# How long for split hard maple to dry?



## cycloxer (Nov 3, 2009)

I bought a cord of hard maple (and some oak) about a month ago. It has been stacked and stored in two locations: one outdoors (with top covered) and one indoors. How long will each take to dry? Also, this wood is to be burnt in a fireplace.


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## WOODBUTCHER (Nov 3, 2009)

cycloxer said:
			
		

> I bought a cord of hard maple (and some oak) about a month ago. It has been stacked and stored in two locations: one outdoors (with top covered) and one indoors. How long will each take to dry? Also, this wood is to be burnt in a fireplace.



Any Oak I burn in my F500 gets 18+ months (esp Red Oak) Sugar Maple needs well over a year.
Where is the wood stored inside? Oak really needs sun/wind.
Post some pictures of some splits, maybe we can get an idea how far along your wood is.

WoodButcher


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## CTburning (Nov 3, 2009)

Is it going to be burnt in an open fireplace?  In that case 6 months would be fine.


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## cycloxer (Nov 3, 2009)

Yes, it is to be burnt in an open fireplace.

I have three storage locations. I stack about a cord of it outside, exposed on all four sides with a waterproof tarp covering the top of the stack. Then I have another outdoor location that is protected by an overhang on the house so it always stays dry. I store about a cord face there. Then I have a large wood rack inside the house that holds maybe 10-15 cubic feet.

My plan is to burn the indoor wood first, then switch to the protected cord face, and then finally dip into the outdoor stack. I figure the indoor wood will dry the fastest simply due to the ambient temperature and humidy, but I have no idea how much quicker.


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## flyingcow (Nov 3, 2009)

I got 10 cord of rock maple and a little beech mixed in. I cut split and stacked in one row about 2 1/2 cord of it. I C/S/piled in a big heap the rest of it. I did the single row approx 1st of april. The big pile was completed by may 1st. This location gets all the sun and wind(which we had no sun until late july, but tons of rain!). Perfect location. Split up in small to midsized pieces. Split open a few and got 20-21% moisture readings about 3 weeks ago. The big pile of wood, tested out 25 to 30%. Some were still 32/35%. I did not cover any of this wood. Only reason I see for covering wood is to keep the snow off it. And that's only if I was going to use it this season. Don't need to have wood with ice and snow on it when you try to burn it.


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## cycloxer (Nov 3, 2009)

Gotcha. Yeah my main cord stacked 4x4x8 gets pretty wet even with the cover on top. Like you, I really only use the tarp on top to keep off the snow. In a real rain storm the sides of the stack get pretty much soaked. What moisture % do you want to get down to before burning?


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## gyrfalcon (Nov 3, 2009)

cycloxer said:
			
		

> I bought a cord of hard maple (and some oak) about a month ago. It has been stacked and stored in two locations: one outdoors (with top covered) and one indoors. How long will each take to dry? Also, this wood is to be burnt in a fireplace.



How large are your splits?  Rock maple dries pretty fast, but expecting to burn wood this year that was just cut and split a month ago is a little dubious, even in a fireplace.  The farther down you can split it, the faster it'll dry.  The stuff with exposure to wind on all sides is going to dry faster than the stuff next to your house under the overhang.  How fast it'll dry inside by comparison I don't know because I've never tried it, although I'm going to be doing some of that this winter.

A couple years ago I ended up with about a cord of good-sized but not giant splits of just cut rock maple stacked uncovered against the north wall (ie, no sun) of my barn, and it was quite burnable, though not ideal, by early spring.


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## cycloxer (Nov 3, 2009)

The splits are good sized. I may double split the face cord to get the pieces a little smaller for earlier burning. That wood stays perfectly dry and gets plenty of air floor so I think it is going to dry the fastest.

Also, I do have some maple that I cut to size about a year ago, but I never split. I could split that up, but I am not sure if it will be drier or wetter.


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## CowboyAndy (Nov 4, 2009)

most of what i burn is sugar maple. last year was a mixed bag with it because i basiclly cut from june to october. the maple was no where near ready. this year it was ALL cut split and stacked by april. i resplit a few pieces and was showing 21/22% mc, and they wont get burned till about january. but then again, they were stacked in the most ideal conditions possible... sun almost all day and perpendicular to the wind, not stacked too tightly.


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## cycloxer (Nov 4, 2009)

So basically I am still looking at 6 months to 1 year to properly age the wood.


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## WOODBUTCHER (Nov 4, 2009)

cycloxer said:
			
		

> So basically I am still looking at 6 months to 1 year to properly age the wood.



In an open fireplace, you could probably get away with it. Re-split smaller and try a fire and see if it burns good enough for you. 
You're looking for *"ambiance fires"* correct?

WoodButcher


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## cycloxer (Nov 5, 2009)

I burn about 1/2-3/4 of a cord per year mostly on weekends. I don't really try to get any practical heat output from the fireplace. When I get a good fire going the thing does throw massive amounts of heat and I can get my 14x30' room into the mid 70's w/o too much difficulty. Of course this also consumes quite a bit of wood and then you have to leave the flue open all night. So, in the end I figure I am not getting much net heat out of my wood. I have considered putting in a wood stove, but I have a very efficient Burnham natural gas furnace with forced hot water. With natural gas prices at their current level a wood stove doesn't make any economic sense for my situation.


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