A TON of Oak

[FoxmanNC]

I purchased a load of hardwood, mostly oak with some hickory, a few weeks ago, but I've noticed that many people on Facebook Marketplace are posting ads for free or very inexpensive oak or various firewood. So, I've been keeping an eye on the market for a good opportunity. Finally, a guy says he has five large oak cores for free. Come and get it. He was maybe 30 minutes away. My son and I load up and head over. This thing was a 300-year-old oak that was over 100 feet tall, leaning toward power lines, so Duke Energy dropped it for him. We had much more than we could handle. Thankfully, the guy had a 28" saw, and along with the three we brought, we got all we wanted in a single trip. We got about a ton, and you couldn't tell we had taken any; that is how big these cores were. For reference, I am 6' 1" and my trailer is 16'. I told the guy, these would make some great brisket one day. I also told him I'd be back for more, but these will take a minute to break down on my own.

 

[Chasdev]

I love me some free wood but how in the heck are you going to convert those into "sticks"?
You must have a STRONG log splitter!

 

[chopsaw]

There's a small fortune in live edge slabs right there . Just have to flip the bill to get it hauled and sliced .
When I had my offset , I ran it on red oak .

 

[chef k-dude]

I'm sore from splitting and handling wood yesterday myself. A neighbor had 6 trees taken down, two of them large oaks, maybe 75% of the size of that monster. He piled it all up out close to the road and gave me first dibs since he knows I heat with wood. There have been several people stopping by (people who arent supposed to be on this private road, but trespass anyway) asking to buy or if they can take it and he tells them its spoken for. I've been out there getting what I want of it and hauling it to my property before somebody steals it! Still having to pre-split some of those to break them down before moving them to my truck.

They wont be stealing those big pieces though! I started working with my neighbor and a couple tractors to position some of them under my splitter in vertical mode and we got some broken down, but after recent tests, my doc says I should limit my exertion to 6 out of 10, so I'm working on the more manageable sized stuff and will leave the huge stuff to younger men to deal with!

Not smoking meat with any of this though. It will be burned for home heat BTU's.

 

[FoxmanNC]

I love me some free wood but how in the heck are you going to convert those into "sticks"?
You must have a STRONG log splitter!

That will be the challenge. I have a maul coming, but I am going to have to be creative.

 

[FoxmanNC]

There's a small fortune in live edge slabs right there . Just have to flip the bill to get it hauled and sliced .
When I had my offset , I ran it on red oak .

Yessir, if this guy had the right connections, he could get good money, especially for that large, probably 8' piece. That would make some great table slabs. But it would take a whale of a piece of equipment to get it off the ground, and a big truck to handle the load.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I had 12 large oaks come down during Helene smallest was just shy of 3' across. Four of them were over 5' all white oak. So many trees came down around me you couldn't give any of it away.
So far I've spent 20K cleaning and still need to land smoothed/leveled to replant grass.

 

[mcokevin]

I love me some free wood but how in the heck are you going to convert those into "sticks"?
You must have a STRONG log splitter!

Or one really big smoker

 

[Smokin Okie]

That's the best way to source wood. Cause you know all about it, specifically, when it was cut.

The sellers on Facebook Marketplace or Craigs List, won't think twice about misrepresenting what they got.

 

[chef k-dude]

That will be the challenge. I have a maul coming, but I am going to have to be creative.

Oh...man...a maul? Those thinner slices through the straight grain parts may cooperate but anything where a branch was is going to give you hell. Looks like you have some nice clean slices there though. If you have a sledge hammer or the backside of your maul is a sledge, a wedge or "grenade" (they are calling them "diamonds" now) would be helpful.

When we first bought our place (10 acres of forest), I beat myself silly thinking I was going to be a "man" splitting my firewood by hand (we burn a wood stove for most of our heat). After a couple years my wife insisted I invest in a wood/log splitter...she was right of course, we have some very gnarly species here that will drive you mad even spitting with a hydraulic splitter! I cut only standing dead and trees posing danger. The forest usually provides plenty as the ants slowly have their way.

Straight grain red oak is about the easiest to split though, especially when it's green/fresh. You'll find those thinner slices you cut will be easiest. Got any neighbors with hydraulic splitters? Any place you can rent one for a day? A big investment buying one if you are just smoking food with the wood otherwise. For me it's saved me thousands of dollars off the heat bill over the years. If you can borrow a splitter, you'll want one that will stand vertical as well as lay horizontal.

 

[Chasdev]

Remember safety driving a splitter
They can sometimes bind up and launch injurious chunks right at your face.
At least my smallish horizontal version does!

 

[Recteqer]

Remember safety driving a splitter
They can sometimes bind up and launch injurious chunks right at your face.
At least my smallish horizontal version does!

YUP! I`ve seen it happen! Bout took the guys head off!
He survived, but he don`t look or act the same!

 

[Hijack73]

Man, nice - I'd just rent a splitter for an afternoon after I picked up all I wanted.

 

[chopsaw]

I have a maul coming, but I am going to have to be creative.

For the large diameter cuts , get a splitting wedge . 2 of them , and a sledge hammer . Wear gloves and eye protection .
Find a split or crack in the round , and align with that . Start at the edge with the first wedge .
Then move in towards the center and drive the second wedge . That will spread the split enough to remove the first one . Then leap frog it past the second and do the same , following the direction . Repeat until the round splits in two .
From there you can figure out if you want to swing the maul , or if a rented splitter works , or if you need another pass with the wedges .

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Nice Score. You would never see that in my area.