I differ from the author on this one. I love white oak... And this guy loves Live Oak...well...that would be great if most people lived in the Deep South, but for us northerners, a Live Oak wouldn't live one winter. I would love to burn madrone sometime. http://www.mastersweep.com/wood.htm
He has some good points but is sadly lacking in knowledge in others. And as you point out, he says to stay away from white oak as it is troublesome. Ha! I'd burn nothing but white oak if I had some. But it appears he is not aware of the need to dry wood more than a year. For sure if he tries burning oak in only a year, he won't like it. but evidently is not aware of it.
In the 4th paragraph, he does say that hardwood (especially oak) does take more than a year. Kinda bummed though that the 3 cords of white oak (in the stacks 3.5 yrs. next winter) will have to be thrown out.
Isn't it a little risky to post your number online like that? Well, he says "more than a year" a couple times...but not how much more, in the case of Oak. And if I know you Dennis, you will agree with about 1/2 of this statement; "Once wood gets over 4-5 years old, it does start to deteriorate, so the best wood is 2-3 years seasoned." I'm sorry to hear that White Oak is so troublesome...that was gonna be one of the mainstays of my Plan A this year. Luckily, I have a Plan B and C...
LOL! White oak is great. I'm sure you will be well rewarded with that in the stacks. It's very dense and throws a lot of heat, but I'm only stating the obvious.
Of course, if I traveled down to Mississippi, and brought back a trailer load of live oak, I could make a fair comparison. Live oaks are always really old trees that live forever. Would be a shame to cut such a beautiful tree for firewood. http://www.inetours.com/New_Orleans/images/Tours/Oak_Alley_2491.jpg
Hmmmm….. Thanks for sharing that Firecracker, I can agree with most stuff and not with other things! I've burned oak that was 5+ years old just fine! Oh well, everyone has a view point
I agree, SOME woods start to go south after a few years but many do not Oak being a good example, it has a lot to do with how the wood is stored.
Exactly right. Store it dry and keep it dry and you will have no problems. Let it get wet and it starts to rot. Which makes me disagree with his statement on to not cover your wood with a tarp because it will 'prohibit evaporation'
Well the reason wood rots is because it does not dry out after it gets wet so if stacked correctly (single rows is best) the wood does not have to be covered while drying. I do cover the wood I will use that winter in the fall so I do not bring in wet wood. In 35 years I have never had wood rot doing it this way.
We have a lower equilibrium moisture than your area, but the fact that I stack in the woods is the wild card, and your average wind is higher; It takes the ground a lot longer to dry out it's more humid in the woods, there's not much sun, and the trees kill the breeze. Consequently, I think my stacks are more prone to rot than yours would be, stacked in the wind where the wood and the ground dry a lot faster after a rain. Now, I've got a prime spot to dry several cords this year, in an open area on top of a hill with good wind and sun. I'm still debating weather to top-cover that stack (I'd have to get something to cover it with, I'm about out of the mats I was using.) I top-cover in the woods but even if a stack was uncovered and got rained on, I don't think the entire stack gets soaked unless the wind is blowing sideways. The splits in the stack are tilting one way or the other, shedding the water out of the stack after the top foot or so, I would think. Covers also keep off a lot of leaves, catkins and other debris that I would otherwise have to remove with a blower. That said, I don't have enough experience drying wood to know exactly what I could get away with in the woods. I've been burning 25 years but only drying for a few... Thank you very much....I think.
SOLEY my opinion, let your wood dry, "uncovered" 2 to 3 years! This does allow for evaporation, sun, wind etc… to do it's job, This is not rocket science. Now once you have a few good seasons of drying under your belt and you have checked it with a meter, "THEN" you can cover it for the winter. Paul is right, in the respect that it if it gets wet "and you keep it wet" it will rot. Yes!!! once your wood is dry/seasoned, off the ground, it should last "YEARS" . Now, I do know of an instance that an individual cut "green" wood very early spring, covered it after cutting with a tarp and the top 2 layers of his wood were sopping wet come fall and winter due to evaporation under the tarp to the top inside and "most " of the wood was un usable. This is simple, "AIR" movement in my opinion is the best for your wood and stowage.
If I didn't have white oak in my stacks, I'd be SCREWED.... that is one of my staple woods. As has been said many times over, giving it several years to season after splitting and stacking is the key. White oak is a phenominal heating wood, it has long lasting coals, a wonderful aroma both when cutting/splitting and also when burning, burns down to literally nothing, tell you what I'll take all the white oak I can get!!
Opinions seem to vary on these issues ! I do stuff that according to experts doesnt work . I say if it works...do it !
