Standing dead Hard Maple

Maple normally dries rather quickly. The fact that it has been standing dead for at least two years should make it ready by October. I split some maple in January that was dead since last summer and initially it contained a 30% Moisture content, I checked last weekend and it was down to 20. Im expecting with the summer sun and winds that by October it will be in the low teens.

I got a Sugar last Summer that had been dying for a few years. Some branches were dead while others still had some leaves on them. I used the moisture meter to cull out the drier stuff, which I was able to burn last Winter. The rest is stacked and I'll check it come Fall. I think the hard Maple will take longer than the soft varieties. The Red Maple I had last year seemed to dry even faster than Ash and Cherry I had, even though there was water squeezing out when I split it.

Welcome to the forum Joe. I'd guess it should be ready to burn in the fall so long as you stack it off the ground, out in the wind and stack it loosely. Don't try to stack tight and pretty because the extra air flow with the loose stacking will hasten the drying process. Also, stack in single rows. Then enjoy the heat next winter.

I just dropped a dead sugar maple a couple weeks ago that died in the ice storm of Dec 08. The upper trunk and limbs were solid and pretty dry, but the main lower trunk was VERY wet and had turned pretty punky. Cheers!