Drying Red Maple

[logboy]

Has anyone had any luck drying red maple? Ive cut a couple logs and the boards and slabs crack like crazy on the ends, literally inches wide. I can get the logs cheap, and if you leave them sit around a little while they spalt pretty well. But if theyre all going to explode then theyre just firewood. Any tips or tricks on drying these?

[MikeON]

Do you use any kind of end sealer like Anchorseal?

[bkaimwood]

I would question the condition and quality of the initial product, the log, first, and anaylze that before investigating drying...was the tree a leaner? Was the pith far off center? Was there alot of crook or sweep? Was it a branch log? There's more, but these are just examples of situations that may indicate various degrees of stress in a log that make it predisposed to cracking, especially near the pith, due to these stresses....there's nothing you can do to stop it...good examples I've had personal experience with are walnut, mostly leaners or branch logs, hickory of the same, as well as cherry, you get the idea...I saw lots of maple and have never had this issue, but if it exists, I'm sure I'll get burned by it eventually!!...

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Forget about using Anchorseal.  These large cracks (any crack over 1/4" wide) is caused by stress in the tree (growth stress) and not by drying too fast., so an end coating will do no good. 

Growth stresses in red maple are rare.  I do wonder if the identification is accurate.  If accurate, did you notice anything different about the tree?  Was it crooked, butt swell, on a steep slope, Etc.?