Fast drying wood types?

Soft maple is hard to beat.

Ash dries quick

Of course I think the effects of splitting it small and loose stacking it trumps wood type. The stack in the picture is stable and doesn't take up a lot of room but there isn't a lot of room for air flow between the logs.

I was in the same boat, have lots of oak but its not ready. For this coming winter I harvested Ash, sugar maple, walnut, hackberry, elm. These should all be under 20% in 9 months.

Softwoods like pine if c/s/s right away will be ready for next winter.

I had seen elsewhere on this site that pine is typically a 2 year season? I do have some pine rounds that are over a year old (picked up on scrounge) that I can s/s, but still unsure.

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Pine can be ready in as little as 8 months. Use a moisture meeter to be sure. I burn pine and with a MM I find I am in the burnable stage in 10-13 months here in Saluda VA. That being said I have had pine that was ready to burn in 8 months but that was split small and it burned up very fast! Used it mostly to get a fire going for the larger splits. I find the bigger splits burn better for me (IE longer) but are ready in the 10-13 month range and have taken as long as 18 if split in just large halfs. I did once leave a bunch of rounds stacked with the bark still on it and they tool 28 months to be ready... that was just out of curiosity on my part.

ryjen said:

I had seen elsewhere on this site that pine is typically a 2 year season? I do have some pine rounds that are over a year old (picked up on scrounge) that I can s/s, but still unsure.

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Maybe that was posted by some but I can only go from my own experiences. I burn predominately Lodgepole pine which is one of the denser pines. In November 2012 I c,s,s green lodgepole pine and started burning it this last November. Moisture content on a freshly split round is under 20%. We have snow on the ground from November until sometime in April so our drying season may be less than some in milder climates. Getting into a good location off the ground and top covered should have it ready for you by next season.

I'd grab soft Maple (Silver and Red) and Black Cherry. The "Poplar" we have here is Tulip (Yellow Poplar) and it dries quick, but doesn't even burn as long as the soft Maple and Cherry. The dead White Ash I cut here starts in the mid 20s moisture and will dry in a summer if I don't split too big. It'll burn a bit longer than the others. Like peakbagger said, the key is to keep split size medium or smaller. Take a hatchet out there and look for standing or fallen trees with smaller trunks and the bark gone. Chop 'em and if they're solid, grab 'em!

We'll you have the slowest and one of the quickest mixed together, but maple and ash are quicker seasoning. Once you get a 3 year stash you can let it all go 3 years and never worry about what is seasoned. It's a good feeling.

Most pines will dry fairly quick. But around here I rate soft maple, white pine, cherry and then ash as the best for quick drying.

Look for standing dead anything that isn't too rotted. Or downed tree tops with large limbs that have started to dry. Poplar will dry by mid fall. I burn a good bit of pine and am currently splitting some rounds that are half dried already. This will be 50%+ of my wood for next year, the remainder coming from oak I have put away last year and maybe some dead scrounging

Silver maple. At least around here they were widely planted as yard tree's and they grow very big very fast, people have them cut down just due to the size. Two years ago I cut and split in Februrary and it was plenty dry by the time November rolled around.

wahoowad said:

Look for standing dead anything that isn't too rotted. Or downed tree tops with large limbs that have started to dry. Poplar will dry by mid fall. I burn a good bit of pine and am currently splitting some rounds that are half dried already. This will be 50%+ of my wood for next year, the remainder coming from oak I have put away last year and maybe some dead scrounging

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standing dead, makes sense dosen't it? Elm, Ash or Red Maple.

If you want a quick dry wood, soft maple, cherry, walnut and ash. Right now I have right at 7+ cord of maple, cherry, ash and walnut for next year split and stacked. Will not use it all but I really like soft maple, got more to get this coming weekend. I also have 2 1/2 cord of oak and hedge that will be ready for the next burning season. This year I might be lucky to burn 4 cord.

Sugar Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Cedar, Silver Maple, Douglas Fir, White Fir, Really any conifer or pine should work.

i have had lots of black birch season in 1 year

Silver Maple, Norway Maple, Birch, Elm, Ash, Cherry, Willow and Pine.
All these trees have a larger percentage of Sapwood vs. Heartwood.

Alot of people on here dislike Gum because it is hard to split, I find if I let it sit for about 2-3 months in rounds after cutting it down it is easier to split, doesn't get as many strands as it does when it is fresh cut.

I like to stay a year out with my Gum/Maple, usually nice and dry.

Being a fellow NC guy, I will chip in my thoughts......

I have never found ash around here, so that is out.

Yellow pine and tulip poplar both dry quick. The do especially well if you find a standing dead tree. It is common to find pine around here that the bark has come 50 - 70% off and the tree is still standing. These tend to be 25% moisture when cut.

Another tree that I love to burn if you can get ahold of it is cedar. I got a cedar log in January (14" diameter 6' long) that was on the side of the road along with all the brush. I bucked it and split it that day. The moisture meter read 17%. Every cedar tree I have ever gotten my hands on has always been really dry.

In general, if you can find a dead tree that was cut out, they tend to be drier.

I have a white oak that was cut out, standing dead, that I am working on splitting now. Fresh splits measure 28% today. I'm willing to bet they will be ready to burn this winter.

ArsenalDon said:

Sugar Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Cedar, Silver Maple, Douglas Fir, White Fir, Really any conifer or pine should work.

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I second that.

even some of the rotten looking stuff that has fallen is still good firewood. I had a small red oak fall a couple of weeks back. Hardly any bark on it except the bark under the thick poison ivy vine that went all the way to the top and then spread out in a big tangled mess of PI branches . Friggin' tree fell right across a small woodpile next to a picnic table. I took advantage of yesterday's cold snap and the fact that the tree was no longer covered with snow to get rid of this log yesterday before it got too warm to bundle up. ( I get PI really bad).

I was amazed, when I took the saw to the log, to find that the heartwood was still rock solid - not rot, not insect damage. I thought the log migh break apart by hand it was so rotten looking. Most of the bark was long gone....in fact, the PI vine had somehow knit the remaining bark loosely to the tree on on side and when it came down, lucky for me, the bark and the vine fell off the tree together for most of the length of the log so I was able to buck most of it without cutting into the vine with the chainsaw.

The sapwood was all punky but there was only a thin stripe of that so I hacked it off the rounds, along with any remaining PI hairs and ended up with 21 good rounds of red oak heartwood to split.

ryjen said:

I had seen elsewhere on this site that pine is typically a 2 year season? I do have some pine rounds that are over a year old (picked up on scrounge) that I can s/s, but still unsure.

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I've read 6-9 months for douglas fir. I know douglas fir is not a pine, but I think it's similar. I'll find out soon, as I had 2 cords of douglas fir rounds delivered, split and stacked in January for next winter.

Tom Wallace said:

I've read 6-9 months for douglas fir. I know douglas fir is not a pine, but I think it's similar. I'll find out soon, as I had 2 cords of douglas fir rounds delivered, split and stacked in January for next winter.

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Doug Fir is the king of soft wood....great BTU output although watch for the drippy sap....overall a great wood!

ryjen said:

pine is typically a 2 year season?

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Not in my experience, but then I am out on the west coast and our humidity is low. 6-8 mos if green and we are well under 20%

ArsenalDon said:

Doug Fir is the king of soft wood

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Fir is pretty far up there when it comes to great softwoods but Larch (my favorite) is rated quite high on btu charts such as chimneysweep.com and in my opinion is the king. This is the coveted softwood for those who are lucky enough to live where it is available. I was noticing today that its being offered here for $280 a cord. I will cut my own thanks.