They started clearing old ash trees from the lot where I work. There was lots of nice wood there so I took a couple pieces. One in particular a piece of green ash (so I was told by the man cutting it down) about 17" in diameter.
I put it in my mudroom outside (for I have no where else to put it really). I don't have the time or the tools right now that I want to process this.
Checking in on my wood (just to admire it I suppose) I noticed after the first day that a crack was appearing through the center of the log. I thought it was odd but wasn't really surprised as that is supposed to happen over time.
It has now been a week and and went to take another look and I was surprised this time to see a lot of radial checking? (I don't know if it has a real term.)
So I am knewnew to processing and milling logs but I would have thought that should have taken longer to happen. That and the checking pattern is not something I have seen before.
Potential contributing factors that I can think of:
- Recently cut
- Stored outdoors but in enclosed space.
- Temperatures are around 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit )
Is this what I should be expecting when working fresh green wood? Should I be working this the second it falls basically to stop this. I'm worried (probably more than I need to be, if any) that if I wait to long its going to crack even more and reduce the yield I can get from this.
