standing oak

[polkat]

Okay I got a go ahead to cut some standing dead oak (red) but my question is how long can it stand and be still good? some of it the first half to one inch is punkey on a 8 inch log I like FREE but I have one of those not so good feelings that I will be only able to get it when she is there. which makes it hard to just start cutting from sun up to sun down and haul the next day. if thats the case someone else can have it its not worth my time. there is a lot more woods to be had

 

[woodbooga]

how long can it stand and be still good?

For all practical purposes, forever. If standing. Dead and downed in a somewhat different story, since rot will set in if the wood is in contact with the ground.

Red oak's sap wood punks up relatively quickly, but the heartwood stays true for a very very long time.

I've cut and burnt some oak that was likely dead since Reagan was in office and it was still darned good.

Among all the hardwoods, red oak has about the longest shelf life in my area.

The only drawback is long-dead oak attreacts carpenter ants.

Last fall I trucked home a load of standing dead oak. Half the rounds spilled out skads of ants once maul popped.

 

[Soilarch]

Here's something to consider....I worked a huge Red Oak last fall that had had the top broken out of it. The Sapwood wasn't punky and a portion of the tree had been alive when the storm took it down.


That broken top, I believe, had made that tree twice as wet as it should have been. Made that "red oak smell" intensify to a outright stench that can only be described as having a strong resemblance to puke. Maybe it was just the age? Idunno, but it was red oak, had a broken top, and was very very stinky. Next time I find a free red oak with a broken top I'm bringing a change of clothes.

If you're borderline on grabbing it, and it's got a broken top...pass on it.

Seriously, it made even the inside of my truck stink!




FWIW if someone knows better than I and there's another reason it stank so bad let me/us know, PLEASE!!!

 

[rob206]

For all practical purposes, forever. If standing. Dead and downed in a somewhat different story, since rot will set in if the wood is in contact with the ground.

Red oak's sap wood punks up relatively quickly, but the heartwood stays true for a very very long time.

I've cut and burnt some oak that was likely dead since Reagan was in office and it was still darned good.

Among all the hardwoods, red oak has about the longest shelf life in my area.

The only drawback is long-dead oak attreacts carpenter ants.

Last fall I trucked home a load of standing dead oak. Half the rounds spilled out skads of ants once maul popped.

:agree2:

I cut on state and federal land, and on state land I can only cut stuff that is down. There is some wood that I would guess has been down for over a decade and probably close to two decades. It is usually still solid inside.

Standing is even better, I think it seasons faster without being in contact with the ground, however I don't consider it seasoned to the point that I burn it immediately.

I've always thought that red oak smells like someone had too much whiskey the night before.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Carpenter Ants?

If the carpenter ants get to it, give it about five to seven years and it's worthless. If the ants somehow never find it, oak will last very long standing dead, especially white oak, which has more natural preservatives.

Surprisingly, carpenter ants will eat an oak tree from the inside out and the tree could continue to live for up to ten years with them working on it. Then when all branches fail to leaf out and you cut it down, practically nothing worth burning remains except perhaps the branches. The trunk won't even split correctly and collapse in chunks (junk wood). Ants are relentless beasts.

 

[avalancher]

be careful when cutting standing dead oak,especially red oak.Once rot sets in,even in the sap wood, the main stem can split at your cut and run up the stem, and you could end up with a nasty trunk in your face.
Last summer I was hired to clean out 11 dead standing red oak, and 4 of them split right up the stem and came back at me as I was cutting it loose.Sapwood was gone,but the heart wood was good.After the second tree popped on me, I strapped the tree before starting my initial cut with steel cable and it took care of the problem, but those gun shot pops can make even the bravest guys a little nervous.
I almost had to return to the truck to change my shorts after the second one let go.

 

[willsaw4beer]

I almost had to return to the truck to change my shorts after the second one let go.

I know that feeling.

 

[angelo c]

be careful when cutting standing dead oak,especially red oak.Once rot sets in,even in the sap wood, the main stem can split at your cut and run up the stem, and you could end up with a nasty trunk in your face.
Last summer I was hired to clean out 11 dead standing red oak, and 4 of them split right up the stem and came back at me as I was cutting it loose.Sapwood was gone,but the heart wood was good.After the second tree popped on me, I strapped the tree before starting my initial cut with steel cable and it took care of the problem, but those gun shot pops can make even the bravest guys a little nervous.
I almost had to return to the truck to change my shorts after the second one let go.

Avalancher,
does it make sense to bore cut it if you feel its hollowed its core ?
thanks, i'm more of a bucker then a faller