A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the median;
but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement and
head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

--------------
* Houston: Bellaire Blvd east of Sam Houston Parkway if any local people
want to gather some, ah, "windfall".

On 9/16/2012 9:28 AM, HeyBub wrote:
A week? A year? ...
....

The larger, split at least once, plan on not using until next
year...also be ok for the smaller stuff...

--

"HeyBub" wrote:

A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace.

That's a big fireplace-- I'd prefer 2 1' logs-- and they'll split
with a felling axe on a good block. Hope he grabbed a fork piece to
use as a chopping block.

-snip-
head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

Split those 6 inchers up immediately- some of that stuff turns to
iron once seasoned.

If you've got some 2x4s to 'season in place' - burn it tomorrow. it
won't be the hottest fire, but it will be pretty, and it will smell
and sound nice as the sap burns off.

Jim

"HeyBub" wrote in
m:

A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?
[...]
My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees [...]

The normal rule is air-dry for at least one year; IME, for most species, what's cut and split in
early spring can be burned that winter (but it will burn better the next winter).

However... you have an exceptionally dense wood here, and you live in an exceptionally
humid area, too. There's no way that wood is going to be dry enough to burn cleanly this
winter, and I have my doubts about next.

HeyBub wrote:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five
75-year old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street
near my home*.
I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the median;
but maybe they just hate trees.

I wouldn't be surprised if they cut them down for insurance liability
reasons.

Many US cities are financially stressed and looking for ways to cut
costs.

ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

Are they worth more as lumber vs firewood?

Dimensional oak is pretty expensive.

"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five
75-year old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my
home*. They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for
putting in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the
median; but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement
and head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from
two inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some
left-over 2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3'
tall (and 2' deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance,
not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!


If you are just going to burn it to look at and not heat, it may be ready in
about 3 or 4 months, but really more like 6 months.

Wood dries out mainly from the ends. The longer it is,the longer it takes
to dry out. You may try cutting the wood into pieces about a foot long and
they may be ready for Christmas.

Also cutting wood this time of year, there is usually a lot more sap in it
that takes longer to dry. It is usually beter to wait for the leaves to fall
off. I just cut up a oak tree that was about 3 to 4 feet across the stump
in May. Sort of the same deal as you. The power company cut one down not
too far from where I live and a fellow at work told me to get it if I wanted
to. Sometimes you just have to get the wood when you can. It was cut by
them to a short length, but I had to split it 4 ways just so I could pick it
up and put it in my truck. I waited about 2 weeks for some cracks to start
froming in in it as all I have is a wedge, slege hammer and splitting maul.

On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:28:13 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Any advice would be appreciated.

Try to have the wood off the ground a few inches for air circulation
under it. Cover it with a HF tarp to keep rain off - over the top and
partially down the sides leaving the sides open a bit near the bottom
so you have air circulation around the wood.

I'd not stack it next to the house (think termites), but a distance
away from the structure.

I usually cured Maple for a year when I burned wood in New York.

On Sep 16, 7:25*am, "HeyBub" wrote:
A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the median;
but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement and
head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

--------------
* Houston: Bellaire Blvd east of Sam Houston Parkway if any local people
want to gather some, ah, "windfall".

For live oak, one season for normal splits. Your stuff is on hte
small side (depending on what you mean by "over 6") Andying 6' down
will be ready for use in a few months of dry weather. The "over 6""
may take longer unless you split first. I wouildn't splet anything
under 8" or so. I have heated my house almost solely with wood for
um..1976 to 2012...some years.

Harry K

On Sep 16, 7:50*am, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote:
A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace.

That's a big fireplace-- * *I'd prefer 2 1' logs-- and they'll split
with a felling axe on a good block. * Hope he grabbed a fork piece to
use as a chopping block.

-snip-

head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

Split those 6 inchers up immediately- * * some of that stuff turns to
iron once seasoned.

If you've got some 2x4s to 'season in place' - burn it tomorrow. it
won't be the hottest fire, but it will be pretty, and it will smell
and sound nice as the sap burns off.

Jim

split 6" for fireplace use? I wouldn't split it even for stove use.

Harry K

On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:28:13 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the median;
but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement and
head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

--------------
* Houston: Bellaire Blvd east of Sam Houston Parkway if any local people
want to gather some, ah, "windfall".


A year is good. Some smaller pieces can be burned well in less time.
You can tell by the sound if it is dry. Bank two pieces together and
green wood will give a dull "thunk" while dry wood will give a clear
ring.

The best time to split wood is in the dead of winter when the logs and
internal moisture is frozen. Those green logs will grab the maul and
barely move while that same piece in the cold will just pop apart.

Stack the wood off the ground. Pallets are OK to use, or a couple of
2 x 4 as runners works too. I use a chimney stack (criss crossed
pieces) on the ends and fill in the center.

If you have 6" pieces, they are from branches and really won't need
splitting. The larger trunk pieces are what need splitting.

Keep the wood and bugs outside until needed or bring it in a day
before you are going to burn it. As for covering, it really makes no
difference, especially if there is bark on the logs.

On Sep 16, 12:40*pm, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:28:13 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:





A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the median;
but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement and
head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

--------------
* Houston: Bellaire Blvd east of Sam Houston Parkway if any local people
want to gather some, ah, "windfall".

A year is good. *Some smaller pieces can be burned well in less time.
You can tell by the sound if it is dry. *Bank two pieces together and
green wood will give a dull "thunk" while dry wood will give a clear
ring.

The best time to split wood is in the dead of winter when the logs and
internal moisture is frozen. *Those green logs will grab the maul and
barely move while that same piece in the cold will just pop apart.

Stack the wood off the ground. *Pallets are OK to use, or a couple of
2 x 4 as runners works too. I use a chimney stack (criss crossed
pieces) on the ends and fill in the center.

If you have 6" pieces, they are from branches and really won't need
splitting. *The larger trunk pieces are what need splitting.

Keep the wood and bugs outside until needed or bring it in a day
before you are going to burn it. *As for covering, it really makes no
difference, especially if there is bark on the logs. *- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I agree about the winter frozen splitting, but the OP said Live Oak,
and AFAIK that doesn't grow in the north where it is cold enuf to
freeze the wood.

On 9/16/2012 9:28 AM, HeyBub wrote:
A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.


general rule is a year. 6 months minimum. Hedge will actually burn
green, but you have to give it a lot of air and it will leave excessive
deposits in your chimney.



--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

On 9/16/2012 1:56 PM, hr(bob) wrote:
On Sep 16, 12:40 pm, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:28:13 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:





A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the median;
but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement and
head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

--------------
* Houston: Bellaire Blvd east of Sam Houston Parkway if any local people
want to gather some, ah, "windfall".

A year is good. Some smaller pieces can be burned well in less time.
You can tell by the sound if it is dry. Bank two pieces together and
green wood will give a dull "thunk" while dry wood will give a clear
ring.

The best time to split wood is in the dead of winter when the logs and
internal moisture is frozen. Those green logs will grab the maul and
barely move while that same piece in the cold will just pop apart.

Stack the wood off the ground. Pallets are OK to use, or a couple of
2 x 4 as runners works too. I use a chimney stack (criss crossed
pieces) on the ends and fill in the center.

If you have 6" pieces, they are from branches and really won't need
splitting. The larger trunk pieces are what need splitting.

Keep the wood and bugs outside until needed or bring it in a day
before you are going to burn it. As for covering, it really makes no
difference, especially if there is bark on the logs. - Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I agree about the winter frozen splitting, but the OP said Live Oak,
and AFAIK that doesn't grow in the north where it is cold enuf to
freeze the wood.


Splitting is important for drying and generally green wood is easier to
split. I read 9 months is optimum drying time but I suspect most drying
takes place in the initial period and if it were me, if needed, I'd burn
it this winter.

On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:56:04 -0700 (PDT), "hr(bob) "
wrote:




I agree about the winter frozen splitting, but the OP said Live Oak,
and AFAIK that doesn't grow in the north where it is cold enuf to
freeze the wood.

Easy to remedy. He can take it to Vermont for a week ski vacation and
split it on the last day.

"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five
75-year old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my
home*. They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for
putting in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the
median; but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement
and head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from
two inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some
left-over 2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3'
tall (and 2' deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance,
not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!


Split and cut it up to useful size ASAP
It will dry faster that way.
Otherwise a year is usually what it takes to season wood for burning.

Nyle is a company that makes wood drying kilns for the forest products industry. According to this PDF file:

www.nyle.com/downloads/KilnDrying.pdf

Living oak will be typically about 68% water. So, in a 50 pound section of freshly cut white or red oak, about 20 pounds will be water and 30 pounds will be wood. So, living oak is about 2/3 heavier than oven dried oak.

Water soaks up an awful lot of heat as you raise it's temperature and ultimately convert it to steam. So, the dryer your wood, the better a fuel source it will be.

HeyBub wrote:

Thanks all for the advice.

Couple of extra points:

* The trees that the woodsman did not spare were Live Oaks. They never drop
their leaves... well, I guess they do, but not all the leaves at the same
time.

* Heretofore I had been collecting "windfall." That is, wood that had fallen
from trees located along road right-of-way. There's plenty there. And the
price is right.

* I've got a gas log-lighter in my fireplace. At worst, I could just roast
the logs, sorta like giant, woody, marshmallows.

Once again, thanks for the input.

On Sep 16, 9:25*am, "HeyBub" wrote:


I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!


Seasoned is 4012 lbs per cord. Raw is much heavier than that.

http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html

Depends on species. Depends on if split or not. Depends on where you live.
Depends on if you have it covered or not.

One year is a good curing time for anything. Put some rails on the ground
so you don't get fungus and all sorts of nasties in there.

Steve

Oren wrote:
On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:28:13 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Any advice would be appreciated.

Try to have the wood off the ground a few inches for air circulation
under it. Cover it with a HF tarp to keep rain off - over the top and
partially down the sides leaving the sides open a bit near the bottom
so you have air circulation around the wood.

I'd not stack it next to the house (think termites), but a distance
away from the structure.

I usually cured Maple for a year when I burned wood in New York.

And it must be a HF tarp. No other brand of tarp will work for oak. ;-)

HeyBub wrote:
HeyBub wrote:

Thanks all for the advice.

Couple of extra points:

* The trees that the woodsman did not spare were Live Oaks. They
never drop their leaves... well, I guess they do, but not all the
leaves at the same time.

* Heretofore I had been collecting "windfall." That is, wood that had
fallen from trees located along road right-of-way. There's plenty
there. And the price is right.

* I've got a gas log-lighter in my fireplace. At worst, I could just
roast the logs, sorta like giant, woody, marshmallows.

That works, it's what I do. The smaller stuff will be dry enough by winter,
the larger will spit and sputter a bit but will eventually burn fine. None
of it will ever "burn pretty"; i.e., with lots of flames...not enough
volatile material in the wood to gas off for very long and it is that which
makes the flames.

BTW, I note a lot of people were suggesting that you split it. If this is
southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) good luck on doing that unless you
have a hydraulic log splitter.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

dadiOH wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
HeyBub wrote:

Thanks all for the advice.

Couple of extra points:

* The trees that the woodsman did not spare were Live Oaks. They
never drop their leaves... well, I guess they do, but not all the
leaves at the same time.

* Heretofore I had been collecting "windfall." That is, wood that had
fallen from trees located along road right-of-way. There's plenty
there. And the price is right.

* I've got a gas log-lighter in my fireplace. At worst, I could just
roast the logs, sorta like giant, woody, marshmallows.

That works, it's what I do. The smaller stuff will be dry enough by
winter, the larger will spit and sputter a bit but will eventually
burn fine. None of it will ever "burn pretty"; i.e., with lots of
flames...not enough volatile material in the wood to gas off for very
long and it is that which makes the flames.

BTW, I note a lot of people were suggesting that you split it. If
this is southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) good luck on doing
that unless you have a hydraulic log splitter.

Study reveals that "Quercus virginiana" is probably what I've got. It seems
as if the USS Constitution was constructed of this wood - though obviously
not MY wood - earning the ship the nickname of "Old Ironsides."

Interestingly, these trees earn an A+ for resistance to wildfires,
hurricanes, and salinity.

nestork,

I don't follow this.

Living oak will be typically about 68% water. So, in a 50 pound section
of freshly cut white or red oak, about 20 pounds will be water and 30
pounds will be wood.

How can this be true? Wood floats, so it is less dense than water You
say that this oak is 68% water which is the dense stuff. You remove that (
or most of it?) and the dryed wood still weighs 30 lbs?
So you start out with 50 lbs of wood and remove more than 68% of it' s
weight (the water). If the wood and water are of equal density the dryed
wood would weigh 16 lbs. Wood's density is less than water's so you would
actually end up with less than 16 lbs. of dry wood.
Your PDF claims that dry wood is about 12% water. 68%-12%=56% so the dry
wood can't weigh more than 44% of the starting weight yet you claim to have
30 lbs of wood which is 60% of the starting weight.
What am I missing?

Dave M.

HeyBub wrote:
dadiOH wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
HeyBub wrote:

Thanks all for the advice.

Couple of extra points:

* The trees that the woodsman did not spare were Live Oaks. They
never drop their leaves... well, I guess they do, but not all the
leaves at the same time.

* Heretofore I had been collecting "windfall." That is, wood that
had fallen from trees located along road right-of-way. There's
plenty there. And the price is right.

* I've got a gas log-lighter in my fireplace. At worst, I could just
roast the logs, sorta like giant, woody, marshmallows.

That works, it's what I do. The smaller stuff will be dry enough by
winter, the larger will spit and sputter a bit but will eventually
burn fine. None of it will ever "burn pretty"; i.e., with lots of
flames...not enough volatile material in the wood to gas off for very
long and it is that which makes the flames.

BTW, I note a lot of people were suggesting that you split it. If
this is southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) good luck on doing
that unless you have a hydraulic log splitter.

Study reveals that "Quercus virginiana" is probably what I've got. It
seems as if the USS Constitution was constructed of this wood -
though obviously not MY wood - earning the ship the nickname of "Old
Ironsides."
Interestingly, these trees earn an A+ for resistance to wildfires,
hurricanes, and salinity.

Tell that to the three I have on the ground "out back" as a result of the
2004 hurricanes. Of course, two of them are still living So is
another one that was struck and nearly girdled by lightning a handful of
years ago. The *are* survivors.

OTOH, they are constantly having limbs die. The amount of tree trash from
our 30+ oaks is phenomonal! Most of it is pencil size and smaller twigs but
some is larger, some up to 15" in diameter and 15-20' long. Anytime I am
around live oak trees I always check what is above my head.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change? Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On Sep 17, 2:37*pm, "dadiOH" wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
dadiOH wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
HeyBub wrote:

Thanks all for the advice.

Couple of extra points:

* The trees that the woodsman did not spare were Live Oaks. They
never drop their leaves... well, I guess they do, but not all the
leaves at the same time.

* Heretofore I had been collecting "windfall." That is, wood that
had fallen from trees located along road right-of-way. There's
plenty there. And the price is right.

* I've got a gas log-lighter in my fireplace. At worst, I could just
roast the logs, sorta like giant, woody, marshmallows.

That works, it's what I do. *The smaller stuff will be dry enough by
winter, the larger will spit and sputter a bit but will eventually
burn fine. *None of it will ever "burn pretty"; i.e., with lots of
flames...not enough volatile material in the wood to gas off for very
long and it is that which makes the flames.

BTW, I note a lot of people were suggesting that you split it. *If
this is southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) good luck on doing
that unless you have a hydraulic log splitter.

Study reveals that "Quercus virginiana" is probably what I've got. It
seems as if the USS Constitution was constructed of this wood -
though obviously not MY wood - earning the ship the nickname of "Old
Ironsides."
Interestingly, these trees earn an A+ for resistance to wildfires,
hurricanes, and salinity.

Tell that to the three I have on the ground "out back" as a result of the
2004 hurricanes. *Of course, two of them are still living * * *So is
another one that was struck and nearly girdled by lightning a handful of
years ago. *The *are* survivors.

OTOH, they are constantly having limbs die. *The amount of tree trash from
our 30+ oaks is phenomonal! *Most of it is pencil size and smaller twigs but
some is larger, some up to 15" in diameter and 15-20' long. *Anytime I am
around live oak trees I always check what is above my head.

You don't have the same concerns when you are around dead oak trees?

On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:15:01 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

*Anytime I am
around live oak trees I always check what is above my head.

You don't have the same concerns when you are around dead oak trees?

Many moons ago engines were pulled from cars, using an oak tree.

Just pick the right branch. An engine can hang on them.

On 9/17/2012 8:58 AM, Dave M. wrote:
nestork,

I don't follow this.

Living oak will be typically about 68% water. So, in a 50 pound section
of freshly cut white or red oak, about 20 pounds will be water and 30
pounds will be wood.

How can this be true? Wood floats, so it is less dense than water You
say that this oak is 68% water which is the dense stuff. You remove that (
or most of it?) and the dryed wood still weighs 30 lbs?
So you start out with 50 lbs of wood and remove more than 68% of it' s
weight (the water). If the wood and water are of equal density the dryed
wood would weigh 16 lbs. Wood's density is less than water's so you would
actually end up with less than 16 lbs. of dry wood.
Your PDF claims that dry wood is about 12% water. 68%-12%=56% so the dry
wood can't weigh more than 44% of the starting weight yet you claim to have
30 lbs of wood which is 60% of the starting weight.
What am I missing?

Dave M.




Look what this site has to say:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wo...eat-d_372.html

On Sep 16, 3:25*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
A week? A year? Two years? Six months per inch?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Background:

My city, in its infinite wisdom, cut down, so far, about twenty-five 75-year
old live oak trees growing in the median of a busy street near my home*.
They then sawed up the remains into two-foot sections suitable for putting
in a fireplace. I THINK the city plans to install a sewer down the median;
but maybe they just hate trees.

My son and I scored a pick-up load of these logs, much to the amazement and
head-shaking of the nearby traffic. The material we foraged range from two
inches to over six. I threw together a firewood rack out of some left-over
2" PVC and stacked the wood. My stack is about 4' wide and 3' tall (and 2'
deep), ample for a city dweller just looking for ambiance, not heat.

I'm here to tell you, raw live oak is some HEAVY stuff!

--------------
* Houston: Bellaire Blvd east of Sam Houston Parkway if any local people
want to gather some, ah, "windfall".

A year if you have a dry well ventilated storage place.
Oak is one of the best firewoods you can get.

Oren wrote:
On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:15:01 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

Anytime I am
around live oak trees I always check what is above my head.

You don't have the same concerns when you are around dead oak trees?

Many moons ago engines were pulled from cars, using an oak tree.

Just pick the right branch. An engine can hang on them.

Like last year!

I had to replace the fuel gauge sensor on my Chevrolet pickup. I had an oak
tree that overhung the driveway, so I bought a chain lift and attached it to
the lowest limb (HF, $40). Removing 8 bolts from the pickup's bed, I was
able to lift the bed off the truck thereby gaining access to the gas tank
and the fuel sensor. Shortly thereafter I sold the chain lift on Craigslist
for $45.

Let's hear it for the old oak tree.