Two Years Later and Still Hissing.

[Sandhill Crane]

I agree with Marine 5068. Stored in an open shed one to two years, pink from no sun, but stacked, 6" between rows, very dry, very hot, coaling fire.

 

[PlankSpanker]

I've been burning almost exclusively Red Oak this year and prior years because I have a friend with some acreage where many of the trees have died from Oak Wilt. Yeah it will soak up the moisture but I try to always keep a few pieces "staged" under the stove to dry them out before burning. It's worked well for me but you do have to babysit the fire a bit more to keep it burning hot and not let the creosote build up. Its a more controlled burn but you can still get some decent BTUs out of it. Beats the hell out of a lot of other woods and saves money on propane. Of course I would prefer some kiln dried White Oak or Ash but I'll take what I can get for now.

 

[Blazin]

Shut the door and you won't hear or see a thing

 

[LazyJ]

Red oak gives me fits too. On humid days it just smolders no matter how seasoned it is unless I preheat it by the stove for half a day. Hickory is almost as bad, never know from one log to the next whether its going to sit there and smoke or go turbo. 100% white oak/post oak for me, hate a fussy unpredictable fuel no matter what its BTU.

 

[sunfish]

After burning White Oak for the last two months, Love that stuff! I'm into my Red Oak now, that was cut a little over one year ago, split and stacked in the dry about 10-11 months ago. It's burning OK, but not as good as the White/Post Oak.

 

[Cheese Whiz]

OWB ya say? How big are your splits? I shoot for no more than 6" on a side, 20-24" long for my indoor furnace, and don't have problems with red oak after a year in the stack.

Like the others said, lots of air and sunlight will help a lot.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Maybe it's because of our hot summers down here. But single row stacked red oak is ready to go after 10 months to a year. No hissing or sizzling at me. I like my red oak so Im not going to talk bad about it.:quiet:

 

[Laird]

Oak was cut 1/09, average piece is about 5-6" thick. Stacked on the east end of a shed open on three sides so all the oak catches the morning sun. All wood is packed tight under roof, but everything except the Oak dries very well over a two year period.

Really, I was just commenting on how long Red Oak holds onto it's water. I was a little surprised that it was still wet after two full years.

 

[Iska3]

I see some of the same thing here. Some of my red oak seems to hiss and I can see the moisture on the ends. I stack my wood with space between each piece and the bark side up. I think it has a lot to do with the wet fall and an early freeze here in MN. Most of my oak is a bit over two years old and it's still doing it.