This is Why I Hate Oak

[procarbine2k1]

Great thread, I am with you 110%. I love some good seasoned 2-3 year oak, but to me.... space is valuable and it flat out isn't worth the fuss.
I have burned so much EAB white ash and black locust, maybe I'm spoiled. I can cut, split, and stack and be under 20% with either wood in less than a year.

 

[OnTheRoad]

I'm burning red oak that's been split into roughly 3x4 chunks for at least 2 years and for the last year has been covered with tarps. It's been on pallets, on a slope, on asphalt from day 1. It's not ready to burn by my standards. The only conclusion I can make is that my standards are different from the people who say theirs is ready at 1 year.

Oak isn't worth the effort in my situation. I'd rather have hackberry, ash, hard maple, locust, or hedge. Around here Oak is the most desirable wood but I think it's ignorance.

I got a free load of white oak today (see scrounging thread) and the owner of the company asked if I only want oak. I said hell no. Oak is at the bottom of the firewood I accept for free, delivered to my house.

 

[Jakers]

this thread is actually rather comforting for me. around here everyone is so 'Oak biased" that its just sickening. talk to anyone and its, oak this and oak that. Oak is the greatest firewood there ever was and you'll burn your house down if you burn anything else, especially spruce (or pine as EVERYONE around here calls any evergreen variety). the thing i find the most funny is that most of these guys that burn only oak have chimney fires on a regular basis or they at least have to clean their stacks weekly. I used to buy into the whole "Oak hype" but the last 5-8 years have really changed my mind. I never have the space or time to take advantage of oak so I let it go to others that just love it. I almost like the softer species better now

 

[Streblerm]

I wouldn’t turn down free easy to scrounge oak but I agree it isn’t my favorite. Maybe if you burn in a fireplace or a loose older stove the semi dry oak would be a benefit. I get very similar burn times with lesser hardwoods in my epa stove.

It’s funny when oak is totally dry the weight difference between it and other species isn’t nearly as dramatic. The BTU charts put it within 10% btu output per cord of the better mid tier hardwoods like ash and red maple and within 20% of silver maple and some pine/fir.

 

[jrider]

Great thread, I am with you 110%. I love some good seasoned 2-3 year oak, but to me.... space is valuable and it flat out isn't worth the fuss.
I have burned so much EAB white ash and black locust, maybe I'm spoiled. I can cut, split, and stack and be under 20% with either wood in less than a year.

Oak and black locust aren't even in the same class

 

[Marine5068]

Same as all you guys about Oak. It's really good firewood, but would be better if it seasoned quicker.
We have lots of Red oak around here and I've burned it, but maybe 3 years after it's been cut.
I had some two year Red that was sizzling like a mother in my new EPA stove. I found that odd.
I prefer Sugar Maple which is also predominant here.

 

[c5rulz]

I had some two year Red that was sizzling like a mother in my new EPA stove. I found that odd.

Why is that odd. If your stove wood is like the picture in your avatar and is unsplit, it will not dry for many years.

It's not firewood till it's split.

 

[procarbine2k1]

Oak and black locust aren't even in the same class

What do you mean?

 

[Tiewire]

I'm kind of happy there are so many people that don't like oak....... more for me!

 

[Marine5068]

Why is that odd. If your stove wood is like the picture in your avatar and is unsplit, it will not dry for many years.

It's not firewood till it's split.

No that avatar pic is of 1-3" diameter Maple rounds from one of my wood racks outside.
The Red Oak in question was a bit over two years seasoning and I left it until the next year when it burned much better.

 

[jrider]

What do you mean?

Black locust burns much hotter and longer than oak. It's far superior

 

[procarbine2k1]

Black locust burns much hotter and longer than oak. It's far superior

I agree that Black Locust is superior, but I have found them to put out comparable heat (when the oak is very well seasoned).... I think that there are natural oils or something in black locust that make it burn so well (similar to hedge), with short season times. Just a guess though. If I never had to burn anything but ash and locust ever again, I wouldnt complain.

 

[Marley5]

Around here you better love Oak as it makes up 95% of our forrest. Lol

 

[Haywire Haywood]

When I was burning wood back when the dinosaurs were still a nuisance, my wood was on a 2 year cycle. I burned about 4 cords a year and had room for 12 in my wood shed, separated into 3 bays of 4 cords, stacked on pallets to keep the bottom layer off the ground. I was burning out of one bay, cutting into one bay, and had one bay full from last year's cutting. Those EPA II stoves like it dry.

Ian

 

[Dolphus Raymond]

Down here in the Deep South, I can get red oak well seasoned in two years BUT, I cut it short (14-15 inches) and split it thin. In reality, I need 2 summers and two falls for it to be ready. Falls here in the Deep South are the best seasoning times because we get our first "cold" fronts that drop the humidity and the winds kick up.
Anything over say 16 inches that is not split thin takes 3 years.
I love the smell of split oak. White oak smells like Bourbon Whiskey

 

[Cody]

I love the smell of split oak. White oak smells like Bourbon Whiskey

Damn straight, I store my wood for burning in the house in an 18x21 car port and when you get a nice breeze through there on a hot day, especially right after splitting a row or two, it smells wonderful.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I love the smell of split oak. White oak smells like Bourbon Whiskey

I believe Bourbon Whiskey is often made or aged in charred White Oak barrels so it should smell like White Oak. So the odor of Bourbon probably comes from the Oak. Thanks

 

[Cody]

I love the smell of split oak. White oak smells like Bourbon Whiskey

I believe Bourbon Whiskey is often made or aged in charred White Oak barrels so it should smell like White Oak. So the odor of Bourbon probably comes from the Oak. Thanks

Always found it odd that that's where whiskey gets it's flavor from. Thought about trying to age my own with wood from this property, and moonshine that I got out of Tennessee. I'm not much of a drinker any more though, but when Jim Beam came out with it's Devil's Cut, I ended up going through a few bottles.

 

[GrizzlyAdams86]

Speaking of "oak snobs", there's someone I've helped out over the past 10 or so getting wood for his OWB. For the longest time he only wanted to burn red or white oak and nothing else. But one winter he needed more wood in a hurry so I told him I had some standing dead elm and there were some white ash we could cut down too. He was skeptical about burning unseasoned white ash in his OWB but that night it got down to -35 F and he said the unseasoned white ash with some oak mixed in burned better than just all oak. Now he burns most species but spruce/pine/fur, he still thinks he'll overheat his stove with those.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Just let him know that there's a whole nation called Canada that burns a LOT of conifers to heat their homes. Then there's those damp Washingtonians too...