Stacking, drying, warping...?

[aggiewoodbutchr]

The problem isn't so much the weight/straps/whatever needed to hold the wood flat as it is the wood drying too fast. If you stack the wood in the shade and cover it with a tarp ...even in the summertime (and visqueen/visquine plastic is perfect) so that you slow down the drying, the wood will tend not to cup/bow/twist/split anywhere near as much....if at all. (Just leave the board ends somewhat uncovered around the bottom of the stack so that air can flow up and under the tarp.)

If, on the other hand, you don't keep the wood covered with a tarp and out of the sun, then nothing that you do and no amount of weight/pressure on it will keep the wood from moving. It's the nature of the beast.

Shade - good
Cover - good
Plastic - fine
Slow drying - good

You are getting closer, Sap, but not still quite right.

If you are stacking outdoors you want the prevailing wind / air flow to pass through the side of the stack, not the ends. Air flowing predominately through end of a stack will cause ends of the boards to dry faster than the center, resulting in increased checking. I get the best results by covering my air-dry stacks such that they are fully protected from the rain and direct sun, but get full airflow from the sides. I'll even drape a tarp on the ends of the stack to facilitate this if the situation warrants.

What happened to the guy that said if you did anything more than throw it in a unstickered pile you are being "anal about wood"?

This is a very good point to bring up nonetheless.

 

[coveredinsap]

Yes, I had a couple of feet between the ground and the visquine (tarp) edge all the way around.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Yes, I had a couple of feet between the ground and the visquine (tarp) edge all the way around.

I stand corrected.