We rarely trim let alone take down Gambel Oak in my area so when the customer said they didn't want the firewood I was trying not to look too happy. It's only a little bit but the little bits add up to a lot in time. If Osage Orange has a rating of 30btu's and Gambel is close at 28btu's I think I'm going to like it.
WOW...very nice...the nice thing about that load is that it is pretty manageable to process, and like you said...it adds up over time!
Where I live gambel oak is absolutely top shelf. Congrats! Get all you can and season it well. I love how it burns. The logs just hold form for a long time and glow red before finally collapsing into coals and then ashes. I love this stuff.
For sure it is in the white oak family so is great firewood. Get all you can! Then give it a lot of time to dry.
A little bit of my own I cut over the past week or two, dead standing with my FS wood cutting permit. Got it split and stacked today finally. (Same small stack from different angles...gotta make it look bigger than it is ya know )
Any is better than done in my book. I have plenty of Emory Oak and Arizona White Oak. For some reason Gambel Oak never presents problems to lines or homes in this area and that makes the pickings very slim. In time I'll get to try it out and that makes me happy.
Got another pile today to split later...three dead trees and hauling them up a steep ravine and I was done for the day.
Got a little bit more again today...Eating the elephant one bite at a time and working on building my oak hoard little by little. Even got it all C/S/S
I had never heard of gambel oak until I saw the BTU chart, we don't have those, they are a southwestern USA tree. Def in the white oak family looking at those leaves.
What percentage of your wood is hardwood Timberdog ? Great score btw. My highest by wood is white oak.
In my stacks or in the surrounding forest? In the forest I would guess less than 10%. Most is conifer. I am trying to get more hardwood in my stacks but that takes a lot of effort with those ratios.
Gambel Oak grows here in the Southwest in spots that are rocky which tends to be on the sides of washes and mountains. They grow in clumps or stands by the dozen until one or two get big enough to dominate and choke out the others. So a lot of the dead ones are less than a foot in diameter and we can’t take them as firewood unless dead and down in some places or dead standing in certain size in others. So it takes a bit of searching to come across some to fit that criteria. But if you find it, it’s at the top of charts there in BTUs. It burns long and awesome.
I'm sure you already know this but if not I need to say something. The forest service has thinning projects that consist of taking down and burning secondary or lower level tress such as Az White Oak, Emory Oak, Southwestern Choke Cherry, Alligator Juniper and even in some spots Gambel Oak. They pile the firewood and brush to burn and what is there is free for the taking so long as you put the pile back as it was made to the best of your ability. The last time I checked a permit cost next to nothing but I'll link the info when I find it.
I have heard about these projects but whenever I ask the ranger station for Coconino they only have those thinning projects for the ponderosa pine. Maybe it’s just who I talk to but I haven’t had any luck getting oak from those piles(yet) but post that link when you can. I appreciate any extra info. What forest is it in Prescott?
Yes, it's in the Prescott National Forest. They thin the forest in my area leaving the mature ponderosa pines and take down much of the other species and pile it to burn usually in the fall. A lot of good firewood can be found in these piles, although almost all the time you have to cut it to the proper length. As I said you can take whatever you like as long as you put the pile back together in the fashion in which it was found. This is one of many thinning operations in my area.
