That’s why I think it’s scarlet oak. That thick bark is an adaptation to fire and this tree was growing on a warm, dry, south facing hilltop.
Good thread brother! We took down a big black oak last week and I saved the entire trunk for my personal stacks. Splits beautifully and cleanly. I've got four big standing dead oaks over on the farm to get to this fall/winter. If I end up doing maple syrup this winter I'll use some of that stuff for the boiling. The rest will go into the stacks that I use this coming winter. My stacks are about back to max capacity (7yrs worth/36 full cord) I'm running out of places to stack it....lol. so I'll probably take the splitters over to the farm and stack the wood where I drop the trees.
