The Forestry Forum

Does WR cedar dry faster than most woods? I have herd of it only taking six weeks to air dry. I found that hard to believe.

yep dries quik, I don't know about 6 weeks, depends if it rains :D

WRC, especially 4/4 cut will dry out very fast... a matter of days if the sun is out.  It will also pick up moisture really quick. I have seen boards left out in the sun lose half their weight in less than a week.

I have cut about 11000 bd ft of WRC in the last two years. Stickered and covered it will dry extremely quickly. I get a good wind blowing where it is stacked and it has dryed in a few weeks to 6-8%. I have heard that if you kiln dry second growth to fast it will collapse the cellular structure of the wood and damage it.   David

Western red is one of those woods where it's green weight (water) is not a high percentage of it's wood substance. Eastern white cedar (thuja) has similar wood/water properties as does eastern red (juniperus).

Thanks for all the replaies. Now I just have to go cut one down.