Last year I got some ash from my brother in law that was split in April, by October is measured 18-19%, conversely I have some maple rounds, big suckers I got from a guy that used to burn but switched to pellets, he had them sitting in rounds on a pallet for 2 years, I had them on a pallet for a few months and when I split them they were still 30's.
Is the maple soft or hard maple? Ash works best for me with a good coal bed to start with, I like to mix it with soft maple if I'm starting from a cold start.
Yeah, and what kind of Ash? White Ash is good stuff, the others are about like soft Maple or Cherry, heatwise.
Sorry, I should have quoted yooper too, I meant to respond to his Ash trash talk. Actually, White Ash is almost as good as hard Maple. If it's Black or Green you are probably not gonna be too impressed. Of course, there are other types of Ash as well and I think some of those are med-high output, like White...
I CSS 1.5 cords of white ash on April 10th of this year. Fresh splits currently measure around 20% MC. I'm hoping it gets down into the teens by the time I need to burn it December but leaving it sit 1 year would be perfect.
I think most know the CSS for at least a year mantra...I think the point of the OP was that it is surprising that the Maple is doing better than the Ash
As said rounds dont dry well at all, especially if the wood was green when cut, even the Silver Maple rounds that I cut almost a year ago are at 25% or so. For the OP Ash is a good fast drying wood and CSS in single rows in the wind and sun and you dont live in the rain forest will get it close to 20% over one long summer. Whit.e Ash is better then Green Ash but both are good "go to" woods
I am sure that in a drying drag race with same size splits and stacked in the same fashion Ash will Dry as fast as Silver Maple, White Ash maybe not as quick as Green Ash.
So you no doubt have heard the talk about ash being ready to burn right after it has been cut. Baloney! Some say it dries fast. More baloney. Ash is no different from other wood except that it starts out low in moisture but that low moisture is still around 35%. Even dead ash will burn better if you wait a year before burning. I would also highly recommend, like others have pointed out that you get the wood split rather than stacking it in rounds. Some say it is drying because they look at the ends and see the cracks. More baloney. Those cracks simply state that the ends are drying but not the middle. This is why we don't count drying time until it has been split AND STACKED out in the wind. We've burned a lot of dead ash over the past 10+ years and I'm here to tell you it still burns much better if left in the stack a year. But just for kicks, ours usually ends up in the stack (split, of course) for 5 years or so. However, our stash has gottem a bit depleted over the past couple years when we've helped out some neighbors. Before this coming winter is done, we'll be burning some wood that has been in the stack only 4 years! Got to get busy this winter. Cutting starts around December 1. Splitting and stacking starts in late March or early April.
I burn Ash, Maple, Pine all cut into blocks in the winter. I split and stack it in the spring/early summer and it's moisture content is fine in October. Anywhere from 17-22%. Getting it split and stacked is key of course, having a location that gets sun, and more importantly some wind is also key. Obviously a year or more drying time is better, but if you don't have the time, 6 months works for me, as long as it is split and stacked and in a good drying location. For this kind of wood anyway.
To add to this....Today I was checking my game cameras and walked by some stacked white ash rounds. The tree was standing dead in 2011 when it was dropped. Due to back issues and time it stayed where it was dropped until last winter(the branches kept it off the ground). I cut it into rounds last winter and stacked them. I grabbed a round off the top today, split it, checked it with the meter and it was 41% on a fresh split. That is about the same as when I cut a live one when they still existed around here. The bark is falling off, it has a nice gray look, the ends were all cracked up and the wood was no drier today then it was when the tree was still alive!
Not sure how helpful this is for you, cant seem to find a good side by side picture of the different barks, I took one but have it no more (posted it on Hearth) https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/Fraxinus_comparison01.htm
The Audubon Guide shows the bark, and White looks markedly different from Black and Green, but more similar to a couple of other Ashes. I've found that I have to take the bark pics in the Guide with a grain of salt, and of course bark in the same specie from different trees can vary quite a bit.
The wood of the White Ash is much more white then the Green Ash tree as it tends to be brownish in the center of the wood.
