Splitting Next Year's (or Later) Wood

 Very generous friends dropped a red oak tree last week and gave me the wood.  It was medium-sized.  It fit (barely) in the bed of the truck.

The relatively small branches I set aside for the moment, and started on the larger sections of the trunk.  Although fresh, it split relatively well, with exceptions.  I have had problems with some varieties of oak when newly-felled.  These pieces tore in places, and some were very hard to fully separate, but over the course of about three hours, I got it all done.  Some I stacked on a pallet:

And some I put on a linear rack under cover.

In the picture above, the new wood is to the left; on the right of the rack is an eclectic mix of maple, poplar, and red oak mostly cut down in 2020.

The two pictures show about two-thirds of the wood from the truck bed. In terms of volume, the truck bed holds about 52 cubic feet; a cord is 128 cubic feet.  When split, the 52 cubic feet would expand somewhat, but it is still probably only about a half cord.  More will be needed for a season's heating, but this is a nice and welcome start.

Some say that oak needs to season for much longer than part of a year: November is only eight months away.  I have burned oak that seasoned for about eight months, and more that has been older.  The longest recommended interval I have found online is three years (here and other places). Many sites suggest two years.  Most sites agree at least that it seasons quicker when split.

I have other wood to burn before this, but will most likely begin burning it sometime next winter.