First time air drying

[Tom the Sawyer]

Scot,

Not sure where you are located but if your temps are well above freezing, freshly sawn lumber, covered with a tarp and waiting a week = mold heaven.

[YellowHammer]

Pretty wood.  At minimum, I would take the tarp off unless its raining.  I probably wouldn't wait until next weekend to get some air to it.  The walnut will probably be ok, but I'd be worried about the other.  I like to sticker within three days.  Sometimes if I'm time constrained I'll do a temporary, shortcut three sticker stack, its fast and will hold for a little while until you can get to the full blown process.  Try to get some air to it as soon as possible to reduce chances of issues.
YH

[SawyerBrown]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Scot Wolf!  Or should I say, Neighbor!  Nice to see somebody else close by.  Some good looking lumber you got there.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

If you run out of stickers, use 1x2 pine from one of the box stores.  They will be 3/4" thick...perfect.  They are also dry.

For the flattest lumber 12 to 16" max spacing.

The air flow in a shed is probably much less than outside, unless the walls are missing.  I guess, I would prefer outside rather than in a shed without much air movement.

Borate does you no good in your situation, as you explained it, as neither species is subject to much stain.  Insects are usually not an issue unless you have a yard with lots of wood debris.  Hundreds of millions of feet of oak and walnut are air dried without issues every year, except in messy yards.

[scot wolf]

Ok, I Went ahead and got it snickered and back on the trailer.  Should be a quick deal the fork it off next weekend.  I already have my eye on another walnut that should have around a 1000 feet in it.  Thanks for all the help.

[YellowHammer]

Good deal. 8) Your lumber thanks you for that.
YH

[scot wolf]

So, outside it is.  My Dad brought over some stuff he thought might be a good idea for the stacks in the windy location we have.  Thoughts on loosely wrapping 3 sides with this stuff?



 

[scot wolf]

Anybody?

[Tom the Sawyer]

Scot,

The company that makes AnchorSeal has started selling an air drying enclosure made of a similar, shade-cloth, type of material.  I would think it would work well as long as you had a framework on top of the stack that permitted warm air to get out of the stack and use the fabric around the sides about a foot away from the boards.

[WDH]

I agree with Tom, keeping the fabric away from touching the boards is important.  I would not use it with the walnut, just the oak. 

[scot wolf]

Thanks fellas

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

If you slow down the air flow too much, you will create a mold factory.  The mesh that AnchorSeal (UC Coatings) sells is more open than what I see in your picture.  I am not sure you need this at all for oak, but if so, maybe just cover one side of the pile and both ends.

[scot wolf]

If you slow down the air flow too much, you will create a mold factory.  The mesh that AnchorSeal (UC Coatings) sells is more open than what I see in your picture.  I am not sure you need this at all for oak, but if so, maybe just cover one side of the pile and both ends.

That is my plan.  My thought is that it will keep the direct sun off the stack as well.  While at Menards the other day I saw they sell mesh tarps that look like they would be excellent as well.  I might use this stuff for a month or 2 then switch to those with are more open.

http://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/material-handling/tarps/tarp-mesh-8x10/p-2184670-c-12172.htm

[YellowHammer]

I've never used mesh but I've air dried a lot of wood with some oversized metal roofing laying on top.  Cheap and effective.
YH

[scot wolf]

I'm sure that will work for most sites. These stacks will be out on the prairie without much protection for a mile or so.  The wind ALWAYS blow there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wind_power_capacity_density_by_state_2013.svg