Iv cut alot of dead standing oak, free oak grapple loads that have sat for years, punky on the outside but never felt light in weight. Its rarely ready to burn off the stump but it happens, i hit a bunch on a property last winter and was 8% off the splitter and not light weighted. Lightweight is not good oak imho.
I tend to agree. I’m expecting mixed results. Some of what I grabbed was in 4-6 foot lengths from several different trees, most of it I bucked from the entire trunk. I think the light pieces were from the short lengths.
Update- I burned a few pieces of the long dead red oak in the outdoor pit last night. I didn’t bother rechecking the MC, just tossed a few splits in the fire on a nice bed of coals. Well, it burned long and steady, just as oak should. No water boiling out of the ends. This stuff has solid heart wood that dried extremely fast and it’s ready to burn this year. So was it worth it? Yes and no. If I found myself in hard times it could’ve been my saving grace. Considering after I grabbed a few loads of this, several live red oaks fell in my backyard during a tropical storm... if I had a crystal ball I would’ve left this stuff to rot. But since I’ve got it, I’ll burn it. I probably won’t bother doing this again unless I’m going after campfire wood. Now off with my Stihl to process more of the freshly fallen stuff
Good point, I’ll mix a couple pieces in every time I reload and it’ll help stretch out my stash that much longer
Poor Oak just cant get no love on this site. He'll be singing with the maul from the old woodshed as Eric, the new hydraulic splitter, and the Black Locust skip of into the sunset.
You were right... I DON’T miss my maul. My new squeeze has been giving me the right kind of loving since day one. We made quick work out of splitting those nasty smelling 30” red oak rounds. And man, that thing is sweet on Hickory and the really gnarly knotted pieces.
My maul still works fine. Used it on the pin oak the other day! Although as much as i hate to admit, i do have hydro on the brain!
I hand split two cords of rounds (all three varieties) back in early Spring and hydro wouldve been sweet. The rounds did sit for a few months.
I’m just now getting into all the short and gnarly pieces from this stash. I figured why give them another year to deteriorate further when they can be used now? They burn phenomenally too, and they’re helping me save my really good stuff just a little longer.
Yes they do, we have burned almost 4-55 gal drums of shorts/chunks/uglies so far. Only got 2 left in the box. Time to bring in more. I like to pack the stove full of those for an all night burn.
Hardwood is good stuff, I only have softwood. I would take that red oak over my soft wood every day and twice on Sunday. I haven’t burned oak in 20 years. Sure do miss it, however when I am halibut, salmon and rockfish fishing this summer I will get over it.
Alaska is an amazing place. Do you typically go after every different kind of salmon as they’re running?
Looks better than the oak wilt reds we get around here. Oak ain't my favorite but that stuff you posted is still better than most. I'd not hesitate to put it in my stacks.
Quick answer is yes, when I have days off I will be chasing fish. Silvers and some kings come in May, with the silvers numbers substantially higher. That run will be tailing off through August and the pinks (canning salmon) start hard and fast until September. During summer any of the species can be in any given month, you can target species by the numbers game and when to go fish. Halibut and rockfish are both predatory fish that are bottom dwellers. Rockfish are around year around and do not migrate. Halibut migrate in winter to breed/spawn out in deep water. As a FYI they say that Alaska is the last wild great run of salmon in the world. Most places are seeing declines and while Alaska runs seem to be stable they believe there will be a decline. If fishing in Alaska is a dream make sure you get that done before the good ole days are over. I want to believe that Alaska will stay ahead of the curve, as they do a great job of conservation I am hopeful they will continue and the good ole days won’t end. Depending on the runs they will raise the limit or lower, extend or end the season. DFG has a goal they shoot for per species and treat it dynamically with open/closures. I have had vacations planed around salmon runs and days before leaving had the season close. Talk about upset kids they were broken hearted.
I’ve been fishing up there a couple times, in 1995 and 1999 (I’m more than due to go again) Most of my father’s side of the family lives in Alaska around Anchorage and Fairbanks. When my grandfather was still alive he had a couple cabins my father had built and some land in Delta Junction. I’ve gone for Halibut out of Homer and Seward and didn’t do too bad, ended up with a couple just under 100 pounds. I did a little salmon fishing (dip netting) in early August in a small town called Kenny Lake. My favorite fishing up there was for Northern Pike on the Tanana River in Manley Hot Springs. We fished the main river a little bit but had a lot better luck fishing the slough closer to town. A lot calmer water in the slough too. The Tanana is pretty intense in summer as you know.
I am going through some similar red oak right now. I say leave the punky sap wood on as it is great kindling and will dry out really quickly when covered. The heartwood will also dry out quicker since the decomposition as broken down the cell walls(I’m imagining). My sappy punk wood red oak was down to 20% MM (fresh split) after being stacked less than a year and a half.
I live 50 miles from the Tanana headwaters, the river is about 16-20 miles to 3 boat ramps. Delta is the closest town to me @ 107 miles. We are all over the road system with hockey. I pass Kenny Lake on the way to Valdez ( my home base for salt water) I can be there in 5 hours, Seward/Wittier is 10-11 hours, Ninilchik is 12-14 and Homer is 18-20 hours. The times pulling the boats are subject to how many tourists are stopping in the middle of the road to take pics.
Have someone take you to a clearwater creek that flows into the Tanana for grayling. If your on with catch and release in Delta is the Clearwater creek go to Clearwater State park and fish for trophy grayling.
