Burning White Oak.

[Whitespider]

Truthfully zogger, the White (Bur) Oak in the basement is 3 (or more) years seasoned outside in those stacks.
I said, "sometimes for only 10 months or so..."
I prefer any firewood (cut green) to be seasoned 2 summers (18 months, give or take), if possible... but sometimes it ain't in the cards.
White Oaks, including Bur Oaks, contain less moisture and season faster than the Red Oaks...

Well naturally, but that is a different universe with different laws of physics.

Naaaww... not this time... pretty sure it's the difference in box design in this case.
Pretty much bettin' it's the air commin' in under the fire, flowing up through it that keeps it burnin' long and screamin' hot... without mixin' a lesser species in.
Now in an alternate universe with different laws of physics... well...

With all that wood, when do you have time for...........fun ?

Well heck man, during the burning season
My box (furnace) don't require time "tending" it... just toss in a few sticks once in morning, once in the evening, slam the door, and done‼
Well... sometimes three times in a 24 hour period when it's this friggin' cold.
Oh... and I haf'ta dump the ash drawer a couple times a week. (Likely three times this week)

Actually, the truth is, I don't spend all that much time makin' firewood... I have a system... I work smarter, not harder.
(And, it also helps that I basically cut firewood in my back yard... no travel time).
*

 

[mn woodcutter]

Burning some white oak and some ash right now. The white oak was cut down 6 yrs ago and stacked in the rounds at my neighbors house. He decided he would never use it so he asked me to come and get it so it wouldn't go to waste. I split it all and stacked it two yrs ago and it's cranking some serious heat right now!

 

[lindnova]

My bur oak (white group) lights up fast and easy and burns long when dry. Warming up for the overnight right now with -9° outside.

If it is still wet it does not burn well. I plan to give the oak 2-3 years to dry, but I stack 4 and 5 rows deep on pallets also. The bur oak I have now was cut and bucked dead 2 years ago and split last winter. I stacked it in single rows in the open uncovered on pallets. It was 20-26% in September and I thought not good so I put some in the shed and stacked elm and lots of cherry on top that was dry, but it dried to 20% by now and burns real good. I am kind of surprised it dried so much in the shed. Keeping the rain off for the last bit appears more important than ventilation for me. Next year all my wood will have 2 years drying.

 

[ZeroLife]

In the fireplace, white oak seems to last a little longer than the red. Tough to start the fire with though. Also, when I split the stuff 2 years ago, I was splitting with a stove or furnace in mind. Next time I get into some, I'll make sure to chunk it down a little more

 

[Ronaldo]

Burning Burr Oak (White) now with these below 0 temps and low wind chills, it makes a lot of heat and coals nice for easy reloads.
I think it does dry quicker than Red but it splits harder. I split most all Red Oak pretty easily with the Fiskars, but White tends to be more wavy grain and is more challenging.

 

[sam-tip]

Burning all oak with the cold temps. Burns very hot. Been split and stacked for two years now. Finally the oak is getting dry enough for me to burn in my gasification boiler. Splits great with hydro or super split. Hit my highest secondary combustion temp ever at 1784 deg F this morning.

 

[Marine5068]

I should have said white oak for me is a 2 year drying process, northern red here is 3 or more before it's at it's best.
The joy of living in the great white north in a location surrounded by great lakes and usually rainy summer of only 3 months.
You millage might vary for oak drying.

I'm here with you Haveawoody. Where abouts are you?
I love scrounging White Oak. Mostly Red Oak around here.
Same times I use for seasoning my Oaks. Minimum two years for White and three for Red.
But I burn mostly Maple.

 

[Preston]

Oh no‼ Really?? It has to be under cover?? And for two whole years??
Damn... I've been doing it wrong for decades.

I've been stacking it like this... sometimes for only 10 months or so, depending.

View attachment 392682

Spydey...how much of the wood in that pic will you go through in a winters burn? I like the way you've done it.

 

[haveawoody]

Marine5068,

Just north of London Ont here.
Did you get to enjoy our 1 day of summer this year? LOL

Got to love getting Northern Red Oak and the prospect of the wonderful fires to come from it, then the long long wait as it seems like it's never quite dry.

 

[olyman]

Woody got it, the oaks sizzle like hell if not completely dry.
2 years under cover is a minimum for burning oaks.
Prefer beech, yellow birth, hard maple when we can cut them.

buwahahhahahahahhahaaa

 

[olyman]

Yep, it takes a lot more when boiling away water.

zero hero...

 

[Whitespider]

Spydey...how much of the wood in that pic will you go through in a winters burn? I like the way you've done it.

The weather has been so up 'n' down the last couple years it's really hard to nail it down.
But those stacks are all Bur Oak, approximately 2 cord per stack... I figure I'll burn 2 stacks this winter (4 cord), plus another 2-2½ cord of other-than-oak.
*

 

[chadihman]

That picture is from 2012... looks like somewhere in the 11-12 cord range.
I'm at work right now, but at home I have pictures of the same area with closer to 17 cord stacked.
The sad thing is, right now, there's only about 4 cord in that area... but another 4 stacked in the basement next to the furnace.
*

Sounds like you got a super efficient furnace there. Not