How quickly do maple rounds rot?

[rygar]

So i have had a bunch of maple rounds stacked for about a year and a half. Just started splitting and it seemed soft and gummy. Is this wood salvagable?

It was stacked off the ground.

Here is close up of split wood

 

[Destructor]

I have split big rounds of maple that have been sitting around a couple years with bark falling off. I found that they can lose some density but was still plenty good to burn. They dry quickly after splitting. Much of that wood still looks good but it's difficult to tell by the photo alone. Get it under cover where it will stay dry but still able to have ventilation.

 

[pernox]

How long to rot depends on the conditions it's in. What you have looks like a few pieces might be getting a little punky, but nothing to worry about. Sugar maple which I cut a lot of around here likes to rot from the inside out, but there's still plenty of primo btus around the rot!

As stated, keep it from getting soaked by rain and you'll be good.

 

[FLINT]

it doesn't look too bad to burn. I've burned wood like that before. Its definitely not the best, or as good as it could be.

that looks like red maple, and it will rot pretty quickly if not stacked off the ground. The worst way ever to leave wood is cut side down on the ground. it will just suck water right up from the ground and rot it quickly. We've lost red maple before at my parents house leaving it too long on the ground like that. it also rots way quicker if its left unsplit. sucks in water more quickly than it can loose it.

Some woods you can get away with that better than others. The worst woods for rotting on the ground are tulip poplar and sweet gum. Red oak will rot more quickly than white. hickory actually will rot suprisingly fast on the ground. black locust I don't think you can make rot.

 

[Manly]

I have kept maple rounds for a few years without issue. However they were on pallets off the ground with the top only covered. I have a relatively small working area so I have to keep my wood organized and covered. I run a small stove, Jotul 3cb, so rounds and splits are small. Still manage to gobble up 3.5 cord per season. Was out this morning splitting for next season with my small splitter. Just a small time guy. Manly

 

[Kevin Weis]

Looks like Silver Maple. If it is it won't last much longer unless it's split and put under cover.

 

[rygar]

yeah ive put in 2 hours over the weekend splitting. barely made a dent. but will get it all split. will keep it exposed to sun wind during sunny days and cover when wet weather is coming. will have to bust my ass the next couple weeks to get this all split. luckily most of it has been good hand splitting so i havent had to get the hydraulic to do the work. might take a day off to just split.

 

[Allagash350]

I have been burning probably 75 % maple this year. It dries quickly and I burn logs like yours, or worse, all the time. Sometimes I pick up a log and it weighs about 2 pounds haha.
Maple dries really quickly, especially with good sun. Wind helps obviously but the sun just really dries them good.

The punky logs I like when you just need a quick hot fire to warm the place up, they don’t burn long.

 

[Destructor]

I like burning some maple that’s been sitting around a long time but hasn't yet gone punky. It loses some density but is still very solid. It makes great kindling and catches fast. It’s great to mix in with the better, harder pieces of maple.

 

[maple1]

A lot of what I'm burning now looks like that, but I've been scrounging Storm Arthur windfalls for the 5 years or whatever since that went through, so some of it is getting past prime before I can get to it. It will burn fine, maybe with a few less BTUs than if it was fresh cut & split right away. But if I don't split my windfalls right away after cutting into rounds, it will really deteriorate fast.

 

[rygar]

so i have gotten through about 80% off that pile hand splitting. probably lost 5lbs well worth it.
most of the wood was actually in pretty good shape and solid.

amazing how it was able to dry out while unsplit. have all of it split and stacked on pallets. i have a very good feelign this can be used this upcoming winter. can let all my red oak season another year. still have red oak logs to process.

starting to run out of room wood storage. good problems to have.