lot of heat is used up into evaporating the remaining water and sending it up the chimney. Personally, I'd rather have that heat going into the house.
I'd love to get a boat load of ash. Been working on some maple lately. Scored a ton of sugar but I'd like some more maple. Ash is what I'm really craving
