Big leaf (west coast) maple drying time

[AndrewU]

Got a few cords of big leaf maple split. Pretty sure it will be dry enough by next fall/winter to burn, assuming I get it stacked in my shed soon. But, am I being overly optimistic? Typical split is <4" on the biggest side. I'm on the north end of the Puget Sound.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Got a few cords of big leaf maple split. Pretty sure it will be dry enough by next fall/winter to burn, assuming I get it stacked in my shed soon. But, am I being overly optimistic? Typical split is <4" on the biggest side. I'm on the north end of the Puget Sound.

If it acts anything like the silver maple I have it should dry out pretty fast.

 

[AndrewU]

If it acts anything like the silver maple I have it should dry out pretty fast.

It's a soft maple, much closer to silver than sugar maple.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

If it’s like silver and red maple, I’m sure it will be good by next burning season. I’m processing hardwoods now ( not oak) with the plan to use them in a years time.

 

[ericm979]

Big Leaf Maple is my favorite firewood of the nine species of trees we have here. Splits easy, dries relatively fast and burns well. It also doesn't rot when its on the forest floor so you can grab old dead stuff. If if was alive recently, one summer may be enough if the shed is in the sun and well ventilated. If it's years dead it may be nearly ready now if it was off the ground.

 

[begreen]

Yes, it should be ok to burn in the 2025-2026 heating season. We have a batch of it. It has good attributes, but I prefer Doug Fir, mainly because it creates a lot less ash than Soft Maple. That said, there is a big split of soft maple in the stove right now.

 

[AndrewU]

Big Leaf Maple is my favorite firewood of the nine species of trees we have here. Splits easy, dries relatively fast and burns well. It also doesn't rot when its on the forest floor so you can grab old dead stuff. If if was alive recently, one summer may be enough if the shed is in the sun and well ventilated. If it's years dead it may be nearly ready now if it was off the ground.

Been down a couple years. But the bigger rounds were still wet to the touch when first split.

 

[begreen]

It'll dry out now that it's split. Years back a friend dropped off a truck load of large maple rounds that had been sitting in a swamp. They were seriously waterlogged and heavy. I split them up and stacked the splits to dry. By the next year they burned fine.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

The variables are amount of sun, wind, and humidity in the air. Besides the type of wood.

In the Seattle area I'd think firewood takes longer to dry.

I like to have it in the sun, in the wind, with a top on it. A storage shed limits sun and wind.

 

[AndrewU]

The variables are amount of sun, wind, and humidity in the air. Besides the type of wood.

In the Seattle area I'd think firewood takes longer to dry.

I like to have it in the sun, in the wind, with a top on it. A storage shed limits sun.

Summers here are actually fairly warm and very dry. June-August (sometimes September too) is often bone dry. No rain and humidity down around 30%.

Bear in mind this is not like trying to dry oak, or hickory. Big leaf maple is going to dry, I'd think anyway, similarly to silver maple. Not as fast as alder or Doug fir or pine, but much, much faster than east of the rockies hardwoods.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Summers here are actually fairly warm and very dry. June-August (sometimes September too) is often bone dry. No rain and humidity down around 30%.

Bear in mind this is not like trying to dry oak, or hickory. Big leaf maple is going to dry, I'd think anyway, similarly to silver maple. Not as fast as alder or Doug fir or pine, but much, much faster than east of the rockies hardwoods.

True, you do have the dry summers.

 

[AndrewU]

Finally got it all stacked in my woodshed. Got a small tractor, and I'd guesstimate roughly 75 trips to fill the left side of the shed with 3 cords. Got another 1/5 cord or so piled in front of the shed that once the right side is empty it can be stacked there.

Shed faces south, has good overhangs on the roof, and is well ventilated (2x6 siding with the thickness of a 2x open between them). Floor is similar, and 1-3' above the ground. I can do 5 layers of 18" wood, stacked 8.5' high, and 6' wide (so 7.5'x6'x8.5' total volume on each side).

Plan will be to totally refill the right side by mid-late summer. That will be the '26-'27 season's wood. With mostly big leaf maple, alder, and a little birch we should be good to go.

I really want to build another shed. Close to the house and easy to get to, but not against the house to keep bugs away. Likely 1-1.5 cord capacity. That way I can wait on good weather days to restock from the big shed. That would give an extra cord of storage capacity with a better close to house place to keep wood than on my deck.