So I got a pretty good offer on a literally bottomless pile of logs that a large tree company has on their lot. I can "tag" what I want and they'll set it aside, for a very low cost (in advance of "where?", the locals are already all over this and this is a limited time offer....). So I tagged some red and white oak, hard maple, and cherry, and am sitting on the fence on some walnut. Sawmill guy will bring his saw onsite and is very reasonably priced. Logs are 18-40 inches, 8-14 feet long. This seems like a no brainer but...

As I am an amateur woodworker, I know less about drying. I do know 1" per year, sticker it well, weight on top, and I can keep it in an open-sided wood shed, anchorseal the ends. Kiln drying is 100%, absolutely not going to happen, not an option due to cost, distance, don't have the space to build one, etc..

What I'm struggling with, is this still worth it? I know air drying is hit or miss even if you're careful, but is there a species I should avoid, and double up on another? 2000 BF is about what I can fit in the shed, stickered, and I'd like to be using the shed for something useful and not have to toss half of it in the stove when it corkscrews as soon as I get it near the planer. My plan is to do most of this at 8/4, and a few hundred bf at 6/4. I hear oak is the worse at air drying, problem is, for every maple and cherry log in this pile, there's 10 oaks. The walnut isn't yet in play "yet", as I said, locals are all over this and the trucks with the walnut often "lose it" between where they cut it and the lot. Given what I spent at the lumber yard last year, if I can keep even 60% of this stuff after 2 years air drying, I'm ahead, but the math really doesn't work for me if air drying is going turn 50% of this stuff into noodles.