I have a nice red oak, at least 24" DBH, whose leaves have turned brown. Would it be better to fell it now or leave it until I need it? Buck it now? How long is ok? It's in the woods, would have to haul it out with my John Deere Gator a bit at a time. It's so tall and straight, would make good rough lumber but I don't have a way to haul that, so, it'll become firewood. I think this tree was struck by lightning. I notice some dead limbs on neighbor trees. I also see a couple spots at the base of the red oak, about a foot off the ground, looks like somebody shot it with a high powered rifle. I assume those are exit points of the lightning. I don't know if lightning strike death is different from drought or other tree death as far as this question is concerned.
Death does not matter. The sooner you get it the more wood will be good and not loose some BTUs to rot starting. But as far as how long will it be good. The larger parts of it will be good for several years. The trunk maybe up to 4 or five. But after about a year your upper branches will rot, depending on how much you utilize of the tree you may be trimming back to 3-5" s in diameter to get fairly solid wood. It will not dry standing there. In 18 months the big splittable portions will still be way to wet to burn and require two to three years depending upon your location to dry them to burnable MC. Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk
Definitely I'd cut it but not necessarily in a hurry. We had a couple oak struck by lightning and it did take a couple years before they completely died. When they quit making leaf, we cut. That way you lose nothing so long as you handle it properly; that is, buck it, split it and stack it off the ground. Then top cover. Don't buy into that crap about wood not needing covering. Sure, you can get away with it most times but you will still lose btu by not keeping it top covered.
Yep I lost about 1/3 of a pile along my fence last year when I burned it. I had it too covered with rubber. But the stack tilted and the back side got wet each time. It was shaded and didn't dry well. It turned punky. Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk
X2, If rot sets in, then you don't know how much you've lost. I'd cut it, but as Mr. Savage said not a super hurry. The quicker though, the more time for drying and splitting. I'd do it in the fall when it's cooler and most of the leaves are off.
I wouldn’t let it stand there for years but I would wait until you have plenty of time and less heat/bugs if you can.
X2. Too hot now! Id wait til October, unless you need it soon. I imagine wood seasons quicker down your way Yawner . I have access to two oaks in my MIL's woods. One standing dead, the other is broken off 20' up from a storm. Im waiting til leaves drop/cooler weather. I have to wheelbarrow it out as well!
Once the branches start rotting back they can drop at any time. If they are over head when cutting, not good. Not the type of "falling" your after. Fresh and solid would safer.
That’s a good point. Any opinions on dropping it now (this fall) and leaving it for awhile? Branches should keep it off the ground. You’d disconnect it from the stump which even though dead still wicks water from the ground. Ants should be discouraged from it for both those reasons unless they’re already in there. It’s just been my experience that trees off the ground last quite a few years with very minimal degradation. Or maybe I just have lower standards. Dead wood is about all we’ve ever burned.
Once it's fallen over at least you can get at it. Here, if there are shrooms on the trunk, I should make an effort to get them tilted over. Otherwise it could be years before I feel safe to start monkeying around under all those branches. White oak would last a long time laying on the ground. It has closed/sealed pores, so keeps out water better. It rots from the outside in. Red oak is more open pored, so would decay throughout quicker. (Barrel makers use white oak, for sealed barrels. Ship builders use white oak for water tight hulls. Red oak you can blow air through like a straw.)
The quicker you get it split, the quicker it starts to dry. I would still sit on it for 2 full years, in MN
I had a red oak trunk laying on the ground for 18mos. It was just cut into rounds, with no sign of any rot. Get it down an cut it at your leisure
Getting at it sooner than later allows for closer examination of worth. It could be so horribly bug infested, rotten and show evidence of having been living on borrowed time and worthless. It could be pristine and a fine example of a once healthy living tree. I wouldn't want to be finding the former in an hour of need.
