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don_b_1

Splitting red oak firewood

don_b_1
15 years ago

Generally speaking, is red oak easier to split when green or after it's had a year to dry?

Comments (6)

  • christopherh
    15 years ago

    It all depends on what you're using to split it with. A log splitter doesn't care how hard the wood is. A maul doesn't care either. I guess it all depends on the equipment you're using.

  • heimert
    15 years ago

    In general green wood is easier to split than seasoned because the fibers haven't hardened off.

  • foolyap
    15 years ago

    In general green wood is easier to split than seasoned because the fibers haven't hardened off.

    Agreed. Also, splitting green wood and letting it dry for a year gives you firewood that's ready to burn. Letting trunk sections "dry" for a year, then splitting it, probably gives you firewood that needs another year to be ready to burn.

    --Steve

  • breezy_2
    15 years ago

    Hands down green is easier. Also, good red oak, especially trunk/main log sections, splits easiest of all. Hickory is the hardest to split b/c it is very stringy.

  • christopherh
    15 years ago

    I split a lot of maple up here. And I can assure you, maple splits soooo much easier when dry. Same with pine.

    Up her eth etrees are felled in Feb or March. The logs are stacked up and in the spring after maple sugar season they are cut and split until August. Then the wood is sold as seasoned wood. And it burns very nicely. Many people buy the log lengths and cut and split it themselves. You can get 5 or 6 cords for about $125 a cord. Nobody waits a year for the wood to turn gray. With the execption of course ...pine. We use pine only to start the fire. But after November, the fire never goes out until late April.

  • don_b_1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks. Mostly I deal with live oak and you pretty much have to split that when it's green. I was wondering if red oak may be different.

    The straight grained sections of red oak are easy to split with a maul. The crotch and curved pieces are nearly as bad as live oak.

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