Anybody else like Red Oak?

[Full Chisel]

Found a guy on CL having a big oak taken out, he rented a bucket truck and dropped the upper branches. Cut 4 pickup loads of rounds from them. He has a tree service coming soon to remove the rest of the tree and I have dibs on it all. Tree is a dead standing(~1yr) Red Oak and it is a biggun.

 

[msmith]

I like red oak. Normally, if it isn't wind twisted, it splits fairly easy.

 

[Ironworker]

What's not to like, smells good, splits easy, and burns good.

 

[stihly dan]

Hate the stuff. Smells like crap and takes years to dry.

 

[Full Chisel]

I thought this stuff would split easy, it looked straight grained on the outside and it pretty well is. But a lot of the pieces have a distinct core in the middle which separates from the sapwood and screws up the splits. I actually knocked a perfect looking branch out of one round, it's like a tree growing inside a tree. I have seen this with other red oaks, but it's very pronounced with this one. It's also very stringy and could use more drying before it's split, but I'm impatient with more loads to come. I will get more pics when I go out to split again.

I actually like how it smells but it does dry very, very slow.

 

[msmith]

It does smell good. I have an owb, so it doesn't have to be really dry, although I would rather it be.


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[unclemoustache]

I prefer burning oak. Yes, takes long time to dry, but it's worth it if you have the time. Burns well and long, leaves little ash compared to many other woods.

 

[captjack]

whats not to like about red oak

 

[blacklocst]

If you have the time and space Red Oak is one of my favorite to burn, 3 years is what I need it to dry before I even think about putting it in the stove.

 

[Marine5068]

I burn lots of it here.
Great BTUs and good heat produced.
I usually mix it in the stove with other hardwoods as I find it burns pretty low on it's own.
I season it at least two years if not more before it goes in the wood stove.

 

[Fred Wright]

Love it, will take all we can get. Even knotty yard tree castoffs. May have to noodle the bad ones but it's worth it.

 

[Full Chisel]

Yeah, I've done a fair share of noodling and I haven't really gotten into the gnarly stuff yet.

 

[Jere39]

This big, long dead, Red Oak that had fallen over in a storm, but snagged firmly in another Oak finally fell earlier this week. Kind of a gift from Mother Nature:


Unfortunately, it blocked one of my main retrieve trails. Fortunately, the weather leading into this Memorial Day weekend has been unseasonably perfect. Mid 40's in the morning, high 50's in the afternoons.

So, I got out my Dolmar 510 with an 18" bar, perfect length for this old log and bucked it. Cutting about 80% of the way through from the top, then making a complete cut where the log bridges my rock hill top, rolling it over and finishing the cuts.

Warning - Long 4 minute video of a guy cutting a log. But, it demonstrates my efforts to keep the tip out of the rocky ground and cut another day:



This morning, I am splitting. I thought I was finished cutting firewood for this season. But you take what you get. This tree was broken off about 8' up from the base, and hanging here for several years. Drawing no moisture from the ground. It showed about 22% MM, and now that it's split, should be good for late winter burning next year.



As always, my Security Officer has my back.

 

[Full Chisel]

Looks like a nice day in the woods! Can't beat dead standing Oak that is already dry enough to burn. The very tops of this tree were pretty dry(don't have a moisture meter) but the bigger rounds are still wet and heavy. So at least a year of drying, maybe two depending on how wet the summer is.

 

[sweetjetskier]

Red Oak has the unmistakable smell to it no questions there, also when green it does split easily with X27 Fiskars, once the wait of 2 seasons has gone by, it does burn nice and hot.

I take the odd sized pieces and use them in the Big Green Egg when smoking certain meats, perfect for an after wood cutting day.

 

[stihly dan]

This big, long dead, Red Oak that had fallen over in a storm, but snagged firmly in another Oak finally fell earlier this week. Kind of a gift from Mother Nature:
View attachment 426479

Unfortunately, it blocked one of my main retrieve trails. Fortunately, the weather leading into this Memorial Day weekend has been unseasonably perfect. Mid 40's in the morning, high 50's in the afternoons.

So, I got out my Dolmar 510 with an 18" bar, perfect length for this old log and bucked it. Cutting about 80% of the way through from the top, then making a complete cut where the log bridges my rock hill top, rolling it over and finishing the cuts.

Warning - Long 4 minute video of a guy cutting a log. But, it demonstrates my efforts to keep the tip out of the rocky ground and cut another day:



This morning, I am splitting. I thought I was finished cutting firewood for this season. But you take what you get. This tree was broken off about 8' up from the base, and hanging here for several years. Drawing no moisture from the ground. It showed about 22% MM, and now that it's split, should be good for late winter burning next year.

View attachment 426477

As always, my Security Officer has my back.

That's my favorite wood. dead standing oak. My question is, do you ever take of that jacket?

 

[Jere39]

That's my favorite wood. dead standing oak. My question is, do you ever take of that jacket?

You sound like my wife, who bought me a brand new, much nicer one, and I don't want to get the new one dirty. The answer is yes. I switch to tee shirts when the temps hit 70, and wear heavier coats (sometimes over this one) in the very cold.

This is one my son earned on a conference championship in High School Soccer, and then left it home when he moved out. I'm just keeping it warm for him.

 

[Woody912]

I thought this stuff would split easy, it looked straight grained on the outside and it pretty well is. But a lot of the pieces have a distinct core in the middle which separates from the sapwood and screws up the splits. I actually knocked a perfect looking branch out of one round, it's like a tree growing inside a tree. I have seen this with other red oaks, but it's very pronounced with this one. It's also very stringy and could use more drying before it's split, but I'm impatient with more loads to come. I will get more pics when I go out to split again.

I actually like how it smells but it does dry very, very slow.

Sounds like ring shake, I don't know what causes it. Nothing bad to say about red oak except I wish there were not so many dead ones

 

[trukn2004]

Ive come to find a lot of my dead down wood here is red oak. Sapwood seems to crumble quickly, but the heartwood lasts for quite a while. splits nice by hand and im hoping the fact that its been dead and de-barked for a while will help in producing some good firewood relatively quickly.

 

[JB Weld]

I like any kind of Oak, but right now my firewood stacks are a mosaic of different woods! It seems like all I can find this season are trees with knotty, burly trunks! I don't cut near the wood that you guys up north do, and it dries pretty fast down here. My wood shed sits on the side of a ridge that faces south. It gets hammered all day with that hot Arkansas sun in the summertime.