I have 4 large red maple logs from downed trees out in my woods. I topped them for firewood, but I left the logs for lumber, once I realized how cool the wood was going to look. The slight amount of decay gives it some great character. If I actually wanted to buy "spalted" maple like this, I'd be paying a premium price. I have no idea when any of these trees fell - they were already down when I bought the place. The only gauge I have as to their age/state of decay, is how well the bark adheres to them. For 2 of them, the bark is pretty tight, but 2 of them are pretty loose. Over the weekend, I found 2 more in the back corner of my property; which were already topped at some point. Somebody that my parents know managed the woods on this property for a while, and they did a fine job at it too. The "original" 4 are actually mostly suspended off of the ground on account of their root ball, but the 2 "new" ones are laying flat on the ground. They seemed solid, and still had bark, but I didn't check how tight it was. So, I thought the original ones might be ok for a while, but after finding the new ones, I'm starting to wonder how long I might have. I'd like to turn these into a new kitchen floor in a few years, but the ones in the back corner may end up as firewood; could be a while before I can establish a good enough trail to get back there with my dad's big tractor.
They can go bad amazingly quick, even in log form. So if you want them for lumber it might be a good idea to get them cut to length then up off the ground. I'd also coat the ends.
Some variables, maple logs decay fast , figure 2 years & then it will start getting punky. Logs off the ground, dry & out of the weather, you can get a few more years. Good luck, sure is pretty wood !
I dropped a ~8" soft maple last winter and never got around to stacking it - the stuff is badly spalted and has an orange dusty fungus growing on it already. may get it stacked for the firepit but it's probably beyond the point where it can even be split
I do have some end sealer. Maybe what I'll do is get out there ASAP to cut the "new" ones to length, then roll them up onto some small down trees, like I did with my ash log, to get them off of the ground. The clock really has to be ticking on those ones. The other ones are only touching the ground on one end, so I think I have a little more time with those. They'll still come out first though because I'll probably need at least 2 of them out of the way to get to the "new" ones.
I think the sapwood goes bad a lot faster, if the decay on the lumber I sawed is any indication. These are all large trees, probably 24" at the base. I'll probably chop a chunk off of the ends, split that up and see how it is. Hopefully they're not too far gone already.
