# Poplar dry time ?



## Cutterman (May 5, 2012)

Gents, just finished cutting, splitting and stacking two poplar trees that came down last year when Lee hit. Its still green but was wondering what the typical dry time for Poplar is ?  Will It be ready for this Fall or next ?

Thanks,

Joe


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## Stax (May 5, 2012)

Moisture meter.  Lowes carries them.  Very inexpensive.


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## Gary_602z (May 5, 2012)

I think you will find out it will be fine for this year.

Gary


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## bogydave (May 5, 2012)

Should be fine if you get a reasonably dry summer.
Poplar dries pretty fast.


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## JoeyD (May 5, 2012)

I only ever picked up poplar by mistake once and it seemed to dry in a matter of weeks. I never did check the moisture content but it lost a lot of wieght fast. It should be fine by this winter if you keep it dry.


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## Backwoods Savage (May 5, 2012)

Right on. No MM needed and the wood should be ready come fall.


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## firefighterjake (May 7, 2012)

+1 to what others said . . . if split and stacked now it should be good by Fall . . . not super good, but it should burn OK.


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## Wood Duck (May 8, 2012)

I think it will depend a lot on how small you split, how well you stack, and how much sun and wind the stack gets. Big poplar splits in a heap in the shade probably won't be much good in the fall. Medium-sized splits in a single-file stack with lots of air space standing in the sun and wind will be ready for fall, I think.


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## Kyle19 (May 8, 2012)

No Problem on poplar being dried enough for the fall.  That stuff drys with a few months.  It almost floats off of the wood pile it gets so dry and light.


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## maplewood (May 9, 2012)

Yes, you can burn it this year.  Split each piece if you can.

I'm still cutting some poplar that I'll burn this coming winter.
If you can cover the tops of the stacks, it will improve your drying.
I've found that poplar and soft wood absorb a lot of surface water (rain) compared to hard woods.
I built a little pallet shed last year to test out this finding. What a difference it made in the drying time
and quality of my poplar. I'm going to build a couple more sheds like this. The pallets are free to me,
and the tin roofing is scrounged from a collapsed storage shed, so the cost is $0!

There are 3 ranks in the shed. The top half of the front rank is hardwood pieces from my
12 cord we just finished last month. But the rest is poplar, fir and a little white birch. Ready
for the stove!


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