Air drying lumber - through the winter

[David Peterson]

I just finished stacking a couple of loads of freshly cut ash and cherry to air dry in upstate New York. This is my first attempt at this. I read all the posts here on the subject, followed all the advice and now look forward to having a stock of good, dried lumber in the future.

Then it occurred to me: what happens in the winter to my lumber piles? They are in a fairly protected area, stickered, covered on top but the sides are all exposed. If this coming winter is anything like the last, they will be adrift in 3 to 4 feet of snow for months at a time. As the snow melts and freezes and melts again through the winter and spring, won't the wood absorb all that moisture? I wasn't planning on having to shovel out my driveway and my lumber piles too!

[John TenEyck]

Dave, your lumber will be fine, but it won't dry much if any after it starts raining in November. In fact, it probably will gain back some moisture after the nice dry days of October are gone. However, by October the wood will have likely dried down to well below 20% and should be just fine through the upcoming fall/winter as long as you keep the rain from driving against it. A little snow isn't so bad so don't worry if you see some blown on the boards this winter. I've been drying lumber in WNY for about 8 years now and the only time I lost any wood to winter was from my own stupidity. I draped some plastic sheeting down over the sides of some maple I had just milled in November, because I didn't want any rain or snow to get on it. Dumb idea. Next spring it was a green, moldy mess. Can you say "Paint grade."? Lesson learned. Now I try not to mill any lumber after Labor Day so that it has a chance to get down low enough in moisture content that mold/fungus can't grow and, above all, I never cover the sides. Keep the rain off your lumber stacks and enjoy the winter. Late next spring you're going to have some nice lumber.

[Jim Becker]

Weather isn't as much of a factor as you might at first think. If your stack is placed where the prevailing wind provides lots of airflow through the stack, your lumber will still be losing moisture despite occasional surface wet from precipitation. Having that airflow also helps keep the snow drifts "off" the pile more so than would happen if you're blocking the wind in some way. I have 1500 board feet of poplar on the hill behind our home and it has not been bothered by winter snow in any way. (I will soon be bringing it inside...have to build some racks to store it in first)

[David Peterson]

Thanks for the reassurance, guys. I only thought about it after having spent an awful lot of time just preparing a site for the stuff. My property is just outside the Catskills and, aside from the house, I have 12 acres of steep hill. It took me 2 weekends just digging out a level surface for the stuff and preparing some raised footings. After that effort, along with humping the boards up to their new home, I was afraid that I might just be coddling a lot of future firewood.

[Chris Fournier]

Air drying your own lumber is a pretty tedious task which invloves a lot of work if you want good quality stain free lumber. Winter poses no problems for you but I would try to keep the lumber snow free. I would invest in a good quality moisture meter and some resource material - your forestery service has great info about what you are up to.

[Richard Coers]

I would treat that ash with Timbor right away. Fresh cut ash is candy to powder post beetles, and the sap wood on most any other species will draw them in as well. It's prime season right now in IL for them. I'm throwing a bunch of turning blanks away this week from powder post beetle infestation, and have thrown some air dried lumber away in the past. These little beggers can ruin your day!

[Joe Angrisani]

David.... If the stack will actually be buried in a snow drift, you might consider a 15'-20' section of snow fence placed about 15' upwind of your stack so the drift forms on the fence, not the lumber.

[Scott T Smith]

You might also consider wrapping your stack in some type of landscape cloth (professionals use a product called "Shade-dri" to keep the snow out of it.

[David Peterson]

Check on the Timbor - that's been done. I spent a bit of time gathering all the collective wisdom of SMC before doing any of this. I'll keep the idea of a snow fence or landscape cloth in mind and see how the winter plays out. I would be very apprehensive looking out back and seeing about 600 bd/ft of snow mound.